Ilyin felt light after a while, her body was telling her that she was waking up and returning to the harsh winter she didn't want to return to.
***
Ilyin blinked at the white light coming from the ceiling, which was always dark enough to sleep.
However, it was bright enough to show that the family roof hadn't been renovated since she was seven.
She was afraid of strong winds, as the shadows made by the light moving on the stripped wallpaper scared her.
She was also afraid of people, as the shadows trembled whenever the door slammed.
Ilyin got up.
“The master wants to see you,” a maid said as the door opened and Ilyin turned around in disbelief.
She recognized the voice of the maid who had spoken, because she was the one who served her the most.
The only reason the maid did this, though, was because she was the youngest maid there and it was obvious that she didn't like her mistress.
"Madam?" Ilyin thought of those of the Delroses when he heard that word.
They spoke with concern whenever they called her, but this maid's voice sounded bitter.
“Oh…”, Ilyin felt himself speak as his voice sounded in his ear.
She looked out the window to see a broad-leaved tree that didn't grow in the winter lands and thought of Biflten in the summer, which was much more colorful and vibrant.
The sunlight faded into the dirt and Ilyin covered his mouth as he coughed.
It was all so realistic.
"Madam!" The maid slapped the bed, and Ilyin looked at her in surprise.
“Aren’t you going?”
“I will,” Ilyin said without realizing it and she noticed that she was wearing a formal dress instead of a nightgown.
She knew she wouldn't sleep wearing something like that.
“You can’t act like that in front of master, right?” The halls of the Arlen Estate were strange and warm compared to where she was.
“You have to answer the questions!” As if the maid was talking to herself, she added, “How proud she is after getting divorced.”
The maid brought her head closer and Ilyin stumbled back in surprise.
Ilyin heard the maid's words loud and clear and felt as if someone had stabbed her in the chest.
However, she thought about the sights she had seen in Biflten.
They certainly weren't all dreams.
She became Ilyin of Biflten after marriage, spent nights with him and finished the succession ceremony.
She clearly remembered Mille's Divine Object, that fresh red flower and the hand that held her so that she wouldn't fall asleep.
Therefore, Ilyin decided to think that this was a bad nightmare.
The maid took her upstairs and she thought the mansion looked small and old now.
She thought the mansion seemed much bigger before.
Ilyin looked around as he followed the maid and everything was as he remembered it before leaving.
“Come here now.” The maid was insolent and her eyes were filled with hatred.
As they walked, people jumped back as if they were cursed by a mere touch from her and they were all familiar to her, which made her feel a pang of fear again, but she was fine for now.
“Master, I brought her.”
“Let her in.”
Ilyin was in front of Viscount Arlen's room and when the maid left after the door opened, Ilyin was left to face him alone.
“It’s been a long time since I saw you,” said the viscount indifferently.
Ilyin thought that he hadn't received it yet and replied bluntly: "Yes."
“So, have you told the Duke your secret?”
The viscount didn't even offer her a seat and she remembered that it had always been like this here.
Ilyin grabbed her dress defensively.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard you got divorced.
There would only be one reason for that." The viscount talked about how suitable his family was and continued about their long history for a while before looking directly at her:
“You talked about how your dreams told the future, right?” Ilyin wanted to say that this was not true.
She had told Aden about her dream, but wanted to correct something else.
She wanted to tell her father that she wasn't divorced and even if she was, it wasn't because of her dreams, she wanted to tell him that she wasn't cursed, even if she was just in a dream.
Ilyin didn't know before that she could feel so passionate about something, while the words she had suppressed her entire life came bubbling to the surface.
She wanted to say that she didn't just see death.
If she hadn't seen that avalanche, many riders would have been injured or killed and they managed to avoid that.
Ilyin wanted to say that she was not cursed, but her lips did not open even in a dream.