𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊───
"Dance for me." The figure on the throne said.
Her throat felt dry. Even in the dark, she could sense his eyes on her, tracking her every move.
She couldn't place what it was, but something about his intimidating aura made...
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The figure turned towards her, but Ji-ah still couldn't make out their face. She stopped, her gaze locked with the mysterious figure's as they both stood motionless in the snow.
The snow continued to fall, blanketing the forest in an even deeper silence.
Then, a loud, piercing noise shattered the stillness, causing Ji-ah to instinctively cover her ears. The noise reverberated through the forest, shaking her to the core. She shut her eyes tight, dropping to her knees as the sound overwhelmed her senses.
The sound was explosive, crashing over her in relentless waves.
Boom.
She desperately wished for the noise to stop, but it seemed to only grow louder.
Boom.
In a jolt, Ji-ah's eyes flew open, and she found herself back in her room, not in the forest. The familiar surroundings of her bedroom replaced the eerie woods, but the echo of the noise still lingered in her ears.
Ji-ah looked around her room, still disoriented by the sound. Did she dream again?
It was still dark, so it must be midnight. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness as she tossed her blanket aside and swung her feet to the floor. A sharp pain pierced through her right foot, causing her to wince.
She glanced down and saw faint, glittering shards scattered across the floor. Hopping on one foot, she flicked on the light, revealing ceramic fragments scattered across the room.
The vase that once held the white lilies had fallen from the shelf. Now, the lilies lay scattered among the broken pieces. The loud, piercing sound she heard was probably her vase breaking.
Her foot was bleeding now, and she sighed in frustration. She needed to patch up her feet, then she remembered the first aid kit was in the kitchen.
Carefully, she lifted her injured foot and braced herself as she picked out a small shard from her foot. She needed to sweep clean the floor too, to prevent further injuries as the shards were everywhere.
Ji-ah opened her bedroom door slowly, hoping the other staff hadn't heard the vase break.
She stepped out of the staff dorms and into the hallway, which was eerily silent and shrouded in darkness. Without her shoes, the cold marble floor sent a chill up through her bare feet.
Ji-ah hesitated for a moment, her eyes straining to adjust to the dim light. The hallway stretched out before her, empty and still, as though the palace itself were holding its breath. The quiet was thick, the kind that made her hyper-aware of every sound.
She approached the windows and noticed the ground outside was still bare. It hadn't snowed yet. Heavy clouds drifted slowly across the sky, stirred by the wind, and the faintest sliver of moonlight struggled to break through.
