After dinner, when the Duke left for the Council, Irene and Reyna took a stroll in the garden. She was admiring the view in front of her, pushing away all her thoughts and worries for the time being. She wanted to enjoy the fresh air and warm sunlight and relieve herself of her stress.

Since the time she had woken up in this unknown land, Irene had been trying to seek answers to her questions. Everything seemed like a dream to her, a bizarre dream that would end any time soon, and the reality would smack her hard in the face.

But she knew that this would never happen. It was not a dream, it was reality. She was here, in another world, in someone else's body and taking over her identity. Even though she was unwilling to, Irene had now become Sylvaine and she could do nothing about it before she found a way to return home.

Suddenly a notion popped up in her mind and Irene stopped walking all of a sudden. Reyna, who was walking behind her, too, halted and looked at her questioningly. "Say, Reyna, how did Sylvanie, I mean, I." She corrected herself in time. "How did I fall unconscious? What happened to me that had me bedridden for five days?"

Irene turned around suddenly, startling the girl behind her. However, she was too lost in her thoughts to notice what she had done. 'If I can find out what happened to Sylvaine and how she lost her consciousness, maybe I might find out how to return to my world.'

Irene frowned when she did not hear a word from the girl behind her and she raised her head to look at her. However, instead of finding her eyes on her, Reyna was looking somewhere else nd she lowered her eyes to see what had happened. Her eyes widened the next moment and she let go of her dress. Unknowingly while walking, Irene had lifted the heavy dress that had been obstructing her.

Though Irene had been accustomed to wearing gowns and other costumes, this was her first time wearing a heavy dress that seemed to weigh more than her. They hindered her from walking every time she took a step and eventually, her frustration got the best of her.

Irene pressed her dress to remove the creases on them and gave Reyna a cheeky grin. "It's just that I do not like wearing such clothes." She blurted out without thinking and Reyna gave her a blank look.

"Why are you staring at me that way, Reyna? Is something the matter? Is everything okay?" Irene looked back at her, wondering what had happened to her. 'Why is she eyeing me like a delicious piece of meat? I know I look delicious, but I am definitely not meat she can eat.' Irene thought to herself.

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A bizarre notion entered her mind and she even looked mortified when she thought about it. 'Is Reyna a lesbian? Does she like Sylvaine? I mean, does she like me? Is she secretly in love with me?' The thought alone sent chills down Irene's spine and she had the sudden urge to run away from the place, from the girl.

But she stopped herself when another realization hit her. 'Were such kinds of love and relationship allowed in the past? Can people love anyone they want, irrespective of their gender in this era?' She wondered with a frown. 'Hey, no way. Reyna is not like what I think her to be. She is straight. She must have a boyfriend or even a husband. So how can she fall for me?'

Irene shook her head to clear her head of her weird thoughts. First, however, she thought to confirm them with the girl herself before deciding. "Reyna, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Boy...boyfriend?" Reyna gave her a confused look. "What is that, Milady?"

"Ahh, you did not have boyfriend-girlfriend words in this era. My bad." Irene clicked her tongue and smacked her forehead much to Reyna's fright.

"Reyna, do you have a man in your life? A special man, the one you love and who loves you back." She put her words so that Reyna could understand her easily and raised her brows in mischief. A slight blush reached the girl's cheeks as soon as the question left her lips. She seemed flustered all of a sudden and Irene could more or less guess what her answer was.

"Aww, our dear Reyna is blushing. May I know who that great man is, dear?" Irene smiled wickedly at the innocent girl and raised her brows playfully.

"No, no, Milady. You are mistaken. I do not have anyone in my life yet." Reyna shook her head in panic and Irene's smile widened in mischief.

"You can tell the truth to me, Reyna. Your secret will be safe with me." Irene prompted, but Reyna gave the same answer again.

"Then, do you have someone you like? A crush, perhaps?" Irene tried another way, once again forgetting that she had used a word that belonged to modern times.

"Crush? I do not understand." Reyna gave a confused look and Irene sighed lightly. She made a pitiful face cursing all that had happened to her.

'Why did I have to end up in the era that belongs to my ancestors' ancestors? I cannot converse with the people here without explaining myself again. What did I get myself into and why am I stuck here?' Irene cried and complained in her mind before she composed her.

"Reyna, I was asking if you have someone you like."

"No, no, Milady. I don't." Her reply was instant. 'Who would possibly like me? Not the man I like, at least. He does even know of my existence.' She took a deep breath and smiled lightly.

Although Irene did not believe her, she did not probe more into it. She had other pressing matters to attend to. But at least she confirmed that the girl was normal and did not have weird feelings for her. "You did not answer me. You did not tell me how I hurt myself and fell unconscious." Irene returned to the topic at hand.

"Milady, you slipped off the stairs and tumbled down before falling unconscious."