Chapter 146: Chapter 146

SAMALAH:

The moment I opened my eyes, I was in absolute pain.

“Ugh,” I moaned sharply as ample amounts of tears flowed down my cheeks.

I tried to blink the pain away, but it didn’t disappear. Why?... Why was I in such terrible amounts of pain? It felt as if the ends of my digits were all dead.

Dead… Just then, everything that had happened to me came flooding back in my memory.

The last time I was awake, Lord Irvan was there. He kicked and punched me as if I was nothing but a mere rag. He was still hell bent on inflicting pain on me when suddenly someone pushed him violently from the left side…

I remembered that he rolled around with a wolf for some time, and the next thing I realized, a blazing tree trunk descended from where I was slumped on the ground…

I gasped as I tried to peer down at my body. That’s right. A burning tree came down on me, sending me into pain I never knew existed.

My eyesight was still hazy. I tried lifting my left and right hands, and that’s when I gasped.

Instead of lifting them, my arms remained immobile. They were also covered in hefty amounts of bandage.

I tried to feel my fingers, but I felt nothing. The gauze did not stir.

No! This cannot be!

I tried to scream, but only guttural sounds came out of my throat!

What the bloody hell was wrong with me?!

“There, there… It’s alright… It’s alright,” someone said from somewhere.

Just then, a man with pale blonde hair and light violet eyes came towards me. He hugged me by the waist.

“It’s alright. I’m here,” he said again, trying to soothe me.

I was sure of it – the person before me was none other than Kaist Lyon – the prince of Talandor.

I tried to utter something back to him, but only a few incomprehensible sounds escaped from my lips.

“Don’t strain yourself… You burned your throat, so it will be hard to speak…”

I thought I heard him add the word ‘again’ at the end, but maybe I was mistaken. He can’t mean I can never speak again, right?...

Just then, my eyes darted down to my legs, and as soon as I saw them, I began to cry.

Goddess, what happened to my left leg? Instead of a healthy limb, the one wrapped in a bandage seemed much smaller than the other…

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I should have been there sooner. I should have rescued you from the fire! I’m so sorry!”

Bitter tears came down from the prince of Talandor’s face. I started to cry with him too.

Now that I have achieved what I have wished for, why did this have to happen? Why was fate so utterly cruel to me?

******************************

DAHLIA:

That’s right… Fate has a cruel way of twisting things, but why does it seemed that I was always the one on its receiving end?

When I opened my eyes that morning, I was greeted by the bright hue of sunlight, and for the first time, it made me feel hopeful.

I blinked a bit more before I realized what had happened before I lost consciousness and bolted out from bed.

“Hey, did our guest finally come to her senses,” somebody said.

I looked at the direction of the voice, and it was coming from someone behind the front seat of a wagon.

Beside him, a boy of five or six years with sparkling green eyes met my stare. He had a wide grin on his face.

“Papa, the girl is awake,” he said excitedly, tugging at the man next to him.

The man only half-gazed at my direction. “Let her sleep some more, Efiro. She must be tired.”

I looked further around me, and that’s when I realized that I was on top of a merchant’s open wagon, and we were presently on the move.

I was able to sit down completely after some time, clutching my left arm. I vaguely remembered being thrown on my side towards the ground because of a horse.

As the realization that I encountered an accident last night became clear to me, I clutched my belly tightly.

“Don’t worry, miss,” the man behind the front seat said without so much as looking back. “You and your baby are safe.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled. Relief flooded over me for the first time that I can’t help but cry.

Perhaps taking pity, the little boy crawled over to where I was.

“Don’t cry,” he said. He hugged me by the belly. “Your baby will get sad too if you cry like that…”

I was taken aback by his actions that I found myself ultimately stopping my tears. He continued to hug me by the belly, which was becoming a little bit rounder by now.

“My name’s Efiro. What’s your baby’s name?”

Despite my sobs, I can’t help but giggle. What a sweet boy he was.

“Efiro, don’t disturb our guest. Mommies need more rests compared to small boys like you.”

“I know, papa,” the boy replied. Efiro then turned towards me. “I’m not disturbing your baby, right, miss-”

“Just call me -”

Before I could tell Efiro my name, a fierce wind flew past us, sending my hair into the air.

When did my hair turn straight and blonde?...

I fingered the strands of my tresses. They really were a platinum blonde color, just like that of Samalah’s…

Suddenly, fear crept over my heart. I fingered my ears, and they felt pointy.

I looked over at my arms and thighs as well as at my legs and feet. They looked exceptionally slimmer and farer than my usual complexion.

“W-What’s the color of my eyes?”

The boy only looked at me dumbfounded.

“Quickly, what’s the color of my eyes,” I asked the little boy beside me again.

“One is red and the other is blue,” he said, looking a bit shaken.

What the hell was happening?

Coincidentally, we were just passing by along a river.

“Please stop the cart,” I demanded from Efiro’s father.

“Is something wrong?”

“Please stop it!”

The man came to a complete stop. I scampered down the wagon and immediately knelt beside the river.

I have expected it, but still I cannot believe it! I still cannot believe what I was seeing with my own two eyes right now!

It was as obvious as day. The reflection looking back at me from the surface of the crystal clear water was none other than Samalah’s face.

What in the world did she do this time?