Enchanting Passion & Retribution

Episode1

The rain came down in torrents, like sheets of water crashing from the sky. It soaked through her clothes, chilling her skin and plastering her wet hair to her face. She wiped her eyes, trying to clear away the water, but it was impossible. The storm was unrelenting. The wind howled around her, pushing her body off balance, making it difficult to keep her footing. The darkness seemed to press in on all sides, and the only light came from occasional flashes of lightning that illuminated the path ahead—just long enough to make her heart race even faster.

Each flash of lightning revealed jagged rocks and twisted trees, their branches reaching out like skeletal hands. The air smelled of rain, wet earth, and something far more unsettling—a sense of danger she couldn't shake. Thunder cracked loudly in the distance, rolling across the sky with a deep, rumbling growl. It felt as though the world itself was shaking, as if nature itself was conspiring to destroy her.

Her breath came in ragged gasps as she ran. She wasn't sure why she was running, or what she was running from, but every fiber of her being screamed at her to move faster. Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the rhythm of her footsteps. She wanted to stop, to catch her breath, but she couldn't. Something—or someone—was after her. She could feel it.

She tried to remember how she had gotten here, but her mind was clouded, as though the answers were just beyond her reach. She couldn't remember where she had been, or how long she had been running. All she knew was the overwhelming need to keep moving. The wind whipped around her, stinging her face, and the rain slashed against her skin, making it even harder to see where she was going. The path ahead seemed to twist and shift with every step, as though the world itself was warping to trap her.

And then, suddenly, her foot caught on something—something unseen in the darkness. She flailed for balance, but it was too late. She tumbled forward, her body falling uncontrollably. She tried to reach out, to grab hold of anything, but there was nothing to stop her fall. The world seemed to tilt and spin as she tumbled through the air, the wind rushing past her ears, her heart leaping into her throat. The cold, hard ground below rushed up to meet her, and then—nothing.

Everything went black.

She woke with a start, her body trembling, her heart still pounding in her chest. Sweat coated her skin, and her clothes were clinging to her, soaked through from the rain. Her head throbbed with a dull ache, and she felt disoriented, like she had been ripped from one reality and thrown into another. She blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the dim light around her, but it wasn't the storm anymore. She wasn't in the rain, the cold, or the dark forest. She was lying in a bed—warm, soft sheets under her body, the familiar scent of the room surrounding her.

A maid entered the room, her face concerned. "You're awake," she said, her voice tinged with relief. "I thought you might be dead, miss. We heard the crash."

The woman blinked, trying to focus, but everything felt hazy. She stared at the maid, unsure of what to say. Her mind still couldn't make sense of everything. It felt like she had just been in that storm, running for her life, and yet now she was here—safe? But was she really safe? The dream had felt so real, so intense, that she couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice shaky. "Where am I?"

The maid paused, her eyes filled with a mixture of concern and confusion. "You're in your room, miss," she said softly. "You had quite the fright, falling from the cliff like that. Your father was worried sick."

The woman's brow furrowed. "Cliff?" She didn't understand. Her mind still felt foggy, as though the events of the past moments hadn't fully settled into place. Hadn't she been in the storm? Hadn't she fallen off the cliff? But here she was, in this room—safe, and seemingly unharmed. It didn't make sense.

Before she could process any further, the door to the room opened, and her father stepped inside. His face was filled with concern, his hands wringing in front of him as he walked toward her. "My dear, I am so sorry," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I never meant for you to experience such distress."

She looked at him, trying to place him, trying to recognize him—but she couldn't. His face seemed so unfamiliar, as though she were seeing him for the first time. There was something about him, something off. She wasn't sure if it was the way he spoke, or the way he looked at her, but it left her with an uneasy feeling deep in her stomach.

"I don't know you," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Her father froze. For a moment, there was a strange silence between them, before he forced a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Of course, you do. I'm your father."

But it didn't feel right. The words didn't match the look in his eyes. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

As she tried to make sense of her emotions, a voice broke through the silence. A woman's voice—her mother's voice. She turned sharply, her eyes wide as the woman spoke with a mocking laugh.

"Did you really think you were anything more than an illegitimate child?" she sneered. "You should have been left at that cliff where you fell. The wolves and vultures would have made short work of you."

The words stung like a slap to the face. Her heart hammered in her chest, and goosebumps erupted across her skin. She couldn't breathe. The shock of the woman's cruel words left her paralyzed, unable to respond. The truth—hidden for so long—was finally being revealed.

She had been abandoned. The life she had thought was hers, the family she had trusted—none of it was real.

As she stood there, trying to grasp the enormity of the revelation, the pieces began to fall into place. The dream, the fall, the fear—it all made sense now. She wasn't just running from some imagined danger. The cliff, the darkness, the storm—it had all been a reflection of her own life. A life built on lies.

And in that moment, everything clicked. The goosebumps that had flooded her body weren't just a reaction to the cold or fear. They were the physical manifestation of a truth her body had known all along. She wasn't the daughter of the people who had raised her. She was someone else. Someone she had yet to discover.

Her heart ached with the weight of the truth, and she was left with nothing but unanswered questions. How had she ended up here? Who was she really? And why had they kept the truth from her for so long?

As the world around her spun, she realized one thing: the answers were finally within reach. The storm had passed. And now, she would face the truth.