Silence.
The body was still slumped over the balcony. Blood dripped, seeping into the marble floor.
Moments ago, I felt a heartbeat that wasn't mine. I was someone else.
Someone else in control.
And right now…my grip on the sword wouldn't loosen.
Everyone must die.
The voice continued to echo through my mind. Invading my thoughts.
It was my own voice but older and colder.
"Your Highness?"
Cyrielle.
She was still here. Standing only a few feet away from me.
I could hear her breath becoming shallow.
I turned my gaze back to her slowly, and her hand dropped from my face.
It seemed like she realized too late what she had done.
My gaze flicked upward. I noticed something strange.
A number sat above her head. It was faint but clear.
35
I could barely process the sight.
Her eyes flicked between me and the body. She didn't step back, but she didn't come closer either.
"You…" she said. "You didn't hesitate."
No. I didn't.
I wanted to say something comforting. To assure her I would never target her.
Sound like something human, but the words didn't come.
Instead—
BLEEP
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
TRAIT UNLOCKED: INSTINCTUAL AGGRESSION
Crown Prince Kallias' personality may begin to override your own.
I stumbled backward. My hand flew to my chest.
It wasn't from pain, only pressure.
It felt like the weight of something trying to crawl out of me. My knees hit the floor.
Then—
SPLASH
Water. The room was gone. Cyrielle was gone. I was completely surrounded in darkness.
My breath fogged the cold air. Somehow I could see. I could see him.
Across the room, he stood waist-deep in water. The real Kallias.
His eyes burned into mine.
"So you're the parasite," he said. "You think you can wear my skin like armor and pretend to be me?"
"I didn't ask for this," I said. "I didn't wish for any of this."
He laughed. It was cruel. "Yet here you are. Thinking of making vows. Doing your best to protect her."
"You had your chance to pick her," I said. "Instead you picked the female lead because you didn't want your wife to be a villainess."
"I'm picking her right now," he claimed.
"Liar," I said. "She's not what you think."
"She's exactly what I think. The system made her to die, and you think playing as her knight in torn armor will change that?"
"I'll change it. I have no choice."
He started walking toward me. The water didn't ripple around him. Instead it moved away from him.
He smiled. "Then be ready to kill. This world doesn't care about your goals or what kinds of morals you have. It only rewards one thing."
He reached forward and pressed his palm to my forehead.
"Blood."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
CORRUPTION +2
NEW QUEST UNLOCKED
OBJECTIVE: PROTECT CYRIELLE.
CONSEQUENCE: SYSTEM STABILITY AT RISK.
I gasped. Finally back into reality.
Cold sweat practically drenched me.
Cyrielle knelt beside me, her hand hovering near my arm but not touching.
"You were mumbling," she said. "And you stopped breathing."
I sat up. My mind still spun. "I'm fine."
She looked like she didn't believe me.
I didn't either.
She spoke up. "You killed him for me."
The number was still there. Hovering, right above her head.
Seeing it made me think of the system monitoring her. It made sense that she was a part of what I could only describe as influence.
This number must have been connected to the world.
It was a wake up call. One that made me realize how much of it extended to her.
"I killed him because he tried to hurt you," I corrected.
35 —> 30
The number… it fluctuated. I didn't know how to stop it.
"Isn't that the same thing?" she asked.
Then—
[SYSTEM ERROR]
A PLAYER HAS ENTERED THE WORLD
And just like that, I realized—
This must be what the real Kallias meant by blood. The player is the reason Cyrielle dies.
I'll have to kill them before that happens.
This definitely isn't the same game I played.
This is something far worse. Sinister.