Things that take me by surprise are very few in number. I’ve experienced a rough childhood, tough parents, health issues, failed friendships, and the list of vague traumas goes on and on. You get the idea. Recent years have been somewhat soft in comparison. Life has been fine, although a little stressful. Not perfect, but good enough.

  This? I’m not sure where to categorize it. I’m not me, definitely. No, I’m me, but I’m not in my actual body. I also got younger and prettier, so I’m dumbstruck between a decision to feel creeped out or eted.

  Gssy tears continue to flow down like rain. Sitting opposite a chunky wooden window with a gilded frame covering all my sight, I stare back at my rosy eyes, light and soft, expressive. I raise my small hand to my pale and puffy cheeks and shakily pluck the tears away with my thin fingers. Then I brush the silky strands of cotton candy hair covering my forehead and waving down to my frilly shoulders.

  I just died, didn’t I? Yet, strangely enough, I don’t feel a shock or sadness, just emptiness. I don’t even think these tears are mine.

  No, I was killed by one of the few people I considered a genuine friend.

  By Iris, sent here by her, don’t you think so too?

  Why and how? Where even am I?

  Don’t tell me… No, it can’t be…

  It can’t be that cursed novel…

  Madness Menagerie. A novel written by a sadist. At first, it’s sunshine and butterflies. There is a slight romance, and the primary focus is put on companionship between the heroine and the familiars she summons. The familiars help her reestablish the status of her fallen noble family, and she slowly yet surely progresses to become an esteemed spiritualist.

  Yet the tter half of the book takes a 180-degree turn as everything spirals downward. Her partner betrays her, and the potential harem members do their best to ruin her life. Demons attack, and if that isn’t enough, dragons then move to destroy everything and everyone. From your standard cozy reverse harem academy novel, the story becomes a tear-jerker, a misery porn. Honestly, I really loved that part of the story, too, since I’m not a big fan of romance, and I liked it even more than the cozy part, perhaps, but I really hate bad endings. What’s the point of the story if every character you cared for dies? Don’t you agree? The world simply ended! And now I’m possibly inside that very world, predestined to perish with it!

  I bite my lip, rapping my fingers against the medieval table as it rattles, leaning forward. What time is it in the story, and more importantly, whose life did I steal? Is it a story anymore to begin with, or a dream, or a reality? Maybe I’m just delusional, and I’m reborn inside a different story, game, or perhaps even heaven… though I wasn’t a religious kind.

  Pink hair, pink eyes. Thin lips, small chest. A porcein doll with a button nose and a pointy chin. An anime girl with a broad forehead and oversized eyes… A single character comes to my mind. But she was what, like forty? Whereas I look to be around twenty. Then again, Iris did tell me about a prequel…

  Could I be—

  The double doors behind me fling open, and from the reflection of the mirror, I scrutinize the short blonde who waltzes in. The woman with the maid outfit, woolen dress in muted colors, clearly looks pissed, marching with heavy strides toward me like a soldier at war. I hurriedly wipe the tears away.

  “Lady Cassandra! Why did you make the young master cry? He’s just a kid!”

  Cassandra… The cool and mysterious side character who suddenly disappeared in the tter part of the story. I didn’t even consider why she got removed from the plot and thought the author simply forgot about her.

  You know, I quite liked her. She was an easygoing professor and didn't meddle in any student affairs. But when it came to alchemy, she was basically a guru, a genius. No matter what extraterrestrial problems the heroine brought to her attention in regard to alchemy, Cassandra would easily solve them for her. And now, I'm here, and I’m her. Or, well, I inhabit her body. So then what happened to the real Cassandra?

  “My Lady?” The maid persists pesteringly. She stops beside me, crossing her arms and tapping her right toe against the ceramic, raising her thick brows. Her round face then softens as she asks, “Are you alright? You look bnd.”

  Yeah, no clue who she is. Maybe you remember? No? Not either? Hahh. So she’s not even a side character, but an extra. You know, like the numbers filling the seats in the stadium while some tournament is going on.

  “Who are you?” so I ask.

  She tilts her head, confused.

  “What’s that question supposed to be? Did you hit your head perchance, My Lady?” she asks, lowering her gaze. “It's Esmeralda. I know you always call me Essie, but surely you didn't forget my real name even if you spent nine years in the academy…”

  Nine years? So she’s implying I just came back from there?

  People go to the academy more or less at eighteen. I should be around twenty-seven, then.

  “Am I twenty-seven?” so I ask to make sure.

  Essie steps back, backing her shoulders, her face scrunched. “You are to be twenty-seven in two weeks. Did you lose your memories, subchance?”

  I turn my head right and look her dead in her emerald eyes. Then I nod.

  “Hahaha…” Essie ughs emptily. “This is an interesting strategy. However, I doubt it will save you from the engagement.”

  I shoot up, springing toward her. Then I grab her by the shoulders with my slender hands, pressing, piercingly looking down at her as she hitches. “Engagement? Engagement as in a marriage sense?”

  “Huh?” she exhales, awkwardly narrowing her eyes. “Of course. It’s your duty as the Lady of our household, after all—”

  I swing right and push her as she stumbles and fils to the soft mattress.

  This was not mentioned in the story!