Why Couldn't You Have Asked Sooner?

My jaw nearly hit the floor. Unconsciously, my hands flew to my face and my hair. I traced an unfamiliar sharp facial structure with high cheekbones and then proceeded to grab a strand of hair. Oh my god, my hair. Rather than my blonde hair or even Veronica’s stark black, the hair I grabbed was snow white. No wonder the maid was freaking out. Here I was, covered in blood, and my hair had turned white.

“Um, what day is it?” I asked her, “And can you remind me of your name? I think I might’ve hit my head a little hard. I’m fine though, I just need a little reminding.”

“Miss Veronica, if you are playing games right now, so help me”, she started, then seeing no deceit in my face, she began to pale, “It's September 30th, and my name is Selene. I have been your servant ever since I got here four years ago.” September 30th. One day before the start of ‘A Commoner’s Love’. If I were truly in the body of Veronica Ixia then that means I’d have to go to the Linaria Academy beginning tomorrow morning. The day when the original Veronica’s hopes were shattered.

“I see. Well, Selene could you please help me up? It seems I’m quite shaken up from the fall, and my legs won’t let me get up on my own.” She quickly grabbed my arm and helped me stand up. Broken glass fell off me as I stood up, and more places on my body began to hurt. It was honestly a miracle that nothing was broken. Not that the writers of the game would’ve let Veronica break a bone and be unable to go to school the following game. But they weren’t nice enough not to traumatize her the day beforehand.

“Selene has my hair always been this color?”

“Absolutely not, Miss, it's always been black. And I should probably mention your eye color is um… different.”

“What color are they?” In the game, Veronica’s eye color was the only bright thing about her. A bright blue.

“Please don’t get mad when I tell you, Miss.”

“I’ll get angry if you don’t tell me Selene.”

“They’re bright… red.” Lovely, that’s not creepy at all. A dark mage with red eyes. Whoever did this to me, I beg you to take it back. This will only make my life even more difficult. Then a thought occurred to me. What if the change was specifically because I was in her body? What if it was rejecting me or something? I was riddled with anxiety as my mind began racing through all the possibilities I could think of.

“Thank you for telling me”, I responded, “I honestly don’t know how this could’ve happened. Maybe I was just so shocked from falling out of the window?” If I were going to be in this situation, I was going to bluff my way out of it. I had read stories where characters became so stressed that their hair turned white. Maybe I could just go with that.

“There are a lot of mysteries in the world Miss Veronica. I’m not going to try to think of how this could’ve happened, but I will have to report this change to your father and brother”.

“Just please leave out me forgetting you! I promise it’ll all come back to me eventually. I don’t want them to worry, especially my brother”, I begged. I didn’t want anyone to find out that I wasn’t really Veronica. If this world didn’t have magic, I would’ve tried to go the amnesia route, but since I look so different from her now, it was too risky. If they found out, the best case is that they would exile me. Worst case, I was executed as an impostor.

“What shouldn’t I worry about?” a deep voice boomed from behind me. I whipped my head around to meet eyes with none other than Victor Ixia. His black hair was as dark as Veronica’s, except his eyes were equally dark to match. However, his personality was the complete opposite of Veronica’s. Incredibly welcoming and kind. In the game, he was the typical ‘nice guy’ character you often see as a stereotype. At least he treated everyone except his sister that way. To her, he was exceptionally apathetic.

“About… Um”, I stuttered, completely off guard. I was already trying to bluff my way through one situation. It was like I was thrown into a final boss right after clicking the play button. Victor looked me up and down with what could only be described as disbelief.

“Are you alright?” he asked, worry slipping into his voice, “How are you standing?” He quickly looked at all of the glass on the ground and up at the broken window.

“A little scraped up, but I should be alright”, I lied. If I were honest, I was just standing on pure adrenaline. Reaching over, he hesitantly grabbed my arm. He tugged me with him back towards the manor. I followed after him, his grip on my arm remarkably light, as if any harder and I might get damaged. Now that I was thinking about it, in the game, the person who saved Veronica was Victor. He had called for help while she remained passed out on the lawn. I guess I woke up faster than she did and didn’t give him the chance.

“Where are we going?”

“Shut up,” he responded instantly, sounding incredibly angry. Please just don’t drag me up to Ryder’s office. After all, he had been the one to push Veronica out the window. I might really die if he brings me up there. I silently let myself get dragged through the pristine hallways that were so clean they glowed in the sunlight flowing through the Palladian windows. Eventually, we landed in front of a dark six-paneled door, and Victor whipped it open. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst, but was relieved to see a bedroom instead. The dark-framed canopy bed lay in the center of the far wall, surrounded by large windows decorated with navy blue curtains. Bookshelves lined the wall closest to the door, filled with books whose titles I had never seen before. Thankfully, all in English. The bedroom gave the impression that it belonged to a scholar.

Victor continued to pull me until we reached the bed, and then he just jerked me to sit down. An “Ow!” escaped my mouth as I sat, and immediately Victor’s face softened.

“I’m sorry, are you alright?” he asked, his voice tender. He apologized so easily. Sure, I didn’t like getting dragged around, but it seemed like it was out of concern, not control.

“I just need to get bandaged up, is all”, I replied, smiling widely, “I was playing around and fell out of the window. Please don’t tell Dad, though. He’ll get mad that I broke a window.”

“Veronica, you-” he began, but then took a deep breath, controlling his temper, “Don’t try to minimize this. You fell from two stories and are covered in cuts. Your hair has turned white, and your eyes… At any point, you are not alright.”

“Then why ask if you know?” I couldn’t help it, my anger seeped through. If he was going to show this much concern for Veronica, why couldn’t he have done it while she was here? Someone needed to tell her those exact words ages ago. Why now?

“I want you to tell me you’re not okay. I want you to ask for help. I can’t do anything until you do,” he expressed, “So ask Veronica.” How unfair. It's like he knew exactly what was going on with his sister. About Ryder’s constant abuse. How lonely she’s felt this whole time.

“Really, why couldn’t you have said this sooner?” Tears began to roll down my face. Whether it was my emotions or Veronica, I wasn’t sure. Victor leaned in and threw his arms around me. His warmth seeping through his jacket onto my skin.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Veronica”, he apologized again and again until my eyes began to droop and I fell back into unconsciousness.