LOVE IN THE SHADOWS OF TIME l LINGORM

CHAPTER 1

LingLing had always been captivated by history—not just the dates and battles, but the lives, the choices, and the secrets that rippled through time. Friends teased her about being "born in the wrong century," her fascination with ancient cultures and long-lost civilizations seemingly an escape from the present. She would laugh it off, calling herself a misfit of modernity who should have been born in an era of candlelit libraries and kingdoms traveled on horseback.

But LingLing's love for history went deeper. To her, it was personal—a vivid tapestry woven from lives and stories. How would it feel to live in a world untouched by the hum of technology, a world where the air smelled of earth and woodsmoke instead of exhaust fumes? How would it feel to walk among people for whom knowledge was rare, almost sacred, passed on in whispers and tales?

These questions filled her mind one stormy evening as she sat alone in her small, cluttered apartment. Bookshelves overflowed with old maps, relics, and antiques she had gathered over the years, each a testament to her love for the past. At the center of her collection was her latest treasure: an ancient, leather-bound tome with no title or author, its cover marked by an intricate circle filled with strange symbols she couldn't decipher.

Tracing her fingers over the worn leather, LingLing felt a rush of curiosity. Who had written this? What secrets did it hold? She had poured over obscure dialects and ancient scripts, trying to identify the language within, but it eluded her. The book seemed like a relic from a forgotten corner of history, teetering between reality and legend.

As she flipped through its pages, her eyes lingered on delicate illustrations of knights in armor riding through dark forests, towering castles framed by endless skies. This was a world of honor, of courtly intrigue, of dangers hiding beneath a veneer of calm. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back in her chair, exhaustion pulling at her, yet unable to tear her eyes away.

Outside, the storm intensified, rain pounding against the windows, wind howling as if urging her to delve deeper. The room took on an otherworldly atmosphere, each clap of thunder making the walls tremble, as though the universe itself was responding to her curiosity.

A sudden flash of lightning flooded the room with light, followed closely by thunder that seemed to shake the building itself. Startled, LingLing flinched as the lights flickered, then went out, leaving her apartment in pitch darkness.

"Goodness..., that scares me...," she muttered, reaching for her phone to cast a dim light over the room. Just then, something strange happened. The ancient tome in front of her began to stir, its thick, weathered pages turning on their own, as though caught by an invisible hand.

LingLing froze, heart pounding as the pages fluttered, defying any explanation. The air felt thick, charged, as if something unseen lingered, watching. Slowly, she inched forward, eyes fixed on the book. The pages continued flipping faster and faster until, abruptly, they stopped. In the center of the open page, a single word glowed faintly, its letters unfamiliar yet oddly mesmerizing.

Compelled, LingLing reached out, her fingertips grazing the glowing word. The moment she touched it, another flash of lightning filled the room, so brilliant it felt like the arrival of dawn.

Then everything went dark again.

But this time, it wasn't just the light that had vanished. LingLing's stomach lurched, as if the ground had fallen away beneath her. She gasped, clutching the desk, but the sensation of falling grew stronger. The familiar outlines of her apartment blurred and twisted into a vortex of color and sound that defied logic.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

LingLing opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat.