Chapter 0: Did I regress back to 11 years old?
Elena opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling
"Where am I, is it heaven or hell?"
She remembers dying in a sudden rebel uprising when visiting the province of Saol, the largest breadbasket of the Empire.
She looked around to her surroundings and found herself seated on a grand bed, adorned with the finest silk sheets and plush rag dolls on either side. A dressing table stood a bit far away adorned with delicate trinkets and a polished silver mirror that reflected the regal atmosphere.
The light cascaded through a set of large open windows, revealing the breathtaking view of the palace garden bathed in the soft hues of sunlight.
As she took in the surroundings, a sense of déjà vu crept in 'It's a very familiar room'
'I'm surely in heaven, otherwise why would I appear in my room in the imperial residence? Hell surely won't make me so comfortable in an environment I'm familiar with.
But I wonder why there are plush toys and dolls here? I'm already grown up, well past the childish age. The shelves in my room were filled with books and grimoires before my death '
She looked around and noticed the dolls and toys on the shelves near the edges of the room.
"Anyway, this doesn't matter, but what's gonna happen with me now that I died. Am I gonna meet god? I might as well confirm if the Religion I'm following is the correct one"
As Elena was muttering quietly, she finally noticed her voice and became very surprised.
"Wait a moment, why is my voice like that of a child?"
Only then she looked down at her body and became quiet.
'So is it true that you take the appearance of a child in your afterlife?'
As she was pondering about it, there came a voice and gentle knocking on the door
"Your highness, are you awake?'
'Hmm, isn't that Olivia's voice? What's she doing in the afterlife, don't tell me she also died alongside me. But I clearly remember she didn't join me on my tour of the realm'
The knocking still continued but the pace slowed down, it seems like Olivia is hesitating whether I'm awake or not. I decided to think about my situation later and answer her first.
"Yes I'm awake, you can come in"
The door opened with a gentle click and there came a woman with blonde hair and emerald iris. Her appearance suggests that she's between 20sh to 30sh, probably late 20.
'She looks way younger than what I remember before my death, it denies my thinking that dead people appear as children in the afterlife. Wait! Am I really dead, is this really the afterlife? Was my memory of dying just a bad dream and I woke up from a nightmare?'
'No' I shook my head as the memory was too vivid to be a lie. I still remember my 25 years of life, it was neither long nor short but I remember it clearly.
As I got immersed in my inner monologue again, Olivia asked while observing me "Your highness, are you okay? Do you want to sleep for a bit longer?"
I shook my head, returning to reality "No, I'm already awake and clear headed, do you want to ask me something"
"No your highness, I just came to check on you. Do you want to freshen up and have your breakfast right now" She asked me after confirming my well-being.
"Yes and what time is it? Wait! What date is it today?" I suddenly had a thought and looked towards the calendar.
I didn't bother to check the exact date and months but looked towards the year
Year 381 of Eldoria Calendar.
And the room became quiet. I remember it was November 395 when I visited the Town of Meesa to observe the crop harvest.
When I reached the town, it was near the end of harvest. A sudden rebellion arose and I was completely unprepared. The Imperial knights were also away since I gave them other tasks and snuck away on my own, only my personal guard followed me from behind alongside other servants.
I didn't know what the cause of the rebellion was and who the peasants rebelled against. But I heard them shouting about some corrupt officials, unfair crop prices and so on.
Again I got immersed in my inner monologue and Olivia had to intervene to get my attention again.
"Your highness, your highness, is something wrong"
"Eh! No, no. I was just wondering what date it is today, I forgot hehe?"
"It's November 10, year 381" She replied without thinking much of my blunder.
"Oh, I remembered. Thank you"
So it seems there's a gap of 14 years between that of my memory and the current timeline.
"So your highness, should I prepare the water for your bath?" It seems she learned her lesson and asked me quickly before I got immersed in my thoughts again.
I nodded my head and she went away.
I sat down on my bed and started thinking.
'So did I not die and it was just a nightmare? But I remember the extra 13 years of memory very clearly. Well, not that clearly about day to day ones, but I still have an accurate outline of what happened in that timeframe.
Then what about the current timeline? Or is it just a dream and I'm already dead. Wait a minute, how can I dream when I'm already dead!?' I felt silly thinking like that.
"Seriously, what's going on?" I pulled my hair out and shouted aloud.
Knock knock
"Your highness, the water is ready" Came Olivia's voice, pulling me out of my thoughts just like before.
I shouted back "I'm coming, hold on"
I got on my feet and was prepared to have a quick bath to start a new li… or is it old life, or is it a dream? Whatever.
"But hold on, if it's neither a dream nor the afterlife and the year is 381…"
I looked around and got an absurd thought "Did I regress back to my 11 years old self!?"
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Total word count: 1025
Total 4 pages