I awoke to a bright chiming sound and instinctively reached to the side for my glasses, finding nothing but fluffy comforter that seemed to expand out of reach in each direction. As I opened my eyes they slowly adjusted to the light filling a cream-coloured room, and to my surprise, the world was not the blur I had come to expect. My mind seemed to clear at a snail's pace as I took in my surroundings. It was entirely pastel yellow with silvery-white designs of diamonds across the walls. The bed was expansive, easily a king size or larger, and covered with a voluminous mint-green comforter.

A knock came from behind a beautifully ornate wooden door and it opened to reveal a woman around my age, perhaps 30 or so, dressed as a maid. Her straight mahogany-brown hair was cut into a bob which somehow stayed completely still as she moved. She curtsied and walked in, greeting me.

“Good morning My Lady Karina. I've come to help you dress. Sir Rosen awaits you and will escort you to dine breakfast with The Duke.”

'Lady Karina?' I thought. 'The Duke?' Was I given her life after perishing? Despite how impossible it sounded, everything felt very real, and unlike the fog I had inhabited my life prior, I was fully present. I nodded to the maid and slid out of the opulent canopied bed, feeling very small. The bed came all the way up to my waist, and to the maid I stood at just above her elbow. I was Karina as a child. She pulled off my nightgown and began dressing me for the day. Even as a child it seemed I was expected to wear numerous layers. How bothersome. First things first though, as they say. If I was truly Karina, there would be a lot of adjusting yet to come. Best not to dwell on anything and move forward.

“What is your name?” I asked her.

She paused and her sharp hazel eyes assessed me quietly. The brief moment passed and she continued readying me, moving onto my hair.

“My name is Fallon My Lady. Thank you for wanting to know of a humble servant such as myself.” I nodded, committing Fallon to memory.

I must have only recently been adopted given my size and Fallon's look of alarm at my asking her name. It was strange to hand over this right to dress myself, but by the end I understood the value of her services in this area.

As I stood in front of the vanity across from the bed and took in my visage, it was unsettling yet satisfying. Bright silver tresses were neatly pulled back with a powder-blue ribbon and though my hair fell to my hips, it curled artfully and cohesively at the ends. My bangs were too long to be anything but messy, but she had swept them to either side of my face and somehow made them look orderly by framing my heart-shaped jaw. My eyes were bizarre, an almost inhuman colour even to me. Shimmering whorls of spring grass inset with deep pools of emerald, more like jewels than the colour of someone's eyes. They glinted back puzzled, filled with the wonder I felt. I was an American-born asian, so while diversity in others was normal, to see anything but brown or black on me was bewildering. This was my face now, and on top of that, I was a child.

The white stockings and black shoes completing my outfit made me look like a doll, distracting me from the strangeness of my eyes and I couldn't help but twirl in delight, watching my dainty powder-blue dress fill with air. Even having been an adult, the joy I felt as a child again was simple and overwhelming.

“Thank you Fallon!” I said, smiling at her. Her mouth quirked into a small smile in turn as she ushered me to the door.

“It is my duty to make you presentable, but maintaining your schedule lies solely upon your shoulders. Let us not keep Sir Rosen waiting any longer My Lady.”

Sir Rosen! I had completely forgotten. He was real now. To find myself as Karina was surely bewildering, but the Avery here was a person in his own right. Even if the book detailed his deepest passions, that was only one fraction of him. I felt completely unprepared to meet him.

But it was too late. Fallon was already opening the door.