She woke up, still screaming. Her eyes wide open from the horror she had seen in her dream; her body trembling from the feeling of helplessness, the inability to change what had happened; and finally her scream, loud and shrill, from the death of her loved one.

  She was shaking so hard that she fell out of bed onto the floor. The pain that pierced her body was intense, but she didn't feel it, as her emotions were causing her much more pain than any physical pain.

  "Arenor!" she cried in horror.

  At that moment, a guard named Zafir burst into the room. He quickly scanned the room for any threats, and then, finding nothing, literally flew over to Ife. He crouched down in front of her, took her by the shoulders, and looked into her face, contorted with horror.

  "Airena?" he called. "Ife, what happened?"

  But she did not respond. Instead, she began to shake violently and scream.

  "Arenor! I killed him! I killed Arenor!"

  Zafir frowned; as far as he knew, Arenor had not entered Ife's room yesterday or today; after yesterday's incident, he did not want to have any contact with anyone and simply locked himself in his office, unwilling to leave under any circumstances.

  "Airena, it's okay," he said. "Arenor is fine, and—"

  "No!" She twitched and writhed, crawling across the floor like a worm. "I killed him! I killed him!"

  She completely ignored his words; it seemed as if she was beside herself. Looking closely, Zafir saw in her the same thing he had seen in Arenor when he found Ife's lifeless body.

  An uncontrollable feeling of horror.

  Apparently, she had simply had a dream in which she killed Arenor, and she took it as real. Besides, as far as he knew, her life had not been the best before that, so it was not surprising that she reacted so violently to an ordinary dream.

  Zafir sighed; he was about to do something that Arenor would kill him for if he found out. But at the same time, it was the only way to save Ife, who, for reasons unknown to him, was very dear to His Highness.

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  And then he slapped her hard and shouted:

  "Airena, come to your senses quickly! Do you hear me?”

  Her gaze cleared a little, but it was still cloudy, so he hit her a second time, but on the other cheek.

  "Get a grip, Airena!" he shouted again.

  Her gaze cleared again, this time for good. The veil of terror lifted, but literally a moment later, a new veil appeared before her eyes—a veil of rage.

  "How dare you... hit me?" she shouted, but instead of apologizing, Zafir simply hit her again.

  "I dare," he replied. "Besides, it's your own fault for losing your temper; if it weren't for your behavior, I wouldn't have had to hit you."

  "Are you saying it's my fault?" she exclaimed indignantly.

  "Exactly."

  "You—"

  Suddenly, she screamed loudly. Ife clutched her head as a sharp pain pierced her. She doubled over, the pain was so intense.

  "Airena?" Zafir called out, concerned. "Ife, what's going on?"

  "I don't—" More pain, more screaming. "I don't know! I—" More screaming, more pain. "My head—it—"

  And then a sharp pain pierced her head again. Everything disappeared; Zafir, her bedroom in the palace. Only she remained, along with the images before her eyes, the sounds in her ears, and the smell in her nose.

  She heard someone's voice:

  "...you don't need to worry about that... no, whatever happens, I will always... I promise I will protect you, no matter what it takes..."

  Then she saw a picture in front of her:

  Blazing fire, pouring water, and a loud cry of "Run!"

  And then she felt a blow to her head—as if something had actually hit her.

  "Airena!" Zafir's voice broke through the veil. "Ife, can you hear me? Airena!"

  But she couldn't answer. She felt as if she were dying.

  "Airena, you—damn it, I'm calling the Healer—"

  His words brought her back to her senses. She didn't want anyone to know about her condition. No one.

  "No..." she muttered weakly; her mouth was dry, just like when she first met Zafir. "Don't..."

  "Do you want to die?" he asked. "Do you want me to die with you?"

  "Why?"

  "Because if you die, Arenor will simply kill me, since I was the one who failed to save you."

  Could Arenor really care that much about her? In any case...

  "...no. No one will die," said Ife. "I'm feeling better now," she said, sitting down on the floor. "I just had a headache, that's all..."

  "And you want me to believe that?" Zafir raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What kind of headache is it that stops you from killing me, huh?"

  "The most ordinary kind..."

  Zafir snorted.

  "Now I understand why Arenor values you so much," he said. "You're just like a jester, constantly—"

  "Does he really value me?" Ife didn't know why she was so eager to know the answer to that question.

  Zafir rolled his eyes.

  "Don't pretend you didn't notice."

  She had noticed.

  "Anyone else in his place would have executed you long ago, at least for attempting to murder the Prince, and at most for numerous acts of disrespect toward His Highness."

  So she wasn't the only one who had noticed. It was important for her to be sure—that it wasn't just her imagination, and that the Prince really did treat her in a very unusual way.

  In any case, now she wanted to be alone.

  As if understanding the silent hint, Zafir got up and walked toward the exit, but Ife called out to him:

  "Just don't say anything to Arenor about this situation."

  "As you say," to her surprise, Zafir immediately agreed.

  She didn't understand why, but Zafir understood: Arenor already had a lot on his plate, and on top of that, he was going through a difficult and painful experience. He didn't need to worry about the nightmares and headaches of his dear Ife as well.

  Only after stepping outside did Zafir realize that he had never spoken to anyone except his brother and the Prince as much as he had just spoken to Ife.