The Search Begins
805 Words
The vision refused to leave my mind.
I stood frozen in my bedroom, one hand gripping the edge of my desk while the other rested over the crimson gemstone hanging from my neck.
The woman...
She looked exactly like me.
Not just similar.
She was me—or at least she could have been, if I had lived eight hundred years ago.
Long golden-blonde hair.
Brilliant sapphire-blue eyes.
An elegant blue gown embroidered with silver thread.
A delicate crown resting upon her head.
She had carried herself with the grace of royalty.
Yet the most unsettling part wasn't her appearance.
It was the way she had looked at me.
As if she knew me.
As if she had been waiting for me.
Then she had spoken.
Or tried to.
The vision had ended before I could hear the rest.
I slowly removed the necklace from around my neck.
"No more visions for today," I murmured.
I carefully placed it back inside the wooden box and closed the lid.
Whatever power it possessed...
I wasn't ready to experience it every minute.
I walked downstairs, my thoughts refusing to settle.
"This mystery is suffocating me," I whispered.
Every answer only created ten new questions.
Who was the woman?
Why did she resemble me?
Why had the voice in my dream called me Elena...
...and sometimes Elizabeth?
Was Burgi Castle truly abandoned?
Or was someone—something—still living there?
I had never considered myself an adventurous person.
I didn't dream of becoming famous.
I didn't have grand ambitions.
But one thing had always fascinated me.
Mysteries.
Puzzles.
Hidden truths buried beneath history.
And somehow...
This mystery had chosen me.
It had wrapped itself around my life like a serpent, tightening its coils each time I tried to ignore it.
Running away would accomplish nothing.
I needed answers.
Real answers.
I switched on my laptop.
The familiar startup screen appeared.
As soon as the browser opened, my fingers flew across the keyboard.
Burgi Forest history Thousands of results appeared.
Most were tourist websites.
Travel blogs.
Camping guides.
Nothing useful.
I opened another search.
Burgi Castle legends
This time the results were different.
Ghost stories.
Urban legends.
Videos claiming the castle was haunted.
Forums filled with exaggerated tales.
None of them felt reliable.
I frowned.
"There has to be something more."
I continued searching.
Ancient Burgi Kingdom
History of Burgi Castle
Royal family of Burgi
Disappearances in Burgi Forest
Hours seemed to pass.
Most websites repeated the same information.
The castle had supposedly been built during the thirteenth century.
Its royal family had vanished under mysterious circumstances.
No official records explained what had happened.
Some believed disease had wiped them out.
Others claimed invading armies had destroyed the kingdom.
And, of course, there were those who insisted the castle had been cursed.
I leaned back in my chair.
"Cursed..."
That word suddenly didn't sound as ridiculous as it once had.
Just as I was about to give up...
One search result caught my attention.
The title read:
The Forgotten Kingdom of Burgi: Myths, Legends, and Lost Royal Bloodlines
Unlike the other websites, this one belonged to a university archive.
My pulse quickened. "This looks promising."
I clicked the link.
An old scanned manuscript appeared on the screen.
The pages looked worn with age.
The writing had been translated from Latin into English.
I scrolled slowly.
Most of it described trade routes, noble families, and political alliances.
Nothing unusual.
Then...
One paragraph made me stop.
"Among all the rulers of Burgi, none is remembered more vividly than the young Crown Princess Elizabeth of House Valerian. Contemporary records describe her as possessing golden hair, eyes the color of sapphires, and extraordinary beauty. Several chroniclers claimed she wore an ancient crimson pendant believed to be older than the kingdom itself."
I stopped breathing.
Golden hair.
Blue eyes.
A crimson pendant.
My hand instinctively reached toward the wooden box resting beside my laptop.
Inside...
The necklace.
"No..."
I whispered.
"This can't be a coincidence."
I continued reading.
"Shortly before the kingdom disappeared from historical records, Princess Elizabeth vanished without a trace. Her body was never found, and the crimson pendant disappeared with her. Local folklore claims that the pendant would one day return to its rightful owner, awakening memories that had slept for centuries."
A chill ran down my spine.
My heartbeat echoed loudly in the silent house.
I slowly looked toward the wooden box.
The room felt colder than before.
The necklace...
Hadn't simply been lost.
It had been waiting.
And somehow...
It had found me.
I stared back at the screen, barely able to process what I had just read.
There was only one thought left in my mind.
Who... was Princess Elizabeth?
And why did history seem determined to convince me... that she and I were connected?
- Writer
