Chapter 2- Rebirth

PAIGE

I woke up. Everything is soft. I am warm, buried under a heavy blanket. My eyes open slowly. I am confused.

The cold and the river are gone. I am in a quiet room, in a soft bed. I am safe.

“Wait, I'm alive?,” I look around the unfamiliar surroundings in utter confusion, trying to figure out exactly how I got here.

My attention is drawn to the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door.

“Miss Paige!... Are you awake?... Can I come in?...,” the unfamiliar voice continued.

She addressed me as ‘Miss Paige.’ I thought to myself as I jumped off the bed, heading straight to the mirror.

I'm completely stunned by what I see, I'm different, I'm not me but I'm me.

The voice continues, “Miss Rimestone!...”. I'm dumbfounded, I was ‘Paige Rimestone’. A character from my favourite fictional novel.

“Come in!” I finally replied to the voice. It was a young lady, probably in her 20s, I watched her as she came into the room.

“I'm here to get you changed, Miss. Lord Christian is here to see you,” she says, and he puts a chair in front of a mirror.

Lord Christian is the betrothed of Paige Rimestone. In this case, me, since for some reason I've been reincarnated as her.

From the knowledge I've gathered so far since I woke up, I am a character in ‘Wisteria's Heroine’, a fictional romantic novel. Not the main character, but a side Character who is also bound for a short life.

“I can't die twice,” I think to myself as the maid helps me with my hair.

In this story, Paige is killed by Christian, and he takes away her family’s wealth, but is later found out by the Heroine and best friend of Paige, ‘Beatrice’.

I sat in a room that was only familiar by imagination, but now by sight. Sunlight, soft and gold, fills the room. It falls across the thick velvet blankets on my bed. The heavy blue curtains are open, showing a sunny day outside.

The fireplace is dark now. The polished wood of the chair and dresser shines in the morning light. Everything is clean, expensive, and peaceful.

“All done,” the maid says as she excuses herself and leaves the room.

I walked out into the hallway. The stone floor was cool, even through my shoes. Sunlight came through the big windows, making squares of light on the floor.

I passed old tapestries on the walls, their colors faded, and the pictures were quiet. My steps echoed just a little in the quiet hall.

A wide door stood open at the end, leading outside. I could hear birds and smell damp earth. I walked toward it.

I stepped out into the courtyard. The morning sun warmed my face. Neat little bushes and a single old tree grew in the center. A stone path wound its way through it.

There he was, Christian Zephry, the man who is supposed to be my undoing. I walk toward him with the determination and conviction to call off the engagement,

I wasn't going to let myself die the second time. I know this story like the back of my hand and I know what his plans were, so I refuse to die. I must change my fate.

“Paige, you look so lovely, the beautiful morning,” Christian says with a smile that seemed forced– to me at least, because I knew his intention.

“Likewise” I curtsy.

I have to play the part since nobody knows that I'm Reincarnated, I have to play the part of a low but well-to-do ranking noble, who has been betrothed to him.

While keeping my intentions secret of course.

We engaged in small talk, he kept blabbing about what only he knew, while figuring out how to get out of this death path, paying him a fraction of my attention.

“I want to call off the engagement,” I just threw it out there hoping.

“Making jokes, are we?...” He laughed it off and continued blabbing.

“I'm serious, I don't want to get married to you!, I want to call it” I sounded more assertive this time.

His expression darkens, “You think you can just call it off? Your family needs me…I'm doing you a favour”

He was right, he was doing my family a favour, as he was a business partner of my father, and this marriage was supposed to be an arrangement, since my family is a low-ranking noble family, and we needed this partnership.

But I knew better, “I don't want this engagement…” I was cut short by his hard grip on my arm, pulling me close.

“You should know your place! You're just the daughter of a lolly baron, you have no right to make any decision. We will be wed and that's final!”. His voice was loud and threatening.

I stood there frozen by his sudden aggression, and fell to a frown, “Good day, Christian,” I said dismissively as I walked back into the Rimestone household.

“There is no way I'm going through with this marriage,” I say to myself as I walk toward the dining hall, where my parents sit for breakfast.

Paige was lucky enough to be born in a family that wanted for nothing, enjoying the love of her family and the life of a noble.

I pushed open the heavy door to the dining hall. Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, falling across the long wooden table.

My family was already there. My mother looked up from her tea and gave me a soft smile. My father nodded from behind his morning paper. My little sister, her mouth full of food, just waved her spoon at me.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," my mother said. Her voice was warm. She patted the empty chair next to her. "Come, your food is getting cold."

It felt normal--but wasn't, they didn't know that.

I sat at the table, engaging in small talk every now and then as I ate my food.

“There's a ball in the place today, and all nobles are invited,” Father says as he goes through his paper.

The word ‘Palace’ sparked an idea in me, one that was a gamble, a gamble I'm willing to take.