The Cold Duke and the Modern Maiden

The last time Melissa was awake, she was busy choosing a dress for the university's 25th anniversary gala. She still remembered the sense of triumph as she had managed to snatch a good deal on a sapphire blue dress which didn't cost her a bomb as expected. She could imagine wearing it to the gala, with everyone admiring her. 'Professor Derrick would ask me to dance and then he would look into my eyes, leaned down and finally kiss me…!'

The last sound she heard was the sound of tires screeching and suddenly she was thrown up in the air before landing hard on the road. The bag which contained the sapphire dress was laying on the ground beside her. Melissa wanted to get up but she couldn't move at all. She heard loud voices and people surrounding her but she couldn't do anything. Finally everything around her was dark and she seemed to have gone into abyss.

"Aaawwwww!!" Suddenly Melissa was jolted back to reality when she fell down hard on her back. She opened her eyes and looked around. 'Where am I? This is definitely not the hospital. Wait, I met with an accident, didn't I? Shouldn't I be in the hospital right now? How come I am not injured at all? What's happening???' All these questions came rushing to her but she couldn't find any answer to them.

"My Lady, are you awake?" A soft voice, followed by knocks on the door sounded from outside.

Melissa immediately turned towards the door. 'My Lady? Is she calling me?' Melissa quickly got up from the floor and sat on the big bed behind her, waiting for whoever that was calling her to come in.

A small head peeked through the door and revealed an awkward smile towards Melissa. This girl was petite, short hair and was wearing what you'd described as a maid's attire. There's no mistake in that classic black and white dress, coupled with an apron and a frilly white cap on her head.

Looking at her unusually quiet mistress, the young maid slowly approached Melissa and only when she was near the bed that she said with caution in her voice, "My Lady, the Duke is calling you down for breakfast."

'Huh? Duke? Who is that?' Melissa wondered, surprised at this turn of events. Only then did she start to notice her surroundings more clearly. The furniture in the room are of Victorian style, tacky for her taste but seemed luxurious. She looked down and realized she was wearing a white dress, which looked like a nightgown that women wore in the Victorian era, long sleeves, low necked, and full of lace. Melissa suddenly had a thought and quickly went to the wardrobe placed at the corner of the room and opened it. True enough, inside the huge closet, there was a collection of luxurious gowns of various designs and colours, as well as jackets, hats and scarves.

Touching the gowns, Melissa closed her eyes and suddenly had an ominous feeling. 'This is not real, right? Did I just transmigrate to an ancient era after I died? If not, what other explanation can there be?!'

Melissa decided to stay calm and not panic even though she desperately wanted to scream out loud at her predicament. At that moment, she knew that she needed to gauge her situation fast so she'd be able to think of her next step.

"My Lady, do you feel unwell? Do you need me to call the doctor?" The maid's soft voice could be heard from behind.

Melissa felt this maid was her only choice to gather further information on this world she's in now. Therefore she bravely put on a smile and turned around.

"Yes, I need your help. Come here." Melissa beckoned the maid to her.

The maid had a pained expression on her face but she still went over to Melissa slowly. Melissa didn't understand why this maid seemed to be afraid of her. However, she needed to get answers and pushed that thought aside while patiently waiting for her to come over.

"Sit." Melissa instructed the maid to sit at one of the nearby chairs placed next to the big window, while she herself sat down as well.

The maid seemed reluctant at first but after looking at Melissa's impatient face, she quickly sat down with her eyes downcast, not daring to look at her Mistress.

"What's your name?" Melissa asked the maid.

The maid was surprised but she didn't reveal it. At last, after serving this young miss for nearly a year, she would've thought her Mistress would at least remember her name but apparently that's just her wishful thinking. Taking a deep breath, she answered with a smile, "I'm Lily, My Lady."

"Well Lily, how long have you worked here?" Melissa asked again.

"Coming December, it will be a year." Lily answered.

"Hmmm, so you must already know a lot about my family? I mean, of course, I meant the basic stuffs." Melissa probed further.

"It's part of my duty, My Lady." The more questions asked of her, the more anxious Lily became. This Mistress of hers had a reputation of behaving erratically at times. No one could predict her next move. She could be kind to you and harsh the next moment. All the staff had to be very careful when interacting with her. Lily was the unfortunate one, being assigned as the Mistress's personal maid.

"I see. Alright, then I want you to tell me everything you know about me. Don't worry, just say whatever you know." Melissa tried to sound normal when she said that. In true fact, she was hoping Lily was naive enough not to suspect anything by this.

Lily was taken aback by Melissa's request. But knowing her Mistress's abnormal behaviour at times, she decided to obey the request.

"Well My Lady, your name is Lady Melissa Rose Knight. You're 18 years old. Your father is Duke Malcom Knight, the Duke of Hurrey and your mother is Duchess Rose Knight. You have an older brother, Lord Melvin Knight. Your favourite colour is dark blue. Your hobbies are reading and baking. You also like roses, especially the white ones." Lily answered earnestly.

"Hmmm, tell me. What year are we in now?" Melissa had a bad feeling in her heart after listening to Lily.

"It's 1840, My Lady." Lily said.

Suddenly, Melissa's head felt heavy and she instinctively massaged it. 'No way! How can it be?!' This was certainly not the outcome she wished to be in.

In true fact, her background and the era she was in now resembled the background of the female protagonist of the last novel she read before she died. This negative character, also named Melissa, was destined for doom in the story. She was a noblewoman born in a wealthy family. She was pampered by her family since birth and as such she had grown up to be an arrogant and wilful girl. She did whatever she pleased and never once was she reprimanded by her parents. Due to this nature of hers, all the servants at the mansion were scared of her and tried not to offend her. However, although she was sharp tongued and arrogant, she was frank, honest to the pulp and wasn't pretentious at all. Therefore, even though she was beautiful and of noble birth, she hadn't had any friends and those other noble ladies always avoided her when they met her at social gatherings. Soon, she stopped going to social events altogether, citing them as boring and unproductive. In true fact, she was often lonely when she attended as no one was willing to socialise with her. Young noblemen who tried to pursue her were also shut down by her sharp words, as she thought no one was worthy of her.

At the age of 18, she was forced to marry a nobleman whose wife had died in childbirth, leaving behind a son. Unfortunately, her road to hell started when she entered the mansion as a new bride and stepmother to the child. Due to her arrogance and unwillingness to marry in the first place, she was schemed against by the nobleman's cousin who had vied for her position. In the end, she was framed, wronged and finally put in house arrest by her husband. Not satisfied with the outcome, the evil cousin finally found chance to poison her and made it seemed as if she had committed suicide.

Thinking of this pitiful plot, Melissa had condemned the female lead many times while reading the novel, wondering how could a smart girl fell for the schemes of others! Melissa was also dissatisfied with the way the author wrote the tragic ending of the female lead and thought there should be a happier ending as the female lead's main fault was only being too arrogant but she wasn't evil at all.

Thinking about this now was giving her a massive headache. Melissa stood up and slowly walked to the bed. Seeing this, Lily was alarmed and quickly reminded her.

"My Lady, are you unwell? Shall I inform His Grace about this?"

"Yes please. I don't feel too good. Thank you Lily." Melissa said weakly.