They sent a carriage for me at dawn.
I stood at the edge of the estate, the wind teasing my coat, pretending I wasn't watching my own death roll closer by the second. Virelya Elaren—the villainess fated to end the world—was passing through the southern region.
And my "father," Lord Elric Vire, wanted me present to greet her. To make connections. To play nice with royalty.
The irony? I remembered exactly what happened in Chapter Four of the book.
Caelum Vire—me, now—was supposed to bump into her in the garden. Hear something he shouldn't. See something forbidden. And then…
"The noble boy's body was found frozen, his heart crystallized in his chest."
That line haunted me the entire trip.
I sat stiffly in the velvet-padded carriage as the horses pulled me away from the only safe place I had. Three days until she arrived. Maybe four.
Not enough time.
I needed a plan.
---
The southern estate was even more extravagant than the one I'd just left. Glass chandeliers, mana-lit sconces, entire gardens floating on enchanted platforms. Nobles didn't just own land here. They owned weather.
The head butler escorted me to my guest room. It was too luxurious. Too soft. I didn't sit. I paced. I thought.
Avoid the garden? Too obvious. Fate in this world worked like gravity—you could try to resist, but the harder you fought, the more violent the snap back.
But maybe… maybe I could redirect it.
What if I made sure I saw nothing? Said nothing? Left the moment she arrived?
Or better—what if I made her ignore me?
If Virelya thought I was just another forgettable noble boy, maybe the curse would skip me this time.
But the memory of her face from the book wouldn't leave me.
Eyes like liquid frost. A presence that silenced rooms. The villainess wasn't feared because she was loud—she was feared because she never had to be.
They called her the Heart of Chaos.
But she wasn't evil.
She was a tragedy wearing a crown.
And I was a dead man trying not to care.
---
I survived the first day.
Then the second.
But on the third—just before sunset—the estate buzzed with activity. Guards lined the courtyard. Nobles rehearsed their bows. Servants rushed like ants, preparing everything from silk dining napkins to enchanted ice sculptures.
She was coming.
I watched from the window, safely tucked behind thick curtains. Her carriage wasn't ornate like the others. Black wood, silver crest, and strange runes etched into the wheels. Protective enchantments. Ancient. Dangerous.
And then she stepped out.
My breath caught.
She wasn't just beautiful—she was impossible. The way the world tilted around her. The air bent. Sounds dulled. People held their breath without realizing.
She wore midnight-blue velvet, her silver-blonde hair braided with obsidian pins. A delicate tiara sat on her head—not jeweled, but made of black thorns twisted into an elegant shape.
And her eyes…
Gods.
Those eyes weren't human.
They scanned the crowd like knives looking for something soft to cut.
I backed away before she could see me. My pulse pounded.
Stay out of sight.
I didn't go down for dinner. No one noticed. No one cared.
Except fate.
Because just before midnight, I woke up choking.
Not on air.
On power.
My chest burned, my lungs wouldn't expand. The air around me shimmered, warped—magic, but not mine.
I stumbled out of bed, nearly collapsed in the hallway. And then I saw it.
The garden. Lit by moonlight. Empty—except for her.
Virelya.
Standing barefoot in the center of a mana circle, whispering in a language I didn't recognize. Her eyes glowed faintly silver. Flowers around her wilted.
This was the scene. The exact one from the book.
If I turned away now, maybe I'd live.
But my body wouldn't move.
I watched, hidden behind a column, as she raised her hand—and summoned a soul fragment. Not a demon. Not a monster. A child's soul, weeping, flickering in the moonlight.
She held it gently.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You deserved better."
And then she let it go. Released it. Set it free.
It vanished into light.
And Virelya sank to her knees, hands trembling.
She wasn't doing dark magic.
She was rescuing souls.
The villainess wasn't committing forbidden acts.
She was burying the dead no one else could see.
And in that moment, I forgot the curse. I forgot the warnings. I forgot the book.
I just saw a girl, broken and alone, carrying a burden that should've crushed her years ago.
My foot shifted.
A leaf crunched beneath it.
Her head snapped toward me.
Her eyes locked on mine.
And I knew—fate had just noticed me.