My sleep started normally. A series of wild imagery that had nothing to do with anything recently happening to me that I’ll definitely not remember. 

But then I felt…this shift. 

Like I was aware of my consciousness in a way that I had never been before but I couldn’t wake myself. I was worried I was dying and then the darkness felt…controllable. 

Like all I had to do was open my eyes. 

So I did. 

And just like that, my senses were hit all at once. My sight was blinded by bright ballroom lights. My hearing hit with the sounds of talking, music, and the clanging of glasses all at once. My taste buds had seemingly been coated with the faint and pleasant taste of champagne. The smells around me were crowded around my nostrils for a chance to send me reeling with a mixture of perfumes, colognes, food, alcohol, and the occasional murky body odor. And then my skin, it felt on edge. Maybe due to the sudden change that it couldn’t explain. 

Where was I? 

My eyes scanned the room over the sea of basic black suits that helped their spouses’ colorful dresses stand out more. 

This place…seemed familiar. 

I’ve been here before…once…twice…maybe even more for a variety of events…but what was I here for now? 

The engagement!

“Lady Zhao, are you alright?” A voice caught me off guard. 

Despite seeing all of these people around, it was only then that the faces around me became less muddled and more prominent. 

A girl near my age. 

My age? 

Was she? 

Actually, she looked a bit younger. 

Her rare platinum blonde hair was sitting in an elegant updo but whoever had done her makeup clearly didn’t have her best interest at heart as the coloring clashed heavily with her pale complexion. At least her light blue dress proved something nice to look at. 

Suddenly, it was like my mind was slowly starting to recognize her and then it dawned on me. 

Anne-Marie Duval. 

She was from a smaller noble house. Some branch family of one of the Royal Nobles. I can’t remember which though. Probably…FROM THE GAVELLS! She’s from North Luckstead and you can tell by her name because it has a certain…feeling to it compared to people born in the Capital. 

But she wasn’t the only one around me. There were two others. Erma Purdy, a pretty brunette with a stocky physique who I do remember getting to know… intimately at her sister’s engagement party. There is also Lois Farr, another blonde in the most eye-piercing pink dress she could’ve had made for the occasion. 

“Lady Zhao?” 

I finally registered my senses. 

Get it together, Faye. 

“Sorry, a smell just wafted by and completely caught me off guard.” I played off my disorientation. 

Lois giggled and leaned in. “It was definitely Lord Ezekiel. His daughter was at my tea party the other day and she was telling me about how awful this new cologne he got was. Smells like a dead rodent.” 

The other two girls laugh and I join them. 

“But truly, I can’t believe the fuss that Prince Solomon made over the dress Elvira wore. It’s gorgeous.” Anne put the conversation back on track. “Solomon’s lucky he’s a Prince, if my fiancee ever made a fuss like that my parents would’ve found some way to get him flayed.” She spoke softly so no one could hear. 

Erma shrugged. “I mean, it was expected, the Conwyns do everything they can to keep tradition.” 

Lois let out a soft and annoyed groan. “Tradition this, tradition that. I’m so sick of having to be two people. One person in the presence of friends and another in the presence of my family. It’s not fair. Times are changing and our folks should just accept that.” 

This did happen. Elvira showed up in a beautiful gown that Cotton had gifted to her from their home country. She looked like a goddess and Solomon didn’t appreciate it in the slightest. Of course, he didn’t. He didn’t know a good thing when he saw one. 

Why didn’t I immediately follow her? I can’t remember. 

I think…her mother told me to give her a moment…right? Cause she would’ve been embarrassed about running off so she told me to just let her get it out without worrying about anyone watching her. It was true. Elvira bottled up a lot if she felt like she was being watched, even if it was around loved ones that she trusted. 

So I complied. 

And then I went to find her and she changed her dress. 

I need to stop her from changing her dress. 

My eyes shot towards the grand staircase she ran up. I can’t exactly remember what room she’s in but I should get hit with some form of Deja Vu when I get up there. 

“Excuse me, ladies, I’m going to go check on Elvira.” 

The girls nodded as I put my glass down and moved towards the stairs, lifting the front of my dress a bit so as to not trip. The valley of voices and soft music gradually faded out as I made it to the second floor. The entire building wasn’t a maze but the interior designer’s need for everything to practically be the same shade of banana yellow did make everything harder to keep track of. 

Not to mention that despite this being a manor mainly used for events, many of the doors were not labeled. 

However, one was. 

My memories were coming back to me. I remember specifically one of the few rooms with labels and I remember merely thinking ‘What were the chances’ and just knocking and I found her…in the…STUDY!

A golden plaque sat atop the door with the word ‘STUDY’ on it. I pressed my ear against the door and I did hear the faint sound of movement so I gently knocked. 

“Elvira? Are you in there?” 

I heard a small gasp. This had to be the room. I turned the knob and slowly opened the door, peeking in to find Elvira’s dress…but not Elvira. 

This…was someone else. I couldn’t explain the wave of multiple emotions that were filling my mind. The spell worked, it clearly worked. Then who in the thorns was this?

“You’re not Elvira.” 

This woman looked like she was panicking. Was she just as confused? Where was Elvira? 

“I-I’m not.” She stutters. “I’m…you’re Faye Zhao.” 

She knows who I am? 

“How…do you know that?” 

“I….” She stops herself, almost as if she were about to reveal something that she shouldn’t. She fumbled her attempts at speaking before she gave up. 

Closing the door, I strode over to her which caused her to shrink, pressing herself against the shaky mirror. 

“Where’s Elvira and why are you wearing her dress?” The anger in me rose. 

She kept stuttering. 

“Is she changing? Did she give you permission to wear that? Who even are you? You better not have done anything to Elvira cause I swear—”

“CAN YOU NOT WITH THE ACCUSATIONS OFF THE BAT?!” She screamed, cutting me off. 

How dare this…imposter?

“No, I’m not Elvira. My name is Evelyn. I don’t know where Elvira is. This is probably gonna sound weird to you but I was in one place one moment and then here the next. And yes, I was already in the dress.” 

She explained everything with a defensive fervor that brought my accusative behavior to a halt. So the spell worked. It clearly worked but it also…did not? 

“Are you working with that witch? Because if this is some sick joke after I put my neck out going to see her—”

“What witch? Are you talking about that lady that killed me?” 

I felt my face contort into a shocked expression. “Killed you? She…killed you?” 

Something within dropped after repeating those words. Killed. I sought out that crone’s help and she killed someone for this spell to work? 

“She never said anything about a sacrifice…” I spoke softly as I felt myself lean against the desk. 

“Wait…you had something to do with this?” The woman…Evelyn questioned me. 

I didn’t know how to respond. Maybe it wasn’t my fault because I didn’t know. But it was my fault because…dammit. 

“You’re sitting here on MY ass when you had something to do with homegirl sending a big ass truck to run me over?” 

“She…ran you over?” 

“Not personally but she…used magic I guess because that truck DEFINITELY was not there before. You clearly have more knowledge about this than I do. So if anyone needs to be interrogated, it’s you. Now explain what the hell is going on!” 

“Shhh! Keep your voice down, would you? You’re not in the clear yourself, or have you forgotten? How do you know who I am when I’ve never met you before in my life?” 

“Ok, two things…actually three things. One, on one end you’re literal nobility so there’s A LOT of people that know you without you knowing them, ok? Two, I have an answer but I don’t know if I should say it. Three, give me your side of this first before I tell you.” 

“I don’t think you’re in any position to demand anything. I could have you locked away if I felt that some time in a dingy cell will loosen those lips.” 

“Ok…you could but……..” 

It was obvious she was thinking of some sort of rebuttal. I sighed, I’m being too defensive, aren’t I? 

“I’m sorry.” I let out a deep sigh. I don’t know what was going on and neither did she. Pointing fingers would do nothing. “I just need a moment to think.” 

I leaned against the desk, rubbing my right temple as my brain tried to put everything together. I would’ve never gone through with this if I knew a sacrifice was involved…would I? 

Damn! 

There’s no time to think about that. Right now, there’s some stranger in Elvira’s dress and she’s just as confused as I am. Where did she even come from? 

But if I’m going to get anything out of her, I’ll need to share some information with her first. 

“Fine. As you might be aware, Elvira Khanna was executed. Yesterday…at least, my yesterday, I had gone to see an unregistered Arcana whose powers were hailed. She said she could reverse time, giving me time to stop Elvira from even marrying Solomon. But clearly, something went wrong.” 

“Solomon…Conwyn, right?” 

I nodded. “Now you? What’s your end of this?” 

“Well, I was back in my world. I was at work. I went out into the parking lot to grab a shopping cart and then I was hit by a truck. Some…voice told me that they needed me for something and then I woke up here.”

“Needed you?” 

“I believe one of the phrases she used was an actor.”

“An actor? This isn’t some silly stage play.” 

“Yeah…about that…so the reason I know who you are is not just because you’re nobility but because you guys are…” There was a brief but anxiety-inducing pause. “Characters in a tv show.” 

……………

“TV Show?” 

“Right, TVs aren’t really a thing in this universe yet. It’s like radio broadcasts but you can see the actors instead of just hearing them.” Then she perked up. “Like plays people can watch in their homes whenever they want.”

“Oh, do you mean like talking pictures? The silver screen?”

“Yeah!” She softly bopped herself in the head with her hand. “I totally forget, movies exist here.” 

“Wait! Do I not exist where you’re from?” 

“I mean, don’t take it to heart. I don’t exist here. But yeah. You, Elvira, Solomon, and everyone else in this world are all characters played by actors. I’ve been watching since I was a kid. It’s called Roll End Romance and it’s a love story featuring Solomon and Camila. They face a lot of hardships because so many people are against their love.” 

I couldn’t help the look of disgust that took over. “Love story…don’t make me sick.” 

“Huh?” 

“So in this love story, who exactly am I?” 

“Well, you’re one of the villains alongside Elvira.” 

“VILLAIN?!”

She jumped at my outburst, a tiny ‘eep’ escaping her lips. 

A loud and (admittedly obnoxious) scoff left my mouth. A “love story” about Solomon and that girl and Elvira and I are the villains?! 

“I’m sorry, I’m having trouble believing you. A show about a spoiled brat and a conniving bed wench’s love sounds like awful entertainment. That girl doesn’t even love him, she bends backward and strokes his little ego and he does the most asinine things! You find that enjoyable?” 

“Well, I don’t know about spoiled brat. In the show, Solomon is brooding and fed up with everyone around him being so fake and stuff.” 

“HA! Solomon?! Solomon is the fakest of us all!” I let out a heavy sigh. “From the sounds of it. It sounds like this story was written by Solomon himself.” 

“Is…he really that bad?” Evelyn asked. 

“He’s the worst. He’s a bigoted twit that only wants the world to kiss his shoes.” 

“Oh…and Camila?” 

“Well…I won’t lie, I don’t know much about the broad but her claim that Elvira tried to poison her got my friend killed. So I know she’s not good people.” 

“Wait, Elvira didn’t actually poison her?” 

“No!... I don’t know. But there’s no evidence that proves them right enough to have her executed.” 

“What about you?” 

“Excuse me?” 

“In the show, you attempted to finish what Elvira started and tried to poison Camila but you ended up killing Patience.” 

I scoffed. “No, I went to the crone. I needed time to fix all of this.” 

I was looking down at the floor but I can feel the girl’s eyes on me. 

“How much of Roll End Romance is true here?” She asked me. 

“I don’t know.” 

It became clear to me what needed to be done now. I needed to find that crone again and somehow fix all of this. I needed to get this girl back to wherever she came from and I needed that crone to bring Elvira here. 

I have to get this girl out of here. 

“I doubt that crone will be there tonight so I’ll just hide you out at my home until then.” I moved away from the desk and approached her. Without the anger and confusion, I was able to finally take in her appearance. “You’ll have to trust me for right now, alright?” 

She had Elvira’s purple eyes and maybe, at a glance, she could be mistaken for her. People like Ginny and Duchess Khanna would tell quickly, however, and I didn’t know just how to explain everything that happened or is going to happen. 

Evelyn looked up at me and nodded. “I got it. What are we gonna do? This is Elvira’s engagement party but--”

“Don’t concern yourself with that. We can sneak out through one of the service entrances. The ballroom is filled so there won’t be many people in the front. The only problem is…I came here with my parents and it’s my mother’s driver and she will definitely tell them.” 

Evelyn shrugged. “Maybe we can steal one.” 

I flashed her a look of shock. “Steal?” 

“Yeah, my brother owns a car junkyard and there’s a bunch of vintage cars there that still work but you have to hotwire them. I could just…hotwire one.” 

“These cars are top of the line. I doubt someone who claims not to be from here would know how to work them much less hotwire them.” 

“Hello~! What’s top of the line here is outdated as hell back in my world. We…sorta have self-driving cars. They’re not good at not hitting people but we’re working on it.” 

“Fine. But still, we need to make sneaking out of here our priority.” 

She nodded and I turned to open the door when the sound of the knob jiggling made the both of us jump.

‘Damn!’

The knob fully turned and the door was casually pushed open. It was one of the last people I wanted to run into right now, Emperor Mathusela Conwyn. 

The older blonde’s gaze met my own nervous one. 

“Ah, Faye. I had wondered where you ran off to. I was looking for the bathrooms but none of these damn rooms are labeled.” 

Then his eyes drifted towards Evelyn and my heart felt as if it was going to explode. 

“Elvira…you’re still in the dress?” 

Huh?

He called her…Elvira?