When Nina opened her eyes, she began gasping for air. She was trying to catch her breath as she sat down on the bed where she was lying. The young woman felt dizzy for getting up straight away.
As she finally settle-down and could breathe more comfortably, she roamed her vision through the whole room. Her brows snapped together as she looked at the unfamiliar but gorgeous chamber.
It has a sky-high ceiling and a dazzling massive chandelier with plenty of sparkling crystals in it. Nina's jaw almost dropped as her vision wandered throughout the whole place. Everything she saw was in a shade of gold and pink, even the bed where she is currently sitting.
Nina just noticed the fluffy bed when she was about to get up. She couldn't believe how soft it was. The beds in the orphanage couldn't compare. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled and got back on the top of the bed. The young lad started jumping up and down.
Nina giggled happily. When was the last time since she felt so innocent like this? The young lady was enjoying bouncing on the bed not until another thing caught her attention. Her legs slowly stopped jumping as she made her way towards the painting on the wall.
"Wow." She couldn't stop herself from opening her mouth due to how appealing that painting was. It's a painting of a fairy's back, she has blue wavy long hair and beautiful blue wings. The combination of the colors is perfect. But what stands out the most is the moonlight that shone on the Fairy.
"Someone who could create such a masterpiece like this must be an extraordinary person," is what she thought.
Nina reached out her hand and touched the painting. She expected it to be rough, but it was the complete opposite. As Nina observed the image, her eyes noticed a sign in the lower part near the frame. It's almost indistinguishable and hard to read, so she gave up trying to find out the name of the painter.
She continued her tour. Nina saw a small table with a small plant on it and three chairs near the bed. While there are bookshelves on the other side, the opposite of where the painting is.
Near the bookshelves is the glass door towards the balcony. Nina didn't hesitate to open the glass door, and there she saw a vast garden filled with different types of flowers and plants.
The sound of the lawnmower somewhere made her flinched due to surprise. She hurriedly went back inside the room. There are still too many things to see in this large chamber.
As she was about to sit down on the bedroom bench, she noticed another door near the painting. She made her way to that door and opened it without hesitation. There she saw a golden bathtub in the middle. "This must be the bathroom" is what she thought.
As if her eyes sparkled, she slowly walked towards the said bathtub. She tried to touch it and even pretended that it was too dazzling to look at. Living in an orphanage all her life, this is her first time seeing a bathtub, and what's more? A golden bathtub!
When she was attempting to open the water, she heard a loud crash from the outside, making her feel uneasy. And so she has decided to go and check the source of that noise.
She slowly and quietly made her way towards the door. When she reached that door, she took a deep breath before opening it. She gradually opened it without making a lot of noise, and then she peeked outside of the room and saw nothing but the empty hallway. Her forehead furrowed, and the anxiousness she felt didn't disappear.
"After waking up on a battlefield, now I'm here in an extravagant room without any person near?"
She chose to close the door and go back to exploring the whole chamber even if she felt baffled.
She went to the large dressing table on the left side of the bed and sat down on the soft chair in front of it.
A jewelry box on the top of the dressing table caught her attention. Whether Nina is allowed to open it or not, she feels conflicted. But in the end, she decided to unlock it and see what was inside. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped upon seeing sparkling gold accessories.
"Are these for real? This is crazy!" She said in awestruck. For the first time in her 19 years of existence, she saw and touched real gold. She couldn't believe it and even tried to bite it to prove that these were real gold.
"I am rich!" She exclaimed in a celebratory manner as she did a weird dance while still holding the jewelry box.
After her victory dance, she placed the jewelry box back on the dressing table and wanted to try other things out. She picked up the golden hairbrush that she saw near the jewelry box and began combing her hair.
She looked at the mirror to see her reflection, but she saw an unfamiliar face to her surprise. Her hand stopped from combing her hair. She placed the hairbrush back on the dressing table as she touched the mirror with her right hand.
"Who are you?" She asked the reflection, but there was no answer. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"This must be a dream. There's a pretty person in front of me... In the mirror." She murmured as she opened her eyes again and looked back at the reflection. Her forehead creased.
What did she see?
It was a beautiful young woman with a golden blonde long wavy hair and a pair of sparkling crystal-blue eyes. Her skin is so smooth and looks like porcelain. Nina thought that the person in the mirror was like a living doll with her petite figure and heavenly features.
"Hello?" Nina greeted this person she saw with a confused tone. She started moving her head from side to side and was bewildered when she saw the woman in the mirror do the same. Her hand pinched her cheeks, and the gorgeous woman also did it at the same time.
She got up hastily, resulting in the chair falling down on the floor. Little by little, she moved away from the mirror.
She felt scared and perplexed. She pointed her finger to the mirror. Then all of a sudden, the memories of the person she saw kept rushing into her mind as if she was the one who owned it.
Nina closed her eyes as she held her head with both hands. The sudden stream of memories made her head hurt so bad that her knees went weak, and she fell on the ground knees first.
"Stop!" She screamed as she tried to break off these memories from conquering her mind. Tears were forming in her eyes as she saw the memories of the beautiful young woman. Did she die? No. Someone killed her.
Nina screamed in pain as she placed her right hand near her heart. She began sobbing as fear enveloped her whole body.
Lots of questions came running into her mind. 'Who was that woman?' Her tears won't stop from falling, and the pain she feels isn't subsiding. How could she perceive the exact same thing this woman felt in those memories?
"Young Miss!" The loud sound of the door caught Nina's attention, but it didn't stop the pain she was feeling. There she saw a stranger.
"Are you alright? What's happening?" The man in his late 60's asked Nina with a worried tone as he walked towards her. Nina, who couldn't calm herself down, kept begging the man to stop her pain.
"I'll call Mr. Astra immediately." The man said. "Marie! Take care of the lady." The man dashed in a hurry, then a girl in a maid outfit ran towards Nina as her body collapsed to the ground. Nina's breathing grew heavier as time passed by.
"My… My name." Nina gasps as she let those words out. The young maid looked at Nina with confusion in her eyes. She couldn't understand what Nina was trying to say.
"What... is my name?" Nina asked while clearly speaking every word. The young maid was obviously confused but immediately answered, "Titania, my lady. Your name is Titania."
She couldn't believe it. No! She doesn't want to accept it.
"Titania is dead. And she will die again."
Those words keep on echoing inside Nina's mind. She is well aware of Titania's destiny. Her character is bound to die a lonely death. Nina's anger replaced the agony she was feeling, leading her to cry her eyes out once again. But this time, it wasn't because of pain.
"How could you do this to me!" Nina shouted as she kept on slamming her small but cute hands on the floor. "No! I don't want to die here. I don't want to be her!" She complained, which made the young maid beside her feel all sorts of confused.
Nina is feeling confused and can't even grasp the situation more clearly. How could she end up in a place from the book?
"This is not possible!" She keeps telling herself. "Wake up!" She began slapping her face, which made the young maid panic. She didn't know what to do because of Nina, or shall we call Titania's sudden mood changes.
"What's wrong with her?" A man wearing a black cloak with a wings and sword symbol on the back asked. This man has very long straight light-blue hair and ice-blue cat-slit eyes. When Titania laid her eyes on him, she thought it was a woman straight away because of how elegant and lovely he looks.
"Did she go insane? That's hilarious!" The man said while laughing out loud. Titania, who was once bewitched by this man's beautiful face, looked at him with stabbing eyes, making this man stop laughing. He pretended to zip his mouth as he averted his gaze.
"What's with the commotion?" Another man got inside the room, but this man looked different. He has jet black hair that reaches his ears. He's more like a cold and snob character than that man in a cloak.
Titania was taken aback after seeing those familiar deep purple eyes. The man looked at Titania's eyes directly, and as if a hungry tiger was in front of her, she became frozen still. Although she knew that she was looking at this fearsome man, she could not avert her gaze. As if those eyes keep pulling her towards him.
"Do you feel all better now? Since you've been screaming like a madman." Titania couldn't believe what she just heard.
"Well, damn that handsome face. I knew that good-looking men are pieces of garbage." She murmured to herself.
The man in a black cloak tried to suppress his laugh, while Titania was still conflicted and frustrated. She took a deep breath as she tried to stand up.
The young maid beside her helped and supported her. She walked towards the man with jet black hair and deep purple eyes. Something in her mind told her that she should take all her frustrations to this arrogant man.
"Look here, Mister, I am in an unknown world with this unknown body." She said. "Do I look sane to you?" Titania looked at him with her twitching eyes, making the man in a black cloak laugh so loud that only his laughter filled the room.
"Astra." The man immediately stopped laughing. His name is Astra, and he is the Master of the Magic Tower. Known to be one of the youngest and greatest mages of the century.
"So that's the name of that woman?" Titania murmured. She still misunderstands that Astra, the man in a black cloak, is a woman.
"Put her to sleep." Her eyes widened after hearing what this man said. She fell on her butt, trying to get away, but the stern look from the man with the jet black hair was too terrifying. Her attention was focused on that man that she didn't even notice that Astra was already beside her.
"I'm sorry for this. Sleep well." Astra said as he pointed his finger to Titania's forehead, which made her lose consciousness.
"Will this really be okay?" Astra asked as he carried Titania in a bridal style and placed her back on the bed. The mysterious man didn't answer. Instead, he made a gesture telling Astra to follow him.
"Take care of the girl." He commanded to the young maid and the head butler.
"Archduke, won't this create trouble?" Astra asked as soon as they got out of the room. The man who is said to be the Archduke looked at Astra with his cold and emotionless eyes.
"That's why I brought her here in the first place. To know what they were up to." The Archduke answered as they continued to walk towards the office.
The Knight that was guarding the office opened the door when the Archduke arrived. They both got inside, and Astra sat down on the sofa comfortably as if he were at home.
"You know Lennox wouldn't stay calm when that woman is involved," Astra said. "Oh? Cookies!" He immediately got distracted after seeing cookies on the table.
"I know."
"It wasn't that long since that woman rejected his proposal. He'd go berserk if he knew that she was with you. Your cousin is a madman, don't you think?" Astra continued eating the cookies on the plate.
"I know."
"If you know, then why did you bring the Fairy Queen in your manor?!" Astra burst out in anger. He's been suppressing these frustrations for how long now.
The Archduke sat down on his chair. "Can't you see it?" Astra shrugged and looked at him with a confused expression.
"See what?"
"That girl, she can't even look at me in the eye before.
Astra raised an eyebrow. "So?" He keeps munching on the cookies to calm himself down.
"Did you see how she talked back to me? There's something different." Astra didn't know what the Archduke was trying to pinpoint.
"We need to find it out."