Chapter 7. The Parchment

Ryn looked into Lance's eyes in turn. The girl was waiting for Lance's reaction after telling him about the visions.

Meanwhile, Lance seemed a little surprised to hear the story. He stayed silent for a moment while blinking his eyes a few times.

"Okay, this is very surprising, but... um, you know, it sounds a little ridiculous. Listen, Ryn! I thought you'd gotten over this nonsense about amnesia or being from another world. That doesn't make any sense, okay? You should get some rest so you can think clearly," Lance said.

"So, you don't believe me?" Ryn made a face. The girl licked her lips while casting a glance. "I told you the truth, Lance! I thought I could trust you, but you ...." The girl did not finish her words because she was disappointed.

"Ryn, listen!" Lance held both of the girl's shoulders and looked at her deeply. "I don't want to hurt you, okay? But the story about you having a dangerous mobster brother and about you being killed by your brother's enemy is so ridiculous. The only dangerous guy in Wolfspring is Albert Dexter."

Ryn opened her jaw, staring at Lance in disbelief. She was speechless. She had misjudged the man.

"If you want to know what happened to get you in that lake, I'll tell you." Lance looked deeply into the girl's eyes. "You fought with Walter. I don't know what you were fighting about, but when I saw you running out of the house, you looked so mad. I chased after you, but I lost track. Until I saw you in the lake, and you know how the rest of the story goes. So, stop saying that you're from a different world than us! You are Ryn Aberdein, one of us, Freemega!" said Lance.

Ryn shook her head. She didn't know what the owner of her body had done before she came to Wolfspring. Maybe they switched bodies or something. She didn't know, and she didn't want to think about it. The only thing that made her not want to return to her home world was the love and affection she got here. Never mind if the owner of this body was suffering in her home world. However, she did not deny that Lance's words hurt her. She thought Lance was a good friend, but he was not.

"I'll leave you to rest. If you need anything, Walter and I are outside. We'll stay on standby tonight, just in case Albert comes again," Lance said.

The man smiled slightly, then turned and walked toward the door. He left Ryn's room and found Walter on the terrace with some men.

"How is she?" Walter asked when he had seen Lance.

Lance joined the men. He sighed and replied, "She woke up from a nightmare, and I asked her to rest."

Walter nodded slowly. "I think she's just in shock over this," he said.

"I agree. I just don't think she still thinks that she has amnesia. He's babbling again," Lance said.

"Babbling?" Walter gave Lance a curious look. He then turned to the other four men and asked them to patrol. After that, Walter refocused his attention on Lance and asked, "What is she babbling about?"

Lance glanced at the door of the house. Then he answered, "About the nightmare, about what made her run away this afternoon. Ryn told me that she had a vision of a massacre."

"Massacre?" Walter was getting curious.

"Yep, and to make matters worse, she thinks that she was the one who caused the massacre. She also attributed the vision to Albert's arrival. He even thought about leaving Freemega," Lance explained.

"Once things get better, I'll talk to her. Maybe she's still mad at me, so she's thinking of leaving," Walter replied.

"Walter," Lance called, "if you don't mind, may I know why Ryn ran away from home? I know you guys fought, but... what were you fighting about?" he asked.

The middle-aged man took a deep breath. He looked ahead with a dreamy gaze.

"It's just a trivial matter. She misunderstood that I was controlling her. She wants freedom. You know, I love her as much as my daughter. I won't let her wander out there unsupervised because it could threaten her life. I just want to protect her," Walter replied.

"I do not doubt that. Ryn is stubborn, but ...." Lance held back his words and looked seriously at Walter. "Have you noticed anything strange about her since she drowned in the lake?" he asked later.

"Yeah, I feel like some things about Ryn are a little different." The man scrolled over to Lance. "What do you think, Lance?" he probed.

"She once said that she was from another world. She said she didn't recognize anything here. I thought she was just making it up about the amnesia. But everything she did after that looked like she was adapting to something new. Do you think the soul inside Ryn's body may belong to someone else?" Lance spoke in a low voice so that no one else could hear.

For a moment, Walter was silently thinking out loud. The strange things about the girl could indeed lead to Lance's statement. However, he didn't want it to cause another panic in the herd.

"I know, there's nothing impossible. But for once, I disagree with you. She remembers her name, Lance. If she were someone else, she wouldn't know what her name is. You shouldn't think too much about this. I think she's just doing that to deflect her disappointment in my behavior. You saw for yourself, didn't you? He's even forgotten about the fight we had," Walter said.

Lance smiled slightly. "You're right," he replied.

"Would you mind going outside the village to check things out?" Walter asked afterward.

"Of course. I'll take Tod with me," Lance replied.

"All right. Be careful! We don't know what Albert is planning," Walter said.

Lance hurried off to check on the situation outside the village. Tonight, the entire pack was on alert. Apart from the men stood guard outside and relied only on the moonlight for illumination. Inside the house, the women kept their children vigilant.

After Lance left, Walter entered the house and went to Ryn's room. He opened the door and saw the girl lying on the bed. He didn't know if Ryn was asleep. However, he didn't want to disturb her and closed the door carefully.

The man then went to his room. After lighting a candle, he uncovered the carpet under the table and opened a secret door. He took a wooden box from there and placed it on the table. The box was locked. Walter opened it with the pendant on the necklace he was wearing. He took a roll of parchment from inside the box. He untied the straps of the parchment and spread it out on the table. The man then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"You're safe under my protection, Ryn," he murmured as he looked intently at the parchment on the table.