'W-Where am I?' Zen wondered, his thoughts swirling in confusion as he tried to make sense of the unfamiliar environment.
As Zen's vision cleared, he found himself surrounded by beings that defied conventional human description. Were they truly human, or something else entirely?
They seemed more like fantastical creatures.
One figure resembled a walking plant, tall and slender with a graceful presence. Vines served as her body, adorned with flowers and leaves that constituted her clothing. Her limbs resembled delicate twigs, and her face took on an otherworldly, humanoid plant form. Flowing dark blue hair cascaded down her back.
Another entity bore a resemblance to a fish, with scales adorning her skin and goldenfish-like spots on her face. Her vibrant orange hair extended like fins, moving as if influenced by an invisible current, giving the impression of perpetual motion.
'What on earth? Where am I?' Zen wondered, his gaze darting around the unfamiliar surroundings.
The interior resembled a Japanese room he had seen on TV.
Attempting to make sense of the situation, Zen tried to move, only to realize he was tightly bound by some fabric.
'Wait . . . based on my surroundings, the colossal figures peering down at me, and my inability to move or speak . . . did I reincarnate as a baby in a fantasy world?'
That was the only plausible explanation, or perhaps he was caught in an elaborate dream.
Feeling perplexed, Zen closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, hoping that upon waking, he would find himself in his own bedroom, with Kyle knocking on the door asking for food.
As he dozed off, he mumbled with incoherent voice of a baby. 'Kyle . . . I'll have to tell him about this weird dream when I wake up.'
The mysterious beings contemplated their next steps, unaware of the confusion swirling within Zen's mind.
"What should we do?"
Zen furrowed his brows, opening one eye as the creatures around him conversed. Their dialogue seemed hushed, yet none of it concerned him.
If only they could lower their voices.
"Let's bring him to Lady Riko. She's the head of Whispering Meadows. She knows what to do."
"Are you sure? Isn't she hard and harsh on the other concubines? She might kill him."
"That's out of our hands. Besides, a lot of babies die in this clan."
Zen's eyes widened in shock. Were they planning to kill him?!
'Calm down. This is just a dream,' Zen reminded himself.
After a few moments, he felt himself being carried through rooms, hallways, outside, and then back into another room.
The rattling and movements caused him to doze off a couple of times, but he woke up when he heard a slithering, high-pitched voice.
"What do you want at this hour?"
Upon waking, Zen found himself inside a spacious room. The warm wooden flooring and sliding paper doors allowed soft, diffused light to fill the space.
A luxurious low platform, adorned with rich, deep red bedding and silky textures, dominated the room. Delicate cherry blossom motifs were intricately woven into the walls, with humanoid dragons engaged in battle painted on other surfaces.
The room carried a strong fragrance of smoke and perfume, creating an atmosphere that was both suffocating and dizzying.
Atop the platform sat a woman with red wavy hair, red eyes, and horns crowning her head. She resembled an empress as she looked down at the two maid servants.
"Pardon us, Lady Riko, but Lady Kaori is dead after birthing her son."
"Huh?" A vein popped on Riko's face. "And what does my husband's concubines have to do with me?"
The maid servants exchanged glances, hesitant to explain that Lady Riko is the head of Whispering Meadows and Lord Ryoma's first wife. She held the responsibility of caring for everyone within Whispering Meadows.
However, being mere maids, they dared not utter another word, lest they incur her wrath.
Riko rushed towards the infant, cradled above by one of the maids as if presenting an offering.
Up close, Zen saw a beautiful lady, her appearance marred by the ugliness of her true self. He blinked and looked away, convincing himself that this was all just a dream.
Riko gaped and glared at the baby when the infant suddenly turned his eyes away, releasing a sigh of boredom.
It was the first time Riko had been snubbed, and it came from a child no older than a day old. "What an impudent child, much like her whore of a mother."
She sneered and declared, "Dispose of the child and dispose of the body!"
The two maids lowered their heads even further. "But what about Lord Ryoma? Shouldn't the Lord be informed about this? This is his son."
A loud sound startled Zen, and he could sense from the commotion and groans that the one who spoke had been thrown somewhere and landed on a hard surface.
How violent, but it was none of his concern. Zen yawned, wanting to go back to sleep, but the commotion was too much for his sensitive ears.
"How dare you talk to me that way?! I am the first wife, and everything I say in here is the law! That child is an abomination. No descendant of the Ryujin Clan has dark skin. Not when we have the Divine Dragon's protection. We can have any skin color but never dark! He is a bad omen that needs to be killed before he could curse us all!"
So, they were going to kill him because of his skin color? Zen thought. Even his dreams were dominated by racism. What a peculiar thing to dream.
"Yes, my lady. We will dispose of the child as soon as possible."
'So they're finally going to kill me,' Zen thought and yawned. It was best to get it done and over with so he could finally wake up in the real world.
Yet, strangely, this dream felt vividly real.
He could only hope to remember it so he could tell Kyle about it when he woke up. Zen thought as he stared at the ceiling in a complete daze while the maids hurried to dispose of him.
Amidst all the commotion, the fabric binding Zen came loose, and he could finally move his hand.
'Huh? They're really off,' Zen mused to himself while inspecting his hands. His dark skin had an unusual scale-like texture, with tiny claws in his fingers resembling bird's feet.
Weird . . .
At that moment, the door slammed open, revealing a very tall man with long golden hair, gold eyes, and exceptionally fair porcelain skin.
"Lord Ryoma has arrived!"