Chapter 3: Beautiful nightmare

Pain. That was what Irene felt as soon as she woke up. She had a killer headache. It felt as though someone was hammering her head. Even her body ached, and she could not move without groaning. Her hands felt too heavy to lift, and her eyelids did not cooperate with her will, refusing to open.

Irene could faintly hear people yelling around her. But it was distant. She could not make out any noise except for a buzzing sound lingering in her ears. Somebody was shaking her gently as they tried to wake her up. But her body was too weary, and she slipped into a deep sleep again.

The next time Irene woke up, it was completely dark. Unlike the previous time, her eyelids fluttered open only to be met with darkness. With a gentle push, she got off the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on, rubbing her forehead, which was throbbing slightly.

"Why do I feel so lethargic?" She mumbled, pushing back her hair. "What happened to me?" She held her head between her hands, recalling what had happened recently. The car crash, the gunshot, and the three cars flashed in her mind, and she jolted in fear, the nightmare she had experienced sending chills down her spine.

'Did I survive the attack?' She was in disbelief. She remembered how gruesome and horrible she had felt just a moment before she closed her eyes. Her entire body screamed in pain, as though all her bones were crushed. No one could make it out of it alive, let alone her.

'How the heck did I survive? Who saved me?' She wondered, looking at her hands, which had no signs of tubes connected to her. She lifted her head when she realized something bizarre around her. Although the room was completely dark, the three candles on the candelabrum on the table across the room, illuminating the place faintly.

'Candelabrum? I don't have any candelabrum. Where did it come from?' She wondered, pushing herself off the bed. She padded towards the table and frowned, seeing the candle holders in front of her. Her frown deepened when she realized that her room seemed to have grown considerably bigger than she was used to. At once, she turned around, taking in the view of her room.

Her eyes widened, and a gasp left her lips. Even though the light from the candles was scarce, it did not inhibit her vision, and she could see the room clearly. Irene was stunned to see the magnificence of the place. It was nothing she had ever seen or heard of.

The room was thrice as large as the one in her apartment. Heck, it was larger than her apartment and it screamed of luxury and elegance. The extravagance of the place took her breath away. It was nothing less than the palaces she had seen in the movies, maybe even more beautiful than them.

However, Irene was in no mood to appreciate the magnificent room. She was in horror, for she could not fathom how she had ended up here. 'What the hell is happening?' She wondered, running her eyes around her. 'Where the heck am I? It must all be a dream. I must be dreaming. Yes, that's right. I must be dreaming.'

With that thought in mind, she slapped herself hard, trying to wake her up from the beautiful nightmare. However, all she ended up with was a scream that belonged to her. She rubbed her cheek to alleviate the pain, cursing herself silently for using such brute force on herself. "Am I not dreaming? Is this all true?"

The next instant, she gasped, fear taking over her entire form. "Did someone kidnap me, or am I drunk?" Although the thought felt absurd even to her, she could not shake it out of her mind. But why would her kidnapper keep her in a room meant for royalty? It made no sense. 'I must be drunk. Yes, that's it. But...' Irene scratched her head, trying to recall when she had gone drinking. But nothing came to her mind.

Another theory popped into her mind, recalling the stories she had read in her free time. 'Wait, did some rich guy take a liking to me, and he kidnapped me so that...'

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she shook her head. "No, way. Who would take a liking to me? I must be hallucinating. Seriously, where am I?" She shouted the last sentence, and the moment she did so, the door to the room opened, startling her.

"Milady," A young girl entered in a hurry, her face laced with panic. "Milady, you are finally awake." Her jaw dropped as she gaped at Irene. Her shock immediately turned to a relieved smile, and she rushed to Irene with vigor. "Milady," It did not take her even a minute to start crying, her behavior surprising Irene.

"Milady, please don't do this to us again. We were scared for you. We thought we had lost you." The girl started sobbing, and Irene didn't know why she was crying.

Moreover, she was still surprised to find an unfamiliar girl, and her way of addressing her baffled her. 'Milady? Why is she calling me that? Is she out of her mind?' Her thoughts broke when she heard the girl hiccupping softly. Though she did not know who the girl was, her priority was to coax the girl, and without thinking, she hugged the girl.

"Milady," The girl stood frozen as soon as Irene hugged her.

"There, there. Everything will be alright. Relax. Take a deep breath." Irene rubbed her back gently as she consoled the girl. She had no idea about the chaos in the unknown girl's mind. Her little action of hugging her made her cry all the more.

"Milady," She wailed, hugging Irene. "I missed you, Milady. Please don't ever do this again." She cried, and Irene helplessly continued to rub her back.

"Milady," The girl sniffled, and she pulled back. "I need to inform His Grace. He was worried for you. I will be right back." The girl ran away even before Irene could stop her.

"What is happening today? Who was this girl, and why was she crying?" Irene's brows furrowed as she tried to rack her brain trying to find out if she knew the girl and had forgotten over the years. However, she could not remember her even after trying for long. 'Did I ever see her in the passing and forget her?' She wondered again, but her thoughts broke as soon as the door opened again.

This time, an older man was leading the group of people. Irene did not even have time to take a good look at him when he hugged her suddenly. "Sylvaine, you are finally awake."

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