A handsome boy filled with anger was walking towards the most beautiful room in the castle of Kaisil. His green eyes were blazing with fire. His aura and the dark expression on his face made the soldiers standing in front of him open the door in fear.
The boy entered that beautiful room. Before him, there sat a crying girl on the floor. His anger intensified even more.
He approached her and pulled her up from the soldiers, angrily saying, "Why are you crying as if I've given you a severe punishment? You know very well that the mistake you made today, if anyone else had made it under my rule, their head would be hanging outside this castle."
"Leave me alone, get away from me! I've told you so many times, I'm not here for this. I want to go back to my home, to my people," the girl said while crying. Then she paused and said thoughtfully, "I want to go to my grandmother. You're forcing me to stay here, what could be worse than being with me?" She tried to free herself from his grip.
"Fine, you're quite brave, aren't you? Alright, I'll let you go to your grandmother, but only if you marry me," the boy said, moving away from her.
"Never, I'll never marry you, not even until death. Get out of here!" the girl said angrily, her blue eyes filled with rage.
"You have only two days left," the boy said with great pride, then he walked away.
The girl sat down on the floor, crying. She pulled out some black strands from her hair, threw them away, and her long mermaid-like blue hair flowed freely.
Memories from a month ago started coming back to her. "Why am I here? Why me?" she pondered.
Flashback:
"Princess, you have to come soon, we are waiting for you. Forget me not," a voice echoed.
The girl woke up suddenly from the bed. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and exclaimed, "Again, the same voice and those green eyes!" Then she looked at her watch and said, "Oh shoot, it's 8 o'clock, and you haven't done anything yet, Aarya."
Aarya threw the bedsheet aside and rushed to the bathroom.
20 minutes later, she was ready and came to her living room. She shouted, "Mom and Dad, you guys are so mean. You want me to stay and you know how lazy I am. But still, no one woke me up, ugh!"
"Yeah, and you're stubborn about leaving. How much you want to go, Aarya?" her dad said while placing the newspaper on the table.
"Daddy, you know how much I love ancient things. And it's just a matter of 10 days. I just want to know about Greek mythology," Aarya said, making a cute face.
"Sure, but there are many ancient places in India too. Explore them before going to Europe," her dad suggested.
Ignoring the further argument, Aarya sat at the breakfast table.
Looking around, she said, "Where's Arav? Tell him to drop me at the airport."
"I'm here, and do you consider me your servant that I'll follow you everywhere?" Arav said while pulling a chair.
"Arav, no need to argue, Aarya is getting late," her mom intervened.
Arav made a face, and Aarya stuck her tongue out at him.
An hour later, Aarya was already at the airport. Arav said, "I'm coming with you. We'll have fun together."
"Oh please, I'm not going there for fun. I'm going to study ancient times. And don't forget to call me," Aarya replied.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead, you're just getting late," Arav teased.
Aarya bid goodbye to him and entered the airport.
On the flight, she took out a book titled "The Augustus Kingston."
She read the name and touched it with her fingers, saying, "Finally, I'll see the Heartless King's ancient castle."
After 8 hours, Aarya finally reached Europe, but she had to take another flight to reach that ancient place.
She almost reached there the next day.
She checked in at a hotel near the castle.
The next morning, she arrived at the castle. Just by seeing the castle from outside, her eyes sparkled. One of the castle's distinctive features was a garden just as you entered, with Forget-Me-Not flowers.
She intended to see the entire castle, even if it meant skipping rooms and spending the whole day. However, her curiosity was not yet satisfied. She wanted to see the Red Moon River, a European goddess river. It was said that during the full moon night, when the moon appeared white in the sky, its reflection in the river would turn red.
As she approached, the guards warned her strictly not to go near the river due to its association with suicide spots. Undeterred, she planned to visit it anyway.
By 5 PM, the visiting hours for the castle had ended. She sneaked into the castle and decided to spend the night there due to exhaustion.
At 9 PM, when her eyes opened, she quickly got up and left the castle to see the river.
Fate had it that it was the last day of the month. Aarya wanted to confirm what was written in the book.
When she reached the river, she saw something unbelievable. The reflection of the moon in the water had turned red, just like in the stories. She rubbed her eyes, looked at the moon, then at the water again. "This is magic, Aarya! Oh my goodness, this is a miracle. I wish someone would pinch me."
Arya had just mentioned that suddenly, she heard the sound of strong waves from behind in the water. When she turned around, she saw a tornado-like formation in the river. Startled, she began to move away, but the direction of the water and the wind merged, pulling her inside. As soon as she entered the water, the tornado became calm, and there was silence all around.
On the other side, when Arya opened her eyes, it was already morning. She was by the riverbank. She quickly ran her hands through her hair, realizing she was safe. She looked at the road that had been closed until yesterday but was now open, shining with a newfound hope.
As she walked a little further, she noticed that the place didn't resemble the Europe she knew. She wondered if there was a fancy dress competition, as everyone was wearing strange and old-fashioned clothes.
However, what surprised Arya even more was the way people were staring at her, as if she had committed some kind of fraud with their property.
A group of people surrounded Arya and questioned her identity, accusing her of being a spy from an enemy country. She felt scared seeing their weapons but was bewildered as they seemed to be speaking in a language that sounded like Roman ancient Europe, yet she understood them like they were speaking Hindi.
Feeling tense, Arya thought, "Mummy, why are they staring at me as if I've fraudulently acquired their property?" Just then, an elderly woman intervened and recognized Arya as her granddaughter, scolding the others and saving Arya from their accusations.
The old woman took Arya to her home and asked about her background. Arya revealed that she was from India. The old woman, however, seemed puzzled by the notion of India and questioned Arya's attire.
The old woman explained that if she hadn't intervened, Arya would have faced death immediately. She added that Arya appeared innocent to her, which is why she intervened.
Hearing this, Arya was astonished. She tried to understand what was happening and why she had ended up in this strange place, facing a punishment of death in the 21st century.
The old woman warned Arya not to reveal anything to the locals, as the king of this land detested spies, and the punishment for such acts was death.
Confused by the situation, Arya asked about the king's existence in the 21st century. The old woman explained that it was the year 1519 and that the king's name was Agustus.
Amidst the conversation, Arya's confusion grew, and she lost consciousness before she could comprehend the entire situation.
To be continued...