Am i dead ? Have I been freed from the weight of suffering? That's what Mathias thought as he felt himself leaving, as light as a feather and feeling absolutely nothing, not even the touch of his skin ... was that how his life ended? Die in the cold and the darkness, in a remote and mountainous region of Transylvania?

As he felt more and more light, flashes came back to him ... he relived happy moments of his childhood, when both his parents were still alive ... he saw the day when he could finally do edit his first novel and start his writing career ... but also, other darker images returned ...

Again, Mathias relives this ritual place at the top of the hill, surrounded by these medieval ruins ... the four pillars of the four houses, as well as the fifth central pillar with the dragon coat of arms... but this time, a new element was added to the decor. Around the place of pagan ceremony, among the ruins and forming a perfect square, were four large stone statues, about ten meters high each. These four statues, worn by time, represented four kings, seated on stone thrones, and all appearing to look towards the center of the ceremonial place with their stern and inanimate gazes. However, Mathias also noticed a fifth location, empty, as if a fifth statue was supposed to have been there but had disappeared ...

***********

The first thing Mathias felt, his eyes still closed, was the pleasant, invigorating warmth that had replaced the biting and howling wind, surrounding him and gently caressing his face. Beneath him he no longer felt the hard, cold snow at all, but comfortable silk sheets, and the back of his head rested on a large feather pillow. For a moment, he believed he had crossed the veil of death and arrived in Heaven after being deemed worthy to go.

Painfully opening his eyelids, Mathias moaned weakly as he awoke and gradually regained his sight. He was no longer in the forest, but in a modest-sized but nonetheless richly decorated room, with white walls adorned with gold patterns, blue curtains at the window, and a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He was lying in a single bed, protected by a scarlet blanket that warmed him. In a corner of the room, there was a small fireplace where a few logs were burning bringing this precious heat.

But as he regained his senses emerging with difficulty from his torpor, Mathias felt a still sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked under his white shirt, to see that he had a bandage on his injured shoulder. Then his gaze lifted, and he noticed that he was not alone in the room. Lady Alcina Dimitrescu was there, seated at the bedside, and showed a reassured expression to see the young man awake at last. Mathias' first reaction upon seeing the countess was to gasp in surprise and fear, receding into bed as much as possible. Seeing him panicking, Alcina got up and, as delicately as possible, came to take his hand and hold his head to prevent him from banging his head against the head of the bed or falling to the floor.

_ "Everything is fine, Mathias. Calm down, everything is fine. You are safe now, in the castle. Fortunately, the gods heard my prayer. For a moment, I thought I lost you." she said for the first time in a reassuring voice.

Mathias looked at her, still in shock, and having a hard time believing her at first.

Then, his memory too began to return little by little from limbo ... he remembered, she had surprised him in her quarters and in a fit of extreme rage, had almost wanted to kill him ... but then she saved him from those religious fanatics in the forest, when he had been hit by this arrow ...

Gradually managing to control his breathing and calm his still troubled mind, Mathias got back into bed, resting his head on the pillow, under the attentive gaze and benevolent astonishment of Alcina who readjusted the blanket to allow Mathias to not to be cold.

_ "L ... Lady Dimitrescu?" Mathias moaned, feeling his throat slightly dry. "What happened?"

_ "The arrow that hit you in the shoulder was coated with poison. But I was able to stop the progress in time. You have nothing to fear now." she replied, sitting down in her chair, staying by the bed to watch over the young man.

Poison? So that was that excruciating pain that he had felt for a moment in his body and that had gradually stopped his heart from beating just before he passed out. So he had saved her from poisoning, and now the debt seemed to have been paid. However, despite having been treated and bandaged, the wound was still a bit painful and prevented Mathias from being able to move his left shoulder much. But another question burned her lips.

_ "But... why did you save me? After what you did to me? I thought... you never wanted to see me again. I don't understand." Mathias asked, more than confused.

Lady Dimitrescu sighed heavily, fully understanding the young man's confusion. She wanted to gently take his hand back, but Mathias preferred to withdraw it without abrupt gestures, making the countess understand by his look that he was suspicious of her and awaited explanations from her. She didn't blame him for this gesture, and accepted that he didn't want her to take his hand and pulled it away.

_ "Your distrust and your anger towards me are more than justified, Mathias. I hated myself the instant I realized the mistake I had made by threatening you and ordering you to leave . " explained Alcina, sitting in her chair and looking sad. "I am not asking you to forgive me because I have no right to do so, but I am asking you to at least give me a chance to speak."

_ "I'm listening to you." Mathias answered him rather coldly, but still agreeing to give her a chance.

The countess then looked at his gloved hands, seeing them still slightly shaking but managed to contain him.

_ "Since my transformation, a darkness had been born inside of me ... each time I had to fight to prevent the monster from taking over my conscience ... but I heard him, constantly, ordering me to kill, again and again, to be ruthless ... for almost 50 years, I killed so many innocent people, took their blood to keep my stability, but the more time passed, the more this anger and this darkness grew inside ... I was in pain, but I didn't want to appear weak in the eyes of the other lords, so I closed in on myself, I let this anger consume me like poison ... but believe me, Mathias, I never wanted to kill you or hurt you, but I couldn't resist this monstrous part in me ... that's why, when I felt that I was about to kill you, I ordered you to leave ... in order to protect you from myself."

As she spoke, Alcina's voice grew more trembling, more melancholy. Head bowed, lips quivering, she clenched her fists, as if struggling once again to keep her darkness from manifesting again. Mathias had listened to her and saw her do it. Even though he could have chosen not to believe her, he believed her. He could see and feel that she was sincere and hated herself horribly for what she has done. She had a heart. Her love for her three daughters was proof of that. Mathias also remembered the writings in the old grimoire of the history of the Dimitrescu family. All her life, Alcina had lived with a rare blood disease that affected her health. During World War II, she had been the sole survivor of her line and had seen all of her family perish in excruciating ways. She had been a broken woman, alone, with the only desire to be able to once again enjoy the feeling of having a family ... to love and being loved. It was this feeling of helplessness, of not having been able to protect those she loves that had persuaded Alcina to forge a cold shell in her mind, to stifle her emotions and to be ruthless, to the point of abandoning her human nature and becoming a monster. Because for her, in a world where only the horror of war and loneliness reigned, a weakling could not live ...

Unable to bear all the weight of her guilt that she had tried to bury during all these decades of existence that she should not have lived by remaining mortal, Alcina let the tears flow from her eyes and fall on her knees. She wanted to burst out in anger, let her rage flow, and smash this room to pieces to calm her nerves, but she held back, not wanting to show Mathias the monster she was again.

Mathias was silent at first, but showing sincere sorry for her, despite all she had been able to do to him. On the one hand, he too had lost everything and was the last living member of his family. Loneliness and death, he also knew them very well.

After a few seconds, Alcina, blinded by her sorrow, then felt Mathias' hand gently come to rest on his. Raising her wet eyes, she saw the young man staring at her, no longer with suspicion and anger, but more with a dawning hint of understanding.

_ "I don't know if I could forgive you right away, but I am grateful to you for saving my life ... and for being sincere with me. This is what I needed." Mathias says.

Alcina understood very well the fact that he could not forgive her right away, and agreed to wait as long as it took, even if the scars she had inflicted on him would never be completely erased. She nodded softly in response to Mathias and smiled at him, the tears ceasing to run down her wet cheeks. Mathias, too, managed to smile slightly at her. Then, as if coming back to reality, the two saw that their hands were still touching, and were even slightly intertwined. They withdrew their hands, each other a little embarrassed and their cheeks flushing a little.

_ "I ... sorry ..." said Alcina.

_ "Uh ... me too ..." answered Mathias.

They both spoke in an embarrassed and shy tone, which made them share a small laugh together, although Mathias couldn't laugh for long because of his shoulder injury which still hurt a bit.

The bedroom door opened, and Mathias saw the three sisters, Bela, Cassandra and Daniela rush in and run up to their mother.

_ "Mathias?! Mother, how is he?" Bela asked concerned.

_ "Don't worry, girls. He's out of danger now." said Alcina smiling at her, reassuring her and pushing the lock of the hair that had fallen on the forehead of her worried daughter.

The three sisters, at the comforting words of their mother, were reassured and came to surround the bed, looking at all of Mathias, who, he had to admit, was rather happy to see them again too and smiled.

_ "Hey, what did mother tell you about the north tower, eh?" Cassandra then said to Mathias, more out of mockery than judgment.

_ "Well, he's a guy. Everything he hears goes in with one ear and comes out of the other." Daniela joked in turn, coming to tease Mathias by patting gently on his head. Mathias said nothing, chuckling a little and wanted to prevent her from continuing. Seriously? He had almost died, and the three of them still found a way to joke on him? Decidedly, these three women were impossible.

_ "Easy, girls. Don't rush him." Lady Dimitrescu then said to them with a slight touch of maternal authority, to which the three sisters stopped their jokes and calmed down, apologizing to the countess.

"Let him rest. You can talk to him when he has regained his strength."

_ "Yes, mother." said the three sisters in unison, and after a last sign to Mathias, left the room.

Lady Dimitrescu got up in her turn, also getting ready to leave and let Mathias sleep a little and recover from this ordeal he had endured outside. But before that, the young man had one last question for the countess, hoping she could answer him.

_ "By the way ... I also wanted to ask you ... about this ritual ceremony..."

_ "Not now, Mathias ..." she replied, placing her finger delicately on his lips. "You need some rest. But I promise you when you wake up I'll tell you the whole truth. Oh, and from now on, you can sleep in this room. I think it will suit you better than a cell."

Mathias would have liked to insist, but he did indeed feel his eyes grow tired and his still weak body asking for sleep. He understood and accepted.

_"Thank you." he replied with a smile. Alcina smiled back at him, and picked up the candle that was on the small nightstand next to the bed.

Mathias made sure to lie well in the sheets and the very comfortable blanket of this Victorian-style bed. Lady Alcina Dimitrescu watched him do it, seeing him lean his head against the pillow, quietly closing his eyes to begin a restful sleep, now knowing he was safe. Seeing him fall asleep, Alcina walked out of the room, and after a last look at Mathias, as if to really make sure he was okay, closed the door quietly.