Chapter 15 - Awakening IV
"Very well. How do I start?"
"First, you should take a bath," Lesley said, her tone lightening slightly, her eyebrows raised as her gaze shifted toward the sheet covering Glenn's naked body.
"Then, a hearty breakfast," she added, pointing to the spread of food on the table. "After that, we'll move on to the energy pathway analysis protocols. If all goes well, you'll become Awakened today."
**
They say life is a box of surprises, and sometimes things really catch us off guard. A single opportunity can turn years of suffering into joy, like a flower blooming in the midst of rubble. But what happens when this opportunity not only turns pain into joy, but changes the very nature of existence? From the suffocating, pitch-black depths of a mine inside a volcano, where the only sound was the pickaxe striking stone and the only smell was sulfur and sweat, I was suddenly catapulted into a world of silk and gold, of sweet scents and breathtaking sights.
My feet, once calloused from the cold stone, now sank into plush rugs, and my eyes, accustomed to the dim, found themselves lost in the vastness of an endless blue sky. It felt as if I had emerged from a long, grim winter to find spring at its peak—a spring I never imagined existed.
The transition was so abrupt it felt like a dream—or rather, a nightmare disguised as one. You see, while the road ahead was full of thorns, at least for this moment, I could savor a well-deserved luxury. The idea of becoming the "royal consort candidate," once an unthinkable blasphemy, now echoed in my mind like a distant melody—both terrifying and fascinating in equal measure.
It was as if fate, in a cosmic moment of irony, had decided to play the most elaborate prank on me, swapping the chains of iron for the chains of desire and power. Not that I had a choice in either, of course.
The gap between my past and present was deep and dizzying. From a condemned slave, bound to a life of forced labor and slow death, to a candidate for sharing the bed and power of the most powerful creature in the kingdom. Such a radical shift left me in constant bewilderment, like a traveler lost in a foreign land.
Even the worry of familiar faces noticing my personality change was settled, and I could only thank fate for not being cruel enough to force me to study the mannerisms of the old Glenn in order to adapt to this world. With all the familiar faces wiped off the map, I didn't need to pretend to be anyone else.
Glenn entered the bathroom and stood speechless at the sight. The room, accessed through a side door, could only be described as colossal. Half of it was a thermal pool, with a gentle cascade of warm water flowing continuously from one end.