Chapter One

Everything hurts, Lyn complained in her head as she woke. Her eyes felt heavy and her body ached everywhere.

'Damnit, am I hungover?' She remembered being invited over for a party her friend threw for her. It was a celebration for being accepted at Tuan University as a professor in the Music and Performance Art department. She recalled preparing for the said party, but she doesn't remember the party itself. Maybe she was too drunk to remember? 'Please tell me I didn't do something embarrassing' she thought despairingly.

She blinked her bleary eyes a couple of times. When she finally opened them, she was greeted with the sight of a ceiling engraved with a golden tree.

"...what?" She tried to say, but her voice came out a croak.

'Ah, I shouldn't have talked', she mused as she fell into a coughing fit. Upon recovering, she roamed her eyes around, noticing the expensive-looking curtains and large paintings decorating the walls. She sat with the help of her feeble arms. The bed she was laying in was king-sized and the comforter was the softest thing she ever laid her hands on. The room itself was extremely luxurious; it reminded her of those bedrooms in fairytales.

'Okay, where the hell am I?', she panicked, finally noticing that she wasn't wearing her own clothes. Instead, she was wearing a silky nightgown. She wasn't kidnapped, was she? At that moment, the double doors opened.

Two women wearing maid outfits came in, one pushing a cart and the other carrying a bundle of towels. They both stopped when they noticed her.

"Your highness!" They both yelled, falling to their knees with their heads bowed. The first maid stood, with her head still bowed, and curtsied.

"I will call for the royal physician right away!" She announced before hastily leaving the room. The other maid remained kneeling in the middle of the room.

A minute went by in silence, and Lyn grew uncomfortable.

'Where the hell am I? What did you do to me? Where are my friends!?' She wanted to yell these questions, but she stopped herself.

"Who are you?" She simply asked.

The maid didn't even look up as she replied, "I am but a lowly maid of her highness."

'Is she referring to me?' She mentally asked. She was about to speak when the doors opened again. The other maid returned, along with an elderly man and another maid—this one wearing a more intricate version of the two maids' uniform. She's probably the head maid.

"Your highness." The elderly man said in respect as he drew near. "May I approach you?"

"No." The word was out of her lips before she can stop herself. The maids and the elderly man flinched at her firm tone. She stood, fighting the dizziness that the sudden action caused.

"Y-your highness, you are not w-well enough t-to–" the head maid tried to speak, but she immediately cut her off.

"Who are you people?" She questioned. Lyn was a bit surprised at her rage. Usually, she would ask nicely and gently first. She wasn't one to go on a fit like this.

But, she suddenly woke up in a strange place wearing clothes she wasn't wearing before. Who knew what these people have done to her?

They looked up at her in shock. The head maid hesitatingly approached.

"Y-your highness," she spoke, her voice meek. "Do you not remember me, your personal maid?"

'Personal maid? What is she talking about? I have no personal maid!' Is this some sort of gaslighting? Well, she wouldn't put up with it!

"I don't know you." She said coldly. The way her words left her mouth made her feel bad. She wasn't used to using such an aggressive tone, but she wasn't a pushover either.

The maid backtracked, obviously surprised. "Oh, dear."

"If I may speak, your highness," the elderly man interrupted. "I believe you are suffering from temporary memory loss. You may be confused but please calm down and allow a lowly servant such as myself to check your health."

"No." She repeated, far more firmly this time. "You will not touch me."

The man's voice trembled. "B-but we must see if her highness is i-in g-good h—"

"Where am I?" She yelled. "Where have you taken me?"

The man looked even more panicked, as is her 'personal' maid. They looked at each other, obviously unsure of what to do. The door opened the third time, and in came a young man in some sort of uniform. It reminded Lyn of the formal wear knights in RPG games wore. A look at his face made her pause.

He's handsome, she thought with a slight blush. She quickly batted the thought away. He's a kidnapper!

"I came as soon as I heard." The young knight said as he went down on one knee. "Your highness."