I am standing in a world of black, no details to distinguish at all. How long I have been here? I do not know. I know I am not blind; I can see myself, mostly. I have pale slender arms, tipped with delicate hands and fingers that end in well-manicured nails. Looking down, I am in a thin silken shift that leaves my thin legs exposed below the mid-thigh. My breasts are not overly large, but what size they are exactly, I know not. As for the rest of my torso, while the shift hangs loosely, it does not hide my slim waist and slight hips. A loose curl of long celeste blue hair falls in my face as I look down at my feet, which are tiny. A mirror appears before me. In it I see a young girl with wide ice blue eyes, a delicate nose with a slightly upturned tip, and thin, but not too thin lips on an elfin face.

  “So, are you happy with that?” I hear a voice behind me say.

  I spin around quickly, almost throwing myself off balance in the process and see a child, maybe nine or ten years old, standing a few feet away. His hair is cut short and blond, his eyes a sky blue. He is wearing a child sized tuxedo with white gloves and shiny black shoes

  “Or are you going to annoy me even more because the body isn’t up to your standards?” He asks with an irritated edge to his voice and an annoyed look upon his face.

  “W-what?” I stammer, not quite sure what to make of him.

  “The body, Beira Braemar, the girl whose body you now inhabit? Are you happy with it? I hope so because there are no returns, no going backsies for you.”

  I nod stupidly.

  “Good. You got lucky I had a vessel available to put you in after the way you yelled at me on the street. Unfortunately, it cost poor Beira everything, but her lose is your gain as they say.”

  “What happened to Beira?” I ask curious about the girl whose body I possess.

  “I am prohibited from telling you too many details, unfortunately.” He replies, shaking his head. “What I can tell you is that Beira was fated to complete an important task but due to the destruction of her soul and essence, she is unable to continue along the path she was to follow and that task now falls to you.

  “So, help me, if you hadn’t been so rude after years of annoying me…” His tone turns mocking, “’Oh God, please let me wake up as the girl I know I am!’ and ‘Please God, save me from this life of masculine torture of which you have thrust upon my head. I’ll do anything!’ Wait, why am I repeating these to you, you already know the bullshit you have said to me about wanting to be a girl. You are a girl now, wish granted.”

  He crosses his arms and taps his foot impatiently.

  “Wait,” I say, confused at the sudden swing from explanation to mockery. “I have some questions, if you d-don’t mind.”

  “I do mind, but worry not your pretty, and it is indeed pretty, little head. I know what you want to know and I’ll answer them so don’t bother wasting my time asking.” He retorts quickly.

  “Yes, you are a cis girl,” He begins, “with all the bodily functions that comes with that. Get used to it, it’s your life now.

  “Yes, you are dead, or rather your old body is dead back in Korea. Your grandparents and mother are currently in their mourning period. And yes, I am the one that killed you. I would say I am sorry for the violent nature of it, but I’m not. You just happen to be yelling and cursing me at the time she met her unfortunate end, so I figured, why not?” He shrugs. “I needed someone here to start bonding with Beira’s body asap because the process takes time.

  “Plus, it’s not like you suffered too much from it.” I him murmur under his breath.

  “But-“ I start to say but he cuts my words off with a glare.

  “I said be quiet.” He snaps before continuing. “Yes, you are blind for the time being, it will get better as your soul continues to adjust to your new body. It will come slower than everything else because, as the saying goes, ‘The eyes are the window to the soul.’ So, when you regain your sight, the process will be over and you will be fully paired with your lovely new body. You are welcome, by the way.

  “Let us see, what is next… Oh yes. I cannot tell you who effectively destroyed Beira due to limitations on how much I am allowed to tell you, but I can tell you that they will likely try again, just not using the method they used the first time because of the backlash it creates against the user. So, you will need to watch out for things like daggers in the back and what not.

  “As for the method to kill her, I guess it cannot hurt for you to know. Her soul and magical essence were forcibly removed from her body, leaving it a shell. They were then consumed in a ritual to increase the power of the one who stole them.”

  Magic exists in this world?

  “Yes, I did say magical.” He states as if he could hear my thoughts. “That is because I can hear them. Moving on. Magic exists in this world and is mostly linked to the soul of the people that have it. You, however, do not have access to any, even though Beira did, because you are a different soul. There is a chance a small fraction of her magical essence got left behind, but just like the process with the body, it will take time if it ever becomes available to you. And it most likely will not.

  “As for the rest of the workings of this world, the people in it, the history and all that, I’m going to let you learn that though experience mainly because it is more fun for me. I am sure your parents and fiancé will be more than willing to help you fill in any gaps since they think you just lost your memories. By the way, since you are playing the role of amnesiac, you can’t tell them what actually happened to their loved one, that would be cruel.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  So, I must keep my mouth shut about what little I do know about what happened to her.

  “Yes, you have to keep your trap shut.” He says coldly. “And while you are at it, stop telling people about your previous life. As far as they are concerned that is the addled delusions of a young girl who had something terrible happen to her that caused her to lose all her memories. As for what she is supposed to do that is so important, I have faith that it will come naturally to you as it would have her.”

  He sighs and his expression shifts from irate to tired.

  “Look,” he says in a much softer voice than the loud bravado from before. “Just be careful, ok? If someone kills you, as in kills the body you are in, it’s over, end of the road. I got lucky that they left Beira’s body alive because they just assumed it would die without a soul. If they had put a dagger through her heart, or poisoned her, it would be over and I would not have had the opportunity to ‘revive’ her, so to speak. So please, be careful. I will be watching over you and help what little I can, but I am extremely limited in my ability to interfere.

  “Now, wake up. Your maid is here to get you dressed for breakfast. Good luck, Beira. You’re going to need it.”

  ******************************************************************

  I feel someone lightly shaking me, and the blackness fades only leaving behind the darkness of my blindness.

  “Miss,” A voice says softly as the gentle shaking continues. “It is time to get up and get dressed so that you can break your fast with your parents.”

  I rouse and stretch in my bed before sitting up and looking around the room blindly.

  "Good morning…” I pause, realizing I don’t know the woman’s name that woke me up. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember your n-name.”

  “It’s Mary, my Lady.” She replies. “I had heard rumors among the house staff that you were having some memory issues and didn’t even know who you are, Miss, if you’ll pardon my saying.”

  “I-it’s okay, Mary. Unfortunately, the rumors are true. The only reason I know my own name is that I have been told. I really do not remember anything. I am sorry if that makes your life harder.”

  “It’s alright, Miss.” She replies cheerily. “It’s my job to serve and aid you so if you need anything, just let me know.”

  “Well, there is one t-thing.”

  “Yes, Miss?”

  “I-I need to go to the toilet.” I say, blushing.

  “Oh!” She exclaims quickly. “Yes, right away. Stand up and I’ll get you decent enough to be walking in the hall and I will lead you to the toilet. Luckily, it is close by.”

  I shift my way to the edge of the bed and stand up. Mary drapes what feels like a heavy robe over my shoulders after guiding my hands through the arms. She closes it in the front and tightens a cloth belt around me to hold it shut.

  Taking my arm in hers, Mary leads me to the door and out into the hallway. We walk for a while before stopping and I hear her open another door. She leads me into another room and stops letting go of my arm.

  “The toilet is right in front of you, Miss.” She states. “When you are finished, clean wipes will be on your right and the dirty ones go in the hamper to the left. There is a wash bin beside the door to wash your hands afterwards. If you need assistance, just call out. I will be right outside the door.”

  She steps out and leaves me alone in the bathroom. It takes me a minute to orient myself but I am able to relieve myself and wash my hands in the bowl of clean water by the door without assistance. I slide my hand across the door until I locate the latch, open it, and step out into the hall.

  “Are you ready to get dressed now, Miss?” Mary says, stepping to my side and grabbing my arm to guide me back to my room.

  I nod and we return to my room, shutting the door behind us.

  “Okay. Time to make you presentable for your parents.” Mary declares.

  After what feels like an eternity, and layers upon layers of clothing, I hear her step back as if to admire her work.

  “Now, Miss, do you want your hair up, or down? Either way, it needs be brushed after you being bedridden for so long.”

  “D-down is fine.” I reply, unsure if I made the right choice.

  “Wonderful!” Mary exclaims. “Putting your hair up is such a waste of those lovely curls of yours, Miss. This won’t take but a few minutes.”

  She guides me to small bench and sits me down before gently brushing my hair. The brushing is relaxing and I feel the tension I have in my body releasing with each stroke. True to her word, she finishes after what I estimate to be no more than seven minutes.

  As if on cue, there is a light rapping on my bedroom door. Mary drops my hair and I heard her walking towards the door and opening it.

  “Your Grace,” I hear Mary say, “She is ready.”

  I turn on the small bench toward the door and smile slightly as I hear my father’s heavy steps cross the room towards me.

  “Hello F-father.” I say shyly, then feel my face flush from embarrassment at the stutter when addressing him.

  “How are you feeling this morning, Lass?” He asks, slight concern showing in his voice.

  “I am feeling better.” I reply, raising my hand in his direction for aid and guidance while standing up. “I am bit hungry though. I feel as if I haven’t eaten in weeks.”

  He chuckles in a rich, rumbly way.

  “Other than the little broth we were able to get into you, you haven’t eaten in weeks.” His voice grows serious. “We really thought we were going to lose you, Lass. Your poor mother, if you could see her, you would see the toll this has had on her. She has taken it harder than any of us. She will be so happy to see you back on your feet and moving around again.”

  He leads me to the door as he talks and soon we are in the hallway.

  “Father,” I begin, wishing the awkwardness of addressing him were easier. “How did I address you before? And Mother. How did I address the both of y-you before my accident? I know you said you didn’t care how I addressed you b-but…”

  My voice trails off and he stops.

  “Yes, Lass?” He inquires.

  “But, I feel as if it might make things easier on everyone if I refer to both of you the way I did before.” I continue.

  “Who knows, it might even help me remember something.” I add optimistically as we resume walking.

  “Usually, you called me ‘Father’ when company was around,” He explained. “And ‘Dad,’ when it was just us or your friends. But, when you really wanted something, you would use ‘Daddy’ instead because you know I will give you the world when you call me that. As for your mother, you always just call her ‘Mother’ unless you are seeking comfort, then you would use ‘Mom.’”

  I nod thoughtfully at his explanation.

  “Careful, Lass.” He says suddenly. “There are stairs ahead and a banister on your left.”

  “Thank you, Dad.” I reply, trying to make it sound natural.

  I still find it a bit strange to call another man my dad or father. This is going to take some adjusting.

  I reach out and grasp the banister tightly, and nervously step forward and down, my heel catching on the edge of the top of the stairs, causing me to stumble. My dad catches me quickly, as if he anticipated my stumble. He then leads me down the stairs slowly, making sure to tell me when my stride was too short so that I can avoid another stumble. After we finally reach the bottom, he continues leading me down the halls and soon I can smell the scent of bacon in the air, causing my tummy to growl audibly.

  The Duke laughs lightly at the sound.

  “It sounds like your appetite has more than returned.” He says, still chuckling. “Well, once we get there, take your time. We do not want you to get an upset stomach from eating too fast. Also, so that you are aware, you have two visitors who are going to be joining us.”