Days passed. Or maybe weeks. Time in this world didn't move the same way.
Fiona stopped counting the sunsets. Every morning she awoke to the same silence, the same reflection, the same eyes that didn't belong to her.
She tried everything.
Blades. Poison. Even the cold depths of the lake behind the castle walls.
Each time, she felt the pain, the darkness, the fading breath—
and each time, she woke up again.
Whole.
Untouched.
As though the world itself was rewinding her.
"Why won't you let me go?" she whispered one night, gripping the edge of the silver book.
The pages didn't answer.
They only flipped on their own, stopping at a blank page.
Then, faintly, words began to appear—
written not in black ink this time, but in blood-red ink:
"You must remember what she forgot."
"Remember who you were before you became her."
Fiona's breath hitched. "Who she forgot? Who… I was?"
The candlelight flickered—and then went out.
A sudden sound—like footsteps—echoed from the hall.
Slow. Deliberate.
Someone was approaching her room.
Fiona hid the book beneath her cloak and turned as the door creaked open.
A tall man stepped inside, the same one from the council—the Duke.
But his expression was softer this time, his dark eyes unreadable in the dim light.
"You shouldn't be awake, Wisteria," he said quietly. "The nights here… have a way of listening." the Duke softly said.
She met his gaze. "Then maybe they'll tell me what this world really is." Wisteria.
He frowned, stepping closer.
"You speak strangely again. As if this world were not your own."
Fiona's heart stopped. He'd noticed.
"Because it's not," she whispered. "I'm not Wisteria. I'm—"
Before she could finish, a violent pain shot through her chest.
Her words caught in her throat. She fell to her knees, gasping.
The Duke rushed forward, alarmed. "Wisteria!"
But Fiona couldn't speak—the pain wasn't physical. It was the book.
It burned beneath her cloak, pulsing against her heart.
She forced herself to breathe, voice trembling.
"It doesn't want me to tell you."
The Duke is confused by what she said
"What do you mean by that?" The Duke asked.
Wisteria collapsed, and a sudden voice echoed in her mind before she lost consciousness.
"You cannot die until you know why you were born here," said a young, mysterious girl.
Her voice was soft yet ancient. Suddenly, flashes appeared before Wisteria's eyes—she saw a young girl writing beneath the candlelight.
Another flash consumed her, and she saw a kingdom burning, followed by a book sealing itself shut, only to be opened centuries later by a girl, Fiona. Once again, light engulfed her, and another scene unfolded.
This time, she saw the mysterious lady sitting by her window, staring into the violet sky. The book rested quietly on her lap.
"The truth does not free you. It consumes you," the young lady said.
Then, pitch blackness swallowed everything, and all disappeared.