Days later...

"Ugh..." A groan escaped Lynsandra’s lips, her brows knitting as her throat felt dry and scratchy.

Slowly, her eyes parted. Her vision was blurry, taking a few weak blinks before she saw the high ceiling above her.

Huh?

She blinked ever so slowly once more, propping her elbow against the mattress. When she sat up, she checked her arms, noticing that they were covered with some sort of bandages. They also smelled weird. She lifted her arm to her nose, only to draw her head away at the strong medicinal aroma between her skin and the bandage.

"Where —" she paused, noticing that she was wearing a light, white blouse.

Her eyes followed lower, catching the blanket over her legs. When she yanked it, all she saw were her legs, which were also wrapped in bandages. She didn’t have to check to know she was not wearing any undergarments. Thankfully, the blouse was long enough to cover her privates and her hands.

"What happened?" came her coarse voice as she touched her head, feeling a small bandage on her forehead. "Right."

Memories of how she ended up being swept into the ocean flooded in, making her head throb painfully.

Before all of this, Lynsandra was on her way back after going on a mission to deal with some people. But while she was on the ship, it was suddenly attacked by some so-called pirates, who were just a group of rogues.

Dealing with them was easy, but they were equipped with silver.

They specifically targeted her and her men, even taking hostages on the ship — though they were just staff. Because of that, Lynsandra agreed to their demands and let them hijack the ship far away from their destination.

Once they were far enough, they dropped the staff off on a boat before taking her further away.

After a long time, their ship stopped, and more people came aboard. As it turned out, one of the "noble" packs had conspired with the ones Lynsandra had dealt with, and they planned to stop her from reaching the city to report back to the Royal Pack.

They knew once she did, another investigation would open, and they would be implicated by it.

"They really didn’t hold back in using their silver on me," she muttered, her expression sour, her heart slowly burning with rage. "Fortunately, I still managed to jump out and swim away."

Lynsandra didn’t even know where she was headed or if there was any place she could reach just by swimming. That part of the ocean was just endless waters, after all.

"Where did I end up?" she wondered, looking around at the old but well-maintained room.

She carefully flung her legs out of the bed, going to the study desk on the side. Aside from a small candelabra with an unlit candle, there was a pen and ink.

"Who uses these things?" she wondered as she picked up the pen, then looked at the ink. She shrugged as her eyes drifted to the paper. They were thick and old — something like the pages from old books.

"Hmm? What is this?" she hummed, pulling out some crumpled papers underneath the desk.

Curious, she unfolded one, only to see some charcoal smeared across it. Her brows rose as she checked the next one. This time, there were some sketches of trees on it, but it seemed the person who had drawn them had given up halfway.

"It was nice, though," she murmured, putting down the crumpled sketches, and finally noticing the canvas placed at the side.

Approaching it, all she saw was an empty canvas. She stared at it, blinking almost innocently, and then shrugged.

Lynsandra examined the room, even the doors, which she suspected were adjoining rooms. But to no avail. Both doors were locked — except one.

The entrance and exit.

Peeking her head out, she looked to her left and right. She saw no one.

"This place is so quiet," she muttered, stepping out.

Her injuries still ached, but she was used to injuries at this point — they were not enough to keep her down. Holding her hands behind her, she assessed the hallway, even sliding a finger over the first piece of furniture she reached.

"That’s a lot of dust," she muttered. "This place looks abandoned."

At least, the rest of the home was filled with cobwebs, dust, and lifelessness. The room she woke up in, though, was quite clean. Obviously, someone lived here.

Lynsandra let her feet take her wherever they would, and before she knew it, she was already in the back of the mansion. Overgrown weeds had almost covered the area, heaps of dead leaves scattered around, but there was a small trimmed patch.

"Hmm?" Her brows rose as she squatted down, spotting a huge pig just lazing on the heaps of leaves. "That’s one huge pig."

Her eyes almost twinkled as her stomach grumbled. She could already imagine the types of dishes she could make with that. It would be a feast!

As if sensing her thoughts, the pig let out a sound and jumped to its feet. But because of its size, it fell onto one of its knees.

"Pfft —" Lynsandra stiffened, holding back laughter, her cheeks reddening. "So cute."

She smacked her lips, watching the pig try to get up.

"I’m not going to eat you," she said with a frown. "No matter how juicy you look."

And somehow, the pig panicked further, now letting out a sound as if it were being slaughtered. Lynsandra clicked her tongue helplessly, tilting her head, just watching the poor thing struggle under its own weight.

"Being big like that is cute and all... until you can’t get up anymore," she commented, pushing herself up from her crouching position. She marched toward the pig, which panicked more and more as she drew closer.

Holding its abnormally gigantic body, she pulled it up onto its feet. Surprisingly, the second it was upright, it moved very fast and fled.

"Hah," Lynsandra smirked as she watched the little thing until it stopped behind a pair of long legs.

Her brows rose as she blinked, lifting her gaze, and their eyes for the first time.