My name in my previous life was— well that’s unimportant now. Case in point, I was a nobody, or more like, a somebody no one would notice disappearing off the face of the earth. No one, except for them at least. 

I’d always been the screw-up, the punk, the person that wouldn’t go anywhere in life. No one expected better of me, and so I never got better. That was when me and my partner at the time had Hana. She wasn’t planned, and we were both way too young to be parents, but that didn’t matter. When she was born, it was like everything made sense, like I had a reason to be better, a force pushing me upwards. It’s a bit hard to believe but I made something of my life, I became a hairdresser, it wasn’t glamorous, but it was enough, we were happy. Though even that simple life slipped through my fingers.

———

I wake up, now as Hugo, Marquess of the house of Armentaria. A middle of the road lord in the southern coast of the empire of Iris. The house of Armentaria was one of the oldest in the empire, known as the house of the white bull. It joined the empire early on, and with little friction, so they’d managed to retain their large domain. It had even produced a few empresses over the centuries, elevating the house to a dukedom. Its lands were rich in fertile soil, and natural beauty, having coastal access also made it the home of lucrative southern trade hubs. It was one of the richest houses in the land, in competition with only the lords of the gold mines to the north, whose golden ore matched the splendor of Armentaria’s golden fields. Though these days the, the once mighty dukedom of Armentaria has been demoted to a Marquisate.

This is all due to the fact that it's current lord Hugo de Armentaria, is a bastard of titanic proportions. A gambler, a drinker, the picture perfect definition of a bad noble. He made bad trade after bad trade, all to fund his hedonistic life style, and thus the lands of the Armentaria halved in a single generation. Then there were his more famous crimes of disrespecting lords, paying for prostitutes and lack of proper etiquette, which led to his house’s demotion to a Marquisate. Power is still power, and he was still a noble of high rank, but the house's reputation was at an all time low.

How do I know all this? Because this stupid bastard is a character in a web novel I used to read. One of the activities that brought me and my kid close back then was reading, and when we discovered web novels, we ate them up like there was no tomorrow. The web novel this one was based on was called “The Hauntings of the Grey lady.” It was a favorite of my daughter’s, I read and re-read it with her quite a bit. Went to a lot of fan events for it, and even bought the hard copy for both of us when it finally got published. I'd even met the author to get them signed, and she was so happy when I gave it to her on her birthday. I hadn’t read it since then, but while I lay in bed I tried to pull all the information I could remember about the book out of my head.

I'd been a slug of a man all morning, just rolling around on silky sheets and trying to remember details. At least the bed was nice, and I’d finally changed out of that dirty suit. The woman who stopped by last time had been the Marquess’ second wife Sonia. Since then she hadn’t come by, the only human interaction I’d had were the maids doing chores and the doctor who checked my condition. They were all nervous and skittish around the Marquess— or well, me now. 

I gathere what little information I could, but when I asked the doctor for the date, all he said was the Oaken moon of the 567th solar year. I gave him a very confused look, to which he seemed simply gave a polite nervous smile before leaving. I had no idea what any of that really meant… My daughter was the one who understood all the background world building stuff, the political aspects were the ones I liked most. It was a complex story and it had been a while since I’d read it after all.

The current issue was that I only knew the facts about the Marquis of Armentaria that were written in the novel, which frankly wasn’t much. He was a minor, yet somewhat important character, so aside from his place in the overall story, he didn't get much focus. The main character of the story was Ophelia Fontaine, the adopted daughter of a minor house. She'd been born with grey-white hair like an old woman, and the ability to see spirits. The plot surrounded around her discovery of an old conspiracy with the help of three ghosts. With their help she eventually saves the empire by bringing the conspiracy to light, saving the empire from a massive war, and then living happily ever after. The final twist of the books comes near the end, where it's revealed the three ghosts that helped her were actually Ophelia's half siblings, and their father… is me. 

The house of Armentaria was wrapped up in the conspiracy and falls before the start of the story, weakened by the Marquess’ hedonistic vices and premature death. After which, the entire family, including his wife and children are killed due to several tragedies that were part of the conspiracy. Needless to say, I’m not sure how far into all that I am. The Marquess died a pathetic death after being run over by a carriage while in a drunken stupor, and his family was torn apart by relatives after his heirs died. Frankly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, I have no idea how to manage territory, and I'm not much better at stopping conspiracies. If I'm to survive I need someone I can rely on, I need a partner.

I bolt up in my bed, spooking the maid who was taking the breakfast out of the room. 

“Where is my-” I cough as I my voice is a bit dry and raspy. “Where is my wife currently?” Wife, it felt odd to call someone else that. I’d need to play this part though.

”Lady Sofia is currently in your office managing the papers while you recover.” The maid said after composing herself.

”Take me there…” I said as I shakily got out of bed, still in my night clothes. I began to stand, the aches from how Hugo had slept on the floor and the headache from the hangover gave me a bit of a wobble.

”Milord! the doctor said it’d be best if you rest!” The maid said coming trying to stop me, her arms held, preparing to catch me if I fell.

I place my hand up warding her off. I shake my legs to wake them up, my back cracks as I stretch, and I roll my head as I crack my neck. I do a little run in place to limber up, as the maid backs up confused. Once finished, I give the maid a smile, and a thumbs up. The poor girl looks completely befuddled at my current attitude, she must think I’ve gone crazy. Maybe I have, maybe this is some delusional nightmare coma, but until proven otherwise, I couldn't just lie in bed all day.

I open the doors to the room and beckon the maid to follow. As we walk through the halls of the luxurious castle of the Armentaria family, I see large paintings of people dressed in luxurious gowns and suits. I see pottery with complex patterns, vases filled with flowers and cool marble floors, lit up by the sun shining outside. Was this truly a house in decline? Even just one of those fancy pots could probably pay my apartment’s rent for a year. 

Eventually we made out way to the large double doors. They seemed familiar, and I realized this is where I woke up before. The maid knocked on the door, and looked back at me unsure for a moment before she spoke.

”Milady, the Marquess has come to see you.” She said in a louder tone so she could be heard from the office.

The doors opened up as an older maid stood straight, upright and refined. She didn’t say a word but let us in. The office seemed like a different place, the floors cleaned, books stacked neatly in piles by the shelves and papers organized on the desk. In the back of the office near the desk was Sofia. She was even more radiant today, the light of the office illuminating in the window behind her, as it shimmered in her dark hair. She stood with a book open in her hands, not making eye contact as she sifted through the pages. 

“What is it Milord?” She said, a hint of exhaustion in her voice. She shut the book and placed it down, looking at me in the eye, I feel a bit flustered. 

“I wanted to talk to you… dear?” I said, unsure of what Hugo actually called his wife. It was something that I'd have to feel out, though based on Sofia’s unchanged expression of boredom, it was hard to tell. If I looked in a mirror, I'm sure I'd be blushing from the embarrassment.

”Why did you not just call me to your room? And why are you not dressed?” She asked, walking a bit closer, her eyes still locked to mine. 

“It was important, and… I wanted to talk as soon as possible.” I turned to the two maids, breaking eye contact. “I’d like to talk in private for a bit.” The young maid look at the older, and the older maid looks to Sofia. She sighs, nodding to them as they shuffle out, shutting the door quietly behind them.

”Then what is it dear?” She says with a bit of mocking tone. 

“I think- I think I might have lost large portions of my memory.” I say, playing up the emotions, I come closer to her. She seems uncomfortable as I approach and so I stop and hold my arm, shaking, worried. 

"What?" She says shaking her head, and holding her hand up as if it ached.

“I don’t know what I’m doing in this house anymore. Everything’s different and- and I need your help.” I say with genuine pleading. She finally breaks her stone expression, to what I can only see as a face of utter perplexion.