"Nooooo!!!!!!!!!"

'Heuuu!

A young girl woke up in the middle of the night in terror.

Her entire body was drenched in sweat, and her breathing seemed very uneven, heavy and haughty.

Her hair was haggard, and her nightgown was slightly ruffled.

Tiredness swallowed her whole, as her eyes remained extremely puffy and saggy.

'Bam!'

Her chamber doors were pushed open, and in came some of her maidservants.

They had heard their mistress' loud screams, and came running in with some guards just to ensure that everything was well.

Because if their mistress died, they too will be put to death by their mistress' family as well.

And after that incident that happened a while back, how could they afford any more slip-ups?

"Young miss... young miss, are you alright?"

"Young miss, it was only a dream!"

"No harm can ever befall you here!"

As the maidservants tried to soothe their master, the young girl in question just looked around her room frantically... as if trying to make sure that they weren't lying to her.

She shivered for a while and finally calmed down only after confirming that she was indeed safe and sound.

.

These past few weeks, she had been having nightmares almost every night.

And all of them generally ended with someone trying to stab her to death.

In her dreams, she desperately ran through an abandoned building..... while screaming for help and trying to run as fast as she could.

But for some unknown unreason, her speed in the dream was almost that of a snail's.

Because no matter how she ran, the person chasing her would only need to take a single step.... before somehow magically appearing before her like.

And even though she usually woke up just before she was killed, she could still feel the presence of the chilling blade violently caressing her throat..... as it sunk deeper and deeper into her flesh.

In short, one could say that she sort of died in the dreamworld and woke up in this one.

Her dreams were so vivid and life-like, that she could hardly tell the difference between reality and fiction anymore.

It was only a nightmare, but it left her utterly terrorized as her body began shaking like a leaf.

For sure, all of this made her hate night time even more.

Once the sun went down, she became even more gloomy and depressed.... as she didn't want to experience these sorts of nightmares anymore.

And who was this young lady?

Well, it was none other than Cary Barn.

.

Her days had not been the same ever since she came back from that gruesome incident where her right arm had been cut off.

She swore to find the person who did this to her and drink his blood down her throat in victory.

But so far, it was as if the man had suddenly become a ghost.

Her mother had tried to look for the culprit all day every day... but it was to no avail.

Her mother did her best to accompany her in her estate during the day.

But since her mother was a queen, she could never sleep outside the palace no more than 4 times a year, except on a trip with Alec.

Her mother had already exhausted those 4 chances, so she had to stay within the palace walls no matter what.

As for her father, he only tried searching for a week, and after that.... he seemed to be focusing on his next moves with Baymard instead.

In his eyes, she had lost her value as a princess that would make people envious.

In short, in his mind.... he would be lucky to even find someone who would be willing to take her in as a wife.

At this point, he didn't even care if they were high ranking nobles or not.

A beggar can't be picky!

So even a low ranking noble would do the trick.

If before Cary had felt anything for her father, now.... it was completely gone.

What sort of father would be so heartless as to turn a blind eye to his daughter in need?

Fine!

Daughters weren't as important as sons, but couldn't he at least give her some face?

For sure, she couldn't wait for her brother and mother to kill the bastard and skin him alive.

.

Thinking of her father really made her furious.

All this time, she could've stayed in the palace with her mother.

But she could only do so if her father had called her in or granted her permission to do so.

It was the law that once a royal reached the age of 15 and had their own private estate, they could only stay over for at most 3 days if they came without being called over by Alec.

That's why her brothers would always write to Alec and get his approval before they came.

One was never to surprise the man.

In this way, if they left and something happened to them on the road he would know.

Likewise, if they betrayed him, he would also get the early signs as well.

And so without getting called into the palace, she couldn't stay with her mother at all times.

As for the issue about marriage, even though Anthony hadn't been visiting as frequently as he used to..... she felt like it was only because of the incident last time.

After all, he too was attacked..... so of course his family would set up more measures around their son, who was a well known glorified knight for his age.

He was the main heir and inheritor in his family, as he was literally the only male child that his father had.

Even though Anthony had 3 stepmothers, they all gave his father daughters..... and only his mother had pleased his father by giving birth to him.

So one could imagine how dotted he was by his grandparents and parents.

Hence he was mostly kept under house arrest and properly guarded until the culprit was caught.

And even if he went out, he would leave with at least 150 men guarding him at once.... some secretly, and others publicly.

With all that said, of course, Cary hadn't seen him in a long time.

.

Cary struggled to open her eyes and shook violently, as she felt the blade cut deep into the throat.

And just before death, she heard voices of her maidservants.... and finally opened her eyes again.

"Young miss... it's only a bad dream.

And bad dreams can never become real."

Listening to her maidservants, she truly wanted to believe in what they said.

But something within her, made her feel an impending sense of danger.

Something told her that soon, her nightmares might just become a reality.

But that was ridiculous, right?