"Your Highness?"

I felt a gentle tap on my arm as a woman's voice repeated:

"Your Highness?"

The voice was unfamiliar. Who the hell is she speaking to?

"Your Highness, wake up."

I felt the tapping on my arm again. Is she talking to me? I'm 'Your Highness'? What kind of stupid joke is playin' on me first thing in the morning?

I forced my eyes open and was flashed by a bright burst of white light. I felt a warm breeze tickle my face and the chirps of birds reverberated in my ears. My half-open eyes could make out white curtains gently flowing in the wind. Right by my bedside was a tall woman wearing a formal black tail coat and white gloves. 

"It appears Her Highness has had quite a good sleep-"

I jolted out of bed and tightened my hands around the strangely formal woman's throat. 

"Who the hell are you and what is this place?!" I snarled at her. I heard gasps and shrieks from around the room. I looked around and was met with the eyes of three other strangers gawking at me. They all wore black maid dresses like the one's you would find at Spirit Halloween.

What the hell is going on?! 

Normally, I would be greeted by a blaring alarm clock and the whines of my kid sister from the room next door to turn it off. My blanket slipping off the bed and dusting the creaky wooden floor. But instead, I wake up in a large, white duvet with marble for floors! 

"The hell are y'all lookin' at?!" I yelled at the onlookers. I froze. Who's voice did I just hear? 

"What the-" I muttered to myself. Why do I sound like a woman?!

"Y-Your Highness, is everything alright-" the woman croaked

I let go of the woman's neck and rushed to the nearest mirror. I stared paralyzed by this beautiful stranger who stared back at me. Bubbly black eyes like a swirl of ink, and a fluffy, pink haircut that cupped her oval face. Not a single scar nor bandage grazed her face. I reached out my hand to check if the mirror was secretly some kind of deceptive window, however, the stranger mimicked my exact movements in time with me. I looked at my hand-- perfectly slender, no sign of cuts or redness. Instead, pink nail polish decorated the tips of my nail. 

What in the hell?! I shook my head violently and the girl copied me in perfect sync. Did a rival gang knock me out and sell me to some sketchy plastic surgeon or something?

"Stop copying me will you?!" I punched the mirror and it shattered instantly. Fragments of the stranger gawked at me in a hundred pieces.

"Your Highness! What have you done?! You're bleeding!" the lady in the tail coat came running to me.

"Where's my kid sister?! What have you done with her?!" I tackled her to the ground and tightened my grip around her throat. Blood from my fist trickled down and soaked her neck.

"Your Highness' sister is getting dressed up for breakfast! The maids are taking care of her every need," I heard a lady plead from behind me.

"Who are you callin' 'Your Highness?!'" 

"Y-You are the princess of the beloved Kingdom of Aeternum, Your Highness!" the lady said, "We, as your beloved servants, could never forget!"

"Aeternum?" The name sounded familiar. Where have I heard that name before? 

Suddenly, it hit me. Kingdom of Aeternum. That's the name of the kingdom of the kid's fairytale novel I read to my sister almost every night! And what do they mean I'm the princess?!

"What kind of stupid prank is this?" I sat up and grabbed the woman by her collar, glaring at her eye to eye, "Who sent you?"

"As your lady-in-waiting, it is my royal duty to wake you from your slumber each morning, my princess-" the lady-in-waiting said calmly. 

"Bullshit!" 

Gasps echoed around the room again. 

"Take me to my sister. Now." I declared, standing up.

"Right away, Your Highness," she said pushing up her thin, rectangular glasses and fixing up her golden brown hair, "However, we must treat your fist. It could get infected-"

"What? This little thing?" I scoffed, "This kinda thing happens to me all the time. Now, how about you just do as I ask, hm? Then nobody'll get hurt!"

"If it will quench Her Highness' mania, then it shall be done right away." She brushed some dust off her tail coat and turned her head towards the rest of the servants. 

"I'm disappointed by the dusting done here. Not a speck of dust in the palace, please." 

The servants nodded and got to work immediately, tidying up the place with their feather dusters and brooms. The hell did this woman mean by "palace?"

"And please, clean up the mirror. Not a speck of the princess' blood shall be found on any of those fragments." The woman began reaching into her pocket and took out a hankerchief.

"Excuse me?! I'm not done with you yet!" I snapped at my supposed 'lady-in-waiting,' "Take me to my sister!" 

"Do not fret, Princess. Allow me to cover your fist first. We wouldn't want Her Highness' little sister to worry at the sight of your royal blood."

We exited the room into a grand hallway with shiny marble floors and golden chandeliers hanging every meter or so from one another. It was surreal to look at. Just how much does all of this cost?! 

Arched windows extended from the floor to the golden roof. Not to mention what was beyond the windows-- a gorgeous garden full of expensive flowers and people in servant costumes. There's nothing like this in the neighborhood my sister and I are from...

Could I have seriously become some sort of princess in my kid sister's favorite book?! That's just straight up impossible!

I followed the woman closely behind me to make sure she didn't try anything funny. She's supposed to be my lady-in-waiting? What the hell is that supposed to mean anyway? Now that I think about it, I do remember a crazy skilled lady-in-waiting slaving away at every command of the royal family in the story. What was her name again...? Oh yeah, Eridith. Right, she even saved the princess from a gang of bandits once; this woman is a good fighter, she's wasting her potential here. 

Despite the scene I just caused, she never laid a finger on me. Is it cause' I'm the "princess?" No, this is all just too strange. I must be dreaming. Still, this is one crazy vivid dream.

We arrive at this huge, white wooden door and Eridith knocks on it thrice. Another woman opens the door with a big smile, "Oh, Madame Eridith!" she notices me and bows elegantly, "Your Highness-" 

"Cut the crap," I push her aside and enter the room, "Mira! Are you okay?!" I frantically looked around the room. 

"Where are you, sis?!"

"Sister? You sound panicked..." I heard a little girl's voice say. An unfamiliar voice. I turned towards the voice, but when I looked at the little girl, her face was unrecognizable. She looked at me with the brightest emerald eyes. Her hair was a pale shade of almond brown. Who in the hell is this?

"Sister, is everything alright? You're scaring me..." the little girl said, grabbing onto my hand. I quickly pulled away.

"Princess Serafyna, your sister had a horrible nightmare and she feels a little distraught at the moment," Eridith consoled her, "Not to worry. A bite from the chef's cheese croissant is sure to soon lift up her spirits!"

Serafyna. That was the royal little sister's name in the novel. This is Serafyna. Not my little sister. So why does everyone keep insisting that she is?!

"Breakfast! I am excited! Aren't you, sister Iria?"

Iria? Not my name. 

"I... I'm not Iria."

"What do you mean, sister?"

Wait. That's the name of the royal princess in the story. Princess Iria Pristille de Monarchie. A stupidely long name.

"I don't know what happened... I don't know where I am."

"Princess, let us return to your chambers," Eridith touched my shoulder gently, "You must be down with a fever. We will call upon the physician straightaway."

"Sister, are you feeling ill?" Serafyna came up to me and reached out to me as if wanting to touch my forehead. Surprinsgly, I bent down to her level. With her mini hands, she grazed my hot forehead, "You certainly must be sick! It must be from all the social events you've been frequenting, sister Iria." She turned to Eridith, "I believe warm hot chocolate will lift her spirits!" she giggled. Eridith nodded and returned the smile with a gentle one.

If Serafyna is my little sister, am I the god foresaken princess of the story?! Am I actually in the freaking novel?!

"No! I ain't peckish for nothing! Just leave me alone!"

I ran past her and the maids who were gossiping amongst each other. I bolted through the unfamiliar, glossy palace hallways. The bright light from the looming glass windows exposed me completely bare to this new world. 

"Princess Iria! Please-- wait a moment!" I heard Eridith run after me. Where was my bedroom again? If I fall asleep maybe I'll wake up in my old world again!

I sprinted across the maze that is the palace hallways and zipped by dozens of maids and butlers in outfits I've only ever seen in dramas. They all gawked at me and called out to me in horror. 

"Your Highness! What is the matter with you today?!" I hear Eridith call out to me. Right, since she's athletic there's really no point in trying to run away. I'm not Vice Captain of Kill Thrill anymore, I'm in this spoiled brat's body. I can usually run for an hour straight, but I find myself struggling to catch my breath with just a 30 second sprint. I stopped to catch my breath and faced Eridith. 

"Eridith.... I think I'm feelin' sick. Could you take me back to my bedroom?" I panted. 

"Of course, Your Highness..." she bowed.

I followed Eridith back into my bedroom. Turns out, I had been running in the opposite direction.

I rushed and jumped into my pretentiously big bed. My eyes wandered around the room. Now that I got to properly look at it, it was huge. I mean, literally huge. And this is just for one person? 

Tall, flowing curtains that waved proudly in the wind.

A pink teddy bear gifted by the Count on Iria's Birthday. 

An elegant white couch with golden linings.

Princess Iria's room is exactly as described in the novel. It's uncanny.

I ducked my head under the covers and attempted to fall back asleep. If I fall back asleep, maybe I'll wake up in my old world. 

Wait, how did I even get here in the first place? What did I do? 

I racked my brain for answers.

Right... I think there was some sort of fight.

"I will ask the maids to bring a hot cup of tea to our quarters right away," Eridith said.

She's still here?! "No! Please, I just need some rest. Just leave me alone."

"Then, let me call upon the apothecary assistant. We should apply some wound powder in the meantime for your fist."

My ears immediately perked up. "GUN POWDER! THAT'S RIGHT, THOSE BASTARDS!" I exclaimed, suddenly sitting up in my bed with my fist in the air.

"P-Princess?" 

I turned to Eridith, "Yeah, yeah do whatever you want. Just get out of here!" I slammed my head back into my pillows.

That's right. Before I woke up here, Kill Thrill's rival gang, Gun Powder, invaded my home. I think it's all comin' back to me now.