Fall into a romantic, magical fantasy with Zia Lathyrus, a young heroine with dreadful knowledge of her past life in a new world. From lonely office worker to aristocratic beauty, Zia is swept into keeping the world she once read in a novel safe fro...
This Story is categorized as a "why choose" romantic fantasy, with themes of sexual relationships, magic, and whimsical worlds. This story is inspired by isekais and has references to modern-day earth occasionally and Black femme experiences.
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Chapter Three: The Fickle Freedom away from Grief
Wake up in a new world but process your death in the previous one. Zia sat listlessly in her bed chamber. There were eerie feelings that worked their way into her heart. Her previous life was incomplete. She never found love, she never got the job of her dreams, and she never had a moment of financial security.
On her first day of awareness of her new life, she spent so much time trying to recall the memories of the body she was in. The duality of her past life and her now current one was at odds. Day and night, there was someone to attend to her needs. Having a maid, for one, confused her. Someone near to help her dress, do full makeup, and attend to her felt awkward. The second oddness of her new life was the wealth she had access to as a Lathyrus.
Reading of Zia's life in her journals made it worst. She wanted to have time to grieve and think about what she left behind, but life as a Baron's daughter was not one meant to be spent huddled under silk sheets. Kinship with the woman quickly built as she realized they both had lives absent of personal fulfillment.
There was another feeling that kept building the more time she spent in this new life. One that she feared overpowered her grief, and it confused her the most. Zia felt free. Yes she missed some aspects of her old life, but the world she left behind one was cruel, unyielding, and worse spent in states of despair far lower than she could bare. She was free, free to redefine her life, and find a purpose. Frustrated with the morose feeling of her room, she rang the bell for Jani. Her maid peaked in,
"Miss Zia you called"
"I want to walk around the grounds, is it warm enough for me to do so?" She asked.
"The wind is brisk, but the daffodil dress would keep you warm enough. It's thick enough to protect against the chill. Are you taking a walk around the gardens?" Jani inquired. Zia thought for a moment; she wanted just to have a moment to herself, but she figured leaving the estate would require knights to accompany her.
"Yes, a walk around the gardens is perfect" Zia, she smiled and let Jani fuss with her hair and help her get dressed for a walk outside. Once outside Zia took a slow stroll along the stony path letting her mind wander about her circumstances. Her first problem was dealing with Lily, she could imagine reuniting with Zias' best friend as an awkward experience, but she knew if anyone found out the truth it would all be over. She sighed in frustration at what it meant to be Lily Umbras friend, the girl from the journal sounded flighty and adventurous to the point of personal endangerment. The second problem came in finding ways to avoid what she remembered of the plot in the novel. Perhaps the story of Lily Umbra was one that could be changed with well-meaning intervention. Zia considered ways she could interfere while keeping herself alive, and out of danger.
