Once I had awaken I was forced by everyone to stay in bed to rest. I overheard Dr. Richard telling them, what I had was a mental breakdown from dealing with my trauma in an unhealthy way eventually affecting my physical health.

'This damned body.' I cursed my clenching my fist.

The "Mental breakdown" I had was nothing more than a fading fragment Alina left behind for me. I knew it was the real her, not some figment of my twisted imagination.

Even though others thought I was in the worst state possible physically and mentally, I felt a big sense of relief from now knowing who wants me dead. Although I have seen better days, there was a weight lifted from my shoulders.

The king.

Or rather Kshipa. The demon like beast possessing the king, and wanting the soul of the prince.

The beast that had been plaguing my nightmares. I was so focused of figuring out who wanted me dead I never thought about what I would do once I found out.

What could I do?

I had seen how that beast tore through the flesh of humans regardless of their gender, age or status.

I felt a suffocating fear grab me by the throat and threaten to overwhelm me. I couldn't help the chill that ran down my spine.

'You should just run and hide.' My inner thoughts whispered. Tempting me with a cowardly escape.

'No. I wouldn't even be able to make it far before someone finds me.'

'You won't last a second in front of the monster.'

'You think I don't know that?' Stopping myself from arguing further I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I had undoubtedly went a little mad while dealing with this all.

'Who wouldn't.' The little voice whispered once again.

'Shut up.'

I felt like I had slowly withered away mentally being trapped in this room, my mind always circled back to the prison and the torture as well as dreams of the beast chasing me and killing me in many ways. The nightmares chipped away slowly at my sanity much like the waves of the ocean hitting hard rock and slowly eroding it into a hollow cave.

The nightmares that continued to plague made me avoid sleep, I was reluctant to face the dreams making sleep elusive to me.

Through my hazy state of mind I felt as if I was forgetting something important.

Tap-tap-tap-

I was snapped from my thoughts by a sharp but soft sound coming from the window. It was dark as the sun had not risen yet, so I cautiously approached the window and opened the the curtain.

My heart dropped to my stomach as a moving shadow caught my eye but I realized it was just a black crow on the other side of the barred window.

It held a piece of paper in its mouth, and without hesitation I reached for it since I knew who sent the crow instinctively. I had also read about it in the novel.

My mood instantly soured at the thought of the novel but I pushed it off to look at he paper. The crow disappeared almost instantly once I took the paper from it's beak.

Opening the small paper it wrote:

~Your knight has risen to the top ranks. He will come find you with the words, "Soon the roses will be in full bloom." He is one of my best men, take care of him well my little sparrow.

P.S. I look forward to what you will do in the future, don't disappoint.~

(A/N: Calling someone a sparrow can mean they're are quick-witted.)

I quickly memorized the message before rummaging through my drawers to find a match box. I found one hidden in the bottom drawer of my nightstand.

Without hesitation I quickly took out ad lit a match, I set the thin piece of paper on fire. It burned brightly in the dark room. I watched in a daze as the paper burned to ashes and disappeared as if it never existed.

Just as the ashes floated away, the door to my room opened with a creak. I turned to see that it was Seth, but before I could ask him why he was here I felt a hot burning sensation on my finger tips.

I dropped the match and gasped quietly in surprise. Before I could turn back the Seth he was already by my side stomping out the match and cleaning it up.

"Thank you."I whispered as he turned back to face me once he threw the match away.

"What are you doing playing with matches?" All though he asked with frustration I could see the worry in his eyes as he gently inspected my hands.

It was only a light burn so my fingers were only slightly red and no longer hurt. I pulled my hands away gently and hid them behind my back.

"I was trying to light a candle." I lied quickly, I did not want any one to know of the letter.

"You could have called a servant for that." He answered back with a bit of helplessness.

"It's late at night, I didn't wish to bug them."

"Still, it is their job. It is better to wake them than to hurt yourself trying to do it alone."

"I will keep brother's words in mind." I knew he would not stop nagging if I didn't agree.

As if he could sense my thoughts he sighed with a bit of frustration.

"Could you not sleep?" I asked changing the topic.

"I could ask the same to you. You need to rest."

"I've been on bed rest for a while now, I don't think I can get anymore well rested."

As I finished talking Seth shook his head before looking at me silently with eyes screaming:

'You and I know you haven't been sleeping.'

He came to check up on me almost every night, he knew as well as I did that I was not sleeping as much as I was saying.

"Since you can't sleep follow me." Seth said as he withdrew his gaze from me. The way he looked at me still hasn't changed from before.

"Are you going to follow me or not?" I was snapped from my thoughts by the deep voice of Seth.

"Ah? yes. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize."

With that, I silently followed Seth as he led me to an unknown part of the mansion.