I — Who Are You?

It's been eight years since I moved to the Capital, but I still haven't made any progress on figuring out my reincarnation. This dang palace is just as secluded as the House of Yu. Nothing's changed!

"Hold Her Lady," the royal physician instructed my fellow students. I looked at them with such deadly eyes and brushed their arms off.

"I told you, I didn't lose my sanity! I'm perfectly fine and well," I showed them my arms, jumped off and turned around.

"Young Lady Quis, I am instructed by the royal family to fix you. You've been running around the palace like a lost cat for weeks now. You've even disturbed my sleep every night."

Fix? Excuse me?

"Did I just hear you complain to a noble lady?" I raised my thick right eyebrow.

"Ahem," the royal physician cleared his throat before continuing, "No, Young Lady, I'm humbly saying that you're right. No one would've walked out at late night except for stray cats."

I dusted off my skirt. "Good. You're more thoughtful than I expected. I'll go then, byebye,"

"Wait! Milady Quisette!"

I sighed. Here goes the nagger.

"What now? Are you here to nag me again? You know, you're probably the royal physician's daughter. You two are so alike," I complained. This is my classmate, Feroni. She introduced herself to me for a hundred times before even though I'm not that interested.

"By the way, since you're such a nagger, do you know something about reincarnations? Has someone or something like that already happened in this world?" I asked. Right! I was too busy getting away from her annoyingness. Should I use her?

"In this world? Hmm.." she held her chin. "There's still no record of that, Milady.. however, I've heard some sort of reincarnations from elderlies."

My face lightened up. I instantly held both of her arms out of excitement. "For real? What was it? Tell me everything!"

"Milady Quisette, you're making me dizzy."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Guess I shook her already without realizing.

"Look, it's that troublesome Quis Yu again!"

"She looks like she's going to kill her. Should we help her?"

"Don't even try. You'll end up dead."

The nagger stifled a laugh. "Milady, I think we're drawing a lot of attention. Let's head first to our chambers."

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"What now?" I asked impatiently. We actually went back to our chambers, but this girl still had time to pick out hairpins from her stuff.

"I didn't know you were so fond of unearthly gossip giving your background, Milady." she burst laughing but I just stared at her blankly.

She then raised her hands, "Okay, Okay.. Have you ever heard about the famous fairytale book, The Heroic Deeds of the First King? It tells about how the First King defeated the biggest calamity on Earth.."

"The Dragon."

I stopped for awhile. This story is what I've heard 8 years ago, from Lyn. Why didn't I think of that?

"Do you know the author of that novel?"

"No one knows. The writer was anonymous." Feroni shrugged her shoulders.

Yeah. Why would they hide their identities even if their novel was this hit?

I mean, who would believe in superpowers? It isn't existing.

Or… wasn't.

I blinked, suddenly feeling the weight of the air in the room change. Something about hearing the word dragon out loud— like that again. It makes me tremble with excitement!

"Feroni," I turned to her, with my eyes sparkling. "What exactly did that story say? Like word for word. Don't skip."

She blinked, clearly shocked by the sudden tone switch. "W-Well, according to the legend, the First King was able to defeat the dragon. He had the guidance of some kind of… an ancient force. A mystic spirit or something—"

"Something?"

"Okay, okay!" She raised her hands again. "A shaman. My father's father's father.. which basically means some old dude I never met, said that the novel didn't mention how it was defeated."

She could've just said, Grandfather -,-

"A shaman, huh?" I held my chin.

Before I could ask more, a knock was heard at the door.

"Lights out. The bells already rang. It's curfew," a palace attendant announced from the hallway. "Rest now, ladies."

We both jolted like startled raccoons. Time really flew.

Feroni flopped on her bed with a yawn. "Guess the gossips are over."

I didn't say anything. My mind was elsewhere, spinning like a blender.

Because if that ancient shaman existed, then maybe that dragon was real, too.

And maybe, just maybe… he is a powerful being, he could send me back home.

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"Listen, Quisette. Let's both beware, m'kay?" I tapped myself twice.

That thought earlier festered like a fire I couldn't snuff out. So, of course, I did what any reckless reincarnated girl would do.

I waited until Feroni started snoring like a dying goat. Then I rolled off my bed, tiptoed across the wooden floor, and opened our chamber door as silently as I could.

The hallway was empty. Good.

Armed with nothing but a candle and my stubbornness, I made my way through the winding palace corridors.

Where would they have kept a record of the Dragon?

The royal library? Nah, too obvious.

A hidden archive?

The forbidden vault that no one dared to speak of?

Or maybe the dusty little storage at the back of the Grand Chamber? I mean— people forget those places exist.

I turned another corner.

After checking two rooms full of boring scrolls and irrelevant court dramas (seriously, who keeps receipts of cabbage deliveries from 70 years ago?), I finally stumbled into a side hall that felt… off.

The hairs on my neck stood up. It's giving me creepy vibes.

I touched the walls, believing that there was a hidden door beneath these.

BINGO.

I'm glad I was born in an era where technology already exists. Sorry Royal Family, I learned these hidden tricks from the movies!

I slowly opened a heavy wooden door that squeaked between the bookshelves.

Inside are stacks of old tomes, brittle scrolls, and even some paintings that looked like they were drawn by a toddler with rage issues.

This was it.

I stepped in, closing the door halfway behind me. I immediately combed through one scroll, two scrolls… nothing but royal bloodlines and some guy's dramatic journal entries about soup.

I was about to pick up another when a voice broke the silence.

"That's not yours to touch."

I froze.

Sh*t.

Because of shock, my candle flickered.

Then from the shadows emerged a man— wait. I brought the candle closer to where he was. My eyes circled.

It was a tall, broad-shouldered man. Skin like those untouched by the sun. Hair dark and tousled, his jawline carved like it offended the gods with how perfect it was. His eyes— oh, don't get me started.

His eyes were sharp, cold, and intelligent. He was dressed in a noble's night attire: crisp, embroidered black tunic and gold-threaded sash, like he just stepped out of a comic book.

My jaw dropped.

I think I forgot how to breathe.

He looked like a real big-shot celebrity.

Then—

"Ow!" I flinched as he flicked his fingers on my forehead.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"You were drooling," he said flatly, rubbing his fingers like I'd infected him with a horrible disease.

"I was not!" I snapped.

What the hell am I thinking? Did I just really drool?

"You looked like you were trying to crawl into my face."

"You—!" I paused. "You arrogant Mr. Fancy Pants! Who even are you?!"

He raised a brow, calmly stepping to me like he owned the room. "I should be asking you that. What are you doing in the royal archives at midnight, dressed like an escaped ghost?"

"Excuse me?" I clenched my fists. "Do you always flirt like this or are you just naturally insufferable?"

His expression cracked. "Flirt? Flirt?! You break into a sealed wing, stare at me like a lovesick toad, and now you're accusing me of flirting?"

"Yeah! Because only someone desperate for attention would stop me just to comment on my dress!"

He blinked in disbelief, then smirked. "You're vulgar."

"I am, indeed."

"You're the first girl I've ever met who talks like this." he unbelievably said.

"Oh, thank you for the compliment."

"That was an insult."

I rolled my eyes. God! Why would the heavens give him a god-looking face but at the same time, a trashy arrogant attitude?

"Who's in here!?" a guard's voice shouted into the chamber.

I panicked. I looked at the guy who was with me thinking that it might have been his personal guard but he already grabbed my wrist and pulled me backward, toward a curtain-covered alcove in the corner.

"Are you nuts?!" I hissed.

"Do you wanna get your head chopped off or something?"

"Sure, if you're coming with me."

He let out the faintest snort before pulling the curtain shut. We stood there, way too close. His hand was still on my wrist, and his body was practically pressed against mine.

My back hit the stone wall. His breath was warm near my temple.

We heard the guard stepped inside the main entrance. We could hear his footsteps outside the hidden storage room.

"I swear I heard voices…"

The man beside me leaned in, barely whispering, "You're breathing so loud."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're breathing louder than me."

"Shh."

The guard mumbled something about "ghosts of the archives" and practically sprinted out.

Silence settled again and only the beat of our hearts can be heard.

.. and maybe my fangirl meltdown.

When I glanced back at Mr. Fancy Pants, I was startled to see his eyes locked onto mine.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

But what's more intriguing about it was his eyes.

He looked at me with such hatred.