Prologue
Jennifer
Part 1
An ordinary weekday.
Jennifer's everyday school life was that of a perfectly ordinary seventeen-year-old high school student. Another morning. Another day. Nothing different from the one before.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The sound of the alarm woke Jennifer up.
— Aaaah... — she groaned, barely opening her eyes.
For a few seconds, she simply lay there, staring at the ceiling. Her hand instinctively reached for her phone, but instead she accidentally knocked against the alarm clock, which continued its irritating beeping.
— Oh, shut up already...
Jennifer finally found the button and turned it off.
She sleepily glanced at the clock.
8:34.
— Eight thirty-five... — the half-asleep Jennifer muttered. — I'm already late. Whatever. I'll just show up for third period.
With that, she finally dragged herself out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
The apartment was quiet. Only the muffled sound of running water came from somewhere beyond the wall, while the occasional car passed outside.
The morning went on as usual.
Jennifer turned on the light and stood in front of the mirror for a few seconds.
— And here we go again. Another ordinary day.
She looked at her reflection carefully.
— My hair's faded again... This dye really didn't last. Next time, I'll go chestnut brown.
She ran her fingers through her hair and frowned.
— Although... maybe I'll choose a completely different color.
After saying that, she began brushing her teeth.
Several minutes passed in the familiar rhythm of her morning routine. Jennifer mechanically went through one task after another, barely thinking about any of them.
— So, what do we have in the updates today?
Jennifer took out her phone and started scrolling through her feed while brushing her teeth. She watched random short videos without paying much attention to anything in particular.
One video replaced another.
An advertisement.
A meme.
Some dance.
Someone's dog.
Another clip she didn't even bother watching to the end.
— Nothing interesting...
She looked at herself in the mirror again.
An ordinary seventeen-year-old girl. At first glance, there was nothing particularly remarkable about her.
Still, lately, she had grown thoroughly sick of the endless routine: school, homework, early mornings, and monotonous days that seemed to blur into one another.
— All right. Time to get ready.
Jennifer quickly finished preparing, grabbed her bag with a couple of notebooks inside, and left the apartment.
Outside, the usual morning rush had already begun.
Some people were hurrying to work. Others were taking their children to school. A crowd had gathered around the bus stop. Cars moved slowly along the road, and the occasional short honk broke through the morning noise.
Jennifer walked along her usual route, barely thinking about where she was turning.
She knew the road so well that she could practically walk it on autopilot.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
On the way, Jennifer decided to stop by a small bookstore.
The store was located not far from her school. She had been there plenty of times before.
Inside, it smelled of paper, cardboard, and something sweet coming from a small vending machine near the counter. The aisles were fairly narrow, and some of the shelves had books stacked in several rows.
But today, she hadn't come for fiction.
Or even textbooks.
— One copy of the nineteenth volume of Duke Weiser, please.
The cashier looked up.
— The last one?
— The last one.
The cashier took a sealed volume from the shelf and placed it in front of her.
Jennifer looked at the cover and stared at it for a few seconds.
The nineteenth volume.
The final one.
She could hardly believe she had actually made it this far.
Jennifer had come to buy the manga she'd been reading for practically her entire childhood. The story had been running for almost eight years, and today she had finally bought the last volume.
The manga was called Duke Weiser.
The story followed a duke blinded by his own arrogance and vanity. He hated his wife, Duchess Weiser, who constantly drove him crazy with her jealousy over Princess Lucien.
And Lucien, in turn, skillfully manipulated the duke.
Duchess Weiser wasn't exactly helping herself either. Jennifer could never understand her decisions. She could make a scene over nothing, jump to the most ridiculous conclusions, and then somehow dig herself into an even deeper hole.
— What an idiot... — Jennifer muttered as she flipped through a few pages. — She makes everything harder for herself. If I were in her place, I'd never act like that.
The entire story was one giant circus—a cheap romance that the author had somehow managed to drag out for eight whole years and was only now finally bringing to an end.
Jennifer turned the volume over in her hands, looked at the back cover, then turned it back around.
— The final volume... Looks like this tedious story is finally going to end.
She checked the price and pulled out her money.
The cashier rang up the purchase, and Jennifer slipped the manga into her bag.
Jennifer had never particularly liked this manga.
She hadn't read it because the story was special or because it made her nostalgic.
She was reading it for one simple reason.
Once, she'd made a bet with her friend.
And she'd lost.
The manga had been so terrible that her friend couldn't think of a better punishment than forcing the loser to read it all the way to the end.
Now there was only one volume left.
She glanced at her bag.
— Well... Since the story is finally over, I might as well celebrate. And buy myself a cake. Hehe.
Smiling at her own idea, Jennifer adjusted her bag on her shoulder and left the store.
School.
An ordinary place for ordinary children and teenagers who had yet to learn the hardships of adult life.
The hallways were usually filled with familiar noise: conversations, laughter, slamming classroom doors, footsteps, and someone's annoyed voice coming from around the corner.
Today, however, it was unusually quiet.
Jennifer didn't pay much attention to it.
She went up to the second floor, where her classes were held.
After entering the classroom, she sat in her usual seat at the back and began pretending that she was actually listening to the teacher's lecture.
Several points had already been written on the board. The teacher stood by the desk, explaining something and occasionally turning toward the board.
Jennifer honestly tried to follow along for a couple of minutes.
It didn't go well.
— So boring... I can't even use my phone. In this damn classroom, I'm practically on display.
She lazily rested her head on her hand and looked at the teacher again.
There was almost no one in the classroom.
More precisely, Jennifer was alone with the teacher.
She couldn't understand why none of the other students were there today. Maybe they'd been sent to another class or had been called away for some school-related business.
Whatever.
She really couldn't be bothered to figure it out.
Something else bothered her far more.
She couldn't remember the teacher's face.
Jennifer stared at him and knew she was supposed to recognize him. She had seen this man somewhere before. Perhaps even more than once.
But whenever she tried to picture his face in her mind, it seemed to blur.
His features were there. His eyes, nose, mouth—everything seemed perfectly normal.
And yet, she couldn't form a complete image of his face in her memory.
— That's strange...
She frowned.
Then again, Jennifer skipped school constantly and almost never remembered her teachers.
So she didn't dwell on it for long.
The teacher continued speaking.
His voice remained steady and monotonous, barely changing throughout the lecture.
Jennifer looked at the clock again.
There was still some time before the end of the lesson.
She sighed and stared out the window.
Outside was an ordinary street.
People were walking somewhere. Cars were passing by. The wind gently rustled the trees.
Everything looked completely normal.
Too normal.
Jennifer blinked and continued staring through the window for a few more seconds.
But she noticed nothing unusual.
When the lesson finally ended, Jennifer couldn't take it anymore.
— That's it. I'm done.
The bell rang.
She quickly gathered her things and left the school.
On her way home, Jennifer decided to stop by a pastry shop.
A small bell jingled as she opened the door and stepped inside.
Behind the glass display were neatly arranged cakes, pastries, and small desserts. The sweet smell of vanilla and freshly baked goods drifted through the shop.
Jennifer spent some time examining the display, choosing between several options.
In the end, she pointed at a small cake.
— That one.
The clerk packed it into a box, and Jennifer paid and took her purchase.
It was a pretty important occasion, after all.
She had to properly celebrate the end of her eight-year ordeal.
On the way home, she took out her phone.
— Well... Since the manga has finally ended, I might as well tell my friend. She should finally know that I actually finished reading this horrible rom-com parody.
Bzz-bzz.
Her phone vibrated almost immediately.
Her friend had already replied.
— You're STILL reading that manga? LOL. I gave up near the beginning, and you actually made it to the end. What can I say... You're a true expert in ROMANCE :).
Jennifer stared at the message for several seconds.
— What a bitch... — she muttered through clenched teeth. — Once I'm done with this book, I'm going to shove the whole thing down her throat. Let her experience what it's like to read a parody of cringe romance for eight years.
She continued messaging her friend for a while, trading short messages and making fun of the manga.
After getting all her complaints out, Jennifer finally calmed down and headed home.
— All right... Let's begin our final meeting with the duke.
At home, Jennifer placed the box with the cake on the table, tossed her bag beside it, and took out the final volume.
She made herself comfortable, opened the book, and began reading.
This time, she was completely focused, carefully taking in every word and every image on the pages.
She turned the first page.
The second.
The third.
On the tenth page, Jennifer stopped.
— I need a break...
She leaned back tiredly, already unable to continue.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at the ceiling.
— Come on, Jennifer. Pull yourself together. Even if it's terrible, you have to finish it.
Pulling herself together, she continued reading.
Page 14.
Page 25.
Page 56.
The longer she read, the more irritated she became.
— Is this really the final volume? Why does this feel like some random filler arc? Even the previous volumes weren't this bad...
Page 132.
The page contained the duchess's final words.
«“I'm leaving you. Don't bother looking for me anymore.”»
She left Kelan and lived the rest of her life alone.
The End.
Jennifer stared silently at the final page for several seconds.
— That's... it?
She slowly turned the book over, as though hoping there might be at least one more page.
There wasn't.
— ...
Disappointment.
That was what she felt.
After eight years of reading, this was what she got?
Jennifer couldn't take it anymore and simply threw the volume into the trash.
— I spent eight years reading this story... And this is what I get?
She sighed heavily.
— Disappointment.
Jennifer collapsed onto her bed.
— Ugh... I'll just go to sleep. I want to forget these eight years of my life like a terrible nightmare.
Before going to sleep, she scrolled through her phone for a little while longer.
Then she turned it off and closed her eyes.
Her final thought was that same story.
“I wonder... what would happen if I were in her place?”
However, Jennifer didn't think about it for long.
Soon, she fell asleep.
— M... My lady... Please wake up...
A strange voice reached her.
Jennifer slowly opened her eyes.
She still didn't understand what was happening.
— My lady...
A maid of about thirty stood before her, looking at her with concern.
— My lady, are you feeling unwell?
Jennifer stared at her silently for several seconds.
— My lady...?
She looked around.
This wasn't her room.
An unfamiliar interior.
A huge bed.
Old-fashioned furniture.
Heavy curtains.
Soft light filtering through the thick fabric.
Paintings hung on the walls. A small table stood beside the bed, while a carved wardrobe occupied one corner of the room.
Everything looked as though she'd somehow been transported into the past.
A very distant past.
The Middle Ages.
Jennifer slowly sat up in bed.
— What the...
The maid stood before her, still watching her anxiously.
— My lady, are you certain you're feeling all right?
Jennifer went pale.
— Hey...
She stared at the maid.
For several seconds, she tried to remember her face.
And then something clicked inside her.
— You're Martha, aren't you?
The maid looked horrified.
— Y-yes, my lady... Is something wrong?
Jennifer suddenly jumped out of bed.
— I need a mirror!
She rushed toward the mirror.
And froze.
The reflection staring back at her wasn't hers.
Standing before her was a woman Jennifer knew very well.
So well that after eight years, she'd grown to hate her along with the rest of the characters in this story.
Jennifer slowly raised her hand.
The woman in the mirror did the same.
Her face went pale.
There was only one thought left in her mind:
FOR FUCK’S SAKE!