Chapter 1

I woke up.

And the most shocking thing?

No pain.

Odd. Not a single throb behind my eyes, no needles in my veins, no nurses whispering about my charts like I was already halfway to the afterlife. Just clean silence and the soft rustle of sheets that weren’t hospital-grade polyester.

Weird, right?

I’ve had one foot in the grave since I was six. Terminal, incurable, "we tried everything short of resurrecting Einstein to fix you" kind of disease. My life was an endless loop of IV drips, white walls, and my mom crying quietly in the bathroom thinking I couldn’t hear her.

But now?

Now I wake up feeling like I did before I knew what a prescription refill looked like. My head didn’t hurt. My bones weren’t screaming. My lungs weren’t on strike. I could breathe.

I blinked up at a canopy overhead—rich, velvet, embroidered with little golden threads like it belonged to someone who casually owned entire countries. The curtains were drawn back just slightly, letting in the kind of golden sunlight you only ever see in fantasy movies and overly-filtered Instagram reels.

The room?

Massive.

Like ballroom-meets-bedroom level massive. Ornate wallpaper, probably hand-painted by depressed artists in the 1600s. Chandeliers that could crush me with one sway. Mahogany furniture with carvings so intricate I swore they were plotting their own rebellion. A full fireplace, not the fake electric kind, with real logs and a little iron poker thingy. There were vases filled with fresh flowers and lace doilies that screamed "nobility naps here."

This was not my hospital room.

This was not even my century.

Before I could begin my panic-induced interpretive dance, the door creaked open. In walked a girl. No—a maid. In the full cosplay: black dress, white apron, little frilly cap, head bowed low like I was about to order her execution.

"Good morning, Lady Abby," she said with a perfect curtsey.

I froze. "Lady who?"

She straightened a little, blinked at me, visibly concerned. “Are you… still ill, my lady?”

Her voice was soft, but I swear I saw it. The smirk. A little twitch at the corner of her lips like she was in on a joke I missed. She wasn’t just any maid. No. This girl had main villain sidekick energy. Chaos in a corset.

Still, I played along. “What happened to me? And who exactly are you?”

She blinked, and this time her expression settled into one of faux innocence. “I am your trusted servant, my lady. I’ve served you since you were a child.”

Lies. Lies and lacy deception.

But whatever. I wasn’t about to fight her yet—I didn’t even know where the hell I was.

So, I asked for a mirror.

She gave me one from a carved cabinet, the kind that looked like it held family secrets and curses.

I looked.

I stared.

I gasped.

Y’all.

I looked like a goddess.

My skin? Flawless. Ethereal. A soft glow like I’d been bathed in moonlight and moisturized with angel tears.

Eyes? Divine. Emerald green, the kind that should come with a danger warning and sass.

Hair? Fiery red, waist-length, and glossy like I shampooed with crushed rubies and unicorn blood and Gucci.

And my body?

Let’s just say puberty finally RSVP’d to the party and brought friends. I had boobs. OMG! Real, honest-to-God, gravity-defying, corset-worthy boobs. I clutched them like they were national treasures.

“HALLELUJAH!” I whispered dramatically. “Is this my second chance… or a suspiciously attractive hostage situation?”

I turned back to the maid. “Okay. Either I died and reincarnated into someone with an epic glow-up or this is a maximum level anime plot transmigration with royal perks and chaos settings unlocked.”

The maid smiled politely. Again, that twitch. She knew. She knew.

I sat on the edge of the bed, still clutching the mirror and my own chest like a confused but grateful survivor.

Was I sad?

Yeah. I missed my mom. My dad. My two annoying brothers who loved me so much it hurt.

But for now?

I was stunning. Probably rich. Possibly royal.

And clearly living in a medieval fantasy where drama was about to be served with afternoon tea.

But hey—

Something was off.

Like off-off.

I mean, I just casually blurted out things like “Am I reincarnated?” and “Damn, I finally got boobs” while holding a mirror like a deranged Disney princess, and she—Miss Frilly Suspicion in a Maid Uniform—didn’t even flinch.

Not a twitch. Not a raised brow. Not a scandalized gasp.

Very Rude.

She just stood there with her not-so-polite little fake smile, that kind of expression villains in K-dramas wear right before stabbing someone with a letter opener.

So I narrowed my eyes and decided to test her.

“What day is it? And year? What kingdom are we in? I mean—I’m still sick, you see. My memories are a bit... scrambled,” I added sweetly.

She didn’t even blink. Just gave that fake, Stepford-maid smile again and said with the calm of someone used to lying, “You’ve been unwell for three months, my lady. Poison, they said. The Duke’s personal physician has been overseeing your care.”

She even added a totally unconvincing tone of concern, like she was sad I wasn’t dead.

“Oh,” I said with the most dramatic cough I could fake, hand to my forehead like a swooning heroine. “How… tragic.”

But inside, my sass meter was pinging full red.

Poison?

Duke’s doctor?

Three months in bed and everyone thought I was going to die?

And now I woke up fine and suspiciously beautiful? That’s a murder mystery and a fantasy plot twist in one—sponsored by betrayal and breast upgrades.

I cleared my throat. “Can you please fetch me a glass of water? From the kitchen,” I added, just to make sure she’d walk far, far away.

She hesitated just a second too long. A flicker of something mean behind that maid mask. But she bowed low and left with a smile that said, “I’ll be back to smother you later, my lady.”

As soon as the door shut, I jumped up—carefully, because hello, unfamiliar boobs and corset situation—and started snooping like a Netflix protagonist.

I needed information. Anything that could explain where I was, what kind of world this was, and who exactly “Lady Abby” was supposed to be.

I scanned the shelves, opened drawers (one had like, six different jeweled hairbrushes—who was brushing their hair with a ruby comb?), then spotted it:

A diary.

Bound in soft green leather, resting like a secret on the ornate vanity.

“Oh-ho-ho…” I grinned, channeling my inner chaotic gremlin. “Come to mama.”

I flipped it open, skipping the boring front part with frilly handwriting and cute love doodles (someone had a very obvious crush on someone named “Duke Alaric,” but we’ll get back to that tea later), and scanned for clues.

Names. Places. Gossip. Drama. Her handwriting got messier the further I flipped—darker thoughts, paranoia, accusations… betrayal.

This wasn’t just a noble lady’s diary.

This was a confession.

A warning.

An unraveling.

Original Abby MacMiller? She might’ve been rich and pretty, but baby girl was in deep trouble.

And now?

Now I’m her.

So after faking another sip of that weirdly floral tea—and not touching the suspiciously crumbly biscuit the maid handed me with her “oops I didn’t poison it this time” smile—I got comfy in bed like the elegant but paranoid queen I now was…

And read.

Lady Abby MacMayer’s diary?

It was a slow-burn drama, a horror story, and a pity party all rolled into one.