Frostina opened her eyes.

  Velvet curtains framed the windows. Gilded trim traced the edges of the walls. Above her, a crystalline chandelier shimmered in the golden light of morning. Beneath her, silk sheets brushed her skin with unnatural softness.

  This was not a battlefield.

  It was Cryssa Stelluna’s bedroom.

  Luxurious, serene, and familiar.

  And then…

  “KYAAAAAA!! Who are you?! Where’s my aunty?!”

  The scream pierced the calm like a dagger through silk.

  A blonde-haired child, wide-eyed and terrified, stood in the doorway, pointing at her as if she were a stranger.

  And to the girl… she was.

  (“Mmnnn… Roxy’s so noisy…”)

  A sleepy, familiar voice stirred in her mind.

  (“Hmm? …Wait, why can’t I move my body?!”)

  It was Cryssa.

  Frostina blinked at her own reflection in the full-length mirror just beyond the bed’s gauzy canopy.

  Black hair. Deep obsidian eyes.

  No silver locks. No sky-blue gaze.

  Not Cryssa Stelluna.

  Frostina then murmured inwardly.

  “I think our situation has… changed.”

  Before either could fully process what was happening, a glowing window materialized, suspended in midair like script etched from starlight.

  ? Exclusive Quest Completed! ?

  ? Stelluna’s Destruction Prevention ?

  ? Rank: Mythical ?

  ? You defended Stelluna territories from the catastrophe successfully! ?

  ? Congratulations! ?

  ? Rewards: ?

  ? Frostina’s Physical Body ?

  ? You may now switch between Frostina (Player) and Cryssa Stelluna (NPC). ?

  ? Role switching requires mutual consent. ?

  ? Cannot switch in front of non-Stelluna individuals, players, or during battle. ?

  ? You can respawn only while inhabiting Frostina. ?

  ? Any player-exclusive rewards (e.g. experience points, loot, quest progress) earned through Cryssa Stelluna will be automatically transferred to Frostina. ?

  ? Partial System Authority ?

  ? An exclusive NPC System has been unlocked! ?

  ? You may access the NPC System only when inhabiting Cryssa Stelluna. ?

  The two girls, souls bound in a single body, read the system window in stunned silence.

  (“Did we really… succeed in defending Selini and Stellar?”)

  Frostina nodded mentally, her expression unreadable.

  “Looks like it. Though judging from the time, we must’ve been unconscious for nearly a full day.”

  With a thought, she summoned the status screen.

  “All stats are ten. Balanced starter stats… for a human player.”

  She muttered.

  Gone was her old power, no ice-based passives, no freezing spells, no Stelluna Swordsmanship in the skill list.

  She wasn’t Frostina the Frozen Witch anymore.

  Just a newly spawned player, wrapped in leather armor, barely above a villager.

  Cryssa’s voice softened.

  (“More importantly, you finally have your body back. Congratulations!”)

  Frostina hesitated.

  “...But you can’t use yours in the meantime.”

  (“Mhm! It doesn’t matter. I expected this much after seeing the quest screen.”)

  The image of yesterday’s quest prompt returned to her memory, specifically, the handwritten footnote scrawled in cheeky text at the bottom:

  ? P.S.: Don’t expect too much from the rewards. ?

  Cryssa added with a hint of optimism.

  (“Besides, it’s not like I’ve completely lost my body, right?”)

  “...If you say so.”

  Frostina exhaled softly and finally turned her attention to the room.

  The scream had worked.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  People were flooding in.

  One by one, Stelluna’s retainers entered.

  Seventy-two maids clad in uniform, each gripping a sword.

  Three more arrived with staves in hand.

  Then came ten ordinary maids, wide-eyed but composed.

  And lastly, Roxy again, standing just behind the tall figure who entered at the rear.

  Lyra Stelluna.

  The room, once a quiet place of rest, now overflowed with bodies, weapons, and worry. Cryssa’s family and servants had dropped everything to rush to her side.

  Frostina sat still as they circled her like guardians forming a protective ring.

  She blinked slowly and talked in her mind again.

  “You are… really blessed.”

  Cryssa’s voice rippled with a quiet laugh.

  (“It was all thanks to you, too.”)

  Frostina didn’t respond, but her eyes lingered on the gathered women. Each one here not because of duty alone, but because of loyalty.

  Because Cryssa had grown into someone worth protecting.

  And Frostina, in her quiet way, had helped make that happen.

  The air in the room remained tense.

  Swords hovered. Staves glowed.

  Frostina stood at the center, her hands raised slowly in surrender.

  Then Lyra’s voice cut through the tension, sharp as a blade.

  “Who are you?!”

  Frostina didn’t flinch. With all eyes trained on her, blades drawn, spells ready, she kept her tone calm.

  “Relax. Cryssa is fine.”

  Lyra stepped forward, her voice colder now.

  “Where is she?! What do you want from us?!”

  Frostina sighed, her tone lightly sarcastic.

  “Geez. You talk way more than your sister. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

  Before anyone could respond, she turned her focus inward.

  "Let’s switch."

  Cryssa answered immediately, calm and steady.

  (“Mhm!”)

  Light shimmered around Frostina’s form, not a dramatic burst, but a gentle glow, like moonlight pouring through water. Their souls shifted in tandem. The black hair began to fade, strands turning to silver. The obsidian eyes brightened, clearing into a blue like open skies.

  The leather armor softened into fabric. Cryssa’s silk nightclothes reformed, wrinkled and loose, bandages visible beneath the sleeves and across her sides.

  The transformation wasn’t flashy.

  But it was complete.

  Cryssa Stelluna sat where Frostina had been.

  “Aunty?”

  A soft voice called from behind Lyra.

  It was Roxy. She stepped forward instinctively.

  But Lyra held out an arm, stopping her.

  “Wait. How do we know you’re not just that woman in disguise?”

  Cryssa sighed.

  Of course her sister would question it. Lyra was too sharp to trust a single trick of light. Her suspicion was deserved.

  Cryssa exhaled and turned her focus inward once more.

  “We might not be able to hide your existence anymore.”

  Ayla replied gently.

  (“That’s okay. The system doesn’t forbid us from telling your family.”)

  With that, Cryssa looked around the room, at the dozens of maids. At Roxy. At Lyra.

  “Now that you’re all here. It's time I told you the truth.”

  She said with a calm voice.

  She rested her hands on the blanket draped across her legs and turned to Lyra.

  “Sis… do you remember when I first told you I’d been seeing nightmares about the future?”

  Lyra narrowed her eyes but didn’t speak.

  Then Cryssa said quietly.

  “I lied.”

  And then, she told them everything.

  About the girl named Ayla whose soul had entered her body one month ago.

  About how they shared memories.

  About Ayla’s former life, in another world where this world, Oneiria, was only a game.

  About how that world had fallen.

  How this one would follow unless they changed its fate.

  She explained how Ayla had recognized people and places from her memories, how the strong would survive the catastrophe alone… and how others would be left behind.

  There was no hesitation in her tone.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  Her gaze met the maids’.

  “I… I bought you all in the slave auctions not out of charity, but because of your potential strength.”

  “You deserved your freedom, and maybe you would have earned it without me.”

  “But I… take your chance away.”

  Silence blanketed the room.

  The maids, dozens of them, swords and staves still in hand, stood still.

  They had always believed they were the weak ones. The disposable ones.

  And now they learned they were meant to survive the end of the world.

  Even without her.

  Cryssa turned her eyes toward Glacia.

  “And you…”

  “Ayla… Frostina… cared about you most of all.”

  Glacia’s lips parted in surprise.

  “In her timeline, she was your disciple… Your only one.”

  “She said she failed to save you back then… and she never forgave herself.”

  A hush swept through the crowd.

  Cryssa bowed her head.

  “This time, she wanted to protect you. Even if I hadn’t bought anyone else… she would’ve begged me to buy you.”

  Emotion welled in Glacia’s eyes.

  She said nothing.

  None of them did.

  Cryssa looked up again, this time to Lyra. She said softly, but firmly

  “Please, trust Ayla.”

  “She’s the one who saved Stelluna from the disaster.”

  “Not me.”

  The truth hung in the air.

  After a long, breath-held silence, Lyra finally exhaled.

  Her sigh was deep, layered with weariness, tension, and perhaps… relief.

  “I knew you were hiding something from me back then.”

  She said at last, her voice softer than before.

  “So this is the truth, huh…”

  Cryssa stiffened.

  “W-What do you mean you knew…?”

  Lyra offered a small, knowing smile.

  “You can lie to anyone, Cryssa. But not to me.”

  She stepped closer, her tone gentle.

  “Still, I figured you had your reasons. So I didn’t press. And now… I’ve seen the truth. In your eyes.”

  Cryssa’s own eyes widened in disbelief.

  “Does that mean…?”

  Lyra nodded once, firm and clear.

  “I trust you.”

  At her words, the room shifted. The tension bled out of the air.

  One by one, the maids lowered their swords and staves.

  The storm in the room faded, not with fanfare, but with stillness.

  Trust did not roar.

  It exhaled.

  In the silence that followed, something shifted, not just in the air, but in the hearts of those who stood there.

  An oath unspoken.

  A bond reforged.

  A family, not by blood, but by choice, and by battle.

  And at the center of it all…

  Two souls sharing one body.

  Two voices guiding one fate.

  Cryssa Stelluna, a knight made of memory.

  Frostina, a mage made of will.

  Together, they had survived the fall of the world.

  And together…

  They would rise to rebuild it.

  Dream Land had not ended.

  It had only begun.