I would die again just to hurt you

Chapter 5

I didn't have time to calm down from that strange dream that I saw from the corner of my eye, a silhouette. I immediately screamed and threw the closest thing to me, a pillow. The silhouette let the pillow hit her without moving an inch and seeing that I was awake she uncrossed her arms. Once calmed down I looked back and noticed that the person who had given me a heart attack was none other than Rorhena.

"What are you doing here?

-I thought that you would have left.

-So what? Did you stare at me the whole night?

-Would that disturb you?

-Of course it would! Who wouldn't it?"

She shrugged nonchalantly:

"I arrived only a few minutes ago.

-Don't come into my room when I am sleeping."

She didn't answer and stared at me a few seconds before asking something completely else:

"Did you have a dream?"

I froze thinking back to my dream. It was a very weird dream. Way more realistic than any other dream I could have ever had.

"No."

I didn't want to answer her question but most of all, I wanted to keep this dream to myself. My body had gone completely relaxed and waking up I still felt light and happy. I would think back to that dream every time I felt sad or stressed and it felt wrong telling someone else about it.

"I see."

Rorhena sounded disappointed but didn't say more and turned around:

"Breakfast will be served in half an hour. Come down after getting ready."

I took out a dress from my luggage and went to Lenora's room. The latter took advantage of the situation and put on the biggest and most luxurious dress she could have found in her room. When I opened the door she immediately ran up to me and started twirling with a smile:

"What do you think?

-You look amazing.

-I would love to wear dresses like these every day.

-I felt weird using something the Crown Princess gave me after everything that had happened but I agree they are pretty.

-She is your Goddess bestie. You can accept her gifts."

I laughed:

"Maybe I should ask my Goddess bestie for a bit of money.

-We should take advantage of the situation as much as we can. I wonder when she is going to introduce us to the Prince. Do you think he will be at the breakfast?

-Wouldn't it be weird for the royal family to have breakfast with us?

-You are right. This is for the best. I would probably make a stupid mistake in front of them."

I shrugged:

"They are just humans like us. I yelled at the Crown Princess and made openly fun of her but am still alive. I don't think anything else is going to scare me anymore.

-You are so brave. I would have died on the spot."

As we were talking we reached the small breakfast room and the doors were opened to us by two men on the sides. Lenora looked around more excited than stressed and when she noticed the Prince she started hiccuping. Just as she had promised, Rorhena brought her half-brother to breakfast and the latter stood up before bowing to the two of us:

"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, ladies. My sister had told me a lot about you two."

He waited for us to sit down before sitting back and the four of us sat down around the table filled with sweets in an awkward silence. Rorhena didn't talk once, focused on her meal and I was way too uncomfortable to talk so Lenora and the Prince had to take charge of the conversation. Fortunately Lenora was very talkative even in this situation and the Prince seemed to like her, answering her with a smile.

"Lady Lenora, if I may call you by your name. You should try the rose tart. It was done by the first chef of the country.

-Thank you so much. I will try immediately."

Lenora jumped on the tart and I got intrigued too. I had never heard of rose tarts and had no idea what a rose tart would taste like. Or what a rose tasted like. Wouldn't it taste too flagrant? I never felt comfortable eating edible flowers and knowing that it was a rose tart wasn't helping. Despite that, my curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed a tart before lifting it to my lips. As expected, the taste was very weird and I put the tart down not knowing if I liked it or hated it. Just as I was trying to figure it out, the Prince turned to me:

"What do you think, lady Sela?"

I just smiled politely:

"It is very tasty indeed. Thank you for recommending it.

-I am glad it was to your taste."

Rorhena laughed for some reason and when I turned to her I noticed that she was looking at me. I tried ignoring her and focused back on eating. I didn't like the tart but forced me to finish it and decided to wash it off with a lemon tart instead. I felt immediately better and smiled happily.

"Is it your first time in the capital?

-Yes. My friend and I come from a small city in the south. We always wanted to come to the capital and always dreamed of attending the annual ball.

-Is that so? And was it up to your expectations?

-It was! We will remember this trip for the rest of our lives."

I rolled my eyes. it was clear that I would never forget this trip as long as I was alive.

"You can't leave the capital as long as you haven't been to the golden five."

Lenora tilted her head:

"The golden five?

-It would be my pleasure to escort the ladies.

-We would love to. Where will we go first?

-We will start with the last of the golden five: the Grand Café."

Lenora almost jumped out of her chair. If it were up to her she would have ran to there immediately but she stayed seated and continued eating. To wash down a crumb from my throat, I drank a sip of tea and froze when I felt the taste. The tea had just the perfect amount of honey and I licked my lips with a smile. The next cake I ate was what topped it all. I had no idea what that cake was but when I looked at it I felt that it would be good. I bit into it and immediately felt pomegranate, honey and nuts on my tongue. The tastes went so well together that I forgot to chew and left my mouth open. There was something very familiar about these tastes and I felt as if I was missing something. As I was sitting there, I felt someone stare at me and when I looked up I saw Rorhena staring at me again. She was smiling for some reason and I froze. Her smile looked really honest and beaming but that wasn't what shocked me the most.

Rorhena's smile looked really familiar and images struck me violently. The end of my dream that I hadn't seen suddenly came back and I finally saw the face that I had been so curious about. As the child turned around she had the exact same smile as Rorhena in that moment and her eyes were as warm as the weather. Despite being way younger, there was no doubt possible: the child in my dream was Rorhena. She had exactly the same traits, the same hair color, the same curls, the same silver eyes...

It was only a dream and it was probably only my imagination but for some reason that memory suddenly came with a headache and I let go of my fork. The next second the Crown Princess was on her feet and she grabbed my face, turning it towards her:

"What's wrong?"

Looking at her made my headache even worse and I pushed her away.

"I am sorry, I need to go to the bathroom."

No one held me back and I ran to my room as fast as I could. It was a very weird coincidence having this headache at that moment. It was way worse than anything I could have ever felt and I curled up on my bed with a groan. I was focused on that pain and didn't even hear my door open. I only noticed that I wasn't alone when hands surrounded my stomach and a doctor touched my forehead.

For long minutes I couldn't see anything, couldn't hear sounds. I could only lie there and wait for the headache to pass. I closed my eyes and was completely disconnected from the outside world. Images were flashing in front of my eyes and I was seeing Rorhena at various ages in various places and doing various actions. I saw her eating dried fruits and honey, I saw her bathing in a river, I saw her sparring, I saw her laughing... I was only seeing her and as the images were getting quicker, my headache was getting worse.

I had no idea when the headache subsided but when I opened my eyes I was laying on my bed and there was a shadow on my eyes protecting them from the light. When I looked up I could see a silhouette whose contours were glowing because of the light coming in through the window. My eyes didn't get used to the light yet so I couldn't see who this person was but seeing that I was awake she asked:

"How are you feeling?"

I immediately recognized her voice. It was Rorhena and seeing her in the exact same position as in my dream made my heart twist. It was just a stupid dream. But then what were those images and that headache? It must have been a coincidence. It couldn't be anything else.