HENRIETTA: PRAELUDIUM [TO BE EDITED]

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

I find myself shaking my head as I listen to that same fairytale my mother used to read to me. The story was being told by my professor. Fairytales are supposed to be for toddlers and preschoolers, so why are they using it as reading material for secondary school? It's not that I find it odd. I just want to learn real things, not fictional shits.

"Yes, Mr. Lee? It seemed like you wanted to share something with the class, no?" Our literature professor, Mr. Park, called. He really likes to embarrass me in front of his lame class.

I only shook my head then lowered my gaze ─ pretending to focus on my notes, trying to ignore the mocking gaze my classmates were throwing at me. I wonder when it all started. Maybe it was that time when I tried to help a classmate being bullied by my peers. I was only helping that time, so why am I the one to receive all this suffering?

─── 𖥸 ───

"I'm home!" I removed my pair of shoes and lazily marched my way to the staircase. I bet father is out again doing some nasty stuff.

He has been like that since my mother's death. He started blaming me because I survived that car crash three years ago and my mother didn't. Cruel? I know, but what can I do? I heaved a sigh as I placed my bag on my bed. I held onto the necklace. The one that my mother gave to me, a habit I developed whenever I felt too much. I suddenly remembered the last thing my mother said to me before she died in my arms.

"Magical things are bound to happen in your future. Do not lose hope at anything and always wear this necklace."

I wonder what she actually meant by that.

I didn't notice how deep my thoughts had become that I suddenly fell asleep. This usually happens whenever I think about my mother. I will dream of a magical place where princes and princesses exist. Just like that fairytale story she used to read to me. Other than 'The Tale of Amaranthia', my mother used to tell me about the story of a princess who was bound to become an evil empress.

It was not by choice, but because of her family's demise, she prepared herself to resort to darkness. She punished everyone who defied her and threw out the people who tried to oppose her. She wasn't really a cruel empress, I mean, that's what I really think of her.

Her relatives are the ones who should be blamed. They were the ones who tried to harm her first and the reason why the empress' heart became colder than ice. Well, what can you say? Bad family or relatives equates to bad child grooming. Or whatever that word should be.

My vision started becoming darker and the magical place I was watching was starting to crumble. Then I felt someone shaking my shoulders. It must be time to wake up.

I blinked a couple of times as I tried to wake my body, but it felt useless. A sudden pang of pain brushed against my body as panic washes over me.

I can't move! How can that be?!

I tried squirming and pinching myself. It was so dark that I couldn't clearly see anything, yet my body can feel a heavy force of waves pushing me down further, as if I'm in the deepest part of a body of water, drowning.

"Ugh. What the..." I blurted out.

One moment It felt like I was drowning then in a flash, I felt someone dragging me upwards, as if I were being saved. I can't clearly see so I don't really understand what's happening.

"Your highness! Are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice spoke in panic.

I felt relieved as soon as I opened my eyes, but somehow, everything looked weird. The first thing I saw were unfamiliar faces looking worriedly at me and then there was those people who looked terrified as they watched me.