Chapter 37 – The Algorithm That Spoke Her Name
Anastasia Celeste Volkov
Private Estate – Undisclosed Location
Viewership Tracking Status: OFF
AI Surveillance System: ACTIVE
[SYSTEM LOG – VICTOR.005 // AI Unit Assigned to A. Volkov]
:: Scanning Global Datafeed...
:: Accessing 'Behind the Gold: AUREUS Unfiltered – Episode 2'
:: Focus: Subject [Jaeheon Kang]
:: Target Flags: Emotional Shift // Linguistic Output // Subconscious Tics
:: Observation Status: Complete
:: Report Compilation: 100%
:: Conclusion:
"He is still in love with you."
The screen dimmed.
The mechanical hum of the AI's processing faded.
And silence reclaimed the towering glass chamber at the heart of Anastasia Celeste Volkov's estate.
She did not move. She hadn't moved since the footage began.
Dressed in charcoal gray, not a wrinkle to the drape of her high-collared silk blouse, she looked like a painting—flawless and motionless. Her golden hair was twisted into a high, cold knot. Not a single strand dared fall.
She stood alone. No advisors. No guards. No interruptions.
She needed none.
And in the glow of her AI's final sentence, she finally blinked.
Just once.
:: AI Victor (tentatively):
"He has written it. One hundred thirty-eight times. In every language the system can identify. The sequence was not random—it matched your global linguistic database, Miss Volkov."
She did not react.
Not when the holographic projection repeated his movements on-screen.
Not when the audio replayed the whispered awe of the hosts and AUREUS members.
Not when the crowds online worshipped her image without even knowing her face.
@everylanguageforher: "This is Jaeheon confessing again. In every tongue."
@queenhasnoskin: "He smiles with a blade at his neck. He's not in love—he's hers."
@sheownsdeath: "He doesn't want her to love him back. He wants to belong to her."
:: Trending Analysis Report:
#SheOwnsHisSoul
#TheOneHeLoves
#QueenOfTheUnknown
Identified Subject: Anastasia Celeste Volkov
Recognition Level: 92% among global intelligence circles
Public Awareness: 17.6%
Global Sentiment: Reverence // Fear // Worship
She stepped forward, slow and composed, heels echoing against polished marble.
The hologram shifted with her motion.
There he was again.
Jaeheon Kang.
Half-naked. Hair wet. Post-bath. A living sculpture—dangerous, exquisite, and impossible. The AI paused on the frame where the water still clung to the sharp lines of his jaw and collarbone. Where the black ink of "I love you" in 138 languages glared like a confession across the paper.
He looked like he had walked out of myth and bled into worship.
And yet—
Her expression didn't change.
:: AI Victor:
"Do you wish me to block future episodes, Miss Volkov?"
A pause.
Her voice, when it came, was ice laced with indifference.
Anastasia (quietly):
"No. Let him continue."
Victor processed the command.
But she wasn't finished.
She walked to the central terminal, eyes like frozen oceans, and typed a line of code herself—perfectly, precisely.
:: New Directive – Autonomous Surveillance Unit:
Expand Emotional Pattern Analysis on Subject [Kang, Jaeheon]
Track deviation in emotional response when interacting with or referencing "Her."
Cross-analyze with Subject [Volkov, A.C.] historical behavioral model.
:: Additional Command:
Prepare retaliation protocol in case emotional interference escalates.
She turned away from the screen.
But just before the holograms vanished, her gaze returned to that moment—
His hands, moving without pause.
His face, cold as a god kneeling.
His body, every inch of it, testifying to something no one could name.
She remembered.
The ball.
The way he had looked at her.
The way he'd bled when she put a blade to his throat and still smiled as though her violence was sacred.
She remembered everything.
But she did not feel.
Or so she told herself.
:: Final System Prompt – AI Victor:
"Would you like to respond, Miss Volkov?"
She exhaled once. Quietly.
A sound that felt like winter descending on the room.
Anastasia (flatly):
"No. He chose this obsession. He can live with it."
?