"My lady… you're awake!"
A voice, too sweet, too relieved.
I blinked. A maid — no older than sixteen — clutched her skirts and looked like she might cry. Her cheeks were puffy. She must've wept while I was unconscious.
"What happened?" I asked, testing Seraphina's voice.
Soft. Smooth. With an undertone of disdain.
"Y-You collapsed after the banquet, my lady," the maid stammered. "His Grace said it was exhaustion. You haven't eaten in two days…"
Two days? That meant Seraphina had died two days ago. And I had been inside this body since.
"Fetch me water," I said.
She scurried off.
I stood, letting my feet touch the cold marble floor. The room was extravagant—red velvet, golden chandeliers, mirrors too ornate to be useful. A villainess's chamber.
I spotted the vanity. Sitting atop it, a diary bound in snakeskin.
Curiosity bit me.
I opened it.
***
"Father says if I behave at the banquet, he'll let me meet Prince Kael again."
"Mother says don't be weak like the Saint. Weak girls die."
"The tea is ready. I added the powder. I hope Lady Ireth chokes."
Poisoner. Manipulator. Obsessed with a man who once watched me burn.
No. I would not play Seraphina's petty games.
***
I closed the diary.
"My lady?" the maid returned with trembling hands. "Will you be taking your medicine?"
I turned to her. "No more medicine. Starting today, things change."
Her eyes widened. "Are you… feeling alright?"
I smiled. Seraphina's smile. Cold. Commanding.
"Never better."