The sounds of birds chirping made their way to Adria's ears, her eyes opening less than a second after, and her hands fumbling around the bed as she looked for her phone.
'Sigh. I'm still here.'
When Adria closed her eyes last night, she had the faintest hope that when she woke up, she'd already be back on Earth — that this would've all been nothing but a short, bad experience. Maybe even a story to tell her grandkids.
As such fantasies continued to swim around her mind, the knocking on the door swiftly drowned them.
"...Come in."
The door opened slowly. Lucie — the first person Adria saw when she came to this world — walked in.
"Good morning, my lady. How are you feeling today?"
"The same as always, Lucie."
That was a lie. Adria felt that her legs — Katherine's legs — were getting slightly better. The pain was more bearable than it was yesterday, and she could actually stand up straight without trembling as much.
'Did my soul have some sort of effect on this body's health?'
Lucie stared at her for a short while. It was a look Adria was all too used to.
It was the same look Judy had every time Adria arrived home injured or when she slept at 4, only to wake up at 5 for morning practice.
'...I wonder how she's doing.'
"His lordship is calling for you in the garden, my lady."
"What for?"
Lucie tilted her head slightly. "For breakfast, my lady."
"Can't I have it in my room like I usually do?"
"...My lady..." Lucie's face turned somber. "His lordship wants to talk to you about your coming-of-age ball."
'Oh, right. Katherine's birthday is in a couple of weeks, isn't it?'
A thought formed in her mind, 'What would Katherine do?'
"Shall I bring your cane and the servants to help you walk?"
"...No, there won't be any need." This was the best answer Adria could come up with. "Bring me my cane, I'll walk by myself. You can stand close behind to catch me if I happen to fall."
Lucie handed her a gilded cane, its handle covered in small gems arranged in the Aurielle family crest. This cane, which was simply used to help Katherine retain her balance, could feed a whole village for days.
'I hope I'm able to take some of this stuff back home as compensation for suffering here.'
Adria slowly walked downstairs, her legs trembling less than they did yesterday.
'At this rate, I might be able to run in three days.'
They say that you can tell how powerful someone is by the size of their home. If that saying rings true, then the Aurielles would be more powerful than a marquess or even a duke.
"Katherine! Good morning!" Baron Aurielle called, a warm smile running through his face.
"Good morning, father and mother." Adria bowed.
Baroness Aurielle waved lightly. 'So that's who Katherine looks like.'
"Hey, Kath! Come sit here." Charles tapped on the chair beside him.
"Good morning, brothers." Adria did her best Katherine performance and smiled at the family.
"...Morning." Armand, Katherine's second-oldest brother, awkwardly murmured as he slowly shifted his messy hair from his hazel eyes.
'...The genes in this family are very strong indeed.'
Adria moved towards the chair between the two siblings. The three of them side-by-side looked like a row of lilies in a garden.
"So, Katherine. You're going to become an adult soon." Katherine's father said as Adria sat down. "Have you thought about how you want your ball to look?"
"Not yet, father."
"It's alright. You still have time to think it over."
But, father, do I really have to?" Adria realized that Katherine, too, wouldn't have wanted a party.
"Every noble has to, Katherine. It's your official debut into high society, and besides, it's a good opportunity for you to meet somebody."
Katherine never had any friends. Her books were enough company for her, and this lack of human connection worried her parents.
'Every parent wants their kids to have friends, so it makes sense that he's worried'
"...It's fine if you don't feel like it. What you want is more important, Katherine." The baron looked at her with a smile; his blond hair and blue eyes shone as bright as the morning sun.
"...Ok. Thank you, father." Adria's heart throbbed as those words left her mouth.
'What would you have really done, Katherine?'
***
"You can go and rest, Lucie. I'll call for you if I need anything."
"Thank you, my lady." Lucie quickly bowed and left the room.
'Well, that was exhausting.' Adria spread her arms wide as she lay on her bed.
The sun was slowly setting as a thought popped into Adria's mind.
'If I were back home, I'd be working out again right about now.' Adria sat up straight and looked towards the door.
'It wouldn't hurt to do a couple of push-ups, would it?' That thought began gaining form in her mind.
'Working out would also help me organise and structure my thoughts more clearly.'
'And besides, no one even comes in this room other than Lucie, and she always knocks.'
'...Well, damn it. Let me just do them fast before anybody catches me.'
Adria changed the dress she wore into something more comfortable, tied her long hair into a bun, and jumped straight to action — her body parallel to the ground and her fists planted to the floor. She moved, paying attention to each muscle tightening and contracting on her body.
"...34,35,36."
Sweat dripped down her face; the bun she had sloppily made began to unravel.
'Should I cut this hair a bit shorter?'
"...41,42,43"
'Nah, that would be disrespectful to Katherine. God knows how long she was growing it out for. I wouldn't want her to hate me once she came back to her body.'
"...50,51,52"
'Wait, did Katherine... die? What happened to her soul?' The endless possibilities began running through Adria's mind.
'Maybe we switched bodies. Yeah, that would be the best case scenario.'
'But what even caused me to come to her body anyway?'
'And if we did switch, how do we switch back?'
'This would've been so much easier if I had been transmigrated into a novel or something'
"Huff...66..."
Adria let her body drop to the floor; Katherine's body had reached its limit
'Huh, not bad considering how frail she was.'
'But if she did die, that'd be the worst case scenario. That would mean her family has already lost her for good.'
'And that would mean I'm in the body of a dead girl right now...'
"...Kath?"
Adria quickly turned around at the sound of Katherine's name being called.
Charles stood in the doorway, his deep blue eyes wide with confusion as he attempted to process what he had just seen.