Chapter 4 Escape Attempt

Something must have terribly gone wrong. There is no way that this is all real. Tatiana racked her brain all day and night just to figure out what had exactly happened to her. This isn't real. None of these are, she just has to wake up from this dream that feels real.

As she was frantically pacing around her room, she can't help but glance at the mirror to which she immediately looks away. She looks like a whole different person. Her unnaturally reddish wavy hair looked like it wasn't dyed and her green eyes didn't look like contact lenses. She feels likes she's gone insane.

"What happened to me?" she let out a shaky whisper as she stared at the stranger on the mirror. All she remembers is that she fell down from the school building but she suddenly wakes up like a character in a book.

"Your highness, please open the door!"

She was snapped back into reality when she heard a knock at the door.

"You haven't eaten for two days, you will get sick!"

Her palms traced from her cheeks down to her stomach. This is alright, she thought, she could go one for days not eating because her financial state can't allow her to do so. She must find a way to escape. This might just be a play or a large lie that everyone around her came up with. Maybe this is just a reality show.

Dread and reality slowly started to dawn on her. Her body, the way she looks is not fake. Her body aches like a normal person, so this is not a dream and there are no movie production staffs that will be waiting outside the castle wall. This is reality, she really is Tatiana Loriel, the princess of Aragon Kingdom that's meant to die as a villainess.

The first thought she had on her head was to escape the palace. If she could run away and find a secluded place where she can stay. She looked around the bedroom and started opening the cabinets.

The first door led to the bathroom which had a large marble tub in the center and a chandelier on the ceiling above it. The wall was adorned with scarlet red and patterned cubes. The other doors didn't have escape routes either, only a vanity room full of jewelries and another is for a dressing room that's filled with expensive clothes.

She sighed after rummaging through every nook and cranny and decided to lie on her bed. The bed felt like it would devour her body because of its softness, even her body relaxed on its own and started to feel a lot heavier.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do here," she murmured as she started to feel drowsy, "should I just sleep for now and decide tomorrow?"

Yes, just find a way tomorrow and relax for now. But what if there is no tomorrow? What if she dies tomorrow or something bad happens again? If she dies then maybe she will just go back to her previous life. But remembering her previous life, there isn't much to miss. She didn't even have a comfy bed of her own, yet her own dressing room full of clothes and jewelry, she's not really sure if going back would be a good idea.

And what if she dies and that's that? Then everything that happened will be all for nothing. She was finally hopeful to start the life outside of the orphanage and yet she got transported into a different world where she will technically die in the end.

She bounced from her bed, leaving behind the warmness and comfort that felt like it was trying to cling to her body like glue. There must be a way to survive all of this. She slapped both of her cheeks to wake herself up and looked around.

The only way out was the window. She looked out for a possible escape route. Her room was high from the ground and jumping from it wouldn't work, and she does not really like the idea of jumping and dying again.

Below her window was another floor and a line of bushes along the wall of the palace. There was a pavement that lead to a wide area of a maze garden. If she could just navigate through it then she might escape the palace walls and save her life.

She wasn't going to waste this chance at life and decided to escape the cruel fate of being killed by her supposed to be one sided love interest.

She went back inside her room and removed the linen of the bed and started tying knots, connecting the fabrics and making it into a single long rope. She made sure that the knots were tightened enough before tying it down to one of the bed's foot.

The bed is still and heavy enough to hold my weight, she thought after checking and tugging it with all her might. It's time to escape and life in the outskirts.

She stared down once again and threw the linen outside. She turned her head from left to right to make sure that no guard was patrolling the area.

"Your highness, please! The guards are here to open the door as per order of the queen." A voice called from outside, "we need to get you out for your own good!"

Tatiana dreadfully looked back with her eyes wide open at the door struggled to be opened. There is no way she's going to let them catch her this time. First of all, everybody perceives her as an evil presence, second, she doesn't remember what happened right before her accident and third, she won't even be crowned queen and will end up dying anyway.

She climbed over the top of the window, holding her breath. It's going to be fine as long as she doesn't look down, but hey, her she looked down. Her knees started to shake out of fear and for once wanted to give up and climb back in but it was too late.

The door was halfway open and the palace workers managed to peek though. Their gazes met and the worker's eyes widened.

"Hurry up! She's escaping again!"

A sudden rush of panic overwhelmed Tatiana's chest that cause her to lose footing. Fortunately, she managed to grab the rope and ended up hanging for dear life alongside the wall. She closed her eyes shut and only felt the fast and heavy pounding of her chest.

That was a close call, I almost fell again and break my skull, she nervously thought. She inhaled a sharp breath and started wriggling down the rope. Nothing matters more than her freedom right now.

As she wriggled halfway down, the window under her opened. She froze in place with her eyes widened. Someone looked outside and up. As soon as their gazes met, Tatiana wished that she never tried this plan in the first place.

She locked gazes with the person she never wanted to cross paths with. The person who hates her from the bottom of his heart, the person who will never be able to reciprocate her love and the person who will kill her in the future.

"Your highness!" someone shouted from above that caused her to get startled and let go of the rope.

"Oh no!" the butler gasped and tried tor each out to Tatiana but was obviously unable to. Tatiana tried to grasp the remaining of the rope but her hands were left reaching out in the air. Just as she thought that she was going to hit the bushes, she landed on someone's arms.

"Do you have a habit of troubling other people now?" Bjorn Rocco coldly said while holding Tatiana in his arms. Tatiana felt small as Bjorn cradled her like a kid. She looked up to see the butler sigh in relief and retreat to come down and fetch her.

The pounding of Tatiana's chest did not stop. She remembers fragments of the previous Tatiana's memories as if she lived her life before. She isn't sure if it's he memories or just the scenes from the book but the way she remembers it, Bjorn was never kind to her.

"Put me down," she muttered and looked away from him. He was partially surprised by the princess' reaction since she always clung on to him since they were kids. She placed her down on the floor to stand on her own but her knees gave her away and she held on to the window sill for support.

"Don't touch me," she whispered when Bjorn tried to support her.

It's better not to entangle themselves with each other. It's better to cut the tie before it even starts to create a bigger mess. The Tatiana in the book might have adored him with everything that she had but she is not like the original Tatiana.

She looked around the room which seemed like an office. There was a desk table in front of the window which may be the reason why he heard her climbing down. Aside from that, there were bookshelves, maps and weapons displayed in the room.

She looked back at Bjorn. Is this his office? From what she remembers, Bjorn Rocco became a military general after his dad but he looks so young right now. This might be his father's office and not his.

The door opened and a butler came through along with a guard who was panting. Tatiana picked up her dress and walked towards the butler and the guard who was shocked since the princess was willingly walking towards them.

She's not running away this time? The butler and the knight thought.

Tatiana stopped in her steps and looked down her bare feet. She glanced sideway at the direction of Bjorn with no emotion on her face.

"I appreciate your help and I apologize for the inconvenience, I promise not to trouble you again." She said and continued her way and walked past the palace workers.

Bjorn was left alone in the room with confusion.

--

end