As the world slowly revealed itself, my head throbbed with relentless pain.
Everything was too bright, a blinding haze that made my eyes ache. I couldn't grasp anything, my body heavy and immobile, as if I were a log. Nausea churned in my stomach, sharp and unrelenting.
Distant voices filtered in, fragmented and muffled:
"…Wh…Miss… El…a… w…t… him?"
"…Ca… th… du…"
I tried to focus, but my mind refused to cooperate. Then, at the tips of my fingers, I felt it: a soft, gentle touch, subtle yet grounding in the chaos.
Slowly, shapes and colors began to form. My vision cleared enough to see the person beneath me. Yellow hair scattered across the ground, deep blue eyes wide with fear.
I realized I was lying on top of her, pinning her unintentionally. My body was unresponsive, but I managed to shift slightly, enough to see the terror etched across her face.
"What…?" My voice was a rasp.
She screamed, trembling. "Get off me!" Her hands pushed weakly against me, desperate to free herself. I wasn't doing anything, yet her fear made my heart race.
I rolled to the side, collapsing beside her. The room's chill brushed against my skin—and then it hit me: the cold, the touch, the bare skin beneath me. I was naked.
A wave of realization washed over me: I wasn't on the floor. I was lying on a bed—soft, oddly comfortable, and utterly foreign.
"YOU! WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE!"
The shout made my body flinch uncontrollably. The girl beside me shivered. Two figures stood in the doorway—a man and a woman.
The man radiated authority, his expression a mix of shock and rage. Beside him, the woman's sharp, calculating eyes betrayed a smirk that quickly morphed into confusion. Her face… familiar.
"Who…?" I croaked.
"How dare you! You would disgrace me and my family like this?" the man snapped, pointing at me.
I struggled to make sense of it, my thoughts a haze. The girl, still sobbing, looked up at him, pleading silently.
"You dare feign ignorance?" he continued, his voice cracking with fury. "You have the audacity to lay your hands on my fiancée, Elara, while being engaged to your own sister?"
The name hit me like lightning: Elara. Familiar, yet distant. I couldn't place it.
The man's attention shifted to her. "Elara, how could you betray me?"
"I didn't! I swear, I don't know how I got here!" she cried, desperate.
Beside him, the woman spoke, her voice dripping with false sorrow. "Sister, how could you do this to me with my fiancé?"
Elara's pleas grew frantic. "It's a setup! Please, you have to believe me!"
The man shook his head, grief and anger etched into every line of his face. "I can't. I can't believe you."
My stomach roiled, the room spinning. Then another voice, deeper, colder, cut through the chaos:
"What is happening here?"
A tall, imposing figure entered, radiating authority. His gaze swept over the room, piercing, unyielding. Everyone fell silent.
"This is the Duke," someone whispered. The title resonated, though it only added to my disorientation.
He demanded answers, his voice low, dangerous. The tension in the room pressed against me like a physical weight.
A trembling voice spoke up. "Duke, I found Elara in bed with him. She has betrayed me and our family."
Elara shook her head violently. "Father, please! I didn't do anything!"
The Duke's eyes narrowed, his gaze landing on me. A chilling, suffocating presence washed over me, as though serpents had wrapped themselves around my chest.
Nausea overwhelmed me. I couldn't hold it back.
"Orghk—!"
The sickening feeling spilled to the floor. Whispers of disgust and shame filled the room.
"Guards," the Duke commanded, cold and unwavering. "Take them both away."
Elara's cries pierced my ears. "Father! Please! You must believe me!"
The guards moved in. As they dragged me away, one of them struck my head with a cruel thud. Pain exploded through my skull. Darkness claimed me once more.