CHAPTER TWO
ETHAN'S POV
Sharp. Pain. That was the first thing that registered. Something jabbed me in the side.
My eyes flew open and I sat up, groaning and instantly hit my head on a velvet-covered wall.
What the hell?
I was inside… a carriage? The kind with polished wood, gold trim, and seats that didn't look like anything from New York.
Was this some sort of dream?
Before I could question my sanity, I heard a voice. British. Fancy British and that was enough to make me snap out of my daze, my vision clearing.
"We shall arrive at the palace shortly, Your Grace. Just in time for the ball."
Palace? Ball?
I blinked, shutting my eyes again and shaking my head. This was just a bad dream. The voice was just in my head, I had taken too much coffee…wait… what happened? Everything felt… off. My limbs felt wrong. Heavy in weird places. Cold air brushed my chest and… wait! what the hell was on my chest?
I looked down and sucked in air sharply at the sight.
Boobs.
I blinked.
Boobs?
My heart stopped. There were boobs. Attached. To. Me.
My breath caught. A golden gown stretched over my—my—what the hell was this body?! This wasn't mine! Long hair spilled over my shoulders, and the tight corset squeezing my ribs was clearly not made by someone who used lungs.
"What the—" The voice that came out was high. Soft. Feminine.
I slapped my hands over my mouth. "Oh hell no." I muttered, shaking my head as though that would help relieve the situation.
What the actual fuck?
I screamed. Or tried to. What came out was high-pitched, airy, and completely foreign.
In fact, my own scream scared me and I slapped both hands over my mouth. "What the actual fuck is going on?!"
The carriage screeched to a halt at my scream. Outside, hooves clattered on stone. The driver barked something in panic and I heard voices approaching.
"Your Grace?" a concerned voice called from outside. "Duchess Leora? Are you harmed?"
Duchess who? I had heard the name but it didn't register immediately.
"Please don't faint again, Your Grace!" another added, a woman's voice full of worry. "I know you don't like to travel but we'll be there in an hour or so"
The door flung open and I blinked up at two people; an older man in a red tailcoat with gold trim, holding a feathered hat, and a young woman in an emerald dress with gloved hands and her wide eyes surveying me with concern.
Their expressions melted into panic and pure distress.
"Duchess Leora!" the woman gasped when she saw my pale face.
Oh God. Oh God. What was happening?
I blinked at them. I wasn't dealing with this.
"Back off, Bridgerton extras." I waved a hand and scrambled back as far as I could before the corset seemed to choke me again. "What the hell is this? Who the hell are you people?!"
They froze.
"I'm not whoever the hell Leora is—my name is Ethan! Ethan goddamn Wade! I am not—" I motioned violently to my chest, "—this!"
The noblewoman looked like she'd just been slapped by someone dirty. "Y-Your Grace?"
"She's delusional," the man muttered. "Someone fetch the healer."
"I'm not delusional! I'm a six-foot man with a high IQ and a gym membership! I don't belong in a corset!" My eyes were wide and I placed my hand on my throat, the voice making me scared.
Oh no, they would tie me down or something.
I lunged toward the open door but I didn't realize what I was wearing and my heel caught the hem of the gown and I tripped spectacularly.
"SHIT—!" I faceplanted into the dirt.
Gasps. Screams. Horses whinnied. Someone shouted "protect the duchess!" and I groaned, spitting soil and every ounce of nobility I had.
Hands grabbed at me. "Please, Your Grace, don't move! You've hit your head!"
"I will bite someone," I warned, slapping them away as I scurried back on my butt, no caring about the dirt I was staining these stupid clothes with.
"Your Grace, it's us! don't you recognize me?" the woman sobbed. "It's Clarissa. Your lady-in-waiting—"
"I don't know you, Clarissa!" I stood, wobbling. "I don't know any of you weirdos! I'm calling the cops! I was just in my office a few minutes ago and I wake up with all these?! Are you in my head or something?!"
They all stared at me like I'd grown another head. Which honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point. One more collection to the list of things I had grown anyway.
Clarissa looked like she might cry. "What has happened to you, my lady…?"
I backed up. "This is a bad dream. This is some twisted fever dream brought on by protein bars and Dev's shitty coffee. I knew he wasn't to be trusted"
Clarissa moved to touch my shoulder but I flinched. "Don't touch me, woman! I need space! I need to wake up!"
She flinched back, sobbing now. "The duchess has lost her senses…"
The man—the coachman, maybe? ㅡwas already waving others forward. "Secure her! She's been cursed!"
"Okay, you know what? Nope." I grabbed the gown in both fists and hiked it up, the fabric surprisingly heavy. "Fuck you all!"
Then I ran.
"DUCHESS!" someone screamed behind me.
The whole damn noble entourage chased after me. Lace, feathers, cravats flapping in the wind.
"Stay back! I know jiu-jitsu!" I screamed, even though I didn't.
Clarissa tripped on her skirts trying to follow. The coachman was yelling for guards. I was wheezing already, the corset feeling like it was strangling me and ridding me of my very soul but I didn't stop.
Not until I reached the top of a hill then I staggered to a stop, gasping.
And then I saw it.
Golden towers rising from white stone. Bridges of crystal. Banners bearing the phoenix crest I designed last year after two nights of no sleep and wondering which design fit better. Rolling hills and the pixel-perfect layout of Caldrith, the capital.
My capital.
"No. Freaking. Way."
I knew that palace.
I designed that palace.
My stomach dropped. This wasn't just a dream. I was inside Empire Eternal. The world I built.
My game.
My jaw fell open.
I wasn't just stuck in the game.
I was stuck in the body of a duchess.