CHAPTER 25: CH:25 AWAKENING IN A KINGDOM NOT MY OWN

Dila’s eyelids fluttered open to a gentle, golden light. She blinked against the brightness, trying to focus on her surroundings.

She was lying in a broad four-poster bed, draped in heavy velvet curtains. The sheets were silk-soft, the pillows thick and plush. The room was unlike anything she remembered—stone walls polished smooth, glinting in the sunlight, and curtains lined with golden thread. The floor beneath her was marble, cool and shining, and a distant breeze slipped through the tall arched windows.

She shifted—and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through her body like fire.

"Ahh...!!" she gasped, clutching the sheets. "I can’t move—my whole body hurts."

☆ "Welcome back, Master," ☆ Nari’s gentle voice echoed in her mind.

Dila winced and groaned. "Voices... tone it down... it’s too early..."

Nari giggled softly. ☆ "Hehe—sorry! Didn’t want to startle you." ☆

Even in pain, a faint smile tugged at Dila’s lips.

But as she looked around again, she frowned.

"I don’t recognize this place..." she whispered, scanning the room. The tapestries, the polished stone, the distant scent of rose oil—everything was regal, pristine. Luxurious.

But unfamiliar.

"...Where am I?"

She had no idea.

She didn’t know yet...

"That she was now resting deep within the heart of the Exonory Kingdom."

As Dila slowly pushed herself upright, her breath shallow, her vision briefly flickered—and then her eyes glowed faintly with the soft shimmer of a system report.

A familiar voice, light as a feather and laced with concern, echoed gently in her mind.

☆ "Master, your mana has still not recovered properly," ☆ Nari reported, her tone unusually serious. ☆ "You’ve been severely damaged due to the temporary boost you used in your fight against the masked man elf." ☆

A glowing blue interface flickered faintly before her eyes:

---

Mana Level: 1 / 200

Health Level: 100 / 1000

Level: 2

System Buddy: Nari

---

☆ "Master, you must refrain from attempting anything dangerous for now," ☆ Nari warned gently. ☆ "Your internal wounds are still severe. Any movement under stress might reopen them... your organs are under extreme strain." ☆

Dila winced as a dry cough escaped her lips. Her chest burned. She brought a trembling hand to her mouth and felt the metallic tang of blood at the corner of her lips.

"...Yes," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I know..."

She leaned back against the soft mountain of pillows, her eyes dull but her mind still turning.

Everything felt fragile. Her body, her thoughts, her safety.

As Dila lay still in the velvet-lined bed, her fingers barely gripping the silken sheets, her gaze slowly drifted to the towering ceiling above. Gold-lined beams, carved with symbols she didn’t recognize, shimmered in the dim early morning light.

She exhaled shakily.

"...Why am I even here?" she muttered softly. "Is this a luxury house? A hotel? Or some noble’s chamber? What even is this place..."

Before her mind could spiral further, Nari’s voice gently bloomed inside her head again, like the warmth of a hand reaching into the cold.

☆ "When I booted up again, Master... you were already being carried through long halls. You’d been moved deep beneath the Exonory Kingdom’s castle... to what I can only call a lab—or perhaps a sacred healing chamber." ☆

Dila blinked. "Castle...?"

☆ "Yes... a fortified facility underground. Dozens—no, hundreds—of healers were summoned just to stabilize you. They worked in shifts without sleep. Some used forbidden techniques. It took almost all night." ☆

Dila’s eyes widened, her heart skipping as her breath grew shallow again. "W-Why...? What made them go that far...? What gave them that kind of desperation to save me?"

Her voice cracked with the last word.

"...Why were they so afraid to let me die?"

She clenched her chest as if trying to steady the storm inside. Her hands trembled.

But then—something even darker crept back into her thoughts.

Her eyes widened even more, panic flashing across her face.

"Stella... Sarios..."

A pause.

"Did they... did they die...?"

Her voice was barely a whisper now. And then—silence.

Even Nari didn’t respond immediately.

Then at last, with a slow, somber tone:

☆ "I’m sorry, Master... Even I can’t retrieve any direct data about them at this moment. Their vitals, their location—everything is dark." ☆

Dila’s throat tightened.

She gave a small, broken nod, her shoulders slumping slightly as her gaze dimmed.

A flicker of memory rushed back uninvited—vivid, violent.

Sarios, his face twisted in pain, kicked hard in the jaw—his armored form tossed like a ragdoll.

Stella—so bright and cheerful—struck brutally in the stomach, crumpling as the breath was stolen from her lungs.

Dila’s own gut clenched as if reliving it. The pain bloomed deep in her core again. She gritted her teeth and held her stomach, curling slightly where she lay.

Tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall.

She wasn’t just worried.

She was afraid of being left behind again. Afraid of losing them—of being alone, truly alone, in this world that was supposed to be fiction.

Dila slowly turned her head, the pillow soft beneath her cheek. Her fingers weakly curled around the blanket as she asked in a quiet, shaky voice,

"...Nari... how many days was I out cold?"

Her voice trembled slightly. "Three? Four? A week...?"

There was a long pause before Nari finally replied, her voice gentle, almost hesitant.

☆ "Actually, Master... it wasn’t just days. It’s been... a month and a half." ☆

Dila’s eyes widened in disbelief. Her breath caught in her throat.

"A... month and a half?" she echoed, her heart suddenly thudding faster. "I’ve been unconscious that long...?"

She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm the rising pulse, overwhelmed by the thought of being gone for so long—helpless, motionless, unaware.

☆ "Don’t worry," Nari said sweetly. "You’ve been taken care of very carefully. There were mages, medical priests, and even castle maids. They watched over you day and night." ☆

Dila blinked, surprised.

"...Maids...?"

☆ "Yes! And they changed your clothes regularly too! Cleaned and dressed you with full care, Master~!" ☆

Dila immediately blushed.

Her hand yanked the blanket up over her chest as her eyes widened even more. "W-Wait! A-Always?! They—changed my clothes?!"

She flushed deep red and pulled the blanket even higher, hiding her face behind it. Her voice came muffled from beneath.

"T-That’s so embarrassing..."

Nari gave a soft, playful laugh.

☆ "Ahahaha! But nothing to fret about, Master! I mean—it’s natural! Just good care, right?" ☆

Dila narrowed her eyes behind the blanket, suspicion rising.

"...Hey. Nari. Are you mocking me?"

☆ "A... ah?! N-No! Not at all, Master! N-Never! I—I was just... ahaha... I would never tease you..." ☆

Dila puffed her cheeks slightly under the blanket, still blushing.

Despite the embarrassment... she smiled just a little.

The warmth of Nari’s voice made the lonely air around her feel a bit less heavy.

Suddenly, the heavy double doors creaked open with a low wooden groan.

A maid stepped in—her posture careful, her steps almost rehearsed. She held in her hands a crystal-blue glowing bottle, its surface faintly swirling like moonlight trapped in liquid. The bottle pulsed softly with enchantment—a high-grade healing potion, held gently in a cloth-lined tray.

She approached with slow, deliberate steps, carrying not just the potion but also a small blunt wooden stick, a tool clearly used for helping unconscious patients drink—a method she’d likely repeated many times now for Dila.

But the moment her eyes met Dila’s...

The maid froze.

Her eyes went wide. The tray slipped from her fingers, and the bottle fell—shattering against the polished stone floor with a ringing crack, spilling its glowing contents across the floor like spilled starlight.

She covered her mouth with trembling hands.

"I—I thought..." her voice broke, overcome by emotion, "I thought you’d never wake up..."

Tears welled in her eyes, sparkling as they fell freely.

She lowered her head in a flustered, desperate bow—then turned and ran clumsily out of the room, her footsteps echoing down the hallway.

Dila stared after her, baffled.

"...What... was that about?" she asked, blinking in confusion. "Why’d she run?"

☆ "Sorry, Master..." ☆ Nari’s voice came through gently, a little uncertain.

☆ "Even I... don’t know what just happened. That reaction was... unusual." ☆

Dila looked down at the bedcovers on her lap, thoughtful.

The floor still shimmered faintly where the potion had spilled, but all she could feel now was the strange weight of someone else’s emotion—a silent memory of all the time she’d spent unconscious.

Who had stood by her side...?

And why did that maid cry as if she were mourning until now?

Her chest tightened with a quiet unease...