A heavy, aching sob catches in my throat. I wrap my arms around my knees, pulling them tight against my chest as the disappointment morphs into a deep, agonizing sorrow. I am so incredibly sad for Elanore. She spent her entire life shrinking into the shadows of this giant mansion, starving for a single scrap of genuine affection from these men, entirely unaware that she was nothing more than a shield to them.
The unfairness of it all burns behind my eyes. I didn't ask to be dropped into this web of toxic family politics, and Elanore didn't deserve to be treated like a broken tool.
I wrap the heavy silk blankets tightly around myself, but the warmth does nothing to stop the deep chill spreading through my veins. As I try to force my mind to quiet down and find sleep, a strange, overwhelming numbness begins to creep into my fingers and toes, slowly bleeding into my entire body.
A wave of pure, crushing exhaustion hits me—a fatigue so profound it feels entirely unnatural.
What is this? my mind whispers, fading fast. Why am I this tired? Back in my modern world, I was no stranger to burnout. I had pulled brutal, back-to-back all-nighters at the office, working for days straight without a single wink of sleep, surviving entirely on caffeine and sheer willpower. But that corporate exhaustion was nothing compared to this. This feels like my very life force is being drained, heavy and inescapable.
As my consciousness begins to slip away into the dark, a soft, ethereal voice echoes directly inside my head.
"There is a beloved family... your beloved family is waiting for you," the voice whispers, carrying a profound, heartbreaking sadness. "So you should go back for now. You have done enough... I appreciate your help. I hope we will meet again someday."
Panic flares through my fading thoughts. I can't even tell if the voice belongs to a man or a woman; it sounds completely genderless, echoing from some distant, foggy void.
Wait! I try to scream out into the darkness of my own mind. Who are you?! What do you mean my family is waiting? Explain everything to me! I try to force my jaw open, desperate to demand answers, to ask who this person is and what they are doing to me. But my lips won't budge. My vocal cords are completely frozen. No matter how hard I fight, I can't able to ask a single question. I am trapped inside a heavy, unresponsive shell, feeling like a totally mute, numb person as the voice fades away. I can't speak, I can't fight, and I can't demand the explanations I so desperately need.
The numbness completely consumes me, dragging my helpless, silent mind down into a deep, terrifying void.
The darkness holds me tight, pulling me down into a deep, heavy sleep until a sudden jolt shocks my system like a defibrillator.
"Wait a minute! Don't go!"
I scream the words aloud, my chest heaving as my eyes snap open. The sound of my own voice rings in my ears, but it doesn't sound like Elanore's quiet, delicate tone anymore. It is my voice. My real, modern voice.
My heart hammers a frantic rhythm against my ribs as I desperately look around, expecting to see the towering canopy of Elanore's luxury bed, the velvet drapes, or the cold stone walls of the Valerius estate.
But there is no wooden desk. There are no shifting shadows from a candlelit hallway.
Instead, a harsh, clinical white light burns into my retinas. The distinct, sterile smell of rubbing alcohol and bleach hits the back of my throat. I blink through the blurriness, my Office Brain frantically trying to process the data of my surroundings, but nothing makes sense.
Where am I? I think, absolute panic seizing my throat.
This isn't a room in a grand mansion. It's small, functional, and glaringly bright.
I try to lift my hands to rub my aching eyes, and that's when the ultimate shock hits me. The heavy, sweeping silk nightgown of the Duke's daughter is completely gone. In its place, my arms are clad in thin, coarse, light-blue cotton patterned with tiny faded geometric shapes.
I look down at my chest, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
A hospital gown.
I am wearing a hospital gown. Plastic bands are wrapped around my wrist, and a clear plastic tube is taped firmly to the back of my hand, leading up to a bag of saline dripping rhythmically on a metal pole beside me. The steady, rhythmic beep... beep... beep... of a heart monitor echoes in the tight space.
The cold world of magic, the fake family, the Duke's fake devotion, and the mysterious fiancé named Arthur vanish into thin air, leaving me stranded in a reality I thought I had left behind.
I close my eyes tight, focusing every ounce of my energy on that memory. I try to pull the sound back into my mind, desperately trying to figure out who it belonged to. Was it a woman's voice? Or was it a man's? But the harder I try to grasp it, the more it slips through my fingers. The memory is completely fogged over, dense and hazy like a thick morning mist. It's frustratingly blurry—I can remember the exact words, but the sound of the voice itself is a total blank, completely crossed out in my mind.
I force myself to shake off the foggy memories of that mysterious voice. Right now, I need to focus on the reality right in front of me.
Before I can spiral any deeper into my thoughts, the heavy door clicks open. A nurse and a couple of hospital staff members walk in, holding medical charts. The moment they see me sitting up, their eyes widen in complete shock. They rush over to check my vitals, adjusting the IV drip and speaking in a flurry of urgent whispers.
"Get her family on the phone immediately," the nurse commands a staff member. "Tell them she's awake!"
Within what feels like mere minutes, the door bursts open again.
"Sara!"
My mother stands at the threshold, her face pale and her hair disheveled. My father is right behind her, his shoulders slumped with an exhaustion I've never seen before. As they sprint toward my bedside, I freeze, my heart aching at the sight of my mother's face. She has massive, dark bags under her eyes, and her eyelids are incredibly swollen and red. It is completely obvious that she hasn't slept in days, having spent every single hour crying and praying for me to wake up.
"You came back..." my mother sobs, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a fierce, trembling hug. "Oh my god, Sara, you came back! I am so glad... I am so glad you are good!"
My father wraps his arms around both of us, his own chest heaving as he lets out a ragged sigh of relief.
The moment I feel the familiar, genuine warmth of their embrace, the dam inside me completely breaks. The cold, calculated corporate armor I wore as Elanore shatters into dust. I bury my face in my mother's shoulder and begin to cry uncontrollably. The tears pour down my face, hot and fast, fueled by the terrifying realization of just how much I have missed my real family. After being surrounded by the fake devotion and toxic politics of the Valerius estate, feeling the pure, unconditional love of my true parents is almost overwhelming.
I hold onto them tightly, weeping out all the fear and homesickness of the past few days, completely safe in their arms at last.
The fog in Sara's mind is thick, but the reality of her modern life is crashing back in. She is finally home, but the mystery of the genderless voice and her missing days hangs heavily over her recovery.
Sara is finally wrapped in the genuine love of her true family, leaving the cold world of the Valerius empire behind. But a mind that has traveled to another world can never truly settle so easily.
Now that Sara is safely awake in the modern world, is her journey with Elanore completely over, or was this return just a temporary pause before the storm pulls her back? What spicy secrets about her modern accident are her parents hiding from her, and what new trouble is waiting patiently in the shadows now that she has crossed the boundary between worlds?
Let's reveal the next spicy twists in the next chapters. Stay with us to know the answers!