Chapter 2 Wind Crane: Rebirth
Phantom"s voice was barely a whisper, yet it was strangely comforting.
She nodded. “I understand. Even though I have no idea how tough this mission is going to be, I won"t miss the opportunity. I will complete the mission and return to my own body. My world is too important to me.”
Phantom nodded silently, and drew a circle in the air with his hand. As Luo Di watched, light slowly filled the circle.
“Remember, from the moment you leave this place, you are no longer Luo Di (洛萩) but Feng Luodi (封洛萩). I will contact you if necessary.”
Luo Di took a deep breath, and walked into the circle of light, swaying a little on her feet. Bit by bit, she disappeared.
As the darkness engulfed her surroundings, Phantom sighed to himself. Behind him, a similarly unfeeling voice sounded off.
“Have you really decided on this? She has a right to know the truth, you know, the right to choose for herself.”
Phantom did not respond immediately, but turned and glided away. From the depths of the darkness, his voice echoed back mutedly. “I cannot bear to tell her.”
“Oh? Since when did you get so soft?”
Luo Di did not hear the short exchange that happened after she left. As she pa.s.sed through the circle, a familiar feeling came back to her. Her entire body felt heavy, and her head was in so much pain, almost just on the verge of exploding.
She opened her eyes with great effort, and saw an ornately carved headboard of redwood, and the plain tabernacle that flowed around the sides of it. Then, a surprised gasp came from her side, delicate and high-pitched. Luo Di winced a little from the shrill sound.
“The young miss is awake! Jet, quickly inform the doctor!”
“Okay! I"m going right now!”
Luo Di turned to the direction of the voice. A young girl dressed in scarlet, with her hair tied up into two simple buns hurried over, and helped to put an extra pillow under Luo Di"s head. She quickly walked back across the room and poured Luo Di a cup of water, coming back to feed it to her carefully.
Luo Di spluttered as she choked on the water, and pushed the cup away. She looked to the girl and asked, “How many days have I been out?”
She only knew she was the daughter of the Chamberlain for Justice, Feng Luodi, and that she had died because of an untreated cold when she fell into the water. She knew nothing else about her current ident.i.ty, and the lack of personal details made her worry about whether she could play the role of Feng Luodi convincingly.
“It has already been three days,” the girl dressed in scarlet wiped her teary eyes and answered. “Because the first lady was so worried about you, her conditioned worsened and is now bedridden. The lord came over a while ago to check on you, and is now in the study.”
As the girl in scarlet spoke, her tears continued to fall. “Young miss, your life has been so hard already; the First Lady is always sick and unable to take care of you, while the Lord often neglects you because of his court duties. The servants as well, not noticing when you fell into the water, causing you to catch a cold. The doctor said that if we were any slower, you would not have survived.”
The crying annoyed Luo Di, or to be exact, Feng Luodi, but it also helped her to understand her situation. Recalling that the girl who left appeared to be dressed in dark clothes, and that she was called “Jet”, the girl in front of her dressed in scarlet clothes should be…
“Scarlet?” Feng Luodi said hesitatingly.
“Yes? Do you have any orders for me, young miss?” Scarlet blinked her teary eyes and looked at Feng Luodi, but panic took over her features in a second. “Are you in pain? Why isn"t the doctor here yet?”
Feng Luodi rolled her eyes inwardly. This works??
“Relax, I"m fine,” Feng Luodi shook her head, “I"m just kind of hungry after sleeping for so long.”
“Yes yes, of course,” Scarlet nodded repeatedly, “I"ll check the kitchen for something to eat.” She hurried out of the room, and ran into Jet at the door with the doctor in tow. A man dressed in simple clothes, but with a dignified air, walked in behind her.
“I"m going to get the young miss some food.” Scarlet bowed to the man, and left quickly after receiving permission.