Norman helped her load her luggage into the trunk of her car.
He didn't say much, which somehow made it worse.
"You're really going?" he said finally, lifting the heavy bags with a grunt in between.
"Well, he said I will get a piece of your large inheritance."
He frowned. "If you stayed, you could take my half."
"No," Akhile said. "I promise it's only temporary."
Norman wiped his hands on his clothes, his gaze towards the mansion. "I don't like this… but it's Nathaniel."
"I know."
He hesitated and looked at her, grinning. "So, what do you have on?" he said, pointing at her outfit.
She smiled, "This is a 2-piece skirt and top, it's made from really good material."
"It doesn't look very comfortable."
"You're right, it does itch a bit. My maid said this is the in thing and very fashionable, instead of the chiffon dresses I've been floating around in."
They both laughed.
When the doors closed, Norman stepped back, hands clenched at his sides.
"Be careful," he said.
She nodded.
As the vehicle pulled away, the Meadowlands receded behind the rear window. Ahead was Neilelis Redcliff Industrial, a place that did not recognise a royal princess.
And at its centre stood the man who had built it to function without mercy.
Neilelis Redcliff Industrial revealed itself slowly.
From the car, Akhile first saw the sky.
It was not blue, it was maroon.
A maroon streak stretched overhead, splashed with hues of burnt orange or a dull gold that never quite brightened into daylight. The sun appeared briefly as a pale vibration struggling to cope from all the air pollution.
Akhile squinted her eyes, trying to make out the sky, before the sun vanished behind layers of engineered cloud cover.
"Four hours of daylight," her driver said, looking at her using the rearview mirror.
"How come?"
"The town was engineered that way. You see, it's man-made. Neilelis Redcliff founded this town 50 years ago. He wanted a place where humans could predict the sky."
"By taking away the sun?" Asked Akhile.
"Exactly, amongst other things. I've heard he didn't like the sun and preferred dim, environments."
"Well, that's weird! Why would anyone ever hate the sun?"
As soon as they started on a street on Neilelis Industrial, the car shifted into a floating motion, sailing on air.
Akhile gasped, startled by what was happening.
In that moment, memories from Princess Cora drowned her brain with explanations and familiarity. This was a different world, a different realm. She had transmigrated to another universe.
"That's why their eye colour was orange," she thought to herself.
The vehicle glided soundlessly along elevated lanes, rails humming in the air. It was as if 2 magnetic poles repelling each other, forcing them to remain in the air.
Below, the town unfolded in sharp lanes and reflective surfaces. Manufacturing towers rose like pillars, their exterior smooth and metallic. It was intimidating at first. Conveyor systems intersected the airspace, transporting sealed vessels from one facility to another.
There were also people, many of them.
Most moved with purpose, as they knew where they were going and what they were going to do. In the grim landscape without natural light, their demeanour looked heavy and unwelcoming.
There were labourers in uniforms, shades of blue and black, technicians with augmented visors, and engineers interacting with transparent screens as they walked.
The flying vehicles dominated the streets. Most of them were in the shape of angular pods or an irregular pod-like shape.
In addition, there were drones, flying like insects in the sky, attached to delivery packages.
No one lingered.
No one wandered.
Akhile pressed her forehead lightly against the car window. Cora may be used to this, but she was mesmerised.
The Meadowlands already felt like a different memory.
The car slowed down as they approached the heart of the district.
At the centre of Neilelis Redcliff Industrial stood the Redcliff Estate.
It was not a single building, but a compound. It was a sprawling estate, which was impossibly perfect. There were five self-contained residential wings branched outward from a central structure, each one isolated from the others by landscaped courtyards that felt decorative rather than alive.
Security systems were embedded seamlessly into the architecture. The place looked impenetrable by any outside influence.
The car docked automatically on the front gate.
"Welcome to the Redcliff Estate, Your Highness," a voice announced. The sound came from the intercom speaker, which was appended on the front gate.
The car doors swung open.
Akhile stepped out.
The air felt different here. Like it was manufactured or designed in a laboratory. It lacked the scent of earth or rain or anything that hinted at life. Even the silence felt processed.
A man waited for her at the entrance.
He was older, tall and thin, dressed impeccably in a dark uniform with silver trim. His posture was perfect, hands clasped behind his back.
"Princess Cora," he said, bowing just enough. "My name is Tobias. I will be your assigned butler during your stay."
Assigned?
"Nathaniel!" She thought to herself.
"Hello, Tobias," Akhile replied. "It's nice to meet you."
He smiled politely. "The pleasure is all mine, your Highness."
That didn't comfort her.
He guided her through the estate's interior. The corridor was made from polished stone and soft lighting that adjusted automatically as they passed. The walls displayed holographic images in abstract forms and shifting patterns.
"This wing is yours," Tobias said as they stopped before a seamless door. "Fully self-contained. No one enters without your permission."
The door slid open at his biometric scan.
Akhile stepped inside and froze.
The apartment was breathtaking.
It was contemporary, minimalist, and meticulously designed.There were floor-to-ceiling glass windows which overlooked the industrial skyline, with the option of tinting automatically to soften the maroon obscenity outside. Furniture curved rather than being square and normal, and it was upholstered in rich neutral colours. There were soft ambient lights which traced the edges of the ceiling.
It was luxurious.
It was also… impersonal.
"This is your living area," Tobias said. "The bedroom is through there. You have 2 bathrooms, a dressing room, and a private study."
The bedroom was worse.
Not because it was unpleasant but because it was perfect. She could only wish for this kind of aesthetic in her previous life.
The bed hovered slightly above the floor, also with the same magnets repelling each other concept, the bed's surface adjusting automatically to her presence.
The walls had a fabric-like texture, revealing clothing curated to her measurements and preferences in her wardrobe.
"Your belongings have been arranged," Tobias said. "The estate's system will adapt to your preferences over time."
"What if I don't want it to?" Akhile asked quietly.
Tobias paused, just for a moment.
"It will," he said.
She dismissed him shortly after, claiming to be exhausted from the drive.
When she was alone, the silence rushed back in. The only sound came from the quiet humming from air-conditioner system.
Akhile wandered her assigned apartment slowly. She walked barefoot against heated floors. Every appliance responded to her movements: the lighting would adjust, the temperatures.
She even had a suggestion from the intercom to play soft music in the background, but she declined it.
She sat on the edge of the bed and stared out at the maroon skyline.
It would seem the industry never slept.
Lights pulsed rhythmically in the distance.
She thought of Norman and the orchard, the smell of those peaches. The silence of the Meadowlands, and how the only sound came from nature and the ancestral feel in the air.
Here, silence was a feature, a concept.
Akhile slid into her bed, staring up at a ceiling that slowly simulated a sky she did not trust.
This is temporary, she told herself.
But the apartment did not feel temporary. She was Nathaniel's fiancée.
Master Nathaniel Redcliff's fiancée.
He was going to have her here, by his side, permanently.
"Welcome home, Princess Cora," said the intercom.
In that instance, she felt she was being watched.