The door to Verdamona's hostel room sighed shut behind her. The place felt more like a temporary home than a dorm. For once, she had the room to herself with no roommates, noise or eyes watching her every move. After days of constant attention, that silence felt like heaven.
She let out a small breath and reached for the lamp. The light was switched on before her fingers even touched the switch.
Normally, that kind of thing would have been funny but this time, it wasn't. A soft, gold glow filled the room and in that light, a pair of silver eyes turned toward her.
Verdamona froze.
"Who are you?"
Xaessiarerich rose from the couch like she had been waiting there all night. Her wavy crimson hair looked like spilled blood in the lamplight. Those silver eyes scared her.
"What are you doing with my brother?"
Verdamona let out a shaky laugh that came out more brittle than she intended.
"Why would I be doing anything with him? He's-"
She stopped herself. The word nothing sat on her tongue like poison. Everyone said it, but somehow, it felt wrong to repeat it. Still, she forced it out.
"He's nothing to me."
Xaessiarerich closed the distance in one smooth step. Her hand slammed against the wall beside Verdamona's head. The impact made the wall crack. Heat flared against Verdamona's skin as the crimson-haired woman leaned in.
"Stay close to him and I'll kill you. I'll feed your body to the Fluviums and let them carve your heart into the next weapon I need."
Verdamona's breath caught, but anger flared behind her fear.
"You shoved him away. You made him a joke in front of everyone. Why should he come running back to you?"
Xaessiarerich's expression changed but it disappeared in an instant.
"He was mine."
"He isn't property. He never belonged to you."
The hand at her throat tightened. Air vanished from Verdamona's lungs. Her fingers clawed at Xaessiarerich's wrist but the grip didn't budge.
"Don't test me. You'll learn what family costs. Oh right. You don't have any."
Verdamona's vision blurred at the edges. The world narrowed to that hand. For a second, she thought she was going to die.
Her knees hit the floor with a thud after Xaessiarerich let her go. She coughed violently, gasping for air. Her lungs were in agony as she dragged breath back into them. Her hands trembled, clawing at the ground. Tears stung her eyes, half from pain, half from rage.
"What did you do to my brother?"
Verdamona glared up through the haze, coughing.
"I didn't do anything to him. I was just myself. Why are you asking me? I don't know anything!"
Xaessiarerich just stared for a long moment, then turned away, her coat sweeping over her shoulders like a curtain closing on a play.
"He thinks he can choose.We'll see how long that lasts."
°°°°°°
[Masquerade of Dreams Shattered.]
[Outers present in Altera Earth: 110,635.]
[Outers transmigrated in the Main Cast: 4/10 - Outer_110,635, Outer_3721, Outer_48, Outer_3.]
[Current Dominia Quest: University Arc, Act I.]
[The plot has been changed by Outer_110,635. The Outer interacted with the heroine before Thales Erdict. This butterfly event has altered the entire University Arc.]
[However, the main plot points will remain intact. The objectives of each Act will still be completed.]
[Outer_110,635 has caused a domino effect. By abandoning his sister and intercepting the heroine's meeting with Thales Erdict, he's shifted the protagonist role to himself. This violates the directive.]
[My Lady, shall I eliminate him to return the plot to its original path?]
---
In the stillness of the void rested a throne-not made of stone or gold, but carved from space itself. On that throne sat a woman who wasn't entirely real. Her form shimmered like a galaxy given shape-skin of night sky, veins of starlight, lips tinted pink and the occasional flick of a tongue when she smiled.
When the system's voice echoed across the void, she tilted her head, amused.
"Really?" she said softly. "Eliminate him? You're such a child sometimes."
The system hesitated, its usual flat tone cracking.
[My Lady, this violates the directive. The protagonist has shifted-]
"Shhh."
She raised a finger. "Do you hear yourself? Rules, directives, objectives. You sound like paperwork."
The void fell quiet again. She smiled, teeth flashing like a comet's tail.
"Outer_110,635... he's the one inside Phasnovterich's body, right? And you want to erase him? Reset your little dollhouse?" She chuckled. "Why waste something that entertaining?"
[He's caused instability. The University Arc has been irreversibly altered-]
"Altered, sure. Ruined? No. The major points still stand, don't they?"
[Yes, but-]
"Then quit whining. This isn't a disaster-it's evolution. Someone finally broke your perfect script."
She leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. Space itself bent around her.
"Who would've thought a random outsider would hijack the spotlight from Verdamona Alaric? Three days, and he's already stolen the stage. Isn't that thrilling?"
[Outer 110,635 was nothing special-a 23-year-old man from Earth, raised by gangsters. Cold, quiet, forgettable.]
"Exactly." Her grin widened. "That's the point. He wasn't meant for greatness, yet look what he's doing now."
She lifted her hand, gathering a swirl of starlight into the faint outline of a young man's silhouette.
"Phasnovterich Vecria Argemenes... or rather, the one inside him. He's not surviving the story anymore-he's rewriting it."
Her gaze turned upward, as if looking at a play unfolding far above.
"Sending him to Altera Earth was a good call. I wanted to see what a creature raised in Earth's filth could do when dropped into a world built for fantasy."
[But, My Lady-]
"No buts." Her tone dropped, playful yet deadly. "You will not kill him. You will do your job. Guide the Outers. Don't confuse that with cleaning up your mistakes. Try to touch him, and I'll take you to your mother. You remember her, don't you?"
Silence.
She relaxed, her form melting into the throne, her body blending into the stars.
"He's far more interesting than Verdamona ever was," she murmured. "Let's see what kind of world a man like him builds when he's the one holding the pen."
[As you command, My Lady.]
"Good." Her teeth flashed once more in a crescent grin. "Now go. Do your job. I'll be watching."
And with that, the void fell silent again-vast, endless, and alive with the quiet thrill of rebellion.
Because one man had just broken the script. And something in the dark was watching, smiling.