The sky was overcast with heavy clouds, as if reflecting the gloom that had seeped into Seraphine's heart. She pulled the blanket tightly around her body, trying to shield herself from the biting cold as the cart swayed along the rugged road. Beside her, her father leaned against a wooden crate, his face pale and his eyes closed.

"We'll be there soon, Father..." she whispered, though she wasn't sure if her words were true.

Their journey had been long and exhausting. They had left their small village in search of treatment for him, but the city was far, and the road was desolate. Yet, she hadn't expected the trip to take such a tragic turn so quickly.

Suddenly, she felt her father's body grow colder. He didn't move, didn't open his eyes, and didn't respond to her trembling calls. At that moment, she realized the harsh truth.

She screamed, but her voice was lost in the howling wind. The cart came to a halt, and the driver stepped down to find her shaking her father's lifeless body with trembling hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He was gone.

Hours passed like an eternity. With the help of the driver and some passersby from a nearby village, she buried her father. Then, she found herself alone in a merciless world. She knew returning to her village wasn't an option, and she no longer had a place in the city.

And so, she walked aimlessly, her feet leading her through the adjacent forest, as if fleeing from her reality. The tall trees seemed like a wall imprisoning her, and darkness began to creep in slowly.

Then, in the heart of the forest, she saw it.

A cave.

It wasn't just an ordinary cave; its entrance seemed meticulously carved, as if by a force beyond nature, and its stones emitted an eerie glow. She felt an irresistible pull, as though something was calling her from within.

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She approached, placed her hand on its cold wall, and suddenly...

A whirlwind of light erupted around her!

She screamed, but her body froze, and then she felt herself being pulled into the darkness. There was no time to understand, no chance to escape.

In an instant, everything vanished.

When she opened her eyes, the world had changed.

The air was different, the ground beneath her was solid, and the sounds around her were unfamiliar. She slowly raised her head and saw before her a massive city, its towering walls and fluttering flags casting shadows in the wind.

But what terrified her most wasn't the sight itself...

But the knights who approached her, their faces stern and their swords gleaming under the moonlight, were closing in.

"Seize her!"

The knights' footsteps grew louder and faster, and the girl felt her heart pounding violently in her chest. She tried to gather her strength and stand, but her legs wouldn’t obey. Everything around her felt surreal, as if she had woken up in a nightmare. She had no choice but to either flee or face the unknown.

Just as she was about to retreat, she remembered something strange... a deep feeling that there was something more in this world waiting for her. Something beyond fear, beyond everything her eyes could see now.

But the knights were already upon her, and one of them raised his voice, saying, "You won’t escape justice."

Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head, an incomprehensible whisper, but it made her pause for a moment. Her heart was racing, but she managed to steady herself and faced them with a determined gaze.

"Who are you?" she asked in a weak but firm voice.

One of the knights took a step closer and said, "We are the guards, and anyone who doesn’t belong here must be apprehended."

Suddenly, everything began to change. Her eyes widened as the knights closed in rapidly. She couldn’t run; the world around her was hazy, and the ground beneath her felt unfamiliar. She sensed something strange in the air, something she dared not interpret.

"Seize her!" one of them shouted again.

Their voices were harsh, as if they knew something about her that she didn’t. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like every part of her body was urging her to flee. But she couldn’t move. An invisible force seemed to bind her feet to the ground.

One of the knights approached her, the moonlight glinting off the sword in his hand. His gaze was sharp, but the girl saw something else in his eyes, something she couldn’t quite understand. "You won’t escape us."

She took a step back, her body trembling. But then she stopped, feeling a strange sensation wash over her—not fear, but something stronger, something that connected her to this world. There was a whisper deep within her, urging her to fight, to stand up to these knights.

Then, suddenly, the sounds of the city fell silent. There was no more movement, as if time had stopped in that moment. Her breaths became a heavy silence, and everything began to fade into the horizon.

"Who are you?" she said, her voice calm yet stronger than before.

The leader of the knights answered, his eyes widening in astonishment. "We are the guards. And you... you don’t belong here."

But their words grew faint in her ears, and something else began to emerge. On the horizon, there was a faint light, a glimmer of hope—or perhaps danger. Something was calling to her, something that resonated with the beating of her heart.

But she knew one thing: this was not the time to run.