Chapter 1: The Awakening

The light from the cell phone screen was the only thing illuminating Jana’s face in the dimness of her room. Her eyes, blue and weary, devoured every line of the yellowed pages of an ancient book she had recently found. The touch of the rough paper and the scent of old leather enveloped her as she immersed herself in the story of Prince Alexander—a man whose cruelty was matched only by his tragic loneliness. To the rest of the world, he was a beast; to Jana, he was an enigma she longed to decipher.

The sound of a chat notification interrupted her reading.

"Hey, Mary," Jana typed, seeking an anchor to reality.

"Hey Jana, how are you?" her best friend replied almost instantly.

"Good, thanks. I was reading a romance story... it’s got me so emotional I can't stop."

"It’s definitely about that Alexander guy, right?" Mary sent a weary emoji. "I don’t know what you find so interesting about that crazy old murderer."

"I don’t know..." Jana sighed, feeling a knot in her chest. "I just know that, for some reason, I feel compassion for him."

Mary said goodbye with a joke, wishing her dreams of her prince and warning her not to go crazy. Jana set the phone aside, closed her eyes, and whispered into the air: "I wish I could be there... and never come back."

Sleep enveloped her quickly, but it was not a peaceful rest. She felt a sudden cold seeping into her bones, and the smell of wet earth and ancient stone replaced the scent of vanilla from her sheets.

"Miss! Wake up!" A gruff, authoritative voice jolted her from her lethargy. "You are not allowed to sleep here!"

Jana groaned, trying to cover herself with a blanket that no longer existed. Her fingers touched damp grass and cold cobblestones.

"What’s wrong? I’m sleepy, let me sleep..." she mumbled, thinking her mother was trying to wake her for school.

"What is going on here?" A second voice, deeper and more dominant, approached.

Jana’s eyes snapped open. She wasn't in her pastel-walled bedroom. In front of her, a man in gleaming armor and a dark cloak observed her with a furrowed brow. It was Commander Felix. Behind him, the walls of a colossal palace rose toward a sky she didn't recognize.

"This lady was asleep outside the palace in strange clothes," the guard explained. "She won't react, my lord."

Felix leaned in, his gloved hand tightening on the hilt of his sword.

"Miss! Wake up right now and tell me: who the hell are you?"

Jana scrambled to her feet, her heart hammering against her ribs. She looked at her clothes: her pajama shorts and oversized t-shirt stood out like a neon beacon against the sobriety of the 16th century.

"Where am I? Where is my bed?" she shouted, backing away. "Was I robbed? Is this a social media prank? Ha, ha! Very well done, guys! You can come out with the cameras now."

Felix and the guard exchanged a bewildered look.

"Cameras? Media?" the guard muttered. "She’s mad, Commander. Or a spy sent to distract us."

"Lock her in a dungeon!" Felix ordered without hesitation. "I will inform His Highness."

"Dungeon? Hey, you’re crazy!" Jana struggled as the guard grabbed her arm. "Let me go, you animal! That’s enough! Mary! Mom! Help!"

As Jana was dragged toward the depths of the fortress, Commander Felix headed to the private chambers of the palace. There, shrouded in an elegant and dangerous gloom, stood *him*.

Prince Alexander stood by a large window. His black hair fell over his shoulders, and his eyes—an intense, unnatural red—seemed to burn with an internal fire. His mere presence radiated a bloodlust that kept the entire kingdom under a yoke of terror.

"Commander..." Alexander's voice was a lethal whisper. "What brings you here?"

"Prince, we have captured a suspicious woman outside the gates."

"And now you occupy yourself with picking up vagrants?" Alexander let out a dry laugh. "Kill her. Don’t waste my time."

"My lord, with your permission... the lady wears clothes we have never seen. Her language is incomprehensible and... she is of extraordinary beauty."

Alexander arched an eyebrow. Curiosity—a feeling he thought long dead—stirred in his chest.

"Beauty?" he mocked. "Fine, I will go. Only because I am bored of watching common heads roll. Let us see your 'beauty'."

In the corridors leading to the cells, chaos had broken out. Driven by adrenaline and panic, Jana had not stayed still. Taking advantage of the guard's carelessness, she had delivered a knee strike that left him breathless.

"You deserve that for not letting me go!" she shouted, sprinting down the stone hallway. "Goodbye, you jerk!"

She rounded a corner at full speed, but her escape ended abruptly as she crashed into a wall of muscle and fine fabric. Strong hands gripped her shoulders to keep her from falling.

Jana looked up. The air fled her lungs. The man in front of her was tall, with an aristocratic paleness and features so perfect they seemed carved from marble. But it was his eyes that paralyzed her: red as rubies, deep and threatening.

"What do we have here?" Alexander’s voice vibrated in Jana’s chest. "The little chick escaped the coop."

Jana stammered, feeling the world spin.

"A-Alex? Alexander?" she managed to utter before the darkness reclaimed her. The emotional shock of seeing her literary character made flesh and bone was too much. She fainted in his arms.

Alexander held her, surprised by the softness of her skin and the strange fragrance she emanated. He observed her legs, exposed by the pajamas, and the shimmer of her blonde hair.

"Take her to the dungeon," Felix suggested.

"No," Alexander interrupted, his gaze fixed on the girl's serene face. "I will take her to my quarters."

"But she is a stranger! We must interrogate her."

"I will interrogate her myself," the prince declared, carrying her with staggering ease. "Do you think such a fragile girl can harm me? Send Liz to help her wash up. And woe to anyone who approaches my door without permission."

Jana woke up on a feather mattress, surrounded by silk canopies and the crackle of a fireplace. The luxury was overwhelming.

"Am I dreaming?" she whispered to herself. "Yes, this has to be a dream."

"You are finally awake, fair lady," a voice said from the shadows.

Alexander was sitting in an armchair, watching her intently. Jana, convinced her mind was playing a wonderful trick on her, smiled.

"Well, since it’s a dream, I might as well take the chance to kiss my prince," she said, lunging toward him with the impulsiveness of youth.

Alexander stopped her in her tracks, gripping her wrists with a firm but not painful strength.

"You are not dreaming!" he growled.

"What?"

He took Jana’s hands and forced them to touch his face, letting her feel the warmth of his skin and the hardness of his jaw.

"See? I am real. I am flesh and blood."

Jana pulled her hands back as if she had been burned. The panic returned.

"Where are you from? What is your name? Why are you dressed like a low-life courtesan?" he asked, regaining his authoritative tone.

"My name is Jana and I’m from... from a small town! I’m lost," she lied desperately.

Alexander let out a laugh that didn't reach his eyes. He drew his sword in a fluid motion and placed the cold tip against Jana’s delicate neck.

"Lost? Do not lie to me. If you do not wish to return to the dungeon, tell me the truth: Who are you?"

Jana swallowed hard, feeling the edge of the steel. Her blue eyes filled with tears of frustration.

"I’m Jana!" she exclaimed. "And I come from a future time! From 2023! I don't know how I got here, I was sleeping and suddenly I appeared in this place of madmen!"

Alexander watched her closely. In her eyes, there was no shimmer of deceit, only the pure terror of the truth. He lowered the sword.

"The future..." he whispered to himself. "Listen well, Jana. Do not tell that to anyone or they will burn you as a witch. I will say you are my guest."

After a brief interruption by Liz, the servant tasked with bathing and dressing Jana in heavy velvet gowns, Alexander went down to meet Felix.

"Prince, what shall we do with her?" the commander asked.

"She will remain under my protection," Alexander replied with a coldness that chilled the blood. "And listen well, Felix: no one touches her. Not you, not the guards, not my father the King. If anyone lays a finger on her, they will deal with me. The girl is mine."

Later, when the moon reigned in the sky, Alexander returned to his room. Jana was there, wearing a blue dress that highlighted her eyes, though she looked uncomfortable in the corset.

"You look very well," he admitted. "But it is late. You must sleep."

"I’m not sleepy," she retorted, though her eyes said otherwise.

"I am. And you will sleep here, in my bed."

Jana turned as red as a tomato.

"What? Don’t you even think about touching me! Go to another room!"

"This is my room," he said, approaching with a predatory step. "If you do not want to sleep here, the dogs outside are hungry and the dungeon is cold. You choose."

Jana looked at the massive bed and then at the prince’s challenging gaze.

"I’ll sleep here because it’s big, but stay on your side. And if you try anything..."

"If you keep talking, I’ll throw you to the dogs," he interrupted with a mocking smile. "And don’t try to escape; my men will hunt you like a deer in the forest."

Jana lay down on the opposite edge, feeling the warmth of Alexander’s body a few feet away. "I can't believe it," she thought, as sleep began to overcome her. "I'm with the prince of my dreams... and he's a jerk." But as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, Jana knew her mission had changed. It was no longer just about surviving; she had to find a way to tame the beast that inhabited that heart of red eyes.

The next morning would bring new challenges, but for that night, time stood still between two worlds.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***