“Kael!-“ Elara whimpered as she jolted awake, her breath coming in short, panicked bursts. Blinking away the darkness of the dream, the vision of Kael fading in that darkness lingered. His voice remained a whisper in her mind with fragmented words.

Wake up. Solve the mystery and you can find me.

What mystery was he talking about? Could he know she had turned into a different person? No-before that, she saw that silver-haired girl in her dream and she called Kael her brother...

Was it really a dream? It felt too real to be a dream.

She should have asked him more... stopped him. Which mystery is she supposed to solve? The one how she got into this body? Or what happened to this silver haired girl?

Elara blinked, shaking all the questions away for now and for the first time focused on her surroundings. An unfamiliar canopy welcomed her. She forced herself upright, wincing immediately as the pain in her shoulder flared again, the itching around it persisting. A dull ache settled in her limbs, remnants of exhaustion clinging to her like a second skin. The pain in the other wounds was still there though dull but not as dull as it was in the jungle.

She blinked again, trying to make sense of her surroundings. The air smelled of leather, parchment, and faint traces of medicinal herbs but there was another smell that lingered- a smell that felt both familiar and distant. Could it be the smell lingered in her senses because of the earlier dream? It was the fragrance of Lavenders, faint but enough to make her feel calm.

Elara looked around, she was in a tent- spacious yet stark, its deep nay-blue fabric trimmed with silver. The canopy stretched high above, supported by sturdy poles, while silver-threaded curtains swayed gently at the edges, offering both privacy and an easy view of the entrance.

She remembered the mercenaries. Were they the ones who brought her here? “What is this place?” They were talking about some encampment set by the knights- her knights. Could it be?

Her heart pounded as unease curled in her stomach. What if they found out she was not the person they thought of? Her gaze swept across the room, cataloging details- anything that could help her in solving the mystery. A campaign table occupied one side, strewn with maps and documents, beside it, a dark wooden chair with silver inlays- practical but commanding. A weapon rack stood nearby, its gleaming blades organized with meticulous care. Against the far wall, a set of armor rested on a stand, she could make out some carvings on one of its shoulders. The carvings seemed familiar, but where had she seen them?

Her hands fisted into the soft fabric of the tunic she wore- foreign yet clean, far too comfortable to belong to mere mercenaries. Someone had changed her bandages and treated her wounds. Who?

As Elara was busy thinking, the entrance to the tent shifted slightly, she saw a shadow move beyond the silver-threaded curtains. Elara’s body tensed, instincts flaring to life. She was unharmed, vulnerable- she needed to regain control.

Before she could gather herself, the curtain parted, revealing a lady- tall and with a naturally kind face. She had some streaks of silver in her light purple hair. Though her clear, round face didn’t reveal her age but the faint lines etched the corners of her sharp purple eyes did.

The lady suddenly froze, her eyes scanning for something unusual. Her eyes fell on Elara and at once the sharpness left them, replaced by a mixture of relief and shock with a kindness Elara didn’t expect from the unknown lady.

For a few seconds, she just stared.

Her lips parted, but no words came. She clutched the edges of her long pastel robs, fingers tightening around the embroidered fabric as though to steady herself. Then, finally, she let out a breath, her shoulders sagging in something between relief and disbelief. Was she not expecting Elara to wake up anytime soon?

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“You-“ the word caught in her throat before she tried again. “My lady, you’re awake.” She took fast and long strides toward Elara, not wasting another second.

Elara frowned. “... Shouldn’t I be?”

The lady let out something close to a laugh, but it was brittle, edged with something raw. She stepped closer, hesitating before lowering herself onto the wooden stool beside the cot.

“You should be,” she murmured, though she didn’t sound convinced. Her gaze flickered over Elara’s bandaged shoulder, her arms, and finally her face. “And yet, you weren’t. For two days straight.”

Two days?

Elara stilled.

Before she could ask, the lady exhaled sharply, pressing a hand to her brow. “You gave me a fright, My Lady. Gone, without a single word. When they brought you in, I didn’t think you would make it.” Her hands twitched as though she wanted to reach for Elara but refrained. “Your wounds weren’t healing as they should have. No matter what I did, the deeper ones refused to close. And your fever...” She shook her head as if to get something horrible out of it. “I have treated various injuries before, but never have I seen anything like that on your shoulder.”

“My shoulder?” Elara asked, confused by the emphasis on that wound.

“Yes, My lady. That wound. It was strange, more gruesome than I have ever seen. Do you remember how you got it?” her pastel eyes locked on Elara, searching.

Elara thought for a moment. She remembered each and every cut on her body she got from the fight with the goons- except for the one on her shoulder. Wait, this was not her body, but she still had all the wounds and cuts from her fight with the goons? How? Could it be the wounds she got from the goons and the wound this girl got before the switch were both there? How... strange.

What should she say then? She didn’t know about the girl’s condition or what had happened to her. Should she make up a story and lie? That was the safest choice. But something in the lady’s expression stopped Elara. The worry in her voice earlier wasn’t just professional concern- it was personal. As if they were more than patient and doctor.

“... I... don’t know,” Elara admitted at last. She can’t afford to let them know she was not the person they were thinking her to be. She must understand her actual relationship with this lady to make up something. The lady was looking at her as if something precious and fragile.

“I can’t remember much... my memories are a bit foggy.” She added to make it believable.

The lady studied her for a long moment as if trying to decide whether to push further. Then with a weary sigh, she rubbed her temple.

“Regardless,” she muttered, “you’re awake now. That’s what matters.”

Elara’s stomach growled, making the lady look up in surprise. “Oh, my. I apologize, My lady. I should have gotten you something to eat first and here I am rambling about things that could come later.” She instantly left the tent with a speed not seen in women her age, leaving Elara bewildered.

As she looked around once more Elara noticed something shiny on the nearby table- the dagger. Someone had placed her dagger on the table beside her-no, not her dagger. It was Riven’s as he had given it to her.

She took the dagger in her hands once more, wincing as each movement made the ache in her shoulder more prominent. She frowned as she traced the intricate carvings on the blade, her eyes lifted, setting on the armor that was standing on one corner. Before she could think of anything, the curtains shifted again and she heard commotion outside. Had something happened.

“They are relieved to hear you are awake, MyLady... The mercenaries left that dagger with you. You must have kept it with you as your brother had told you to.” The lady said, setting a tray with some fruits and a bowl of what looked like soup. “Here, this will be easy to digest-“

“My brother?” the dagger was Riven’s. So how did she know about it? And the brother she was talking about... was Kael? But the mercenaries said he went to the jungle.

Elara remembered the strange man with the huge wolf. His feral eyes stared at her. Who exactly was that man?

Wait, the mercenaries knew about this dagger too. They called it the Aeternum heirloom. What was Riven’s connection with this Aeternum family?

“Oh, please forgive me, My Lady. I meant the Grand Duke Aeternum. I didn’t mean to... please forgive me.” The lady hastily said, making Elara more confused. “Please eat it before it gets cold, My Lady. It will soothe both your throat and stomach.”

Elara though cautious couldn’t avoid the rumbling in her stomach, her throat had been dry and aching for a while now. So, she took a hesitant sip of the warm broth, melting in the taste and she forgot about the cautiousness as she wolfed down the entire bowl. All the time, the lady looked at her with unknown emotions in her eyes.