Chapter One: The Fall Between Worlds

It was supposed to be just another Wednesday.

Aria Lin stared at the glow of her phone screen, the page of her favorite fantasy novel flickering with the last few lines of Chapter 67. Her lips curved into a smile, one that ached with bittersweet fondness. Crimson Wings of the Crown was her obsession, her escape. The rich world of Elarion, the stormy-hearted heroine Lysandra Valeborne, and her tragic spiral into greatness had lit Aria’s imagination like fire.

But more than anything, Aria had hated — and loved — the villainess.

Eris Valeborne. The older sister. Regal, cruel, sharp as a blade. She was the poison in Lysandra’s life, the first and fiercest enemy in her rise. Readers reviled her for her manipulations, her arrogance, her betrayal. And yet Aria saw the cracks in her armor, the sorrow behind her smirk. She always believed there was more to Eris than the novel revealed.

If only the story gave her a second chance.

Thunder cracked outside Aria’s apartment, startling her out of her thoughts. Rain splattered across the window like a warning. She glanced at the clock. 2:11 a.m.

“I need to sleep,” she murmured. “Big day tomorrow.”

The words were hollow. There was nothing waiting for her. No job interviews, no classes, no messages from friends. Her university life had faded into a string of unfinished semesters after her father’s illness. She’d drifted ever since, a ghost in her own life, finding solace only in stories like Crimson Wings.

She set her phone on the nightstand, pulled the blanket to her chin, and closed her eyes.

And then the world shattered.

It began with a jolt, like lightning striking directly through her skull. Her body convulsed, heat flooding her veins, and she tried to scream but no sound came. The air turned viscous, heavy, until she couldn’t breathe.

This is a dream, she thought, as colors exploded behind her eyelids — gold, violet, black, crimson.

It has to be a dream—

Then silence.

---

When Aria woke, it was to the scent of roses.

Not the weak perfume of synthetic petals from cheap bath products — real roses. Sharp, living, and overwhelming. Her eyes fluttered open to find silk curtains framing a tall window, sunlight spilling through like liquid honey.

She sat up too fast, her heart thundering. The bed beneath her was enormous, blanketed in ivory and wine-red. The room was palatial — polished marble floors, towering bookshelves, gold-laced sconces. Her gaze landed on a mirror.

And her breath caught.

The girl staring back at her wasn’t Aria Lin.

She was younger, maybe sixteen. Her hair, once dark and wavy, now fell in straight silvery-blonde sheets over her shoulders. Her skin was porcelain, her eyes a clear, startling violet.

Aria knew that face.

No — not just from the novel. From every fan wiki, every page illustration, every villainess aesthetic board she’d ever browsed obsessively.

It was Eris Valeborne’s little sister.

Aria Valeborne.

A background character barely mentioned in the first half of the book, known only for her sickly constitution and tragic death just before her sister's descent into villainy.

“No way,” Aria whispered, lifting trembling fingers to her reflection. “This… this isn’t real.”

But when she pinched herself — hard — the pain bloomed sharp and undeniable. She scrambled from the bed and rushed to the window, throwing it open. A lush garden sprawled below, fountains glimmering in the morning light. Far in the distance, the white spires of the imperial city reached for the sky.

Elarion. This is Elarion. The capital. The Valeborne estate. The start of the novel…

She doubled over, her breath catching.

“I died,” she whispered. “I actually died, didn’t I?”

The last memory surfaced like a ghost: the honk of a horn, the blinding headlights, the sound of shattering glass. She hadn’t even screamed.

Now, somehow, impossibly — she was here.

---

There was a knock at the door, soft and hesitant.

“My lady?” A gentle voice called. “May I come in?”

Aria froze. Her voice—was she expected to answer with nobility? Did she need to use titles? What would Eris’s little sister even sound like?

She decided to play it safe. “Yes,” she said, keeping her tone light. “Come in.”

The door opened to reveal a maid in a black and silver uniform. She looked young, no older than Aria herself, with flushed cheeks and wide blue eyes. She curtsied quickly.

“Oh! You’re awake. Thank the stars! We were so worried, Lady Aria.”

“Worried?” Aria echoed. “Why?”

“You fainted during your walk in the garden yesterday. The physician said it was your constitution again.” The maid’s expression turned gentle. “But it seems the rest helped. You look radiant today.”

Aria blinked. Right. Aria Valeborne had a fragile body and often collapsed from exhaustion. That explained the setting. The fainting. The bedrest. It also meant she could fake weakness and confusion while figuring things out.

She gave a nod. “Yes… I feel much better. Thank you.”

The maid beamed. “Shall I prepare your morning tea? Lady Eris has asked to see you when you’re ready.”

Aria’s heart jumped. Eris. The villainess herself. Her older sister now.

She swallowed. “Yes, I’ll be down shortly.”

---

The halls of the Valeborne estate were a dizzying maze of arches, velvet carpets, and portraits so lifelike they seemed to breathe. As she followed the maid, Aria kept her face composed, but her mind raced.

What did she remember about this period in the novel?

This was before Lysandra’s powers awakened. Before Eris betrayed the Crown Prince. Before the Valeborne family fell from grace. Back when everything was just beginning to rot beneath the surface.

And Aria — the original one — had died just after this point, crushed beneath a collapsing tower during a fire that broke out mysteriously during a royal banquet. Her death pushed Eris further into bitterness and cruelty.

If Aria wanted to survive, she had to change that fate.

And fast.

---

The sitting room where Eris awaited her was suffused with warmth, light streaming in through stained-glass windows. Books lay open on a table beside a tea set, untouched.

Eris stood at the window, arms crossed. Her hair gleamed like liquid obsidian, her gown dark as midnight, trimmed with silver. Her beauty was undeniable, but there was something colder than ice in her presence.

Then she turned.

Her eyes — the same violet shade as Aria’s — were piercing. Calculating. But they softened, just slightly, at the sight of her.

“You’re awake,” Eris said, and her voice was low and commanding. “I was beginning to think you'd play the invalid for the rest of the week.”

Aria felt a strange swell in her chest. Here she was. The villainess herself, standing just feet away. Not ink on a page. Not pixels on a screen. Real.

“I’m sorry to worry you,” Aria said cautiously. “I just… I’ve been feeling strange.”

Eris raised an eyebrow and walked toward her. “You always feel strange. You're made of paper and glass. It's a miracle you’ve survived this long.”

Aria flinched.

Eris sighed. “I didn’t mean that cruelly.” She gestured to a chair. “Sit. Drink something before you fall over again.”

Aria obeyed, heart pounding.

“You really do look different today,” Eris murmured, watching her closely. “Sharper. Less… doll-like.”

“I suppose nearly dying will do that to a person.”

Eris blinked. For a moment, her expression cracked — a glimmer of something like guilt. “Don’t joke about that.”

So she cares, Aria thought. She hides it, but she does care.

They drank in silence for a moment before Eris set her cup down.

“I have a question for you,” she said, eyes narrowing. “Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

Aria hesitated. “Not clearly. Just the garden. Then darkness.”

“Nothing before that?”

“No…”

“Odd,” Eris muttered. “You were talking strangely before you fainted. You called yourself a ‘reader.’ You said something about... pages.”

Aria froze.

Eris leaned in. “Tell me, Aria. Do you remember who you are?”

A cold sweat broke across Aria’s back. She suspects something.

But she forced a laugh. “You’re reading too much into it. I was delirious. Probably dreaming.”

Eris didn’t look convinced. But she let it go.

For now.

---

That night, Aria lay awake in her opulent bed, staring at the ceiling carved with constellations.

She was truly in the world of Crimson Wings of the Crown. As Aria Valeborne, a girl doomed to die too early, whose only legacy was the grief she left behind.

But now… everything had changed. She had knowledge. A future unwritten. And a role to play.

She didn’t know how she’d died, or why she ended up here.

But one thing was clear:

She would not let this be the story of her end.

She would survive.

And she would find out what really lay behind Eris Valeborne’s fall.

Even if it meant changing the fate of the entire kingdom.

---

End of Chapter One

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