Marked By An Angel

Rebirth And Embarrassment

The loud ringing echoed inside her room until her head started spinning from the noise.

When was the last time that she slept through her alarm? She reached out, trying to find her phone, when she noticed the velvet sheets around her. Frowning, she opened her eyes and immediately cursed when the light outside of the window hit her eyes. No blinds? Velvet sheets? What happened?

Almost immediately, her face changed.

The room before her eyes was… nothing like her room!

It was purple and pink and sparkly? Wait… why does this room sparkle? Even the blinds were sheer and pink. That's the reason why it was so bright!

"Miss? Miss! I am so glad that you are already awake!"

Miss?

When the woman wearing a black and white maid uniform touched her arm, Francesca immediately flinched and removed the woman's hands away.

"Miss? Are you alright? Are you feeling any pain?" the woman touched her forehead, concern laced her tone.

"Who — " Before Francesca could say anything, the woman suddenly pulled her into a hug.

"Miss! I was so worried… I'm so sorry, I didn't take care of you. I wasn't there when you fell into the lake… wahhhh… Miss… you have been asleep for five days…. I thought something bad would happen… wahhhh…"

Francesca's head started hurting, not just from the wailing but from the sudden onslaught of memories that surfaced inside her head. Cursing inwardly, she held her head and tried to massage her temple.

What the hell happened to her? And what are these strange memories?

"Miss… it was this servant's fault. Please punish me. Please… "

"Can you get me some water?" Francesca uttered. Her limbs felt sore, her throat was dry as a desert. Did the woman just say that she had been asleep for five days?

"Ah… yes. Let me also call the doctor to check your body… please wait a minute."

Francesca didn't say anything as she watched the maid leave her room.

This… what happened to her?

….

Two hours later.

"All the tests showed a positive result. Two more days, and we can let Miss Aren go back to school." The man wearing thick eyeglasses and a weird long tailcoat said. He stared at her and smiled. "Miss Aren, you are very lucky this time. You drowned and had been in a coma for a few days. Initially, I thought you would not wake up for a few more days. But it seems that we are lucky, the goddess must have blessed you."

"Thank you, Dr. Smidt. Let me take you to see the father." The woman wearing a long purple dress smiled. "Aren dear, please have more rest. I will go and talk to your grandfather for a while."

She nodded. By now, Francesca already realized that her soul somehow traveled through time and went inside the body of an eighteen-year-old woman named Francesca Arenfel Rochester. She was an aristocrat, the granddaughter of a general in the kingdom called Ibera, or at least that's what the memories told her.

"Miss, do you need anything else?" her maid named Cui, asked.

"No. Please leave me alone." Francesca shook her head while staring at the ceiling. Until now, she didn't understand how she came here. The last thing that she had in her mind was drinking with Travis. What did the hell happen? Why was she here in this strange place?

For the umpteenth time, she pinched her arm.

No, she wasn't dreaming.

She mysteriously traveled to this place and occupied a different body. Was this connected to the fact that this place had a fantasy-like setting with magic, sorcerers, and beasts? She bit her lower lip as she thought of the reason why her soul arrive in this world.

If she was here, then what happened to the fifty-five-year-old Francesca on Earth? Did she die? But how?

And why?

Why was she given a second chance?

How is this even possible?

"Miss? Are you awake?"

Francesca looked at Cui, wondering what her maid was about to say. Since she woke up, Cui had been very attentive and was taking care of everything that she needed. "I am…" Since she was already here, she needed to figure out what happened and if there was any possibility that she could come back.

Wait… come back?

She sneered inwardly.

Come back to what?

She was already fifty-five years old on Earth. She had chased away all of her relatives, killed a few of them. No kids, just an ex husband who was about to marry someone else.

She might be rich, but…

Is that really the life that she wanted to have?

"The General… the general wanted to know if he could come here and visit you."

General… She was talking about this body's grandfather, the Duke of Rochester. Aside from the king, the Duke was currently the most powerful force inside this kingdom. Sadly for him, he had a foolish granddaughter who had no talent for magic. From the memories, she knew that the entire kingdom ridiculed this body for having no talent while being foolish and arrogant. Yet, because her grandfather was a powerful man. No one dared touch her.

Just recalling those memories made her want to die of embarrassment. On Earth, Francesca never liked stupid people. She thought it was a disease, and she often ridiculed foolish people.

Who would have thought that she would one day become someone like that?

Tsk.

"Ah… I will go to his study," she answered after a few seconds of silence. It's comical how this body had been spoiled to the point that even her grandfather would ask her permission if he could visit her room.

"Eh?"

"Eh, what?"

"Miss please don't be mad but… you… are you alright?"

"I am fine." She answered curtly. The previous Aren would never agree to visit that old man's study. Located behind the mansion of the Rochester Family, Duke Rochester's study was in a different building. It was near the place where the knight's train. And Aren… well… she hated the knights, she hated smelling their sweats, hated their tan skin that was like the complete contrast of her pale complexion. In short, Francesca Arenfel Rochester was stupid beyond help.

She's not only ungrateful, but she was also very arrogant, foolish, and ignorant. Ugh… she wanted to use all the negative adjectives that she could use to describe this body, but she soon realized that her maid was already sobbing. "Why are you crying?" she sat on her bed, her feet dangling from her pink bed. She really needed to change this room.

"I am sure that the Duke would be surprised to hear that you would visit him. So… I…"

"Why are you crying?" this reaction is a bit too much.

"I — I just… please don't mind me, miss. Please give me some time. I will inform the madam about this so she could accompany you to the camp."

"Alright." She got up and …

"Miss? Where are you going?"

"Bath…"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?" she asked. What is it now? Why did the maid freeze? Did she say something wrong?

"You wanted to bathe on your own?"

"Of course. Is there something— f*ck." Francesca wanted to slap her own face. The original Aren would never bath without having preparations and by preparations, she meant, a bathtub full of milk and roses, three maids that would help her bath, and another two that would help her dress. What the f*ck! What the hell is wrong with this woman?

Just thinking about all this made her head hurt. She wanted to faint from second-hand embarrassment!