Chapter 3: Wearing His Face

SERENE’S POV

Before I could even scream, another voice tore through the study. It was a very familiar one. 

I turned, and there I was. Well, it was me… but it wasn’t me. 

I was standing several feet away and staring down at my own hands like they belonged to a stranger.

But it was my face, my body, and my messy braid falling over my shoulder. 

Except it wasn't me at all. It was him.

"What have you done?" Lucas roared, patting down my body, like he was checking if any of it was real. "Fix this. Fix this right now, you insolent little wretch!”

I staggered back, awed by how much taller and stronger I felt. 

"I don't know what happened!" I managed to shout back, my voice cracking in a panic that didn't feel like it belonged to me either. “I don't understand it any more than you do!"

He lunged at me, grabbing the front of my collar, and I realized with sick horror that his hands… or rather my hands, were shaking with rage.

"You have to fucking reverse this," he snarled, his face inches from mine. "Whatever witchcraft you used, undo it before I kill you!"

"Your Majesty!" One of the attendants grabbed his arm, trying to pull him off me. "Get off the King, you stupid maid!”

"I am not the maid!" Lucas bellowed, refusing to let go, still shaking me by the collar while I clawed uselessly at his grip. "I am your King! Look at me, you fools, I am your King!"

The eunuch stepped forward, his body shaking with anger. "Enough!" 

He turned to the guards and pointed at Lucas. "Guards! This maid has clearly lost her senses, screaming at His Majesty like some kind of madwoman. Take her to the servants' quarters immediately."

Wait. What?

I watched, frozen, as two guards grabbed Lucas, still trapped inside my body, and dragged him away from me by force.

"Release me!" Lucas screamed, thrashing against them with a strength that didn't match the frail limp they were used to seeing from me. "I am your King! I am Lucas Thorne, you imbeciles, unhand me at once!"

But every word out of his mouth only made the guards grip him tighter, exchanging worried glances like they were dealing with a possessed woman.

I could only stand there, utterly helpless, watching the most powerful man in the entire kingdom get hauled away.

My hands cupped my mouth, and a shudder rippled through my body. Lucas and I… had we switched souls?

But how? Things like this only happen in books and tales, so how could…

"Your Majesty?" The eunuch rushed toward me, his expression suddenly soft with concern. "Are you alright? That was quite a fall."

"What…" My voice came out low and rough, nothing like my own, and it startled me so badly I nearly choked on the rest of the sentence. "What happened?"

The eunuch sighed and shook his head. "You were trying to catch that insolent maid while she attempted to escape," he explained gently. "You two tripped and fell together. Do you not remember, Your Majesty?"

I didn't remember anything like that. I remembered my pendant cracking and the entire room exploding. 

Hold on… 

My hand flew to my neck out of instinct, searching for the crescent pendant, but it wasn't there.

That’s right! Lucas was in my body now, so the pendant would be with him. 

But I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t pose as the king; I had to find a way to switch both our positions.

The eunuch huffed, straightening his robes. "I'll see to it that the girl receives a proper punishment for this disrespect, Your Majesty.” 

I blinked. “What?”

“I’ll prepare for her execution,” he continued giddily, “it will send a message to the other servants!”

Hold on a minute. 

My heart lurched.

Thinking about it now… Lucas had just ordered my execution a few minutes ago. 

Then the realization hit me so hard my knees nearly gave out.

They weren't executing a servant.

They were executing the king trapped inside my body.

And if my body died...

What would happen to me?

Would I be trapped in his body forever?

Would my own face, my own life, disappear with him?

Terror seized every inch of me.

"NO!" I shouted, the sound tearing from my throat. "Don't touch her! Leave the maid alone!"

Every single person in the room stared at me like I had grown a second head. 

I cleared my throat, trying to sound firm, "It was... an accident. Nothing more. Let it go… and that’s an order!”

They kept staring, and I could feel sweat gathering at the back of my neck.

I had absolutely no idea how to convince a room full of people that I belonged in this body when I didn't even believe it myself.

“Your Majesty,” the eunuch began softly, bowing. “I believe that fall must have caused a severe injury to your head. Let us call the royal physician.”

The other attendants bowed in unison, their voices echoing all at once. “Please, take care of your health, Your Majesty!” 

Before I could figure out what to say next, one of the royal attendants stepped forward and announced, "Lady Eloisa Brandon has arrived, Your Majesty."

I blinked. I had no idea who that was.

The eunuch, apparently noticing my blank expression, leaned in and explained quietly.

"Your fiancée, Your Majesty.” He cleared his throat and added, “She's here to discuss the wedding preparations, as scheduled."

Fiancée. Right. Of course the tyrant king had a fiancée. Why hadn’t I ever heard of it?

Maybe because you don’t concern yourself with anything, my mind jeered at me, and I sighed. 

Just great. This day just kept getting better.

The doors opened before I could even brace myself.

A woman walked in with the kind of elegance that seemed practiced down to every last step.

Her gown flowed like silk water, and her dark hair was pinned up in a kind of chignon that looked too intricate. 

She carried herself like the ground itself should be grateful for her footsteps. And the amount of jewelry adorning her body was enough to blind someone. 

I straightened my shoulders, prepared to play my part and welcome her. But one look at her face and my blood turned to ice.

I knew that face. I would know that face anywhere… in any lifetime even.

Because she was the source of my nightmare. 

Years ago, this same woman had smiled just like that while she lied to the head maid, claiming I had stolen some precious family heirloom. 

Her testimony was the reason the guards dragged me away and beat me half to death. 

Her lies were the reason I walked with a limp for the rest of my life.

Lady Eloisa Brandon. The woman who destroyed everything.

And here she was, smiling sweetly, walking toward me with open arms. She was completely unaware that the man standing in front of her wasn't her precious Alpha King anymore.

It was me. The maid whose life she ruined.