Chapter 11: The wedding night (PART 1)
Hua Jing returned to her chambers with a much different demeanor than when she had left the dining hall. The smug grin she'd worn after flustering the prince had faded, replaced by a pensive frown.
The door shut behind her with a dull thud, and she leaned against it, staring blankly at the wooden floor. The silence in the room seemed louder now, pressing in on her from all sides.
Her usual humor was gone.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm the whirlwind of emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
She hadn't wanted to admit it—not to herself, not to anyone—but everything felt so painfully real now.
The cold air against her skin, the weight of the clothes she wore, the voices of those around her.
This wasn't a dream, nor some fleeting nightmare she could wake up from.
This was her reality.
The thought sent a chill through her. It wasn't just the fact that she was in a strange new world—it was the realization that she might never return to the life she had known. She was Hua Jing here, in this unfamiliar universe. Not the celebrated actress from her original world, but someone else entirely.
The name was the same. The face was the same. But the life? Completely different.
She exhaled shakily. The first thing she had to do now was survive. She needed to learn how to live in this world, how to navigate its customs and relationships, and most importantly, how to protect herself.