Chaos.
Suffocation.
The helplessness of drowning filled every inch of her being…
Lin Ran struggled in the boundless darkness for a long time before her consciousness slowly began to gather again, like water trickling back onto a dried riverbed.
Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
It took tremendous effort to force them open just a crack.
At first, everything was blurry, but as her vision gradually focused, the objects before her began to take shape.
What appeared before her was something utterly unfamiliar—a set of elaborate, ornate bed curtains in a classical style.
The fabric of the curtains looked silky and smooth, embroidered at the edges with intertwining patterns of thorns and fig trees in gold and silver thread.
This level of extravagant decoration was clearly something a down-and-out writer like herself could never afford.
What was going on?
Lin Ran was stunned.
She blinked, trying to turn her neck, only to find it terribly weak.
Even the slightest movement brought a wave of dizziness.
It took her a good while just to barely make out her surroundings.
This was an exceptionally spacious room—bigger than her entire previous rented apartment.
Against the wall stood a massive oak bookshelf filled with neatly bound books, their gold-stamped spines faintly visible in the dim light.
The windows were tightly sealed by heavy, dark curtains, with only a sliver of weak light seeping through the gaps, just enough to make out the room’s furnishings—a carved vanity table, a floor covered in wool carpet, and a white porcelain bowl on the nightstand with half-eaten porridge that seemed to have gone cold.
She struggled to lift her hand to touch her face, only to see a completely unfamiliar hand.
It was a smooth, soft arm, with skin so delicate and pale it seemed almost translucent.
The fingers were slender, the nails neatly trimmed with a hint of pink.
This simply wasn’t her hand!
Her hand, from years of typing on a keyboard, had thick knuckles and a layer of calluses on the palm from gaming.
But this hand… it was too clean, too elegant—like the hand of a young lady who had never done a day’s work in her life.
Lin Ran’s heart suddenly raced.
As a web novelist with several years of experience, she was all too familiar with this scenario.
Had she transmigrated?
And it seemed she had ended up in a girl’s body?
This realization sent a chill through her body, and cold sweat broke out instantly.
It wasn’t that she had never written transmigration stories, or read them, for that matter.
She had even written male-to-female transmigration plots.
But when it actually happened to her, the panic was impossible to describe in words.
She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
Panicking was useless.
The most important thing now was to figure out the situation and not blow her cover.
If anyone discovered that the consciousness inside this body had been replaced, who knew what the consequences would be?
What kind of world was this?
Were there any strange religions that might burn her as a heretic?
Were there supernatural powers that could see through her soul at a single glance?
She… no, she should be correct now.
She desperately searched her mind, trying to extract any memories about this body or this unfamiliar environment.
But unfortunately, her mind was completely empty.
There was no useful information to be found.
She was like a foreign ghost suddenly shoved into a stranger’s body, with no trace of the original owner’s life experiences, relationships, or emotional bonds.
Maybe she should pretend to have amnesia?
No.
Without any information, pretending to have amnesia was like handing over all initiative—a last resort.
Lin Ran’s considerable wisdom told her that staying calm was the best course of action.
Start by analyzing the body itself: overall weakness and fatigue, the sickly pale skin from years without sunlight, and the dizziness from merely turning her neck—all of these pointed to one fact: this body was seriously ill, perhaps with a chronic condition that had persisted since childhood.
A person who had been frail and bedridden since childhood would inevitably have a very simple life trajectory and an extremely narrow social circle.
In such a situation, the person responsible for her personal care would know everything about her inside and out.
They might notice from some small, unconscious habit that she was no longer “her.”
So she had to keep quiet, avoid making any unusual moves, and never speak up to expose any lack of common knowledge.
Having made up her mind, Lin Ran suppressed the discomfort in her body and began to carefully observe her surroundings, moving only her eyes.
The room was filled with a rich, layered herbal scent, mixed with the fragrance of some expensive incense.
The combination was somewhat strange, but nothing more.
The room was extremely large, lavishly furnished to an astonishing degree, with a distinct retro-court style.
A massive solid wood wardrobe was carved with intricate patterns, and a huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.
The thick, wall-like dark curtains almost completely blocked the sunlight from outside, not even letting in a single breeze.
As a result, the whole room was dark and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.
On the nightstand were several delicate glass medicine bottles, and beside them, a few thick, hardcover books piled together.
She squinted, focusing her gaze on those items.
When she could make out the labels on the bottles and the text on the spines, a surge of joy washed over Lin Ran—she could recognize those characters.
Those curved, complex symbols, completely different from any language in her previous life, seemed to come naturally to her eyes without any obstacles or difficulty.
The medicine bottle read “Calming Dew,” and the book spines bore titles like History of New Claire Literature and Poems of Fiperiana.
Though she didn’t know exactly what they were, being able to read the language without any trouble was undoubtedly a lifesaving shot of adrenaline.
Just then, there was a faint sound from the handle of the heavy oak door.
Lin Ran’s heart trembled, but she wasn’t at the point of immediately closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep.
At the very least, she needed to observe and confirm a few things with her own eyes.
The door was pushed open gently from outside, and a young girl in a traditional black-and-white maid’s uniform walked in.
She looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a delicate face and eyes that held a mix of innocence and caution.
She carried a silver tray, walking softly, careful not to make any unnecessary noise even on the carpet.
Her careful manner seemed to be a habit formed over many years.
When the maid reached the bedside and saw the girl with her eyes half-open, obvious joy appeared on her face.
She lowered her voice to a whisper, full of concern:
“Miss Adeline, you’re finally awake. You were unconscious for the entire afternoon this time. You scared Lina to death.”
Adeline?
Lin Ran repeated the name in her mind.
Good.
So the body’s owner’s name was confirmed.
She had no trouble with the language, either.
The sounds automatically transformed into clear meanings.
As for this maid who called herself Lina, she didn’t seem like someone with ulterior motives.
Even so, Lin Ran had no intention of speaking up immediately.
After all, a loose tongue could cause trouble.
Lina showed no surprise at this indifferent reaction.
In fact, it seemed she was long accustomed to her mistress’s weak and silent state.
She quickly placed the silver tray gently on the nightstand, then cautiously walked to the window.
She didn’t try to open the curtains but merely adjusted the tassels at the edges, making sure no bright light or cold wind could seep through the gaps.
“Miss, it’s time for your medicine.”
Lina returned to the bedside and picked up the pills and a cup of some brown liquid from the tray.
Unable to resist, Lin Ran could only obediently take the pills with help from the young maid, then drink the unknown liquid.
First came a strong herbal taste mixed with the sharpness of alcohol, followed by an intensely bitter flavor with a metallic, rusty aftertaste.
Her throat burned like fire as she swallowed.
Lin Ran did her utmost not to spit it out, swallowing it meekly instead.
Lina then brought over a bowl of fresh porridge and fed Lin Ran spoonful by spoonful.
Perhaps because the medicine was so terrible, the otherwise ordinary porridge now tasted like a delicacy in Lin Ran’s mouth.
While feeding her, Lina rambled on in a soft voice about recent trivial matters.
This was exactly the kind of intelligence Lin Ran was desperate for, so she suppressed the shame of being fed by a little girl and listened intently.
“The weather hasn’t been good these past two days. It’s always gloomy. Even Mr. Swan has been complaining that the red wine in the basement might get damp. The doctor says this kind of weather is bad for your cough and instructed us not to let you leave your room under any circumstances. Just rest quietly for now. There’s nothing worth seeing in the garden outside anyway.”
Mr. Swan?
He sounded like a butler or some similar role.
As for being confined indoors, that matched her earlier assumptions.
“Speaking of which, Lord Herman’s trip to the southern port city has already lasted nearly three months. Yesterday, Mr. Swan received a letter from Lord Herman. He said there’s a batch of important steam engine components that require his personal supervision for unloading, and several of the guild’s major clients also need his personal attention. He estimates he won’t be able to return to Vist until at least early next month.”
Lina sighed softly.
“Lord Herman works too hard. The family’s vast business all rests on his shoulders.”
Steam engines?
What era was this?
This so-called Lord Herman was presumably the original body’s father or something.
He sounded like a major noble and merchant, controlling a vast business empire, constantly traveling to handle family affairs and rarely staying by her side.
And Vist was probably the name of this region or city where she was located…
She had never heard of it.
Lina gently wiped the corner of Lin Ran’s mouth with a silk handkerchief, looking at the bloodless face with a hint of pity in her eyes:
“If only the lady of the house were still alive. She was so gentle. If she were here, she would definitely stay by your bedside all day, telling you beautiful stories. Since she passed, this vast Castia Manor has felt far too lonely. And you have no siblings to keep you company. You’re left alone with these cold, lifeless books day after day.”
So, the original body’s mother had died young, and she had no siblings.
She was the only daughter of the “Castia” family.
With no relatives or friends visiting her regularly, her life consisted only of taking medicine, resting, and reading.
This was simply perfect.
Lin Ran blinked, unsure what to feel.
Part of her was relieved by the original body’s unfortunate background, but another part felt she shouldn’t think that way.
Perhaps thinking she was tired, Lina quickly tidied up the tray, bowed respectfully, and said,
“Rest well, Miss Adeline. I’ll be right outside in the hallway. If you need anything, just pull the bell cord by the headboard.”
As the young maid left and the door softly closed, the room returned to its deathly silence.
Lin Ran lay alone on the wide, luxurious bed, listening to her own weak, slow heartbeat.
It was only now that the stone that had been lodged in her throat finally settled back into her stomach.
She even let out a long sigh of relief in her heart, and a wave of profound release washed over her entire body.
No relatives to deal with.
No strict parents hovering over her, monitoring her every word and action.
With her mother dead and her father constantly away handling complex political and business affairs, this body had been confined to this large but sealed room for years.
She had no friends, no social life.
Her daily routine was simple to the point of absurdity.
The only people she interacted with regularly were the young maid named Lina and perhaps a butler named Swan.
This made survival much easier.
After all, deceiving a simple maid who only brought tea and medicine was far, far easier than deceiving an entire social circle full of scheming and intrigue.
She only needed to continue playing the role of frail, silent Adeline Castia, drink those awful medicines every day, and quietly read in bed without arousing anyone’s suspicion.
Until she had concrete intelligence, this oppressive but opulent room was her perfect sanctuary.
This body might be broken, fragile as a candle in the wind, but as long as her mind was clear and she still had the ability to think, Lin Ran had no intention of simply waiting for her fate in this strange world.
She would figure everything out—why she was here and what kind of face this world truly hid.
“Adeline Castia.”
She whispered the name softly to herself.
From now on, Lin Ran would cease to exist, and she would fully take over this name, this identity, and whatever fate came with it.