A promise and a nightmare

(Amelia's POV)

I sat on my bed, staring at the delicate silver necklace Ceaser had given me. The crescent moon pendant shimmered under the dim candlelight, its cool metal pressing against my palm.

"Why is this so special to him?" I wondered, running my fingers along its smooth surface.

The weight of it felt different. Not just physically, but emotionally. There was something about this necklace-something unspoken, something tethered to Ceaser's past.

I wasn't jealous or anything... No, of course not.

But curiosity gnawed at me like a relentless itch.

Had someone gifted it to him? A past lover, perhaps?

The thought unsettled me. Ceaser didn't seem like the type to cheat, especially after our marriage, but what if... what if that person returned? What if she tried to come between us?

"What will I do then?"

I sighed, gripping the necklace tighter.

According to what I had heard from Lohan, Ceaser did have someone special in the past-but not anymore.

"Had someone special? But not anymore?" I frowned. What does that even mean?

Had she left him? Or had he left her?

The idea of Ceaser loving someone before me... it shouldn't have mattered. And yet, it did.

"Ugh, this is so confusing," I huffed, glaring at the pendant.

I traced its curves, imagining an invisible enemy.

"Whoever you are... stay away."

He was mine now.

"If you're his past lover," I whispered, tightening my grip on the necklace, "you better not show up, or you won't like what happens next."

After scolding an inanimate object for an hour, I finally drifted into sleep, my fingers still curled around the pendant.

---

The darkness stretched endlessly around me.

I found myself walking down a long, cold corridor, the sound of my footsteps echoing eerily. The stone walls were rough and damp, the air thick with the scent of something metallic.

There was no light-only a tiny flicker in the distance, barely visible through the thick shadows.

A sense of unease settled in my chest.

The air was thick, heavy, suffocating.

Each step felt wrong. The silence wasn't just empty-it was waiting.

Then, my foot landed on something wet.

I stopped, heart pounding, and slowly looked down.

A dark crimson liquid spread across the stone floor, trailing down the corridor like a river of blood.

My breath hitched.

The warmth of it seeped into my skin.

I hesitantly knelt, reaching out to touch it. My fingers trembled as they met the sticky substance.

"Blood...?" My voice came out barely above a whisper.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. I lifted my gaze and gasped.

Corpses.

Bodies lay scattered across the hall, lifeless and unmoving, their vacant eyes staring into nothingness.

Their faces were twisted in horror, their mouths frozen in silent screams.

The blood pooled around them, soaking into their clothes, staining the stone beneath them.

The scent of iron filled my lungs, making my stomach churn.

I staggered back, barely stopping myself from falling. My heart was racing, pounding so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

Then-

A sudden swish of metal slicing through flesh.

I snapped my head up just in time to see a figure at the end of the hallway, a gleaming sword raised high.

The blade came down.

A severed head rolled across the blood-soaked floor, stopping inches away from my feet.

I clamped my hands over my mouth to silence my scream.

Shaking, I forced myself to look up at the figure standing before me.

Golden hair. Blood-soaked coat.

Ceaser.

My blood ran cold.

He was smiling.

Not his usual smirk, not the barely-there amused curve of his lips.

No, this was different.

His lips curled into a grin that sent ice through my veins, his piercing blue eyes filled with something dark-something terrifying.

His stance was relaxed, but the tension in his shoulders told another story.

This wasn't the Ceaser I knew.

Or... was this the real him?

He took a step toward me.

"Ceaser...?" My voice cracked.

He tilted his head, as if considering my reaction. Then, ever so slowly, he raised his bloodstained sword.

The blade gleamed under the dim flickering light, coated in crimson.

A whisper left his lips, too quiet for me to understand.

I wanted to run. To move. To do something.

But my feet were frozen in place.

The air around me grew heavier, thick with the weight of something I couldn't name.

Then-

A sudden blur.

Someone stepped between us.

I barely had time to register the familiar figure before the sword came down.

A sickening sound of metal cutting through flesh.

I screamed.

The figure crumpled to the ground.

Blood spilled across the floor, pooling at my feet.

My eyes widened in horror.

Ceaser had just-

I choked, my vision blurring as I stared at the lifeless body before me.

No.

No.

No.

This wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

My mother.

Ceaser had cut her down.

Right in front of me.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.

Her body lay motionless, her blood soaking into the stone floor.

Her eyes, once filled with warmth and love, were now empty.

Lifeless.

A choked sob escaped my lips.

Ceaser turned his gaze back to me, that same eerie smile still on his lips.

He took another step forward.

The blood on his sword dripped, staining the floor with every movement.

I staggered back, a scream caught in my throat.

My entire world shattered in that moment.

And then-

Everything went black.