Morning arrived before I felt truly awake.
Light filtered through the curtains with a quiet insistence, gradually illuminating the room. I opened my eyes and it took a few seconds to remember where I was. The unfamiliar ceiling, the expansive silence, the faint scent of polished wood... it all clicked into place too quickly.
The nighttime visit hadn't been a dream.
I sat up carefully. The movement was still clumsy, but it no longer surprised me. My hands found the edge of the bed almost out of habit, as if my body were learning faster than my mind. The wheelchair was exactly where they had left it.
Someone knocked on the door.
"May I come in?" a cheerful voice asked.
"Yes."
Bright entered with a smile and a tray in her hands.
"Good morning," she said. "Did you sleep well?"
I hesitated for a moment.
"Well enough."
I wasn't lying, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Bright didn't press the issue. She carefully set the tray down and adjusted one of the curtains to let in more light.
"We'll take it easy today," she added. "There's no rush."
"Thank you."
While I ate breakfast, I heard voices in the hallway. Palmer was laughing; Ryan was arguing about something with Dober; McQueen was giving instructions in a serene tone. It was an everyday, domestic noise. It didn't sound like a place where someone had inexplicably appeared in the middle of the garden.
When I finished, Bright helped me settle into the chair.
"Ramonu asked to see you this morning," she commented as if it were a minor detail.
My stomach tightened.
"Oh... really?"
"In the library," she added. "Whenever you feel ready."
The library turned out to be a spacious, silent room, with bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling. The smell of old paper and leather vaguely reminded me of something... but the memory faded before taking shape.
Ramonu was standing next to a low table, reviewing some documents. She didn't look up immediately.
"Come in," she said.
I moved close enough to face her. The chair barely made a sound on the polished floor. Ramonu set the papers down and finally looked at me.
"I didn't call you here to interrogate you," she began. "Nor to test you, so I ask that you relax."
"Then..." I started.
"I called you because you are an enigma," she interrupted. "And I don't like enigmas inside my house."
She didn't sound aggressive. She sounded honest.
"You appeared without warning," she continued. "With no visible injuries, yet unable to walk. With memories that do not fit in this world."
I looked down.
"I'm not hiding anything," I said. "If I knew more, I would say so."
"I know," she replied. "That is why I want to hear what you do remember."
I stayed silent for a few seconds. I searched within myself for something I could offer her without feeling like I was making it up.
"I remember... a track," I said finally. "It was large. There were rails. A lot of people. Noise."
Ramonu nodded, without interrupting me.
"I remember animals running," I continued. "Large, four-legged animals. Their necks were long and muscular, with pointy ears and long tails too."
"Horses," she said, pronouncing the word carefully.
"Yes," I replied, surprised. "That."
"I have been researching since last night," she added. "There are no records of such creatures in our history. None."
"Then... it doesn't make sense," I muttered.
"It makes sense if you are not from here," she replied bluntly.
The air seemed to grow heavier.
"I am not saying I know the truth," she clarified. "I am saying it is a possibility we cannot ignore."
I didn't know what to answer.
Ramonu leaned forward slightly.
"There is another thing," she said. "When we found you, the grass was not damaged. There were no marks from a fall. No sign that you had walked there... or crawled."
"Then...?"
"Then you simply appeared," she concluded. "As if space itself had decided to place you there."
A shiver ran down my spine.
"And what does that mean?" I asked.
Ramonu held my gaze.
"I believe it was no accident."
The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. It was unsettling.
"For now," she continued, "this stays between us. I do not wish to worry the rest without proof."
"And what do I do?" I asked.
"You live," she answered. "You observe. You remember."
She stood straight.
"And if anything comes back to your mind... no matter how insignificant it may seem, you tell me first."
I nodded.
When I left the library, the sun was already high. The mansion seemed the same as always: quiet, orderly, alive. Palmer greeted me from the hallway; Ryan was discussing training with Ardan; McQueen was reading near a window.
Everything continued as normal.
I, on the other hand, felt that something had shifted slightly out of place.
As I moved slowly down the hallway, an image flashed through my mind without warning: a violent fall, the sharp sound of an impact... and a massive shadow passing over me.
I stopped.
The image vanished as quickly as it had arrived, but it left something behind.
An uncomfortable certainty.
Whatever had brought me to this world wasn't finished with me yet.