New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World-Chapter 307: ORIGINAL ARISTIA’S LIFE

[Why’s Linny acting weird? And when did she start to call me ’your highness’? Wasn’t it always ’princess Aristia’?] Aristia wondered.

Despite thinking that, she responded to the greeting with a smile. "Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Linny."

Or it was better to say that she tried to. That was what she meant to do.

Instead, a sound came out of her mouth and her head gave a short nod.

"Mm."

Adeline and the other maids showed no other reaction, as if they were used to it, and neither did they say anything else.

Aristia was left stunned as the maids entered the bathroom.

But she was shocked beyond words when the maids started bathing her.

What happened to Adeline being the only one allowed to bath her?

"Your Highness, her Royal Highness has said that we should get you ready in time for the palace banquet. She has requested for your presence in the parlour after your preparation is complete." Adeline said monotonously without any expression.

Aristia frowned inwardly. Adeline never spoke so formally, neither did she have such an expressionless expression on her face when talking to her.

And why didn’t she know about a banquet in the palace? What the hell was going on? And why did everything feel so different?

Most of all, why couldn’t she control her own body?

But she replied. "I see."

The maids skillfully bathed her, then oiled her body after drying her body.

After leaving the bathroom, they dressed her up and did her hair.

[This dress... This isn’t something I would wear.] Aristia thought, the frown increasing.

The purple dress Aristia had been dressed in was beautiful, but it was too extravagant, especially with its very wide skirt and puffed sleeves.

Like Aristia had said, it just wasn’t something she would wear.

The maids quickly did her hair meticulously before leading her out of the room.

Aristia’s steps were measured, and her clasped hands were placed calmly above her stomach as she headed to the parlour.

The other maids left, leaving only Adeline following steps behind her.

The air was quiet between them but not heavy. It was the kind of silence that came from Aristia not even considering the need to speak with the maid.

Aristia didn’t know how she knew that. It was just the feeling she got.

Aristia pondered this thing as she walked.

The time it took for them to arrive at the parlour was enough for Aristia to piece together what was going on.

She remembered that she had been reading the real novel plot in that dream space. As she turned the page, the white light shone, and when she opened her eyes, she was here.

Because she had woken up in a room very similar to hers, and the room wasn’t very bright since the curtains were drawn, she hadn’t noticed anything wrong.

But now she finally realized why everything was so strange.

[This isn’t reality. I’m replaying book Aristia’s life.] She finally realized that this was only a dream. A dream of original Aristia life.

The thought both excited and unnerved her. She didn’t know why this was happening, but this was a chance to know what really happened.

A chance to know how the original Aristia had lived her life. And she was really seeing it like a movie. No. It was like she was living it.

While thinking this, they turned the corridor closest to the one the parlour was in.

Once they arrived at the door leading to the parlour, the guard in front bowed and opened the door for Aristia to enter.

Adeline didn’t follow, standing outside the door to wait instead.

The guard closed the door after Aristia had entered.

Aristia looked around the room. Already seated was her mother and brother.

The corner of her lips raised up. "Mama."

Catherine nodded with a smile. "Tia. I can see that you’re ready. Take a sit. Your father will be here soon."

Aristia took a seat down on one of the chairs.

She glanced at Alaric who nodded at her. "Tia."

Aristia nodded in return, replying "Brother," before turning to their mother.

Aristia was horrified. [What am I seeing? This isn’t how Alaric would react on seeing me. Where’s the joy? Where’s the excitement? Where’s the sparkling eyes?]

Alaric just stared at her like she was not his Tia and was just another person.

The parlour was silent. It was an unfamiliar silence to Aristia.

It was unfamiliar because she wasn’t used to this kind of silence.

In times like this when they stayed in the parlour, there would always be something to talk about, especially since she was in the same room with Alaric.

Even if there was nothing to talk about, the silence would be different from now.

The silence remained until Wilson arrived.

"Good morning, papa." Aristia and Alaric greeted.

"Will, you look dashing." Catherine said, getting up from the chair and going toward him.

Wilson put his hand around her, bringing her closer to him and placing a kiss on her cheek.

"You look beautiful, as always." He said.

Catherine had a small smile on her face.

Wilson turned to them.

"Let’s go." He said.

They left the mansion and got into the carriage.

The carriage began moving, heading to the royal palace.

Soon, the carriage arrived at the palace, stopping in front of the main palace.

Aristia watched as they entered the palace meeting with the rest of the royal family.

Aristia carefully observed original Aristia’s interaction with her paternal family.

It was just as the book said; Aristia was closer to her mother’s side of the family.

She wasn’t exactly certain know yet, since she hadn’t seen Aristia interacting with her maternal side, but she came to this conclusion after watching carefully.

They stayed in the palace up until the evening when it was time for the banquet.

Finally, with everyone all dressed up perfectly, all of them left for the banquet hall.

After the Chamberlain announced their presence, they entered the hall.

The following scene was as Aristia expected.

Nobles and Aristocrats quickly approached them.

This Aristia was cold and decisive, quickly exchanging greetings with the nobles and Aristocrats before separating herself from them.

Aristia watched, her steps leading her to another area.

Aristia caught sight of her friends.

The children turned to her and bowed or curtseyed.

Aristia nodded in response to their greetings.

Then a small smile appeared on her face as she called,

"Brother Liam."

Liam’s expression was doting, just a second short of patting her head if not for the occasion, as he said. "Tia, you’re here."

The children continued the conversation.

A few minutes later, Aristia excuses herself from the group.

She hadn’t even gone too far when,

"Um... hello."

Aristia paused.

Slowly, she turned around to see a girl.

Aristia couldn’t remember who the girl was.

But the Aristia watching recognized her.

[Carolyn Cornwell.]

The girl glanced at her, looking a bit nervous.

Aristia’s eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the girl’s jittery state.

"What is it?" She asked, ignoring the fact that the girl gave no greeting whatsoever, not even a mere curtsey.

The girl darted her eyes around before looking back at her, clearly nervous.

"Y-You’re princess Aristia, right?"

Aristia’s brows raised at the question, her eyes scanning the girl’s face.

"I am, and you are?" She asked.

The girl seemed to heave a sigh of relief that she didn’t take offense and had replied.

"I am Carolyn Cornwell, daughter of Baron Cornwell."

Aristia didn’t react, not even nodding, but she tried to remember who Baron Cornwell was. Obviously he didn’t belong to pure nobility, and she tried to remember which family it was in minor nobility. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But Aristia noticed her uncommon features despite being from minor nobility.

When Carolyn noticed that Aristia didn’t plan to say anything, she continued with what she wanted to say.

"C-Can we be friends, Princess Aristia?"

Aristia’s eyes fixed on her face.

Without skipping a beat, she refused.

"No."

Carolyn’s eyes widened.

The next second, her eyes watered and her fists clenched.

"Why are you crying?" Aristia asked calmly.

Her calm, detached gaze made Carolyn take a step back, her eyes watering even more.

Anyone who saw would think that Aristia had done something to her...

And that was exactly what happened.

"What’s going on?"

Aristia turned at that moment to see Ivan.

But to her surprise, before she could even respond, Ivan asked with a frown.

"What did you do to her?" He asked.

Aristia suddenly had a feeling of recognition as she realized something.

[This is the long awaited continuation scene from the Chapter I read! So the book doesn’t want me to read the scene, instead it wants me to watch it. Maybe to understand better since it’s like I’m experiencing it first-hand?] Aristia wondered.

She pushed the theories in her mind aside and quickly focused on the scene in front of her, eager to see what would happen.