Chapter 5

The meaningful glances exchanged between the two women spoke volumes. "Calm down," she said in a flat voice. "If I were you, I wouldn't resist. Now do as I say."

I looked at the woman as if I could strangle her at any given moment. In this place where I found myself for the very first time in my life, someone was giving me orders. And threatening me! This, even in my current state, was simply too much.

"You have no right to give me orders." I pulled down my dress, which had ridden up, with hasty movements. The fact that I stood up from the bed terrified the shorter woman.

"Mrs. Diren! Stop her! The binding cannot be carried out this way!"

Diren's eyes flashed with fury as she turned to the woman. "Then you should have adjusted the medication dosage properly!"

The brief dialogue between them sowed deep doubts inside me. Where this place was and for what reason they were holding me captive remained an enigma, but one truth was crystal clear: I had to get away from here as soon as possible.

I caught sight of the half-open door.

So as not to draw their attention again, I didn't utter another word. Gathering all my strength into my clenched fists, I ran toward the door as fast as I could.

"Migret! Catch that girl!"

The moment I found myself in the hallway, the voices of the women shouting behind me began to draw closer. I sprinted down the white corridor and started rushing down the stairs that appeared before me. As the staircase continuously curved to the left, and despite leaving many steps behind, for a moment I thought they would never end.

"Stop immediately! Stop immediately, I tell you!"

Reaching the final step, I burst into a vast, empty hall. As my chest heaved frantically, the door that would lead me out of this strange place stood right in front of me. This time I sprinted straight toward it, paying no mind to the burning heat radiating in my belly.

The two-story building I escaped from was enclosed within high stone walls that spanned a wide perimeter. However, the main structure those stone walls protected was not the one I left behind, but the one facing me.

I saw a few men emerging from that house, which was far whiter, vastly larger, and much more grand. Running without stopping, I couldn’t focus on them; my eyes frantically searched for the main gate that would offer me an exit.

Finally, I found the exit I was looking for, but several men stood erect like statues in front of it. Exactly... They resembled the men standing outside the Safornikon Foundation. Even though they noticed me, they didn't budge from their spots. But I didn't stop. I threw myself rapidly against the double iron gate that was three times my height.

I pushed, pulled, and shook it. It didn't open.

The men neither opened the door nor made any move to stop me.

Beyond the gate, I saw numerous structures of varying sizes. They had neither roofs nor windows. Unlike how things should be, they all looked like white boxes—exactly like the two structures enclosed by the stone wall I was currently in...

While the weather was dazzling and bright, the area I was standing in felt exceedingly strange. The ground was entirely made of stone, without a single patch of green in sight.

Despite everything around being luminous and spacious, I felt as if I were in another realm that completely darkened my soul.

There were many wide streets. If it wasn't one of those streets, another could be the road that would lead me home!

"Open this gate!" I brought my aching hands down with fury. "I'm telling you to open it!" As I screamed with all my strength, I realized that the two women who were beside me moments ago were now standing right behind me.

Everyone—every single unfamiliar face—was watching my desperation as if they were watching a movie.

"I will report you all! You can't keep me here by force!"

I was about to deliver a hard kick to the gate this time when I froze, paralyzed by the red stain on the front of my dress. "My God!" only my lips moved. "What has happened to me!" My suspended kick fell back to the ground like a block of lead. "It must be a dream... It must be a dream... My God, it must be a dream!"

Yes, everything was just nonsense spun by my subconscious. In a moment I would wake up, opening my eyes in my room while clutching my pillow.

"If you have any complaints, I will gladly hear them, young lady."

A deep, masculine voice came from behind me. As I gradually turned my head toward that direction, I came face-to-face with a chestnut-haired man. Behind him stood two other men—the same ones I had seen coming out of that grand house minutes ago.

I turned my whole body toward them. My hands tried to cover the stain on the front of my dress, but with eyes so green they could be distinguished from meters away, he had already noticed it.

"You..." I swallowed hard. "Who are you?"

He examined me from head to toe, unhurriedly. I couldn't recall another moment in my life when I had felt so uncomfortable. He was a tall man of massive build, his slicked-back hair ending near his ears. Without taking his eyes off me, he slowly brought his body forward, clad in a suit that was completely white down to every detail.

"I don't think we should discuss these matters here, Rozelin." He cast a split-second glance at the spot I was trying to hide. "Especially not when such a wonderful event has taken place."

In that moment, I realized that the woman named Diren and the one they called Migret were also looking at me with satisfied eyes. I suppose from this point on, I could truly start worrying about myself!

"I'm asking you for the last time!" I said in a voice harsher than anything I had ever heard from myself before. "Who are you people! Where am I!"

Diren approached the chestnut-haired man with firm steps. "Sir, forgive the error. I will reprimand the Migrets regarding this matter."

"No problem, Sage." He didn't avert his smiling pupils from me for a single instant. His green eyes were small beneath thick eyebrows, carrying a distinctly unsettling look in his gaze. "It was beautiful to personally witness that the binding took place."

There it was again—that same word, binding. What were they talking about? What did these people want from me?

"I told you the girl we were looking for was Rozelin." She raised her head with pride. "My faith in Envoy Nerin is infinite. She put in quite an effort to find her."

Nerin... Envoy Nerin.

"What does Mrs. Nerin have to do with this? You people are insane!"

I wasn't afraid; I was not a cowardly girl. I was merely trying to handle the rage consuming me from within. Had I known my strength would be enough to attack them, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second, but I knew there was another place where I had to use my strength.

With a gut-wrenching scream, I whirled back toward the gate. As my fingers clutched the cold iron, I continued to shake it regardless of the slightest pain in my body. I wanted to leave this place. I wanted to get away, erase myself, disappear. The land I was walking upon, wherever it was, filled me with an indescribable discomfort.

The men didn't step an inch closer, but the two women wrapping their hands around my waist tried to pull me away from the gate. In that struggle, my eyes caught something in the distance—very far away—another color.

Crimson.

Past a certain boundary, the light abruptly ended as if severed by a knife, and the sky and earth were steeped in crimson.

Astonishment caused my fingers to slip from the iron. Taking advantage of this, the women dragged my weakened body beside the chestnut-haired man whom they obeyed as if he were a God.

"Do not fear," he said in a faint voice. With his mysterious eyes, he pointed toward the majestic structure he had come out of. "When you recover, I will take you to my home."

I tried to break free from the women's grasp, but it was in vain. "Who are you for me to go to your house! If you don't release me immediately, you will be held responsible for whatever happens to you next!"

What I said didn't make him angry; on the contrary, it made him smile. I could tell by the curve of his lips hidden beneath his beard. "I will tell you who I am. I am Temur Alizen, the leader of the Lenoran Region. And you, Rozelin Demir, welcome to my luminous lands."

Lenoran? Amidst the curses I was hurling under my breath, I wondered if a district with such a name existed in Turkey. Or perhaps... I was in a completely different country!

When they took me back up to that cursed room, Diren and the woman they called Migret stayed with me. Later, another woman arrived, whom Diren also addressed as Migret. All the women referred to by that name wore the exact same blue dress.