After spending three days in that palace, she slowly started getting used to her surroundings.
She even received a few extra pairs of clothes.
But after those three days, the anxiety inside her began to grow stronger.
More than anything, she wanted to see Joe again.
She quietly tied her shoelaces and slipped out of her room.
The entire palace was unusually busy, which meant no one was there to keep an eye on her.
Taking the chance, she pulled on her black hoodie, lowered her head, and slowly walked outside.
Her footsteps were careful and light, almost silent, as if she didn’t want anyone to sense her presence.
After so much struggle, she was finally escaping.
Maybe her journalism experience was helping her now.
At least she finally knew the location of the palace, which meant she had a chance to run away from there for good.
For the first time in days, she felt happy.
Happy because now…
she might finally find her boyfriend again.
“Ma’am… it’s lunchtime.”
One of the maids softly knocked on Elise’s door, waiting for a response.
But no answer came.
The maid frowned slightly before pushing the door open.
The moment she looked inside, her face turned pale.
The room was empty.
“No… no…” she whispered in shock.
Fear instantly rushed through her body as she hurried inside, checking every corner of the room.
The windows were slightly open, and the cold breeze flowing through them made her heartbeat rise even faster.
“She’s gone…”
Panic spread through the palace within minutes.
The entire staff started searching for Elise.
Every hallway.
Every room.
Every corner of the palace was checked carefully.
The guards searched outside while the maids ran through the palace in fear, terrified of what would happen if they failed to find her.
But it was already too late.
Elise had escaped.
After hours of unsuccessful searching, the staff finally gave up.
The atmosphere inside the palace became heavy with tension and fear.
With trembling hands, one of the servants finally decided to call Enzo.
Enzo was in an important meeting with the President and several ministers.
The atmosphere inside the conference room was tense as they discussed the serial killer case that had taken over social media, news channels, and the entire country.
Everyone in the room was fully focused.
Suddenly-
Ring…
Ring…
Enzo’s phone rang loudly, instantly breaking the silence.
Several ministers looked at him with visible annoyance.
Enzo quickly panicked and silenced the call.
The meeting continued.
But a few seconds later, the phone rang again.
This time, the President slowly looked at him.
“Go and pick up the call.”
“It’s nothing important, sir…” Enzo replied nervously, his voice trembling slightly.
“No. You’re disturbing the meeting.”
“No, sir. This meeting is important. I’ll switch off the phone. Please continue, Commissioner.”
Enzo forced a small smile before switching off his phone and putting it back into his pocket.
The commissioner nodded and continued the presentation.
“Until now, we have recorded over fifty serial murder cases,” he said while opening the file.
“And we found one similarity in every single victim.”
Everyone flipped through the documents placed before them.
“A deep cut across the neck region.”
The room fell silent.
“Any clues?” one of the ministers asked.
“Not much,” the commissioner replied.
“But someone reported seeing a suspicious man in Paris… with a girl.”
The moment Enzo heard that, his expression changed completely.
His face turned pale.
The President immediately noticed the sudden anxiety in his eyes.
Before anyone could say anything else-
The conference room door suddenly burst open.
Everyone looked toward the entrance in shock.
“What is the meaning of this behavior?!” the President slammed his hand on the table angrily.
“S-Sorry, sir…” the man stammered nervously before rushing toward Enzo.
He leaned down and whispered something into Enzo’s ear.
And instantly-
Enzo’s eyes widened in horror.
A dark feeling settled inside him.
He abruptly stood up from his chair.
“Sir… I need to leave. It’s urgent.”
The President narrowed his eyes.
“What happened?”
“…Sorry, sir. I can’t tell you right now.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
For a moment, the President stared at him silently, sensing that something was terribly wrong.
Finally, he sighed.
“…Go.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Without wasting another second, Enzo hurried out of the meeting room.
The meeting continued again…
But the President couldn’t ignore the strange fear he had seen in Enzo’s eyes.
__________________________________
Elise was wandering through the beautiful streets of Champs-Élysées, her eyes filled with wonder as she looked around.
The avenue was crowded with people, glowing cafés, luxury stores, and the soft golden light of Paris.
For the first time in days, she felt free.
A cold breeze brushed against her face as she pulled her black hoodie closer and continued walking through the busy street, completely unaware that somewhere behind her…
danger was already following her footsteps.

She knew this place.
She had been there several times before.
And yet…
everything felt unfamiliar now.
The streets looked the same, the lights were still shining, and people continued moving around her like usual, but something felt different.
Almost as if the world itself had changed while she was trapped inside that palace.
Feeling restless, Elise entered a small internet café nearby.
A waitress standing near the counter smiled politely.
“Hi, ma’am. How can I help you?”
Elise hesitated for a moment before speaking softly,
“Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“…What year is this?”
The waitress blinked in confusion and gave her a strange look.
“I’m sorry… what?” she asked awkwardly.
“The year,” Elise repeated, her voice quieter this time.
The waitress slowly answered, still sounding confused,
“It’s 2030, ma’am.”
The moment Elise heard that-
Her heartbeat stopped for a second.
“…2030?” she whispered.
Her hands slowly trembled beside her.
No wonder everything felt unfamiliar.
Because the world she remembered…
no longer existed the same way anymore.
Suddenly, Elise started laughing softly.
The sound was shaky, almost desperate.
“You’re joking… right?” she asked, forcing a smile onto her face.
“This is some kind of prank?”
The waitress looked even more confused now.
“…No, ma’am,” she replied carefully.
“It’s really 2030.”
And then she repeated it again-
“2030.”
The smile on Elise’s face slowly disappeared.
Her mind went completely blank.
“No…” she whispered under her breath.
Her breathing became uneven as thousands of thoughts crashed into her mind at once.
To her, it felt impossible.
Impossible that years had passed.
Impossible that the world had moved on without her.
Her legs suddenly felt weak, and she grabbed the edge of the counter for support while staring at the floor in disbelief.
Everything around her started feeling distant and blurry.
As if reality itself was slipping away from her hands.
Elise suddenly ran out of the café, unable to breathe properly anymore.
The crowded streets blurred before her eyes as people rushed past her in every direction.
Cars moved smoothly along the roads while giant holographic screens floated above the buildings, displaying advertisements and news updates.
She stopped in the middle of the street and slowly looked around.
This was the city where she had spent her entire life.
And yet…
it no longer felt like her city anymore.
Paris had changed.
No-
It had transformed into something entirely different.
The city looked far more beautiful than before.
The buildings were designed in a unique architectural style that blended modern technology with traditional elegance.
Most of the homes looked naturally built, almost eco-friendly, as if the entire city had been reconstructed to exist alongside nature instead of destroying it.
The streets themselves looked different too.
Stone pathways, natural water channels, vertical gardens, and wooden details decorated almost every corner.
Long rows of huge green trees stretched across the roads, their leaves dancing softly with the wind.
It felt peaceful.
Clean.
Alive.

Elise stood there silently, staring at the transformed city with trembling eyes.
Everything had moved forward without her.
The world had continued living…
while she remained trapped in the past.
A tear slowly rolled down Elise’s cheek as she crossed the street in a daze.
The sounds of the city felt distant now, almost muted beneath the storm inside her mind.
She finally reached a quiet corner near the sidewalk where a small bench rested beneath tall trees.
The bench was beautifully decorated with hanging flowers and green vines wrapped around its sides, blending perfectly with the peaceful streets of the new Paris.

Elise slowly sat down.
Her hands were trembling badly.
Her heartbeat pounded painfully against her chest as if her body still refused to accept the truth.
2030.
The number echoed endlessly inside her head.
She lowered her face into her hands and finally broke down completely.
Soft sobs escaped her lips as tears slipped through her fingers.
“How is this even possible…?” she whispered between her cries.
Her entire world had shattered within minutes.
Everything she knew…
everyone she loved…
every memory she carried…
belonged to a time that no longer existed.
Questions kept tearing through her mind.
How many years had she been trapped there?
What happened to Joe?
Was he still searching for her…
Or had he already moved on long ago?
That thought hurt the most.
Elise clenched her fists tightly as another painful sob escaped her throat.
While crying quietly on the bench, Elise suddenly felt it.
That strange feeling.
As if someone was watching her.
Her breathing slowed.
She quickly lifted her face and turned around.
A man was standing a few steps away from her.
He wore a white striped shirt, slightly wrinkled, while faint burn scars covered parts of his face and neck.
His appearance looked unsettling…
almost creepy.
But the most terrifying thing was the way he stared at her.
Like he had finally found something he had been searching for.
A slow smile appeared on his lips.
“Finally…” he whispered.
“I found you.”
Elise’s mind instantly snapped awake.
She quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeves and stood up from the bench.
Her journalist instincts immediately returned as she carefully observed every detail about the man-his height, scars, clothes, voice, posture…
everything.
“Who are you?” she asked seriously, taking a cautious step back.
The man slowly started walking toward her.
One step at a time.
“I’m the one who waited for you,” he said softly.
Another step.
“I’m the one who saved you from that freezing temperature.”
The moment he said that-
Elise froze completely.
Her mind instantly flashed back to that dark, creepy apartment.
The cold.
The pain.
The blurry figure standing near her when she first woke up.
Her heartbeat became louder.
“It was… you?” she whispered in disbelief.
The man smiled again, but this time the smile felt wrong.
Very wrong.
“I protected you,” he murmured.
“I kept you alive when everyone else would have left you to die.”
Elise slowly clenched her fists.
Something about him made her instincts scream in danger.
And deep inside her heart…
She suddenly realized one terrifying thing.
Maybe escaping the palace…
Was her biggest mistake.
_____________________________________
Sometimes escaping a cage only leads us to a darker forest.
Elise finally found freedom…
But freedom doesn’t always mean safety.
See you in Chapter 15.