Hallucination?

"Did something happen, Eve?" Renaud asked her. He saw her completely zoned out and not having her dinner. 

"Huh?" She snapped back as soon as she heard her father's voice. 

"You are not having your dinner properly. Is something bothering you?" He asked again but this time with a gentle tone. 

"Umm," she took a pause and asked, "Where is uncle Admiral?" 

"As usual, has some council work," he informed her. 

"I see," she murmured and took a bite from her dish. She thought about the people who lost their only way of income in the fire hazard. She chewed her food slowly feeling pity for them and thought about ways to help them. 

"Father," she called him, swallowing the food. 

"Umm?" 

"Can we help the people who lost their stalls in the fire?" She asked him politely. Her voice reflected concern for them. 

"Depends on how you are going to help them," he stated. She looked at him in a puzzled manner. 

"I don't think it is good to help them by showering gold coins on them for free. People will rely on us if we take that step. If you have any other measures I will support you," he clarified. 

She thought for a brief moment and proposed her suggestion to him, "Can we start a small supporting firm and pay them wages according to the work they do?" 

Renaud thought for a while. He personally found no issues with the suggestion. He nodded to her. 

"What kind of jobs are you going to offer?" he asked. 

"Haven't thought about it yet," she replied.

"Alright, when you find something ask me first before making any decision. We will discuss it first," 

She nodded in agreement and continued having her dinner. Later she went into her room and opened her books and parchments to go through them. 

The council exam was five days later. She was confident that she had gone through everything that her uncle got to her to read. Now she just went through it again, only to be sure that she ain't missed anything. 

As she was about to sleep, she heard a knock on her. 

"Come in," she said, wondering what happened, this late at night. 

"Sorry to interrupt, my lady. Master Admiral informed me to hand over these parchments to you," a servant said. 

"Bring them here," 

The servant placed the parchments and bowed to her, leaving the room. 

She took the parchments and saw there was a note written on them.

"Memorize these rules of the council," she read the note and sighed in exhaustion. She recognised the handwriting of her uncle and counted the parchments. They were around six and a half and looked at the time. 

"Quarter past nine. I still have time to sleep. Will memorize and then sleep," she muttered to herself and began with her task. 

As the time passed, the atmosphere became chilled as the cold breeze flowed. She leaned back on the chair and stretched her body in exhaustion. Her eyes appeared sleepy. 

"Two more parchments to go," she said, motivating herself. 

Feeling sleepy, she stood up from her chair and strolled towards her balcony to get some fresh air. Cold air caressed her face and blew her long black hairs softly. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. 

Loud howling of wolves caught her attention. She snapped her eyes quickly and looked in the direction of the sound. As it was dark, she couldn't see anything.

She narrowed her eyes and saw an animal roaming behind the woods. By the appearance of it, she assumed it to be a dog. She stared at it continuously wondering what it was doing. 

Feeling bored, she was about to take her eyes off it, she saw it transformed into a human. She ventured back in fright even though it was far away from her. 

Goosebumps raised on her skin. She continuously stared at it bewilderingly but shut her eyes forcefully to sneeze. Just after the sneeze, she opened her eyes only to see nothing. The animal or whatever the creature was had disappeared. 

"Oh gosh, I am hallucinating. Should take some rest," she muttered to herself and went inside to sleep, closing the door of the balcony behind her. 

Far away from her balcony, in the woods, a man walked whistling in the middle of the night. He was tall and had a well built upper body. He had grey eyes and grey hairs, though he was a young man. 

He stopped in front of a tree, smelling something in the air. 

"I see, you are here," he said, leaning on the tree. 

A wolf came into his view and growled as if despising him. 

"Aww, why do you hate me so much," he asked, only to hear more growlings. 

"Okay okay, I heard you wanted to meet me," he stated. 

The wolf kept quiet this time and looked at the palace to see a lady going inside her room from the balcony. It turned to look at the man and growled. 

"What! No! Oh, come on. It's night and dark everywhere. She didn't see me," he said in annoyance. 

The wolf growled. 

"Yes, it's done," he replied in a serious tone. Before the wolf could growl again, he added, "No one saw me and the man is dead." 

They growled one more time before disappearing into the woods. The man transformed back into wolf form and began journeying back from the path he came. 

While going he glanced at the palace balcony. 

"Did she see me?"