When the morning sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains and into the bedroom, Charlotte opened her eyes to her personal maid's calls.
She mechanically sat on the edge of the bed and put on her soft indoor shoes, then washed up as though she had lost her soul. Afterward, she spread her arms and let Lila dress her in a petticoat, a corset, and a house dress, layer by layer.
Throughout the process, her eyes remained half closed. Her movements were precise but lifeless, like a robot with a preset program,
one that would start running on its own at the appointed time.
"Miss, raise your hand-"
"Turn around-"
"All done-"
Only upon hearing those words did Charlotte belatedly lift her head. Her sleep-clouded eyes slowly opened, and she finally woke up properly.
I've actually gotten used to having everything done for me- She yawned and walked over to the dressing mirror. Looking at the face of an eighteen-year-old noble girl reflected there, she still felt an indescribable sense of unreality.
Her thoughts and memories came from twenty-first-century Earth, but her body lived in an age before the Industrial Revolution had truly begun. Every day, she wore long dresses, rode in carriages, and had a maid attend to her daily needs. In secret, she even had more than one identity.
For instance, in a mystical sense, she now seemed to have become a believer of Mr. Fool.
-Or perhaps I only count as a gathering member?
Just because she had accidentally touched that Ancient Candlestick from the Fourth Epoch, her spirit body had been drawn into a palace above the gray fog, where she attended a gathering with four other Beyonders from different countries, and even different continents.
Mr. Fool, who had caused all this, had neither demanded