Ayan was dreaming again.

A girl in a flouncy white dress hugged her father tightly. Tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall. 

"Father, why must you do this?"

"Good girl, father has exhausted everything. From here on father can no longer shelter you. Stay with the marquess, only he can protect you from here on."

"No! You can't leave me. Father... father!" 

 

***

 

"My lord... I'm sorry I have to trouble you." she said heavily. 

The bright and proud face no longer bore its usual vibrance. Before him, she was humble. 

 

***

 

"Congratulations to the Marquess and Marchioness Rozenberg for having twin sons."

Cheers erupted in the perpetually stagnant hall. 

The man stood in solemn silence yet it did not hide the joy flickering within his blue eyes.  

And then, there was a storm. 

 

***

 

"Why?" she cried brokenly. "You could have helped him..."

 

---

Ayan blinked her tear-stained eyes at the conclusion of that dream. The scenes of parting from a loved one, of a union to another and finally giving birth to new lives. Every interval felt so long it was almost real.

She opened her eyes and realized she was awake. Ayan is sitting under the blooming jacaranda tree planted on a tiny island in the middle of a quiet lake. 

In front of her is a small boy wearing a loose robe sipping black tea. He had a small cherubic face, cute pointy ears and two translucent rainbow wings like a fairy.  

"Um, where is this?" she prompted after the long stretch of silence.

She remembers falling into the cliff. She should be dead, right? 

Because of her voice, the solemness of the place was broken. The lake rippled and the blossom above them swayed and scattered its sweet scent.  

Fairy ring. The thought came into Ayan unbidden. 

There was neither sun nor moon in here but the sky was bright. 

Fairy ring, huh. Is this the same as heaven? Ayan sighed dejectedly. Her mom and dad, big brother and Monica what will happen when they find out she's gone?

"You are not dead yet." the boy spoke.

Ayan lifted her drooping head in surprise. 

"At least not for now." he added. "But soon you will be if you do not reconcile the fault of your other life. If you want to live in this world again, you must correct the mistakes of your past self and heal the souls you hurt in your previous incarnation."   

Ayan's mouth hung open. What does that mean? 

"H-Have I done something wrong?"

The boy looked at her meaningfully and refused to answer. 

"Just know that you only have two days left in this world. You can see your loved ones but you must not be seen by them. A little advice, use the remaining days to get ready for a long journey. You will be arriving at a place more backward than this world." 

Wait, wait a minute. Too much information! Her head hurts. 

"I will tell you once the time limit is over."

Then Ayan opened her eyes on the side of the road still wearing her blue parka and leggings. When she rubbed her face to sober up, she noticed a silver ring dotted with gemstones on her left forefinger. 

This is…? The place with a mystical jacaranda tree appeared again. Then she saw an additional house in the middle of an orchard, a pavilion on the bank with a small boat tied at the pier. The boy is nowhere in sight. 

Rubbing her head. Ayan patted her body and found her credit card and ID tucked on the left pocket of the parka. She hurried to the taxi bay nearby and told the address of her city apartment. 

While waiting for the long journey to end, the driver turned on the radio to listen on some news to entertain his passenger. 

In the speaker, the anchorman delivered the latest update of the current huge case. "Currently, the comatose Miss Ayan Rose is under observation and still hasn't passed the most critical period…"

Ayan was dumbfounded. This… what is this?

"According to the resort staff, Miss Rose was last seen jogging around the vicinity and allegedly slipped causing her accident, but the authorities still do not exclude the possibilities of a foul play..."

The driver clicked his tongue in sympathy. "The poor girl was only having a vacation, who knew it would end up like this."

Ayan on the other hand had long turned into a statue on her seat. She forced her paralyzed tongue to move and ask. 

"Did they find my-- err, Miss Rose's body?" she asked stiffly. She felt kind of eerie referring to herself as another person. 

In fact, sitting here and knowing that her body is in there lying in the hospital has flipped her cognition. Her body was found when she's clearly in here? 

Her eyes went to the rearview mirror. It was still her face. 

"Ah, yes. Miss Rose was rescued under the cliffs. The branches have broken her fall and lessened the impact that is why the rescuers were able to save a breadth of her life. It was a miracle she was able to stay alive down there for several hours. I heard it was her best friend abroad who called the family. They seem to be talking to each other when the incident happened."

Monica… her heart felt painful. Right now she wanted to fly back home as soon as possible and tell everyone not to worry. Unfortunately, she cannot do that. She is afraid she might do something irreversible that she will regret. 

As soon as she arrived in her apartment. She paced around at a loss of what to do next. 

"Please come out, I want to talk to you." she murmured.

The surroundings changed and she was brought into a familiar yard in front of the house. The boy stood at the steps leading to the front door.

"I want to know who the person inside the hospital is."

"It is you."

Ayan nodded. Then this body is only temporary.

"If I leave this world and do as you told me, will I be able to return?"

The boy's expression did not change, "Of course. That is only natural."   

"Then, can you tell me where you are taking me?"

Ayan looked at him, eager to get an answer. The boy stood and walked slowly to the paved stone path leading to the garden. 

"Haven't you been dreaming recently? Those things are only a part of it, they are real."

The voices she heard. The vague images she saw. 

"They were a glimpse of the life you once had. You will be arriving in that world."

A cold empty house. A place so destitute and a helpless situation. Ayan looked at her cosy nest of six years, she is leaving all these in exchange for that.

Nah, such a waste, ah.  

If she's going to the place of abuse… 

Ayan looked at the boy with a glint in her eyes. "You know I've read a lot of novels in my free time," she mumbled.

"Say it," the little fairy boy held his forehead. 

She rubbed her hands suspiciously, "If you're going to bring me over there. Can I bargain a little?"

The boy still had no expression. This made her jumpy.

"I already gave you the fairy ring. This place is its domain and now your space. Use it as you see fit," he said, then added in a flat tone. "Just don't lose it."

Ayan burst into a smile like a blooming sunflower, "Thank you so much!" 

She had long wanted to have her very own Doraemon pocket. Who does not envy those novel protagonists who have one? Aiy, she can put anything in there like her luggage for example, even a cow or a tank is not a problem. 

The boy looked at her with suspicion, did he choose the wrong soul? This one seems a little broken in the head.  

When Ayan got out of the space she hurriedly tested the fairy ring on her finger with great fanfare. A throw pillow disappeared from the bay window and reappeared in the middle of the house inside the space. Ayan has also played a few games before and knew of such a thing like an item box where you can put an infinite number of things but the fairy ring is more promising. After all, it has a house, plants and a pretty lake. 

She happily repeated the action towards the other things in her apartment and successfully arranged them all inside the space house. 

This actually follows her will much to her surprise. Every inch, every position, it will appear where she wanted them to be. 

In just an hour all the things in this place were swept clean from the hanging drapes to the down to the carpets. A complete replica of her apartment now lies inside the space. Hm, much better.

Next, Ayan took a bath.

On the other side of the city, Nathan is watching the news about Ayan's 'accident'. The hospital is crowded with reporters, but none of them can get past the gates. Mia wrestled the remote from him and complained.

"I want to watch anime." she said, acting like a baby. 

"Shh, quiet," Nathan said intent on the news.

Mia lost her patience and slapped the bowl of popcorn on the table spilling its content. "You have been watching it since last night, are you still worried? Or maybe you want to see more of that slut? She will die so stop watching it." 

He felt impatient, "Mia, stop screaming."

"She will not survive that height. Even if she did she will become a vegetable so there is no evidence of it okay?" 

Nathan was not comforted by her complacent words. How did it happen that she was rescued after they left? Who called? Who saw them? There must be someone! Mia finally took the remote and changed the channel to watch her favourite anime series. 

He sat on the couch with a headache. He is now living temporarily in Mia's apartment. His movements are limited because it is small, unlike the one he lived before. The thing's Mia ordered online are also scattered all over the place. Plus, there was a rotten stench coming from the overflowing trash can in the kitchen.

The couch he is seating smells of mold and a lot of things he couldn't name; it's nauseating. Abruptly, he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mia asked, shaking her legs while gnawing on popcorn.

"I'm going to the warehouse to check the goods," he said briefly and took out his car key. 

After a short bath. Ayan took the key to her minivan and credit card to start buying all the things she needed. First food, the rest are carefully listed by her. Thankfully she knew the places where to buy a lot of daily and personal necessities. 

It wasn't unusual for other families to have six to eight carts of groceries when shopping so no one paid her any mind when she strolled around the aisles picking things up casually. 

Ayan thought of her family, if her mom was the one doing groceries, it is estimated that there will be more carts lining up to the counter and the nannies will be more tired. Her eyes started to water, she suddenly felt sad. Her family... 

No! She cannot afford to waste time. For the sake of coming back alive, she has to do her task.

From one grocery store to another, she used the car as camouflage when putting everything inside the fairy ring. The items are now in the basement of the house. 

Then she remembered something, the warehouse for the business she funded for Nathan. Ayan's eyes narrowed playfully. It's time to collect some debts. 

The next day, there was another explosive news story about her accident. The case suddenly made a lot of progress when she thought she wouldn't be able to get justice. Unexpectedly, Monica became the key to solving her grudge. 

"The former boyfriend of the Rose Group heiress and his girlfriend were arrested in their home last night after the evidence was submitted to the authorities." 

The cheap couple with no conscience is now fighting each other on the live broadcast after Nathan pushed everything on Mia's side.

Inside the cell, Mia was howling nonstop. Wishing to tear off Nathan's skin, "Why? Why?!" 

Their faces on the screen looked lifeless and haggard. Obviously, they did not expect to be caught and hug the cold prison bars so soon. They were still cuddling in their house when the police stormed in with an arrest warrant. Now that they are under custody, there is no hope of getting out unless it is to attend the trial. 

When Ayan went out again for another shopping, she saw the case flashing on the television. Everyone who had their eyes glued on the screens cursed and shouted.

"Disgusting people!"

"Who knew that Miss Rose was cheated and then pushed to the cliffs by those lawless people."

"The video of her falling has been circulating on the internet and became solid evidence of attempted murder. That man and his girlfriend are both blackhearted and evil to kill someone just like that."

Ayan's whole family is determined to bring Nathan down. His family is not doing well either, her dad cancelled the partnership and many others followed. Their company will fall soon. 

For the past two days, Ayan drove around the metro until the last item on her list was crossed out. She avoided coming near to their home and deliberately made herself busy to the point of exhaustion. 

Now sitting in an empty apartment, Ayan faced the boy once again.

"Are you sure you do not want to see your family for the last time?"  he asked.

Ayan shook her head. Seeing them will make her even more reluctant. Besides, this isn't the last time. When she finishes what she's tasked with, she can return.  

Truth to be told, thinking about going to another world made her palms sweat profusely. She doesn't know what kind of despair-stricken place she is coming to. She went on a mad shopping spree like someone about to face the end of the world and she finished them all in just a couple of days!

Ayan lay on the cold floor until the moon rose higher in the sky. Nothing happened until she became drowsy and fell asleep.