I can taste my blood from the tightly wrapped cloth in my mouth. I could only see the galloping feet of the horses and the thickness of my breath below the edge of the fabric wrapped around my head. 

"Halt!" 

Theodore Pint. 

He used to be the Spring's loyal General. I know his voice all too well because he guarded me since I first opened my eyes in this world. 

"Take off the blind and the cuffs to the Imperial Princess!"

One of the captors aggressively pulls my blindfold. I squinted my eyes from the harshness of the light. One of the soldiers looked at me warily as I was being set free. 

"But General, what if the Princess managed to live? We might get executed for committing treason."

Theodore eyes me with a sinister gaze emanating from his amber eyes. 

"With a body that frail, she would never manage to survive this snowstorm." 

One of the soldiers tossed me on the ground. I let out a whimper. Theodore is right. Of course, no one will survive wandering around a desolate Kingdom after being beaten to the brink of death. 

"March!" Theodore commanded the troops. 

I stare into their disappearing figures amidst the storm. The neighing of the horses vanished within the wind. 

My breath started to get heavy from lying down on the snow. I let out a cry when I pushed my hands on the ground to get up. I need to start walking until I find shelter. 

I drag my aching body forward. I need to endure the pain so that I can live. My father and my mother have already been annihilated by now in the palace's execution chamber. My older brother is taken hostage by the Summers. God knows what they have done to his soul and body. 

I need to live. I want to live. 

As I walk further, the more empty the place seems to be. There are dead branches of trees breaking from the harsh gust of wind. A thick layer of snow is blanketing my feet. If I did not have the Spring's blood in me, I might have died from severe hypothermia. 

My adrenaline relieves my body from feeling dehydrated and hungry. Minutes have passed, then hours, and then days, until weeks. I can feel my mana draining slowly from pushing myself too hard. If only my powers were as great as my father's, I might be able to survive this agony for years to centuries. 

Unfortunately, I have not reached my awakening yet. The longest I can manage is seven months. 

There is no morning, and there is no night in my journey to this nightmare. The time stands still in the afternoon. It did help me conserve my mana from producing a light source. Still, I did not see any living creatures nearby. It is as if the world turns its back into this place.

As time passed, I could see my vision started to duplicate everything. My mana has reached its limit. If I can be reborn again, I will persistently train to attain my awakening before the coming of age. 

I am praying to God for a second chance to rewrite my destiny. 

As if God heard my prayer, a castle came into my vision. It is larger than the palace of the Spring Kingdom. It stretches to thousands and thousands of acres wide. I can barely marvel at its form from my weakening constitution. 

I walked towards the castle's gate and reached my hands. I almost touched my salvation until my vision started to blur. My remaining ounce of mana is gone. If this is the end, I hope my brother is still alive. 

The palace's gate creaks open. I let out my last intake of air before succumbing to darkness. 

"Your Highness, I am afraid that she will not be able to make it." 

"What are you saying to His Highness, Victor? The Lady is still breathing. Do something." 

My head spins. The voices are all scattered from my hearing. I tried to open my eyes to see who was speaking, but my eyelids felt too heavy. 

"I shall give her a fragment of my core." 

"But Your Highness! It is too much of a risk. No one can ever handle your core, let alone an unawakened one. And what if it affects your power in the future?" 

"I am her last hope. If she dies, she will only become my new shadow." 

"Your Highness, please consider this thoroughly."

"I have lived for seven millennia. Giving a fragment to this hatchling will merely touch my full power."

Silence engulfed the room. I can feel someone brushing my hair. A palm made contact with my forehead. I can feel my chest rise from taking a deep breath when I feel a cool breeze on my skin. 

It is like being embraced by the Alps.

My teeth chattered from the freezing sensation. I let out a guttural scream when I felt my skin burning from within. 

"Help me!" I screamed.

A large pair of hands hold my waist to keep me from bending my spine. I could see the figure of a man, but I could not figure out his face from the intense pain in my body.

He touched his forehead with mine. His fingers brushed my hair, shushing me from my agony. 

He whispered gently in my ears. "In return for my fragment, you will lose your memory until you awaken." 

That is the last thing that I heard before my body once surrendered again into darkness.