Episode 4
<Where am I?>
Everything was completely dark.
<I can’t breathe.>
I couldn’t get enough air.
Something stuck to my nose when I tried to take a deep breath.
I could feel how rough cloth with a loose weave felt.
<What is this?>
Then I realized that something that looked like a piece of cloth was covering my face.
Because I had a black cloth over my whole face, the place where I could see was very Dark.
But what the heck is this on my face?
<…>
Fear crept in all of a sudden.
<Can… Can someone hear me? Please, ugh…>
I could feel something pulling on my neck. My neck was wrapped with something that looked like a thin wire.
The rope tightened around my neck, and only a space to breathe was given to me.
It was hard to get enough air. I felt like I was going to pass out, and it was hard to move my body.
I wanted to take off the cloth that was covering my face, but both of my hands were tied tightly behind my back.
<Ugh…ugh…>
I turned my body and breathed out in pain. And then it hit me.
The ground I stand on.
When I realized what I was standing on, my blood ran cold.
I felt like the thin wooden plank I was standing on could give way at any time.
I could feel the plank shaking wildly as I moved. My body was filled with terrible fear.
<Don’t be afraid. You won’t die just yet.>
I heard someone whisper close to my ear.
<I’ll let you know how painful it is to die slowly.>
Thud.
Once more, the rope around my neck was pulled tight.
This time, it was so tight that I could barely breathe.
Still, I wasn’t in a position where I could die. It almost killed me, but it didn’t.
I couldn’t easily breathe or move around, but I couldn’t die either.
All that was left was a slow death from choking.
After a few seconds, I suddenly felt like I was flying.
I looked down and saw it while feeling strange and mysterious.
The body and head were only held together by a thin strip of skin. It was hard to even use the word ‘attached’ to describe it.
That was Selene’s face, which was my face.
—
“Aaaaah!”
I yelled and got out of bed.
“Ahh, ahh!”
I reached out and tried to grab the air as hard as I could. I couldn’t grab anything, so both of my hands were just flailing around.
I wasn’t tied down, and I could easily breathe.
When I became aware of this, I felt a wave of relief.
“Gasps… gasps.”
I couldn’t feel anything until I took a few big breaths.
“Where am I…?”
I took a deep breath and took a look around. It was dark, but it wasn’t as stifling as it had been in my dream.
What was on me wasn’t a rough piece of cloth, but a soft silk blanket. Slowly, the difference in texture helped me see the truth.
It was all in my head.
“What the hell…”
As my energy level went down, I started to feel dizzy. I was drenched in sweat.
I had been sleeping in a damp spot. My pajamas were soaked through.
My hair was wet and stuck to my face and cheeks because I had been sweating.
“My Lady! Is there something wrong?”
I heard Rona’s voice, and then the room was filled with bright light.
Rona opened the blinds and walked over to the bed.
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Rona seemed used to being in this position as she carefully looked at my condition.
“Rona.”
I muttered, “My neck, is it still attached?”
“Yes? Of course.”
Rona gave me a surprised look and carefully looked at the area around my neck.
“Is my neck, really…?”
I didn’t have the courage to touch it. It was too much to think about how my face was hanging by a single piece of skin.
“Of course. It’s attached well and firmly.”
“Really?”
I grabbed Rona’s hand and asked her again.
“Definitely, please try and touch it.”
Rona held my hand and guided it to my neck.
At first, I was scared, but when I touched my own thin neck, I finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Thump, thump.
I could feel a strong beat.
That I was still living.
Because I was so upset, my heart was racing much faster than normal, but even that was a blessing at the time.
“…Praise God.”
Drip, drip.
Some tears from my eyes fell on my hand.
Then I started to quietly cry.
How many times have I dreamed about this?
I wished I couldn’t remember it, whether it was from a past life or a book. Why does it keep coming back to me and making me feel bad?
“Why am I here, though?”
This was where I slept. My last memory was of taking care of Amoide in his room and then going outside.
I opened my eyes, though, and I was in bed. I was also dressed in clean clothes.
I frowned because I couldn’t think of a way to link the two thoughts.
“Oh no, you don’t remember?”
“Hmm?”
I felt stupid.
Everything seemed scary. Maybe it was because I had just woken up from a dream in which my neck was being choked.
“After you left the Duke’s room, I went to get some tea. When I came back, I found you had passed out in the hall. I asked for help, and this is where you are now. It’s been a day already.”
Rona grabbed my hand and told me what went down.
“A day…”
It meant I was sick for a whole day.
“…I see.”
I felt depressed. My mouth tasted bad. My throat hurt because I screamed so much. It felt like I had eaten a lump of sand.
“Hic, hic.”
Rona quickly brought me a glass of water when I coughed dryly.
I reached for the glass and drank the water quickly. As the cool water went down my throat, I finally started to feel like I was coming back to myself.’
“Uhm, my Lady.”
From the side, a careful voice called out.
“…What?”
“The Madame wants to see you,” she said.
“Even though she knows I’m sick?”
“Yes, she told me to take you as soon as you woke up.”
Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, Rona’s voice got quieter.
How mean. To ask that a person who had passed out be brought to her.
“Are you okay?” Should I tell her you don’t feel good? Maybe it would be better to see her tomorrow…”
Rona looked at me to see what I would do.
“No. Tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I got rid of the blanket that was on me.
“She said she wanted to see her daughter-in-law’s face, so I’ll be showing up in front of her.”
As soon as I forced myself to stand up and put my feet on the floor, I was set.
“Ah…!”
Maybe because I stood up so quickly, the room started to spin for a second.
Rona held me up while I stumbled for a moment.
