Ingrid opened her eyes and found herself in an unfamiliar room. She quickly sat up and scanned her surroundings, her gaze wary like that of an animal taken from her natural habitat.
The first thing that caught Ingrid's attention was the size of her bed. She thought that the bed was fairly big only to realize that it was her that had shrunk. Her hands and feet seemed to have become tinier. The size of her brown locks also seems to have become shorter.
Ingrid quickly got up from the bed and ran towards the mirror, stumbling over the various treasures that scattered around the huge bedchamber. The room she was in didn't look at all like a bedroom meant for a young lady but that of a dragon hoarder—with all the glittering treasures piled inside.
Ingrid stood in front of the mirror made with gold frames and intricate carvings. There she saw a young child, with jade-like eyes and a face that can make even a rock blush. The face in the mirror looked to be a younger version of herself.
Being the daughter of a giant man like the grand duke, Ingrid's height was something that could make even young boys envious. At the age of twelve, her height was already as tall as some sixteen-year-old ladies. A thought in her subconscious is telling her that that is her current age.
Ingrid's eyes moved from the mirror towards her surroundings. If Empress Verandi were to see the mountains of glittering treasures inside the room, her eyes would definitely fall out of their sockets. However, the sight of them was but a source of uneasiness for the young girl.
Ingrid could guess who it was that gave her these piles of treasure. However, it felt like there was a fog in her mind, keeping her from clearly remembering certain things—like the face of that man, or why she was there in the first place. But the more she looked at the mountains of treasure in the room, the more uncomfortable she became. Her mind was blasting in alarm, telling her that she isn't supposed to be there.
A strong urge to flee came over Ingrid. She ran towards the door with nervous steps. But before she could reach for the knob, the door was slammed open. Several people in white coats with faces devoid of emotion burst inside the room in two neat lines.
Ingrid warily stepped back, heart drumming erratically. A wave of unease swept over her.
"Who are you?" Ingrid asked, her voice filled with anxious wariness.
But instead of answering, the two men in front of the line roughly grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her out the door.
"What are you doing? Who are you?! Let me go!" Ingrid cried in panic. Her heart sank. She tried to shake them away, but the two men only tightened their grip on her arm, causing her to wince from the pain.
"No, no, no! Please let me go!"
The terrible feeling in her heart surged. A flash of hazy memories came to Ingrid's mind, making her even more anxious and fearful. She had a vague sense of where they were taking her—and it wasn't some place she was fond of.
"Let me go! Aaaaaah!"
Ingrid screamed and pleaded as the men in white coats dragged her away with a stoic expression.
They travelled through several corridors, then down a long, winding stairway, and into a dark tunnel. Several servants in the castle saw Ingrid being taken by the merciless men, but they all acted like they didn't see anything. Soon they arrived in a lab where several other people in white coats were working in their specific stations.
None of them paid attention to the screaming child being hauled through the floor and towards a hard metallic bed, specifically built for uncooperative test subjects.
Ingrid fought and struggled as they laid her on the bed. Several more people stepped in to help restrain her, strapping her hands and feet. One man, irritated by her screams, deliberately pressed on the wounds on her bare feet—inflicted by the miles she'd been dragged—causing Ingrid to scream even louder.
Ingrid cried and begged until her voice was hoarse.
"No!!! Let me go!!! Let me go!!!"
But nobody listened to her pleas. Even her beauty couldn't save her at that moment. To the mad scientists in that room, she was nothing but an interesting specimen.
"AAAAAH!" A piercing cry tore through Ingrid's mouth as a woman made a deep and long cut across her arm. Ingrid's face paled as a huge amount of blood sprouted from her wounded arm, which another man diligently collected using a bucket.
"Hey, hey, be careful!" reprimanded another man's voice.
Ingrid in her delirious state, recognized the owner of the voice. It was Goron, the advisor of the king. A man whose madness did not fall short of the madness of the man he serves.
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How Ingrid knew that, she didn't know. But she knew this isn't the first time that she suffered from the hands of this man.
"Do you know how much effort it took me to get permission from the king to experiment on the future queen once a week? How will I answer the king if you leave permanent damage?" Goron berated the woman.
"Don't worry, my liege. I got this," the woman took out and waved the clear glass containing a thick red liquid with the label 2314 in her hand.
To Ingrid's surprise, she recognized the liquid in the vial: blood. Perhaps it belonged to another lab rat like her. She had once overheard them saying it could instantaneously heal wounds. However, the chance to use it on her has yet to occur, as the vial was reserved to be used only on "special emergencies."
Goron narrowed his eyes at the woman and said, "Proceed with the experiment. I still have to go and meet the king. Be sure to give me a detailed report later."
The woman playfully saluted at Goron and smiled. But the moment Goron turned his back, the smile on her face vanished. She hid the vial back in her coat and placed her attention back on Ingrid.
Ingrid's face had long turned pale after losing so much blood. Tears and sweat trickled down the side of her face, her breathing heavy. It felt like several thousand ants were gnawing at her arm, making it burn with pain.
The woman looked at Ingrid from head to toe, her eyes filled with envy. She hated that face of Ingrid's the moment she first saw it. Every time she sees that face, it makes her want to destroy it.
Suddenly, she had a brilliant thought. A wicked glint flashed through her eyes.
Ingrid squirmed, sensing the coming of an imminent danger.
The woman smiled, pleased by her subject's fearful reaction. She grabbed a surgical knife and with a swift slash, left a long deep cut on Ingrid's face.
Ingrid's haunting scream echoed throughout the four corners of the lab. But that wasn't the end of it. Like a deranged person, the woman slashed and slashed Ingrid's face until there was nothing left of what was once a face deemed to be the most beautiful in the world, but mangled flesh.
"Wrap her up!" The psychotic woman commanded, pleased by her masterpiece.
"Are we not supposed to treat her?" asked a male voice, his face filled with worry—not for the poor child whom the woman tortured, but for what the king will do if her face does not properly heal.
"Don't worry, her highness here, has a bit of a peculiar ability," she sneered. "She is capable of self-healing. Last time, she managed to heal herself after a full day. You are to check on her every hour to see the progress of her healing. Let's see how long it'll take her to heal this time."
The woman glanced at Ingrid condescendingly as though she were looking at an animal and not another human being like her.
After giving instructions to the interns, the woman left the lab feeling quite refreshed. Meanwhile the man remained and carelessly wrapped Ingrid's face and arm with a bandage before leaving.
Ingrid was left lying alone on the cold metallic bed. She whimpered as tears slid from the corners of her eyes, causing a sharp pain as it hit her open wounds. Her face was mutilated beyond recognition. If she saw herself at that moment, she would surely scream in horror. Fortunately or unfortunately, her eyes weren't spared from the woman's cruelty, and she was left momentarily blind.
For hours Ingrid faded in and out of consciousness while suffering from the gnawing pain in her arm and face. From time to time, she'd sense people coming in and out of the lab and checking on her. Though she couldn't tell if they were really real people or if it was the pain causing her to hallucinate.
After a night of sleepless suffering, Ingrid's consciousness finally collapsed, exhausted.
Ingrid thought that would be the end of her suffering, only to wake up and replay the same nightmare again and again.
//////\
The atmosphere in Dahlia Palace was thick with gloom. Only the mournful cries of a man, resonating through the deserted corridors, broke the oppressive silence.
"Ingrid, my sunshine, my little treasure, please wake up," Grand Duke Rasmus croaked with tears falling from his eyes in an endless stream.
Elias, and the rest stood on the side watching the grand duke and the young lady lying on the bed with a solemn expression. They neither comforted nor dissuaded the grand duke to stop what he was doing—they simply stood there watching helplessly.
Meanwhile, the young lady lying there with her beautiful eyes closed didn't seem to be having a peaceful sleep. Her face was pale, her hands cold as though she were dead. If not for Ingrid's shallow breathing that kept the grand duke hoping, blood shed would have ensued—with the first person suffering his wrath being the old druid sitting close to Elias with a blank expression.
Amidst the depressing atmosphere, a man suddenly appeared out of thin air. Elias, the first to spot the man, instinctively pulled a long knife from within his coat and pointed it at the man's neck.
"Who are you?!" He asked in a loud voice.
But the man gracefully flicked the long knife with ease and pushed Elias away with his palm, sending the latter blasting towards the wall.
"Elias!" Alana screamed in fright.
"Quick call the guards!" commanded Grandpa Roan. He held the man's arm in a feeble attempt to stop him, but with a slight push, the poor old grandpa fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, the distraught grand duke did not notice what was happening behind him at all. His attention was all on his daughter, still calling her name like a broken record. He didn't realize how vulnerable his back was at that moment. If the man had the motive to kill him, he would have died without a fight.
But the man didn't care about the grand duke. His eyes were focused on the young woman lying on the bed with a pallid face. He impatiently pulled the grand duke away and took his place beside the bed.
"Who dares...!!!!" Roared the grand duke like a mad lion. He grabbed the man's shoulder but was stunned when he didn't manage to pull him away. It was as though the man was an immovable boulder.
Even Elias, who was limping out of the broken wall, looked at the scene before him with eyes hanging open. Among all the people in the room, he was the one who knew the grand duke's strength best. Not even the giants in the west could beat him, yet he was currently witnessing the grand duke strungling to pull a man with a smaller build than he.
Meanwhile, the man ignored the huge hand gripping his shoulder. He held Ingrid's hand with a frown. Usually, Ingrid would begin to show signs of waking the moment he held her hand. But this time there was no reaction from the sleeping beauty.
Feeling Ingrid's cold hand, the man clasped her tiny hand between his giant ones.
He leaned towards Ingrid's sleeping form and whispered in her ear, "I have come, wife."
Suddenly, Ingrid's eyes flew open with a gasp as though she had been deprived of air for a long time.