Katerina opened her eyes slowly, surrounded by a warm twilight that seemed to float in the air. She was lying in a huge four-poster bed, whose carved wooden pillars rose majestically from the corners, joined by ornate bars that supported soft ivory silk curtains. The high ceiling, decorated with moldings, hinted at the opulence of another era.
She turned her head, dazed, scanning the room with her gaze. The walls were adorned with paintings in golden frames, depicting bucolic landscapes. A mahogany chest of drawers, an imposing wardrobe, and a delicate dressing table with a mirror completed the decor: all in a markedly Victorian style.
"God! Have I been reborn?"
Her hands rested on the quilt, long and stylized, with smooth, pale skin. She raised them, marveling, as if they were newly discovered jewels. Eagerly, she touched her face, outlining each angle, each curve that now belonged to her. She sat up and dropped the duvets to approach the mirror. The reflection that greeted her took her breath away.
Violet eyes stared back at her, framed by thick lashes beneath fine, elegant eyebrows. Her skin was porcelain, her full, defined lips concealed perfect teeth, and her black hair fell in long curls like cascades of ink. She smiled with a mixture of euphoria and vertigo. She couldn't contain herself.
"It can't be..." she said, smiling ecstatically, and as she did, she squealed with emotion and looked at the ceiling. "I've been reborn, thank you, thank you."
Just at that moment, the door opened abruptly, echoing in the walls. A young woman, dressed in a simple tunic and with an impatient look, burst into the room:
"Miss! Oh, you're already up! Thank God, my prayers were heard! I'll go and tell your mother, please wait for me."
Katerina didn't have time to respond. The maid disappeared as quickly as she arrived.
She sat on the edge of the bed, processing the situation. Only a few minutes passed before a flurry of hurried steps echoed in the hallway. The door opened again, and a woman entered. She was so similar to her that the resemblance was unsettling.
"My daughter... you're awake," the woman threw herself into her arms, trembling with sobs. "Don't do this to me again... I almost died of grief."
Katerina remained motionless for a few seconds, not knowing how to react.
"Excuse me... What is my name?"
The woman froze. Her face paled immediately, and she turned to the maid.
"Get the doctor, quickly!"
She took her hands gently, but fear was evident in her eyes.
"Your name is Avery... daughter of the Archduke of Richmond."
"Archduke?" Katerina repeated, and a pang of recognition crossed her mind.
"That's right. I am Eliana, your mother," the woman replied, taking her hands delicately with a maternal gesture that mixed with desperation. "And Fania, your maid, is there. Don't you remember anything?"
She shook her head.
The woman collapsed, sobbing bitterly.
"I knew your habit would end badly! Always climbing onto the roof with a book in your hands..."
"What happened to me?" she asked, almost in a whisper, as she tried to assimilate the magnitude of the change.
"You were on the roof reading your favorite book," Eliana explained, in the tone of someone narrating an unavoidable tragedy. "You lost your balance and fell to the ground. You've been unconscious for a week, my dear."
"How long have I been going up there?"
"Since you were five years old. It was your refuge, your favorite corner..."
Was her fall a result of chance or the prelude to something more sinister?
Katerina looked away. If she knew that the real Avery was no longer here, that another soul now inhabited this body... her heart would break. Even so, she whispered guiltily:
Katerina lowered her gaze. She didn't know what to say. That woman... what would she feel if she knew that her real daughter was gone?
"I'm sorry... forgive me."
"Darling, don't think about it anymore. Just promise me you won't go up there again."
Katerina smiled slightly, with an unexpected warmth.
"I promise... mother."
The word came out as a whisper, charged with an emotional weight that even she did not expect. She had never said it. Not really. Her biological mother had been just a photograph and a goodbye that she never understood.
A knot formed in her throat. She thought of her grandfather. Of how he raised her with sweetness, of the stories he told her before going to sleep, of his trembling voice telling her that her mother simply "couldn't handle the burden." She also thought that, at least, he was no longer alone. He left six months earlier. In some way, that brought her some comfort.
The door opened again. Fania entered accompanied by an elderly doctor who approached with solemn gestures.
The doctor examined her quickly and precisely. After a few minutes, he concluded:
"There is no severe physical damage. Only partial amnesia, probably temporary. It may take days... weeks. Maybe longer."
Eliana nodded. Her face was a mask of anguish and hope.
"What can we do?"
"Talk to her. Remind her of her life, her hobbies. Take her to familiar places. Sometimes memories are awakened by emotional stimuli."
"Thank you, doctor."
The man bowed, left a small bottle of medicine on a tray, and left.
Katerina—or Avery, now—leaned back for a moment, her head full of noise.
Nothing made sense. Why would she fall if that place was her refuge since childhood?
Katerina—or Avery, now—sighed.
"Mother... do I have siblings?"
Eliana didn't have time to answer. The door opened again, and a shrill voice flooded the room.
"Sisterrr! You're okay!" A young woman with light brown hair and blue eyes threw herself into her arms with a sea of fake tears.
Katerina felt a chill. The rejection was automatic.
Eliana intervened, separating them gently.
"Your sister lost her memory. She doesn't remember you."
"What!? It can't be! She has to remember me!"
"It's better if you leave. She needs to rest."
"Oh... yes, of course..." said the girl, pouting. "Rest, little sister..."
Katerina noticed how her sister's smile faded just a second before recomposing itself. Her theatricality was evident. As she left, she threw a "rest, little sister" as fake as a glass diamond.
Once she left, Avery turned to her mother.
"What is her name?"
"Agata."
Katerina's eyes widened.
And then everything clicked.
"Love Among Thorns."
A historical romance novel full of manipulations, betrayals, and deaths disguised as "destiny." Agata Richmond and Ossian Grosvenor. A love that destroys everything in its path, from the Emperor to the Crown Prince.
And among the rubble... Avery and her mother. Killed by envy. By power. That is, she turned out to be an extra character who is destined to die at the hands of her vile sister out of mere envy.
"Damn!" she exclaimed suddenly, with a knot in her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Eliana asked.
"What is the second prince's name?"
"Ossian Grosvenor..."
"Shit, and more shit!"
Eliana took a step back, astonished.
Avery looked at her intently. Her face, although tired, was beautiful. Innocent. And tragic.
Then a forgotten memory from the book flashed through her mind like lightning: The past of her mother. Her pain. The way he had defiled her dignity.
Eliana White had been a commoner, the most beautiful... So beautiful was she that more than one nobleman wanted to take her as his wife, including the Archduke of Richmond.
However, that lady was not dazzled by titles or empty promises. She rejected courtship firmly, without a hint of doubt. Some accepted it with dignity, others insisted... and among them, the most persistent: the infamous Archduke.
One day, moved by his obsession and cruelty, he followed her silently to an abandoned warehouse. There, under the shadows, he cornered her like a beast stalks its prey. He snatched her virtue without mercy, sealing her fate with violence and sin.
He then forced her family to give her in marriage, alleging honor and convenience.
Her parents resisted, but they understood well the cruel rules of that society: if they did not agree, their daughter's reputation would be ruined forever. No one would ever see her as worthy, and even less so after that despicable act left fruit in her womb.
Suddenly, another memory of the book flashed in her mind like a warning:
A couple of lines lost in an unimportant chapter, where the miserable life that mother and daughter led in that mansion was mentioned. The constant contempt of the Archduke, the subtle abuses of his first wife, and the cruelty of Agata, the favorite daughter.
Eliana, as the second wife, was little more than a shadow. Avery, the daughter of the scandal, received cold looks and sharp words.
Katerina could not understand how someone so vile, so manipulative, and cruel as Agata could be the protagonist of a love story.
But it no longer mattered. The only thing that was clear to her was one thing:
"I'm going to change my destiny," she whispered between her teeth, with a burning promise in her heart.
"And also my mother's."
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