Jumping up he wondered if he’d finally gone insane. Opening his eyes, he quickly realised he wasn’t at the library but on a large king-sized bed covered in a golden sheet. His tiredness completely gone; he looked around the room. Questioning if he was asleep or not.

It looked like those bed chambers in an old manor he’d seen in those mediaeval documentaries. The entire room was as wide as the living room at home, with tall arched metal framed glass windows on the wall to the left of the bed, letting in a large amount of sunlight, temporarily blinding him as he raised his hand to cover his eyes.

“I have to admit. As far as dreams go, this is very detailed.” He wondered aloud as he inspected the artwork on the walls.

A short rustle to his right alerted him that he wasn’t alone. A young woman about his age with black hair and caramel brown skin was clothed in what he assumed was a maid’s uniform. With her back turned toward him he inspected the intricate swan white embroidery that cascaded down her spine with hair tied into a long bubble ponytail.

Turning around, she froze as she looked at Konrad, dropping the contents of the metal platter she was holding. She gazed at him for a few seconds, her deep azure eyes piercing his soul. She was nothing short of beautiful he thought, dazed by her appearance before stopping to berate himself for staring too long.

“So, is this a cosplay or something? It looks really nice.” He complimented her awkwardly as the silence continued. Scolding himself inwardly for being so awkward even in his dreams.

“Y-Young..lord Os-Osbourne? You're awake? How!?” She exclaimed in shock.

“I-I mean I’ll get the healer to come immediately!” She shouted.

Refusing to look him in the eyes now she did a one-eighty-degree turn. Bolting out of the room before he could say a word. Now extremely confused, Konrad lifted up his bed sheet, swinging his legs over the side. An ice chill sprinted up his spine as the sole of his feet connected with the cold hardwood floors. Standing up, his view of the room seemed taller than he expected.

Ambling over to an elevated mirror off to the side, he slowly realised how real everything felt. From the coldness of the floor to the soreness in his joints when he walked. Making it to the marble carved mirror with miniature dragon heads slithering off the top, he took a good look at himself and gasped.

“What th-”. Konrad exclaimed.

Deep brown eyes stared back at him. A sharp jaw coupled with an almond brown thin body left him stunned. Raising his hands to feel his cheek he carefully inspected his broad frame before running his palms through the jet-black hair styled in a classic quiff style neatly resting atop his head.

“Skinny, but it's not that bad.” He admired himself with a slight smile.

Suddenly the thumping of multiple footsteps could be heard thundering towards his room in the corridor outside. Turning around Konrad felt a knot in his stomach, he knew dreams felt real, but this was on another level. Maybe those red bull cans really did a number on his body.

Flying through the doorway to the bed chamber, an older man with spiking grey hair that reminded him of a classic mad scientist, dressed in a grey tunic with wide owl like eyes, almost tripped onto the floor when seeing Konrad stand in front of the mirror.

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Following close behind him was the same maid that ran out of the room a minute before and a young man who looked similar to him, though his large stomach and short neck made it clear he enjoyed eating. A red silk handkerchief in his left paw constantly wiping the sweat off his forehead.

What struck Konrad about him was that he clearly wore a large frown, his eyes reeling in disgust when he laid them on Konrad. Scrunching up his handkerchief into a ball in his fist as his body shook violently. Intuition was telling him that whoever he was, he did not look favourably onto himself. Just as it looked like he would grab him forcibly the older mad scientist pushed him out of the way as he jumped onto Konrad in turn making him stumble shakily back to the bed.

“Young master! Are you okay? Do you feel any pain? How are you awake?” A flurry of questions barraged out his mouth as he constantly checked over Konrad’s body.

“Who are you?!” Konrad answered with an incredulous expression while moving the man's hands away from his body.

“Sire, with all due respect, you must be joking, I am your house’s healer and you have just woken up after being poisoned.” He said with his eyebrow raised.

“Poisoned?!” Konrad blurted out. His mind racing.

“Yes. In fact, you should not even be breathing right now, seeing how deep it got into your body.” He said in a curious tone.

His eyes constantly looked Konrad up and down for whatever sign he was looking for. This whole fiasco felt like a scene from a movie. Plus this dream hadn’t stopped. Though now he was questioning if somebody was playing a sick joke on him. Then something extraordinary happened. The healer held out his hands in front of him, his palms extending toward Konrad.

Believing the healer to have gone mad, Konrad was about to lean forward and question it until a golden light covered the man's hands. That very light shot towards his body, engulfing him in it. Panicking Konrad could not process what was happening, until a warm feeling began to envelope him. It felt like he just took a dip in a hot tub as he closed his eyes and the light began to dim around him.

“Strange. You have fully healed from your illness. I can’t pick up any traces of poison left. We tried the healing potions before, but they didn’t seem to work but here you are as healthy as a two-hundred-year-old Greenwood Oak Tree.” The healer questioned suspiciously.

“Maybe your ability has awakened early? Or has your body developed a natural immunity? Well, whatever it is, you are alive now. I’ll send this news to Lord Osbourne. Well, all I can recommend is to get some sleep now.” He said with a shrug before walking off.

It was only until he left did the young man turn to him angrily, grabbing his shirt as he began lifting him up with his wide paws.

“I’m glad you're ok…brother.” He managed to say while grinding his teeth. Though Konrad thought otherwise.

Turning around he promptly stormed off shoving the maid aside in the process, causing her to fall to the ground. Konrad had completely forgotten about her until then. Quickly getting to her side, he extended a hand to help her up, but she shrieked loudly and threw her arms up to cover her face.

Now completely confused, Konrad watched in awkward silence as the maid trembled for a few seconds before slowly lowering her hands and opening her previously shut eyelids.

“Are you okay?” Konrad said in a low but caring voice.

She looked up at him warily. Surprise etched into her face she looked at his hand again before cautiously taking it. Now standing up the two of them faced each other, the awkward silence felt deafening, but Konrad was suddenly sent into a stupor.

Those fearful eyes he had seen on her before helping her up. They were the same eyes he saw every day in the mirror. A deep-seated fear since childhood he fought tooth and nail to push down. His father’s shouts and yelling began to cloud his mind as blurry images of his drunken rampages caused goosebumps to form all over his body.

“Sire? Are you alright? Shall I get the healer again? You don’t seem well.” the maid asked quietly.

Her questions brought him out of the hole he was digging himself into. Cursing under his breath for forgetting about her again for the second time he looked toward her before sitting back down on the bed feeling helpless.

“I’m fine.” He said with a forced smile.

Burrowing his face in his palms he came to a slow but frightening conclusion. This dream hadn’t ended. In fact, everything felt very real. Too real. He had loved to read stories about getting transported to a different world as a kid but actually experiencing it was a different story. A man just created light from his hands, that was impossible, should have been impossible.

His stomach felt like it was sinking, beginning to feel nauseous. He wondered if he would ever be able to go back home. Until a small question came from the depths of his mind making him freeze.

“Do I want to go home?” Konrad whispered quietly.

“Sire?” The maid questioned; her eyebrow raised as she leaned forward ever so slightly to hear him better.

Let's assume this is real, he thought. It's still no different from home. No, at least his father wasn’t here. He was already off to a better start. He didn’t pay much attention to science in high school, but it didn’t take a fool to know that what the ‘healer’ had just done was impossible. This truly felt like an alien world. One rife with danger. Who knows what type of voodoo magic this place could curse him with.