The last thing Ethan Carter remembered was the metallic screech of brakes, followed by an impact he never fully felt. After that, there was only darkness. There was no goddess waiting to welcome him, nor a floating screen explaining that he had been chosen to save another world. Time simply ceased to exist.
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a white stone ceiling decorated with intricate carvings of roses and bats. The dim reddish light of several crystal lamps bathed the room in an elegant glow that looked nothing like the artificial lighting of a hospital.
He remained still for several seconds, convinced that he was still dreaming, until the faint scent of incense and old wood reached his nose. It felt far too real to be a dream.
He tried to sit up and immediately felt that something was wrong. His body was much lighter. The velvet blanket slid from his legs with strange ease, and a long curtain of silver hair fell over his chest. Ethan froze completely.
He slowly lowered his gaze, stared at the small, delicate hands resting on the mattress, and felt a chill run down his spine. He swallowed before bringing one hand to his face. His skin was incredibly smooth.
There was no trace of facial hair. His fingers traced features far finer than the ones he remembered. He abruptly turned his head until he spotted a massive mirror resting against the wall.
He climbed out of bed almost on instinct and walked toward it. Every step made the situation feel even more unreal. Ethan Carter was not standing in the mirror.
A young woman who looked around seventeen stared back at him with the same bewildered eyes. She had long hair as silver as moonlight, skin so pale it looked like porcelain, and deep red eyes that stood out against the rest of her face. When she slightly opened her mouth in surprise, two small, sharp fangs became visible.
He remained there for a long moment, staring at the reflection.
"No..."
His voice was different too.
Much softer.
He leaned against the edge of the vanity and closed his eyes. The logical reaction would have been to panic. To scream. To deny reality. Yet after the initial shock, a strange calm began settling inside him.
He was alive.
He did not understand how or why, but he was still breathing.
The alternative was fairly obvious. He had died on Earth and somehow awakened somewhere else in another person's body.
"Well..." he muttered with a nervous smile. "I guess that explains why I never got to see the ending of that series."
A small laugh escaped him when he realized how absurd his own comment sounded. It was a strange reaction, even for him, but laughing seemed much more useful than losing control. After all, if this was real, getting angry would not change anything.
He looked at the young woman in the mirror again.
"I can't go back."
The words came naturally.
He did not need some divine explanation to understand that. His old life was over. His parents, his friends, university, and all the little problems that had seemed important only hours ago belonged to another existence.
If he had truly been given a second chance, wasting it by mourning forever would be stupid.
"All right..." he said, taking a deep breath. "Then I'll live as her."
At that exact moment, a sharp pain pierced his head.
Thousands of disconnected images flashed through his mind in barely a second. A massive castle wrapped in darkness. A white-haired woman smiling gently. A black banner decorated with a silver bat. A ceremonial sword. A gigantic city moving between mountains. A hall filled with nobles bowing their heads. The smell of blood. The taste of wine.
Finally, one name emerged clearly from the storm of memories.
Lilith Bloodrose.
Ethan opened his eyes in shock as the pain vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
Those were not his memories.
They were fragments belonging to the original owner of this body.
They did not explain much, but they were enough for him to understand two things. First, the young woman in the mirror was named Lilith Bloodrose.
Second, she was royalty.
"A princess?"
Before he could think about it any further, three soft knocks sounded from the other side of the door.
"Lady Lilith, are you awake?"
Ethan froze.
The feminine voice sounded respectful, but also accustomed to speaking with someone important.
"Yes..." he replied after a moment of hesitation.
"I'm glad to hear it. The commander requests your presence at breakfast. The Eternal Bastion will reach the next exploration point in two hours."
Eternal Bastion.
Another memory briefly crossed his mind.
A gigantic fortress moving on four colossal steel legs while thousands of people lived within it.
"Understood. I'll be there shortly."
"Of course, milady."
The footsteps faded down the corridor.
Ethan slowly released the breath he had been holding.
If this was still a dream, it was the most elaborate one he had ever experienced.
He opened the enormous wooden wardrobe beside the bed. Everything inside was perfectly organized. There were formal dresses, cloaks embroidered with silver thread, tall boots, leather gloves, and several black uniforms decorated with red details.
After several minutes of trial and error, he managed to dress himself in one of the simpler outfits.
The fitted jacket, dark skirt, and short cloak were surprisingly comfortable.
"This definitely takes longer than putting on a pair of jeans."
He looked at himself in the mirror again and could not help nodding with some satisfaction.
The young woman reflected there truly looked like a princess.
It was difficult to believe that only a few minutes earlier he had been an ordinary university student.
He opened the door.
The corridor was built from the same white stone as the bedroom and decorated with large windows of reddish glass. Servants, soldiers, and nobles moved back and forth as they carried out their duties. The moment they noticed him, every one of them offered a slight bow.
"Good morning, Lady Lilith."
"It's a pleasure to see you recovered."
Ethan responded with a simple nod.
He had absolutely no idea how a princess was supposed to behave, so he decided that speaking as little as possible was probably the safest strategy.
As he walked, more memories continued to surface in small fragments. They were not enough to reconstruct Lilith's entire life, but they were enough to guide him.
She was the third princess of the Vampire Kingdom.
She had spent years living aboard the Eternal Bastion as a representative of her nation under an ancient treaty between the great kingdoms.
He also understood that the real Lilith had been reserved and rarely spoke, something that, by pure luck, worked entirely in his favor.
The corridor ended before a massive open doorway.
A powerful gust of wind struck his face.
Ethan crossed the threshold without imagining what awaited him on the other side.
He stopped dead.
An enormous city stretched out before him.
Not a castle.
Not a conventional fortress.
An actual city filled with crowded markets, entire residential districts, plazas, gardens, academies, watchtowers, and thousands of people going about their daily lives.
The murmur of countless voices mixed with the sound of enormous gears that caused the ground beneath his feet to vibrate gently.
He slowly approached the outer wall.
Then he looked down.
Four colossal steel legs, each one as enormous as a mountain, moved slowly across an endless forest below.
Every step shook the gigantic structure while clouds of dust rose between the trees. In the distance stood black mountains, rivers of brilliant blue, and the ruins of ancient cities that seemed to have been forgotten by time itself.
This was not a castle.
It was an entire city walking across a wild continent.
Ethan placed both hands on the cold stone of the wall as a smile slowly appeared on his face.
His old life was over.
His body was completely different.
And he had absolutely no idea what kind of world he had found himself in.
But for the first time since opening his eyes, he felt something stronger than uncertainty.
Excitement.
"All right..." he murmured without taking his eyes off the vast horizon. "Let's see how far this journey takes me."