A NEW BEGINNING

After being swallowed by the bright light casted by God Einsof, the Princess soon found herself in darkness.

Suddenly her body felt weak.

All of her energy had been sucked out instantly.

Painful ache struck all of her limbs, chest, and stomach.

Somewhat her condition was even worse than when she was fighting Satan.

The Princess wondered what was happening to her.

"(God said I will return to the world as somebody else. Then is this my transition phase into my new body?)

The Princess then realized that her darkness was only caused by her eyelids. She was closing her eyes the entire time.

As soon as the Princess opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a bed. She immediately noticed how skinny and frail her new arms were. Even the slightest of movement gave her terrible pain.

"(How weak this body is. God said this second opportunity will provide me with an equal ground against Satan. But why would He return me in this poor condition? I could die any second now!)"

Suddenly the Princess realized something wrong inside her body. There was something within her. Something that was not supposed to be there.

"(A curse? There's a demonic curse imposed on this body.)" thought the Princess after examining herself. "(No wonder I'm in this poor state. This type of magic curse feeds on my vitality and mana, causing my body to gradually weaken.)"

The Princess took a deep breath, she tried to concentrate.

"(I need to take care of this curse if I still want to live by the next hour.)" 

The Princess closed her eyes. A white magic circle suddenly appeared right above her head.

"(Based on my observation, this is a medium level curse. Judging from the little amount of mana this body possesses, I can't get rid of it now. But I certainly can slightly mitigate its damage.)"

She then casted a spell through the white magic circle.

[Holy Arts, Angel's Touch Second Form, Continuous Healing Magic]

The Princess's body glowed for a moment as she casted the spell. Though it was not as bright as the light from before when she was returned to the world, they shared similar color.

"(There! That should help!)"

After casting the healing spell, the Princess could finally move her body with more ease. Although the ache persisted, the pain was now more bearable than before.

She rose and sit up instead of staying lying around.

"(The second form of Angel's Touch spell requires a lot of mana due to its delicate technique. A mage would usually fail the first few times to cast it, hence the requirement of ample mana supply.)"

The Princess then recalled her time fighting Satan and encountering God. The skills and experience she accumulated which led her to meet those two great figures.

"(But for someone with my experience, casting this medium level spell with small supply of mana is certainly possible.)"

The Princess tried to stand, but immediately fell back to the bed. Her legs were still too weak to support her entire weight.

She then clung on the wall to help her walk.

Wanting to see her new appearance, the Princess made her way to a standing mirror nearby the bed.

"(Oh my!)"

From the mirror, Princess Mariana discovered her new self in the form of a teenage lady with golden blonde hair akin to the color of the bright sun, skin as pale as cold snow, and eyes as blue as the deep ocean.

Her face had a hint of fairness to it but it was overshadowed by her awful complexion caused by the curse.

"(Judging from my appearance, I'd guess this body is around 14-16 years old. Such a shame that this girl had a curse that made her body weak. Because even in this dreadful state I could see she would make a beautiful damsel.)" 

The Princess took a look over her body once again. She felt the curse's persistent effort to damage her.

"(There're many demons that could cast this type of curse. But it is typically used by lichs as the curse deals with vitality and mana, which is why it's often called the Lich's Curse.)"

She took a good look of her face on the mirror once again.

"(And if it's indeed a lich that inflicted this curse, then I wonder why this girl ever encountered one and still survived at that.)"

The Princess then noticed that she was currently in a moderately decorated bedroom.

"(This place is too big for a servant's chamber. But too modest for a princess or even the daughter of a duke or a count. So, probably a barony or a slightly wealthy merchant's household?)"

She suddenly heard clanging sound from outside. The Princess promptly made her way to the window to see what was causing it.

It was dark outside for it was around before dawn, but she could still make out the view beyond the window.

She found soldiers in heavy armor, around 20 or so, practicing with their sword at a training ground a distance away from the building she was in.

"(Knights! Human knights! Then this must be a noble house. I wonder which family. Am I in the Mortalia Empire? Or perhaps in one of the countries in the center of the continent? More importantly, which period of time did I go back to since God said He was going to reverse time?)"

The Princess had many questions but something distracted her. The knob on the bedroom's door suddenly clacked, causing the Princess to immediately turned her attention over there.

A maid bearing a bucket of water and washcloth entered. It was clear that the attendant intended to wash down whom she thought her unconscious sickly lady.

Which was why when the maid found her master to be standing by the window, she dropped the bucket to the floor, spilling water everywhere. Completely shocked by the sight in front of her.