The carriage ride was painfully awkward.
Not because of the silence.
Ophelia actually liked silence sometimes.
The problem was that Alekxander somehow made silence feel intense.
Like every quiet second meant something.
And it was stressing her out.
She glanced at him again.
Still calm.
Still unreadable.
Still sitting like a man who had never struggled a single day in his life.
Meanwhile Ophelia was currently having an identity crisis in another universe.
Very balanced situation.
“Do you ever smile?” she asked suddenly.
Alekxander looked at her.
“I just did.”
“No you didn’t.”
“I almost did.”
“That doesn’t count.”
For the first time since entering the carriage, something in his eyes shifted slightly.
Not exactly amusement.
But close enough.
Ophelia noticed it immediately.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The carriage continued moving through the streets quietly.
Ophelia looked outside the window again.
Everything here still felt strange to her.
The clothing.
The buildings.
The people.
It all looked like something she once studied in textbooks.
And somehow that made everything creepier.
Because this world felt familiar in the wrong way.
Like history repeating itself badly.
Her fingers tightened slightly against her dress.
Then suddenly.
Pain.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Ophelia inhaled sharply.
The whispers came back instantly.
“Find her…”
“She escaped…”
“Before she remembers…”
Her breathing became uneven.
Not here.
Please not now.
She shut her eyes tightly.
Another memory flashed.
Dark hallway.
Footsteps rushing.
A servant whispering nervously:
“They know she’s alive.”
Then another voice.
A woman this time.
Cold.
“She should have died that night.”
Ophelia jerked forward suddenly.
The vision disappeared immediately.
The carriage returned.
Her chest rose unevenly.
Alekxander was already watching her.
Of course he was.
“You saw something again.”
Not a question.
Ophelia rubbed her forehead tiredly.
“I’m honestly getting sick of this.”
Alekxander didn’t respond immediately.
Then quietly:
“What did you hear?”
She looked at him sharply.
Not what did you see.
What did you hear.
Like he already knew the visions involved voices.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Ophelia frowned slightly.
“You first.”
“No.”
“Oh my God.” She dropped her head back dramatically.
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet you keep talking to me.”
“Unfortunately.”
A tiny silence followed.
Then.
“You’re calmer than before.”
Ophelia blinked.
“What?”
“Before your illness.” This story is hosted at novelping.com.
There it was again.
That careful wording.
Before your illness.
Not before you changed.
Not before you became someone else.
Like he was avoiding saying something directly.
Ophelia studied him carefully.
“What was she like?” she asked quietly.
For the first time, Alekxander looked away first.
“She was afraid.”
The answer came softer than expected.
Not mocking.
Not cold.
Just honest.
And somehow…
That made Ophelia sad.
Because every memory she saw confirmed the same thing.
The original Ophelia lived in fear.
Constant fear.
Of her family.
Of this house.
Of something bigger she didn’t fully understand.
Ophelia looked down at her hands quietly.
“Did you care about her?”
Silence.
The carriage wheels echoed softly outside.
Alekxander didn’t answer immediately.
Then finally.
“Yes.”
Simple.
But real.
Ophelia felt her chest tighten slightly.
Because that answer didn’t sound romantic.
It sounded painful.
Before she could say anything else, the carriage suddenly stopped.
The guards outside moved quickly.
Too quickly.
Alekxander’s expression changed immediately.
Sharp now.
Dangerous.
Ophelia noticed it instantly.
“What happened?”
No answer.
One of the guards knocked urgently from outside.
“My lord.”
Alekxander opened the carriage door slightly.
“What is it?”
“There’s someone blocking the road.”
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Ophelia felt it.
That same cold unease again.
Alekxander stepped out first.
“Stay inside.”
And before she could argue,
He shut the door.
Rude.
Ophelia moved closer to the window immediately because obviously she was going to look.
Ahead of the carriage stood three men dressed in dark clothing.
Not guards.
Not nobles either.
Something about them felt wrong.
One of them stepped forward slowly.
“You’re leaving too quickly, Lord Vale.”
Alekxander stood still.
Calm.
Too calm.
“I wasn’t aware I needed permission.”
The man laughed softly.
Then his eyes shifted toward the carriage.
Toward Ophelia.
A cold feeling crawled down her spine instantly.
“There she is.”
Her stomach dropped.
Oh that was definitely not good.
Very not good.
The man smiled slightly.
“She really survived.”
The whispers returned immediately.
“Kill her…”
“Before she remembers…”
“Finish it this time…”
Ophelia grabbed the edge of the seat tightly.
No.
No no no.
Outside, the tension snapped instantly.
Alekxander stepped slightly in front of the carriage.
Protective.
But the men noticed.
One of them laughed.
“You’re still protecting her?”
Still.
That word bothered her immediately.
Alekxander’s voice turned cold.
“Leave.”
The air itself felt dangerous now.
But the men didn’t move.
Instead, the one in front tilted his head slightly.
“She remembers yet?”
Silence.
Alekxander didn’t answer.
And somehow that was worse.
The man smiled again.
“That means she will soon.”
Ophelia’s heart started beating faster.
Remember what?
What exactly happened to the original Ophelia?
Why did everyone sound terrified of her remembering things?
Before she could think further.
Everything exploded into movement.
One of the men rushed forward suddenly.
The guards reacted instantly.
Steel clashed loudly outside.
Ophelia flinched hard.
What the hell!
This was becoming entirely too real for her liking.
The carriage door opened sharply.
Alekxander grabbed her wrist immediately.
“Stay close to me.”
No explanation.
No hesitation.
Just command.
Ophelia stumbled out of the carriage quickly.
The road had already turned chaotic.
Guards fighting.
Horses panicking.
Voices shouting.
And somehow Alekxander remained calm in the middle of all of it.
Which was honestly terrifying.
One of the attackers suddenly looked directly at Ophelia.
Then smiled.
Bad sign.
Horrible sign actually.
“She remembers nothing,” he called out loudly.
“Just like before.”
Before.
Again that word.
Something inside Ophelia twisted painfully.
Another memory flashed suddenly.
Blood.
Rain.
Someone whispering near her ear:
“If you survive, run.”
The vision vanished instantly.
Ophelia’s breathing became uneven again.
Alekxander noticed immediately.
His grip on her wrist tightened slightly.
“Don’t listen to them.”
“But they know me,” she whispered.
“No,” he said quietly.
His gaze darkened slightly.
“They know what you can become.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Before Ophelia could ask what that meant—
A loud scream echoed nearby.
One of the attackers fell hard onto the ground.
The others immediately started retreating.
Fast.
Like this wasn’t meant to be a real fight.
Just a warning.
The man from earlier looked at Ophelia one last time before backing away slowly.
Then he smiled again.
“We’ll see you soon, Lady Ashbourne.”
And just like that.
They disappeared into the trees.
Silence slowly returned.
Heavy silence.
The guards looked shaken.
Meanwhile Ophelia stood frozen beside the carriage.
Because now she understood one thing clearly.
This wasn’t just family secrets anymore.
People outside the Ashbourne estate were involved too.
And somehow.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for her memories to come back.