My butt was still sore from those numerous beatings. At first, I thought I was in the dreamland. But how is it possible to feel pain when you're in a dream? Maybe, this isn't a dream at all. Did I die after being hit by that unknown thing? If that's so, then the place I am should be the afterlife, right?
"Aww." I cried grievously while rubbing on my painful butts. "So painful. The afterlife is so painful."
"Sister." The soft voice of a girl called from outside. "Can I come in?"
"Huh..." I was stunned by the sudden interruption before then answering, "Sure, come on in."
The door to the room swung open and a young girl dressed in a pink traditional gown walked in. Her face was small and round. One could see that she was the perfect definition of cuteness. How the hell can one be this cute? She approached me, before then taking a seat on the seating mat in front of me.
"Here." She reached into her sleeves and brought out a small bottle. "This is an ointment." She pushed the small bottle towards me. "I heard you were punished by father this evening, so I brought you an ointment to apply on your wound. Do not let mother see it. I stole it from her chamber." The girl lowered her head as she slowly uttered the last sentence. One could from her expression that this was the first time she would ever commit such an act.
"Oh." She even went so far as to steal from that evil woman. She's such a cutie. "Thank you, little sister." I smiled at her before then asking, "How old are you?"
"I'm nine years old." Her eyelids fluttered as she answered.
"Ahh." I nodded in realization. "No wonder why you're so cute." I couldn't help but resist the urge to lean over and pinch her cheeks.
"Why do you ask, sister? You already knew my age from the start. Or could it be that you're trying to give me a surprise present on my birthday?" There was eagerness in the girl's eyes as she lifted her head to look at me.
"I…" I found myself at a loss of words to say. "Sister was just asking to see if you can still remember your birthday." I faked a laugh to get myself out of the awkward situation. Just as I shifted my head away, I caught a glimpse of myself in the side mirror, noticing that there was something different about my appearance. But before I could look further, a soft voice interrupted my thought.
"Sister, do you know that father is planning on marrying you off?"
"What!" I thought I was hearing wrong but seeing the girl nodding in affirmation, I became even more shocked.
"I heard father and mother discussing about it some days ago. They are planning on marrying you somewhere far away."
"What the hell! I'm not even done completing my high school much to talk of having reached the approachable age for marriage." I almost screamed out my lungs at the last sentence.
"High school? What does that mean, sister?" The girl gazes at me with a look of confusion hearing the unfamiliar words coming from my mouth.
"It's a place you go to after finishing middle school." At my explanation, the young girl's look became even more confused. Then I recalled that this place I am might not be like the earth I'm familiar with. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She nodded.
"Am I dead?" The question I have been holding back for a long soon came out of my mouth. "I mean, is this place the afterlife? Although my imagination about the afterlife has always been great but this, I'm not so sure. So, I was thinking maybe I did die and ended up being your sister here in the afterlife. Isn't that so?"
"Humm..." The young girl seems even more flustered by my question. "I don't understand what you're implying, sister."
"Never mind." I waved my hand in dismissal. "I guess this is just a dream," I muttered the last sentence under my breath.
"Zanillia." The voice belonging to an older male floated into the room from the outside wall. "Are you asleep?"
"Father's here." The girl hurriedly stood up. "Hide the ointment I gave you, sister."
I immediately did as she instructed. However, who's the Zanillia the man is calling for from outside?
"Are you in there, Zanillia?" The man asked once again.
"Sister, Father is calling for you." She urged me to answer the man.
"Me..." I pointed at myself in surprise. Seeing her nod, I then raised my voice and answered, "No, I'm not asleep. You can come in."
Hearing my invitation, the man entered into the room.
"You're here." The man saw the young girl who was standing at the side before turning to look at me. "I'd like to talk with your sister in private." He walked over and sat on the cushion in front of me.
"Okay, father." The girl bowed slightly, before excusing herself out of the room.
Now I was sitting face to face with the man who had recused me from the hand of those angry mobs or should I say the man who was behind my current misery of pain.
My voice towards him was unpleasant as I asked, "What do you want from me?"
"You've changed so much, Zanillia" He saw my hostile expression and shook his head in dismay. "Your mother was my first love. Because of her lowly background, she couldn't hold the position of the madame of the house. I knew of all the troubles your stepmother puts her through but I decided to ignore it since she came from a powerful family."
I almost yawn out loud while listening. Is this meant to be a touching story or what? All I see here is a scumbag who wanted power and wouldn't mind sacrificing his loved ones for it. And sure enough, his next words prove his agenda.
"I know that you resent me for your mother's death and for ignoring your stepmother's maltreatment towards you. Yeah, I accept my blame. But daughter, you should know that your father is also powerless to do anything. Your stepmother came from the descendants of an immortal family. I'm afraid if I do anything against her, I'll warrant the anger of the immortal family. As a result, I've decided to send you off to the seven realms. Perchance, you might end up marrying the legendary lord, bringing a great legacy to our family. I've put down your name among the candidates list. Father hope that you can try your best in the competition. So, I guess this is farewell for both of us."
Ah. I almost let out a sneer at his sentence. How dare he have the courage to utter those words. He sacrificed the mother and now he wouldn't let go of the child she left behind. I felt a wave of anger inside me but since it was all a dream or perhaps the afterlife, I decided to ignore it.
"Yeah, I guess so," I said with a languid expression.
The man gazes at me. When he saw that I didn't take his words to heart, he let out a sigh. "I just want you to know that I love you and I'll always do." Saying this, he got up to his feet and added. "I've told the maids to prepare the luggage for your journey tomorrow so have a good night's sleep." Finished saying that, he stepped out of the room.
"Ugh." I let out a groan as I sprawled across the table. "Is this a dream or what?" Seems like I'll just have to know when I wake up the next morning. However, if this isn't a dream, then it will be really bad. How can I live without my phone? My Instagram chat, my Facebook, my Weibo account, I'm going miss them all. My mom would be worried about me now.
"Oh no." I was instantly driven to tears at the thought of my mother's panicked expression. "I want to wake up from this dream, please."
Oh yeah. That reminds me. At the recollection of something, I swiftly crawled toward the opaque mirror that was placed in the corner of the room. The moment I stared into it, I came across a scene that could be the most shocking moment of my life. A different face stared at me from the mirror reflection. "Who is this?!"