Chapter 16  : “Terrible Nightmare”

Eleanora slowly opened her eyes but there was something blurry and out of focus in her eyes.

She blinked her blurry eyes and slowly got up. Her head felt heavy as she overslept.

As Eleanora opened the white curtains on her bed, she noticed a carpet embroidered with sheild in the middle of two spread white wings and two swords.

She also saw a full-length mirror whose edge was decorated with silver with the same emblem.

‘Why do I see the crest of my family here?’

Eleanora jumped out of bed and ran towards her mirror.

Instantly she could feel the difference when she moved.

.....

She was shorter, lighter....And she felt strange.

Eeanora looked at her reflection and widened her eyes in shock.

She looked very young. Very much so.

historical

Her cheeks were plumper and her jewel like blue eyes were rounder. The stress lines she had accumulated over her years of mistreatment were completely gone.

She looked... pretty. Why she have never ever thought that before?

Eleanora had been so focused on changing herself to suit Cathain that she hadn’t realised it.

And that’s when she realised why she felt strange.

Her body is soft and mana flow is lower then before... The older you get, the more you practice, the higher your mana levels up in your body.

This body had never undergone those harsh knight training and war battles, this is why it’s still so soft and smooth.

This is how Eleanora looked when she was ten years old, before she officially began her knight training.

A twenty-four year old trapped with a wounded soul inside the body of a small girl.

‘Another dream?’

Eleanora approached the window and opened the white curtains. She stiffened when she looked at the scenery outside the window.

‘What happened? Why do I see my garden here?’

Eleanora stood in a daze for a while and then looked again at the room. She was in the bedroom of her family home, the bedroom she had lived in up until her marriage with Cathain.

Everything was exactly the same. Was it all a dream?

Or is she trapped inside of another memory?

“My Lady!”

A voice then suddenly yelled from outside as someone slowly opened the door.

Flashes of memories of Rena came to her mind and she shivered. How many times had she called for me like that?

‘My empress,’

This is how sweetly Rena used to call her but in the end her betrayal took away her opportunity to flee.

But no, that was impossible. It’s the duchy, Rena can’t be here. It took Eleanora a few seconds of realisation before she finally recognised who it was.

There was only one person that could be...

“Good morning, my lady. You should lay down as the doctor has suggested you to rest more.”

“Maria?”

Eleanora opened her eyes wide at the brown-haired girl coming in, she rushed towards her and hugged her tightly.

Maria tried to protect Eleanora till her last breathe, she was even beheaded along with her. But still she didn’t left her...

“My-My lady? Are you still scared?”

Maria asked me with a dumbfounded face but Eleanora ignored her anxious gaze and hugged Maria tightly as tears filled her eyes.

“Oh my gosh! Why are you crying again, Did you perhaps had a nightmare?”

‘Yes, I had a terrible nightmare.’

The memories of seeing her father in the prison, Maria’s head cut off and her being executed along with my child..

‘Wait a minute, Father?’

“Maria, where is my father?”

Eleanora release Maria from her grip and asked anxiously.

“I guess he is on the training field. As you know, he is usually practicing around this time and he also took care of you all night.”

“Thanks!”

“Well, where are you going, my lady? You are still weak!!”

But Eleanora paid no attention to Maria’s words as she had to check.

Eleanora thought she could be relieved after she checked with my own eyes that he was safe.

She was not sure if what she experienced was a terrible nightmare or reality, or if she is dreaming now or not.

All she wanted to do right now was go and see her father right away.

As a nobleman’s daughter, she was not supposed to run no matter how busy, but Eleanora didn’t care about such manners now.

She missed my father so much.

Ignoring Maria’s loud call, Eleanora grabbed the hem of her dress and ran barefoot.

She ran downstairs through the second floor corridor where her room was, to the entrance, past the beautifully decorated garden, and to the training ground.

‘Daddy...I hope you are safe!’

Eleanora kept running as she continued to see familiar scenarios.

The library where she used to sit all the time to know more about empress duties.

The office room where her father used to work and later she worked when Alexander left for the border relief.

The guest room where she used to chat with other noble ladies.

The garden where she took her first steps, the flower seeds which she planted with her father has bloom beautiful flowers now.

The bench where her mother Eunicelia used to sit and comb her hair while telling her stories.

The big oak tree, under it she used to have picnic with her parents on every weekends.

Her mother cooking the meals personally and her father carrying the food basket as he carried her on his shoulder.

Eunicelia cracking lame jokes and Alexander trying hard to not let her realise it.

Her father sneaking a kiss from her mother, thinking she wasn’t watching.

Everything was so clear and vivid in her mind like it all happened just yesterday and her mother is still with her.

Every corner of the duchy made her remember the happy time she had with her parents.

Then one day, her father suddenly left in a hurry for borders and right after he left, some mens in black attacked their house.

She watched Eunicelia keeping those mens away from her and then making her sit on a little pony.

Her mother smiling for her one last time with blood on her hands and bidding her farewell.

‘Run Ele... Never look back! Run fast.’

Eleanora ran fast as she recalled her mother’s last words.

If she don’t run now like she did before, maybe she will never be able to escape that terrible nightmare.

‘Yeah, I need to run to Father, just like before...’