Dimas supported Alena until she was sitting in the chair again, his hand still gripping hers tightly, as if afraid she might vanish in an instant. The pain gradually subsided, but the lingering cold spreading throughout her body had not completely disappeared.
"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously, leaning closer as his eyes carefully examined Alena's face. "Does this happen often?"
Alena drew a long breath, trying to calm her heartbeat, which was still racing wildly.
"Ever since Milana appeared... my head often feels like this," she said quietly. "As if something is trying to get out from inside it, something that's been locked away for years."
Dimas fell silent for a moment, then glanced toward the window, which had grown calm again, as if nothing had ever been there.
"That shadow earlier..." he murmured. "Was that her?"
"Maybe," Alena replied faintly. "Or maybe it was another message sent to me."
Suddenly, a hazy memory flashed through Alena's mind—a fragment of a face she still couldn't clearly remember, though its voice sounded startlingly real as it whispered in her ear:
"You'll never be able to forget me, Alena. Never."
Alena jolted violently, and Dimas quickly took hold of her shoulders again.
"What is it? What did you remember?"
"Her voice..." Alena whispered, trembling. "I heard her voice. She called my name."
She looked up at Dimas, her eyes wide with both terror and dawning realization.
"She doesn't just know me, Dimas. She knows my name. The name I've never used here."
Dimas's face went pale as well. "That means..."
"She knew me in the past," Alena finished quietly, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. "Back when I was still myself, when I was still an ordinary human."
The silence filling the room slowly grew heavy and suffocating. Outside, the night wind howled softly, as if whispering along with them about an old secret. Suddenly, the books neatly arranged behind the living room sofa began falling one by one.
Dimas was startled for a moment, but quickly collected himself. He immediately embraced Alena, then carried her to the bedroom.
"Let me stay here with you. Don't push me away again!" he said as he laid Alena on the bed. Afterward, he sat in the chair beside it.
"Sorry for causing you so much trouble..." Alena finally decided to let him stay.
"Aren't you afraid?" she asked Dimas.
"Why should I be afraid?" Dimas asked in return.
"After meeting me, you've experienced so many strange things," she replied, staring intently at the young man.
"No. Honestly, I've already experienced plenty of strange things in my life," Dimas answered with a gentle smile.
The night was still long. The shadow outside might not have left yet. But for some reason, with Dimas beside her, Alena's heart felt much calmer.
Meanwhile, outside the house, hidden in the darkness of night, Milana watched them without anyone noticing.
"Princess, if you hate that human so much, why don't we go inside and just kill her?" asked someone in a black robe who stood beside her.
Milana clenched her teeth, her gaze fixed on the dimly lit bedroom window.
"I want to, too, but I can't," she said through clenched restraint. "If I could, I would've killed that woman long ago. Especially with that man beside her... it feels like my power disappears the moment I'm near him."
"Could it be that he's not an ordinary person... or that he's one of us?"
"Maybe. But one thing's certain: my instincts are telling me to stay away from him." Milana fell silent for a moment, as if thinking hard.
"Let's go home!" she said after a long silence. "This isn't going to work. Not with that man by her side."
"Yes, Princess."
The two of them left the place. Dimas remained awake beside Alena's bed. His eyes were sharp and vigilant, never leaving the sleeping figure of Alena for even a second.