1: The Beginning Of An End

Carra woke up to the feeling of a burning suffocation. It was as if she was drowning in a sea of smoke while her whole body was being tempered in a fiery furnace. The fiery feeling was completely overwhelming. After some minutes of great difficulties, she opened her eyes and realized the whole area was in flames and the air was filled with smoke.

Was she in a sea of ​​fire? What happened? She asked herself apprehensively, but her brain wasn't functioning properly. She needed answers but knew if she stayed where she was, she would definitely be burned or smoked to death.

She struggled to get up from the ground, only to find that her clothes were not right, and her shirt and jeans had become complicated long garments. She was stunned, and immediately looked around. Although the fire in this place was big, and she couldn't seem to recall much, it appeared as if something was wrong. However, since the fire was getting bigger and bigger, she decided now wasn't the right time to worry about all that. She needed to escape the fire first.

She looked around and finally found a place where the fire was smaller and managed to crawl out. When she was approaching the door to the room, Carra was tripped by a loose piece of wood on the ground, sending her sprawling on the ground. A small beam of the roof fell straight down and hit her on the head, and she fainted.

While regaining her consciousness, Carra remembered an explosion while investigating a gruesome crime scene. And then, something like a wall of fur, barged into her, knocking the wind out of her. Something resembling a large dog? No, it was a giant wolf? Those eyes, animalistic but shining with intelligence. She had read reports about their sightings. Werewolves, they were called, half humans, half wolves. She had thought they were myths!

What else? Ah, she recollected the painful bite, followed by the electricity jolt, that coursed through her body like lightning. She grimaced unconsciously when she recalled the wolf was going about to kill her only for a massive explosion to stop the canine on its track. She thought she had died. Right now, she knew she was extremely lucky to be alive.

"Miss!"

A horrified voice from outside the door, sounded in her ears, and she slowly raised her head. In the blur, she saw that the outside of the door was full of different people, rushing towards her.

A pang of pain struck her and she lost consciousness again.

When she woke up this time around, she saw that she was on top of an old oak bed. She turned her head slightly to see antique furniture, arranged in the chamber. She couldn't believe her eyes. These were miedeval items, where was she?

"Miss, you're finally awake!"

A pleasantly surprised voice came, and then there was a girl's joyful face, an oval face with big bright eyes.

*Nella*

A name suddenly flashed in Carra's mind. Then memories of the previous owner of the body flooded into her mind like a riptide.

She was Carra, a machan and the eldest daughter of the Copperstone family. Her mother Sophia died when she was three years old. And later, her aunt Angela was taken by her father to become his regular wife. Since then, she had been gradually ignored, and was living in obscurity until now. This year, she was eighteen years old.

No, no, no. Did she die in that explosion? She asked herself in shock. Could it be that the explosion brought her soul into the body of the original owner who was also caught up in fire here?

The original host's name was Carha. She was Carra too. Although with different spelling, but with the same pronunciation.

Carra didn't know whether to feel lucky or sad. She was now in a country known as Morica in a medieval earth, under the Athurian empire. The Athurias are the ruling clan of lycans, wolf shapeshifters. In this world, there were humans, lycans, vampires and others. It seemed that she had passed through something supernatural, a portal or so, to arrive here. For a person who didn't believe in such notions, it was a bit difficult to accept.

A woman in a brown garment came in through the door carrying a basin of water. She heard the young mistress called green bamboo, and she too quickly took a few steps forward. Seeing Carra awake, she was also very happy. "Miss, you woke up. I was worried to death."

Vira. Another flash of memory struck in Carra's mind. Nella was a close-knit maid who followed the original owner since she was a child. Vira had also been serving the original owner of Carra's body since the death of her mother.

When Carra felt the thick gauze tied to her face, she asked aloud. "What happened to my face, was it burned?"

When she asked this question, she realized that her voice was hoarse which made her to panic even more.

Nella heard the question, and tears flowed down her face. Just looking at Carra, sobbing speechless brought pain to her heart. The tearful Nella clutched Carra's hand, and tried to console her. "Miss, don't be sad. Miss..."

It seemed that the injuryshe sustained in the fire was serious. Carra thought and lost consciousness for the third time.

After a few days, she was in a state of half awake and half coma. She knew that Nella and Vira had been waiting by her side, and that there was a doctor who came every day to check on her, and change her dressing, but she just couldn't cheer up her spirits. She was groggy and wanted to sleep all the time. It wasn't until a few days later that her spirit recovered a little bit, and she was able to sit up from the bed and eat some porridge and chicken soup.

Leaning on the head of the bed, she looked at a bronze mirror and saw what she was like now. Although the ancient bronze mirror didn't look crystal clear, the face in the mirror was obviously different from her own. The glaring ones were the eyes. Instead of the previous brown eyes, she now had sapphire blue eyes.

Then the face as a whole.

It had small and exquisite features, skin that could be broken by the slightest scratch, and a long hair hanging down to the waist, except for the lower left part that was burned by the fire, and the scar on her cheek? It appeared this was a standard form of cultural beauty in the medieval period.

For the first time in so many days, she recognized reality for what it was.

The fact that, she, Carra, appeared to have died in an explosion and her soul had passed through an afterlife, to occupy this body. From now on, she would be Carra, the eldest daughter of the house of Copperstone. At least, for now.

Nella and Vira, on the side of the young mistress, saw her staring at the mirror in a daze, and they couldn't help feeling sad for her. The beautiful face of the young mistress was ruined by the ill-forsaken fire.

In the Athurian empire, women valued their looks the most. The young men of the empire were practically after beauty in women before other things. Now that the young lady's face was ruined, what would she do in the future?

Vira forced her tears back and comforted her. "Miss, it's okay, please don't cry. The scar on your face can heal slowly in the future, I strongly believed that."

Seeing Nella nodding vigorously in agreement, Carra knew that they had misunderstood her. Obviously she didn't feel much concerned about the ruined appearance, but about the dimensional crossing of her soul into the body of someone else. Someone who must have died just before she came to occupy her body. Why wouldn't she cry for the previous owner and her own seemingly death?

But she didn't explain, she just handed them the mirror, and said, "It's okay, I don't care much about it anyway. Moreover, according to the doctor, it's not that the scar can't be cured."

"Miss, I'm happy you think so. I'm very relieved." Vira wiped away her tears, her face showing a little sign of relief.

Nella said with a degree of confidence. "Miss, your luck in this life is truly special. You're blessed by the spirits of the heavens. I believe that, in no time, the scar on your face will be completely healed, and you'll be as beautiful as ever."

Carra smiled indifferently, and said to her. "Nella, I'm a little hungry, please get me something to eat."

Nella nodded when she heard it, then turned and ran out. A few seconds later, she returned with the water and gave it to Vira who was beside Carra.

Vira poured a glass of water and carefully raised it to her mistress' mouth. Carra drank a mouthful, looked at the old maid and asked, "Vira, is something troubling you?"

Vira nodded and said: "Miss, I've been thinking about it for a few days now, and I believe the fire was not trivial. I have the feeling that the fire was not natural. Although the girl Nella sleeps heavily sometimes, the fire happening exactly at the time I was out of the house to visit relatives, is concerning. I think this was not a coincidence."

Carra agreed with Vira. With her years of experience in forensic medicine, the fire encountered by the original owner of the body was not accidental. It was just that Vira and the young maid didn't know that the young lady they had dedicated their lives to protect had actually died in the fire.

Just like she too must have died in that explosion in her home world. Thinking of this, Carra felt sad for no reason, but she was not a sentimental person.

As a young leader in the forensic department, she could be regarded as calm and rational. Carra frowned for a while, and then told her. "Vira, let someone seal off the room that was on fire. No one is allowed to enter or leave. We will check it out tomorrow."

While they were talking, Nella walked in with a bowl of porridge. The steaming bird's nest porridge was moderately thick and fragrant, and Carra realized that she was really hungry. So she didn't care about it being hot and started eating with eagerness. After taking a few spoons, a loud noise was heard outside the courtyard.