Why ….
**Ashley’s POV**
As soon as I woke up, I felt extremely weak, and my bones were sore. I couldn’t fully recall everything that had happened, but I did remember feeling a hefty hand cover my mouth as a sedated handkerchief was placed over my nose.
Although I fought to stay awake long enough to understand what was happening to me, it wasn’t much longer before these mysterious people had me tied down, their claws out, and I finally gave up and passed out. Due to how faint everything was around me, I wasn’t able to hear their conversation clearly. The only words I could pick up were “child,” “strategy,” and “defeat.” No matter how much I tried to piece these words together to make sense of what they were talking about, I just couldn’t. Too much was missing to add everything up, so I really wasn’t able to figure out what they meant.
As soon as I regained consciousness, I instantly panicked as flashes from the kidnapping remained very fresh in my mind. I didn’t recognize where I was, so the first thing that came to mind was that they had taken me somewhere to do whatever they wanted with me. I looked around until my gaze landed on the woman standing in front of a table filled with traditional herbs and medicines. She was busy mixing two liquids together, and my wolf instincts instantly heightened, ready to attack just in case she planned on making me take whatever that was.
While I watched her carry out the mixing process, I couldn’t help but take in her features. She seemed calm and harmless; however, I couldn’t let my guard down based on a supposed assumption. The room was poorly lit, which, for someone who had just regained consciousness, I found very helpful, as a well-lit room would have probably made it harder for my eyes to adjust. She turned in my direction as if she had been listening to my thoughts all this while, but it was already too late. Before I could return to a sleeping position, she had already seen me, so there was no need to pretend that I was still unconscious. Quickly, I sprang into action and swiftly ran to grab her by the neck. She gasped for air and tried to push me away, but I, on the other hand, pushed her against the wall, gripping both her hands together to render her defenseless.
“I’m going to go straight to the point, and I expect you to do the same if you want me to spare your life. Listen, lady, if you all have actually brought me here to die, then I am definitely going to take as many of you with me as I can.” She coughed, trying to free her hands, but I remained firm, keeping her completely defenseless.
“Now, who are you people? And where am I?” I asked authoritatively, and she shook her head, pointing at my hand on her neck with her eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean? If you don’t start talking right now, I am going to tighten my grip for sure. Answer me, and I will spare your life,” I said again. She groaned a couple of times as I tightened my hold on her neck. She didn’t say anything for a while, which further confused me-wasn’t she scared for her life? Before I could think of anything else, I suddenly felt a kick to my shins, and I yelped in pain. She pushed me away, grabbed a small needle, and quickly injected it into my shoulder. I didn’t even notice it until I started feeling very faint and tired.
“Y-you! What did you just inject me with?” She went over to the table and tried to catch her breath before finally turning to face me.
“Oh my days, will you just calm down? You’re in the mansion, for goodness’ sake!” she exclaimed. I held onto the bed, trying to sit down because I was still very weak from whatever she had injected me with. Once I was seated back on the bed, I turned to face her with a dangerous look.
“Just calm down, Ashley, let me explain. You were found outside the mansion a few hours ago, so the guards brought you here to the infirmary to be taken care of and nursed back to health. Believe me, I mean no harm to you, so please just calm down.” I blinked a few times, trying to make my eyes less heavy. I had heard what she said, but I needed time to fully gather myself before responding.
“So, if I take your word for everything you’ve just said, then I am actually in the mansion, and you’re not trying to do anything bad to me?”
“Of course not!”
“Then why did you inject me with whatever that was?”
“You literally had me trapped, with your hands strangling my neck. What were you expecting me to do? You and I both know that if I hadn’t done that to weaken you, then you would have probably killed me right here and now.”
“Oh…” I remained silent, knowing that I could have actually done that in a bid to protect myself.
“Exactly! But don’t worry, I just injected you with a sedative that doesn’t last more than five minutes, so you should be okay very soon.” I nodded as I lay back in bed.
She continued with whatever she was doing at the table, and just as she had said, I ended up feeling much stronger, regaining the energy that had escaped me when I was injected. I spent time asking her questions about my current state and how I was when the guards brought me in for examination and treatment. Although she was hesitant at first to tell me everything for reasons best known to her, I still managed to convince her to explain what had happened.
“Well, according to the guards who brought you in, you were found lying on the ground outside the mansion. When they brought you in, your body was really cold, and they found strange markings all over your neck and shoulders.”
“Markings?” I asked, examining my body but not finding anything there.
“Trust me, I am just as surprised to find you without any of those markings now. They were so glaring and distinct,” she continued, and I furrowed my brows in surprise.
“I was even trying to understand what it was about and whether there was a need for us to be worried, but I still haven’t been able to figure it out.”
“Oh my…”
“Yeah, I was even planning on doing a blood test on you to be sure they hadn’t injected you with anything poisonous or something, but I wanted to have His Highness’s permission first, or at least yours, before carrying it out.”
“What do you mean? Carry it out; you have my full permission to do so.”
“Oh, are you sure about that?”
“Of course, go on, please,” I responded, lying flat on the bed this time.
“Well, okay then, but I’m going to need you to be unconscious during the test, so I hope you don’t mind me giving you a sleeping sedative. You would actually need it.”
“Alright, it’s fine,” I replied, and she immediately got started. As soon as I felt the sedative start moving through my veins, consciousness slowly started departing from me. I was already feeling very faint, and it didn’t take long before I finally answered the call to sleep.
I didn’t remember waking up until I felt my consciousness return. The first face I saw when I woke up was Lucas’s, and I honestly didn’t know whether to be happy, scared, or maybe even angry to see him. We had both gotten into an argument about what I had gone to ask him regarding the crown and my intention of having it cleaned. All I did was make a very harmless offer that he could have simply refused, but instead, he chose not only to yell at me but also to avoid me at an alarming rate.
“Oh, I see what you were talking about. Even I cannot tell why she seems to be so spotless now,” I heard him say, and I contemplated whether to let it be known that I was awake or to continue pretending that I was still asleep.
“I thought you said she was already awake?” he continued, and I gulped on the nurse’s behalf.
“Well, yes, Your Highness, I mean, I had given her a sedative before, but she is already supposed to be awake by now.”
“What? I hope you didn’t give her an overdose or something?”
“Of course not, Your Highness. My calculations are always precise and accurate.”
“Well, alright then,” he said, and I decided to just let it go, knowing that I was already awake. After all, it wasn’t going to change anything if I kept staying quiet and pretending I was still unconscious.
“Oh wait, Your Highness, she is awake now,” the nurse said as soon as she noticed that my eyes were open. Lucas turned to face me with a look of relief in his eyes, and I subconsciously frowned as he stood there, full of worry.
“Ashley, how are you doing now? I hope they didn’t do anything unthinkable to you?” I turned to face him, feeling very uncomfortable. How could he even think about that first when there was so much more to address?
“No, I’m completely fine, thank you.”
Lucas visibly relaxed at my response, though a hint of concern still lingered in his eyes. He stepped closer to the bed, his usually stern demeanor softening slightly as he assessed my condition.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said, his voice low, almost as if he were speaking more to himself than to me. “But Ashley, this whole situation is… troubling. We need to figure out how this happened and who’s responsible.”
I nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. The recent events were far from ordinary, and the implications were disturbing. How could I have ended up outside the mansion, unconscious, with strange markings on my body? The people that took me had to be extremely dangerous and skillful given that they were able to get in, take me, and still leave without being see. And now, those markings were mysteriously gone, leaving no trace behind.