Xueyue wasn't sure how long she was trapped in a world of darkness. Everywhere she looked, she saw the boring sight of empty black.
Occasionally, she would feel something touch her lips and then trickle down her throat. She could hear muffled noises in the background, but when she chased after it, the voices suddenly stopped talking.
After a long time of walking in the darkness, she finally approached a wink of light at the end of the long path. Without warning, her legs broke out in a sprint until she stopped directly in front of the light.
Blinking once or twice, her vision blurred as reality came into view. Her head was beginning to ache as everything around her spun.
Painfully and dizzily, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened it. Her head tilted to the right, then to the left, as she surveyed her surroundings.
'Where am I?' she asked herself.
Her hands felt around and touched the soft blanket draped over her body. She realized her limbs were heavy and saw that she seemed to be tucked into the bed.
She tried to sit up but collapsed back onto the bed when pain shot up her arms. Glancing down at it, her eyes widened. Bandages were covering her sore and slightly itchy arms.
Slowly, but surely, Xueyue was able to sit up in bed. She noticed the bowl of water beside her bed stand.
With one shaky hand, she strained her body to reach for the bowl of water. Since it was a few inches away, she didn't realize it was water to clean her wounds, and not the kind to be drunk.
"Eeep!" Xueyue yelped when she nearly fell out of her bed. The bowl was too far for her hand to reach.
The sudden sound in the chilly and empty room was enough to startle the guards stationed outside. The guards exchanged nervous glances with each other. Was it their imagination? Had they truly heard something from within the room?
"D-do you think it's a ghost?" whispered a nervous and young guard. He had stayed up the night before reading horror novels and the idea of encountering a ghost was frightening.
The older guard rolled his eyes and smacked the young boy behind his head. "Of course not, you buffoon!" the older guard hissed at him.
"S-sir, can you check for me—" Before the young guard finished his sentence, the older man had already strolled into the room. The sight he saw was enough for him to nervously glance around. Perhaps she truly was a ghost...
Despite being a high-ranking guard in the house, he had never seen who was residing in this room.
His job was to protect and watch over the door, and he performed his duties perfectly. While he was confused by the woman before him, his junior most certainly wasn't.
The young guard's face went pale. 'It really is a ghost!' he thought to himself upon seeing the long hair cascading down her back and the long strands that covered her face.
The bandages on her body and her white nightgown did not help her case. Neither did the eerily pale moonlight shining onto her face. She resembled the image painted on the pages of his horror novel.
When the girl raised her head at the sound of the door being open, the young guard felt his heart drop to his stomach. Aiyaya, t-the ghost actually moved!
"H-hello...?" Xueyue's voice sounded foreign to her. It was hoarse and scratchy, like an adventurer lost in a scorching hot desert with no water.
The young guard felt his body stiffen at the voice. Goodness gracious, even her voice sounded frightening! 'I'm too young to die!' he wailed inside his head.
The older guard glanced down at his junior and smacked him in the head again. "You idiot! Fix that overly imaginative brain of yours!" He shook his head. "Because you're too scared to stand here any longer, go and fetch a servant! Tell them the girl is awake—" Before the older guard even finished his command, the younger guard had already sprinted down the halls.
"U-uhm..." Xueyue's hesitant and confused voice caught the guard's attention.
His eyes went wide as he debated whether or not he should kneel. He was unsure of her status, but decided if she was frequently visited by the Duke and Duchess, she must've been someone important.
He knew better than to offend a person of higher rank than him, thus, he decided to drop to his knees—an action that surprised her. "This servant apologizes for the disrespectful behavior."
Xueyue blinked and nervously licked her cracked lips. Uncomfortably, she fidgeted in her spot.
She didn't expect him to bend his knees this quickly. It was a strange sensation. Even though the servants in the Bai Manor did treat her with the slightest bit of respect, they rarely bowed.
"You're pardoned?" Xueyue winced at the horrible sound of her voice.
Nonetheless, she continued, "Where am I?" Her voice was barely above a soft whisper. She prayed the guard heard her.
He was wearing a heavy metal helmet, and she thought it would be difficult for him to hear.
"Answering your question, you're currently residing within Duke Li's Manor," the guard immediately responded.
He slowly got up from his kneeling position and when he raised his head, he tripped over his own feet. "L-Lady Minghua?" he breathed out in shock.
Xueyue tilted her head in confusion. Lady Minghua? Who was that?
The guard blinked and rubbed his eyes. When he fixed his composure, he nearly cursed out loud. He thought he had seen Minghua, but upon second glance, he knew it wasn't her.
'She's supposed to be dead,' he sadly thought to himself, 'That's right, her body was supposed to be burned to ashes…' His eyes dropped to the floor as he closed his eyes.
The death of Lady Li Minghua was a painful memory for many of the servants who served her. She was bratty at times and had an awful temper, but they had still watched her grow up, thus, they felt a deeper sense of responsibility towards her.
Xueyue opened her mouth to ask another question when suddenly, her eyes grew wide and the realization came rolling in: She was at the honorable Duke Li and his wife, Duchess Wang's house!