Şehsuvar did not know how long he had been standing there.
The blizzard had subsided.
But the air was still so cold that breathing felt difficult.
He stared at the footprints Khanım had left behind.
The trail simply stopped in the middle of the snowfield.
There was no way out.
No tracks leading anywhere else.
As if the woman had vanished from the world.
Şehsuvar sighed.
“Crazy...”
“This is so exhausting.......”
He rubbed his face.
The longer he knew the woman, the more unexplainable things he encountered.
He did not know where Khanım had come from.
He did not know what the simulacrum really was.
And what frightened him most was that he did not know what was happening to him, either.
Suddenly, the sound of a small bell rang out.
Şehsuvar turned.
There was no one there.
Then the world around him began to tremble.
The snow, the mountains, and the gray sky slowly lost their shape.
His body felt light.
Very light.
As if he were falling into bottomless water.
“Not again...”
He tried to resist.
But it was too late.
Everything went dark.
Why does this keep happening.....
When he opened his eyes, Şehsuvar found himself lying on a mattress.
A thatched ceiling hung directly above his head.
He smelled Tarhana Çorbası and firewood.
The sound of a fire came from the hearth.
Şehsuvar lifted himself up.
He was in a small, warm room.
A far cry from the mountains he had just left.
He looked at the clothes he was wearing.
There was no snow.
No mud.
No blood.
His body did not hurt, either.
“Where am I?”
“Somewhere safer.”
A woman’s voice came from the corner of the room.
Şehsuvar turned at once.
Khanım was sitting beside the hearth.
She held a cup of tea in both hands.
Her long hair fell loose over her shoulders.
This time, she was not wearing her heavy coat.
Her clothes were simple, yet still elegant.
Şehsuvar stared at her for a long moment.
“You.”
Khanım raised an eyebrow.
“Disappointed?”
“I thought you had disappeared.”
“I did disappear.”
“Then how are you here?”
“Because you still do not understand how it works.”
Şehsuvar sighed.
“Every time I ask a question, the answer is always strange.”
“That’s because you ask too many questions.”
“I have plenty of reasons to ask them.”
Khanım smiled.
“That’s true.”
She pointed to the table.
“Sit down.”
Şehsuvar climbed off the mattress.
His legs still felt a little weak.
He walked to the table and sat across from the woman.
On the table was a plate and a bowl filled with Tarhana Çorbası, cheese, and several dried fruits.
Şehsuvar immediately reached for the still-warm Tarhana Çorbası.
Tarhana Çorbası was a kind of soup—
But his hand stopped.
He looked at Khanım.
“There’s no catch, right?”
The woman gave a soft laugh.
She picked up a piece of cheese.
The first bite made him realize just how hungry he was.
He ate quickly.
Khanım merely watched him.
“Slow down.”
Şehsuvar stopped.
I’ve barely eaten in days.
This food is really good.....
For a while, the only sounds in the room were the fire and the clink of dishes.
Once he was full, Şehsuvar leaned back.
“I want to ask you about something.”
“Who are you, really?”
Khanım fell silent.
Her expression changed.
Not afraid.
Not angry.
Just... distant.
As if the question had taken her to something she had left behind long ago.
“I’m someone who has lived for far too long.”
What a great hallucination and what a crazy answer...
“That is the answer I can give you.”
“Are you human?”
Khanım looked at him.
“What do you think?”
Şehsuvar recalled everything he had seen.
The woman could disappear.
She could appear in distant places.
She was unaffected by the cold.
And she seemed to know something about the simulacrum that even he did not understand.
“No.”
Khanım smiled faintly.
“That’s a good enough answer.”
“Then will I become like you?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Why not?”
“Because you still have a choice.”
“A choice to do what?”
“To decide what you want to do with your second life.”
Şehsuvar fell silent.
He did not know how to answer.
A second life.
The words sounded strange.
He still had his original body.
And yet half of him had been somewhere else.
If he returned to that body, would he be the same person?
Or would he find only someone who resembled him?
“I want to go back.”
“To your original body?”
“Yes.”
“You can.”
Şehsuvar looked at her at once.
“Really?”
“But I do not recommend it.”
“Why?”
“Because that body still wants to fight.”
Şehsuvar fell silent.
He remembered something.
His original body.
The person he used to be.
The young man who had gone to war believing he would return a hero.
The young man who still believed war held the pride of defending one’s country.
The young man who had not yet seen what truly lay beneath the uniform.
Şehsuvar clenched his fists.
“Then the part of me left there is who I used to be.”
“Part of you.”
“And the part that is here?”
Khanım looked at him.
“The part of you that wants to live.”
Şehsuvar lowered his head.
For the first time, he felt truly separated from himself.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Şehsuvar turned.
The door opened.
A young woman entered carrying a basin of warm water.
She wore the simple clothes typical of the local people.
Her black hair was braided long and draped over one shoulder.
She stopped when she saw Şehsuvar.
Their eyes met.
The woman immediately frowned.
“Who is he?”
Khanım answered calmly.
“He’s a soldier?”
“He was.”
The young woman looked at Şehsuvar’s clothes.
“He’s Ottoman.”
“Yes.”
She was suspicious.
She did not look pleased.
Şehsuvar watched her.
“Is there a problem?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Khanım took the basin from her hands.
“You can go now.”
The woman did not leave immediately.
She looked at Şehsuvar again.
“I’ve seen people like him before.”
“Where?”
“In my village.”
Her voice grew colder.
“When the troops came.”
Şehsuvar fell silent.
He did not know what had happened in the woman’s village.
But judging from her expression, he did not need to ask.
War had left wounds even on people who had never held a rifle.
Khanım said:
“Her name is Naciye.”
Naciye looked at Şehsuvar one more time.
I don’t trust you.
The answer startled Naciye slightly.
Then she turned and left.
The door closed.
“Naciye sounds like the name of a horror movie.”
“What year is this, anyway? It’s only the year 2000.”
Şehsuvar looked at Khanım.
“Does she hate me?”
“She hates war.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“No.”
Khanım set the basin on the table.
“If you ever truly understand the difference, you may become a different kind of person.”
Şehsuvar smiled bitterly.
“Am I not already less than human?”
Khanım did not answer.
Outside, the wind began to blow again.
Snow started falling once more.
And far beyond the mountains, the war continued moving toward Sarıkamış.