The End that gave a new chance:
I was cold. The kind of cold that seeps into your bones and settles there, making a home in your marrow. In the streets, through many sleepless nights, I shivered against stone walls that held no warmth, only the day's stored chill releasing into the darkness.
I couldn't find a job, no shelter—a runaway from being sold as a slave.
Two days ago, I finally found work at an old lady's flower shop. She was kind, her wrinkled hands gentle as she showed me how to trim the stems, the sweet perfume of roses and lilies almost making me forget the gnawing in my stomach. But they found me. I didn't want to cause her trouble, so I ended up running away again.
Hunger... a hollow ache that twisted my insides into knots. Anger... a hot coal burning in my chest. Why? What did I do to deserve this?
Distant voices: "There she is! Catch her!"
"That thief Count Rovaan's daughter. That slave!"
"Whoever brings her in can have 500 gold pieces. Catch her!"
That cold voice—sharp as a blade's edge, cutting through the night air. It's him—the one who was supposed to marry me. But I was a slave now. I just wanted to live in peace. Instead, God gave me a life no one would wish on their enemies.
I am the villainess of the story I wrote myself. I only wrote the romance between the main leads, Sara and the Crown Prince, and the love triangle it caused. But I never knew it would create conflicts I never intended, never wished to create.
I was pulled into the world made from my imagination. Now he will definitely kill me after I tried to run away. He did it with other slaves before. I saw it with my own eyes—the light leaving them, their final gasps rattling in their throats.
I didn't run this time. The exhaustion wasn't just physical—it was soul-deep, the kind that comes from fighting and fighting until there's nothing left. My legs trembled, muscles screaming. My lungs burned with each ragged breath. This was the fourth time I'd been caught and chased.
I never settled for more than two days anywhere. They always found me sooner. He would never let me go. Never more than two days of peace.
Then what's the point? I might as well accept my fate.
I stood there, hands dropped, looking at the sky while they closed in. It was dark, a moonless expanse dotted with indifferent stars. Just like my life—it was now going to end like this. This wasn't giving up. It was running out of fight. Surrender—the only mercy left.
I always knew, from the start. Five years of my life here. I was going to end up de...
"I thought at least now you would understand the pain of others and become a good person. But instead of atonement, you're running away? Then go... far away where I don't have to see you. So I can finally forget you."
That was the last thing I heard from him. His words hung in the air, bitter and confusing. What did that even mean?
*Zinnnggg—*
A metallic sound, sharp and final. My life flashed before my eyes—fragments of memories like shattered glass. I was falling? The world tilted sideways. Cobblestones rushed up to meet me. No... My h...
Warm liquid, sticky and copper-tasting, flooded my mouth. I couldn't feel my body. Couldn't speak. The ringing... from that sound, that sudden pain—an explosion of white-hot agony in my skull, then spreading, dulling, fading...
*Beeeeeeeeppp...*
A long, monotonous drone. Then... nothing. Darkness. Silence. The absence of cold.
---
My eyes burst open.
Soft. The surface beneath me was soft—impossibly, luxuriously soft. Silk sheets whispered against my skin, cool and smooth. I woke up from that nightmare.
Hmmm... A nightmare?
A sudden chill ran through me—not the bone-deep cold of the streets, but something else. Fear. Recognition.
My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat a thunderous drum.
My hands—I lifted them, staring. Clean. Unmarred by the cuts and calluses from running, from sleeping on rough stone. My fingers trembled as I touched my face, felt the smoothness of well-fed cheeks, the absence of the hollow hunger that had carved out my features.
A strangled sound escaped my throat—half sob, half laugh.
It wasn't! I came back!?
To be continued...
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