CHAPTER 1: The Dream That Wasn’t Mine
The night was too quiet.
Only the soft hum of the ceiling fan filled the room, slicing through the stillness as moonlight spilled across the walls like silver paint.
She lay curled beneath her blanket, her face peaceful… almost too peaceful.
But then—
Her eyebrows twitched.
A faint crease formed between them.
Her breathing shifted.
And suddenly—
It began.
—
A flash.
Bright.
Blinding.
A palace… white marble glowing under golden sunlight.
Another flash.
A man.
A knight—standing tall in gleaming armor, his presence powerful… yet his eyes—
His eyes weren’t cold.
They were soft.
Soft in a way that didn’t belong on a battlefield.
—
Her head shifted slightly on the pillow.
A whisper escaped her lips.
“…who…”
—
Another flash.
A girl.
A princess in a flowing white gown, standing beneath pillars wrapped in blooming flowers. The wind played with her hair as she turned—
And their eyes met.
The knight and the princess.
For the first time.
And something in the air changed.
Like destiny had just taken its first breath.
—
The girl in the bed frowned deeper.
Her fingers curled into the bedsheet.
“No…”
—
The dream didn’t stop.
It never did.
—
Laughter echoed.
The princess running across a marble balcony, her bare feet brushing against the cold floor as the knight chased her—not as a soldier…
But as a man in love.
He caught her wrist.
Pulled her closer.
Too close.
And for a moment, the world disappeared around them.
Just heartbeats.
Just breaths.
Just them.
—
Her head moved side to side.
Uncomfortable.
Restless.
Like she was trying to escape something pulling her deeper.
“I don’t… want…”
—
Another flash.
Slower this time.
Softer.
The knight brushing a strand of hair away from her face… his touch trembling, as if she was something too precious for this cruel world.
Their foreheads touched.
Eyes closed.
A silent promise passing between them.
—
Darkness.
Sudden.
Heavy.
—
Screams.
The sound tore through everything.
The dream shattered into chaos.
—
People shouting.
Soldiers rushing.
Steel clashing.
Blood.
So much blood.
—
Her breathing quickened.
Her head jerked slightly.
“Stop…”
—
The knight stood in the middle of it all—covered in blood.
Not just his enemies’.
But his own.
And theirs.
—
Voices echoed—
“DEMON!”
“He’s cursed!”
“Kill him!”
—
The princess stood in front of him.
Protecting him.
From everyone.
From the entire world.
—
Tears streamed down her face.
But she didn’t move.
Didn’t step aside.
Didn’t let go.
—
The girl in bed clenched her fists tighter.
Her face twisted in pain.
“I said STOP—”
—
A final flash.
The sharpest one.
The one that always came last.
—
An arrow.
Cutting through the air.
Fast.
Unforgiving.
—
Her eyes widened in the dream.
The princess turned—
Too late.
—
The arrow pierced her chest.
—
Silence.
—
The knight caught her before she hit the ground.
His arms shaking.
His world breaking.
—
Blood stained her white dress.
His armor.
Their love.
—
Her hand lifted slowly…
Resting against his face.
Gentle.
Loving.
Like she was the one comforting him.
Even now.
—
His lips moved.
Saying something she could never hear.
Something the dream never let her understand.
—
Tears fell from his eyes.
Onto her skin.
—
And then—
Darkness swallowed everything.
—
She shot up in bed.
Gasping.
Her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she had just run miles.
Her hair clung to her face.
Her hands trembled.
Again.
The same dream.
The same faces.
The same pain.
Every night.
Like a story her soul remembered…
But her mind refused to understand.
—
She pressed her hand against her chest.
Right where it hurt the most.
“…why does it feel like I lost something…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
—
Outside, the moon hid behind the clouds.
And somewhere…
far beyond time—
A story unfinished…
waited for her to remember.
