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[29]
BREAKOUT ARC:
CONTRADICTIONS
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「BASTION OF PHALANX」
Earl arrived at a Bastion humming with frantic energy. Noble staff scurried to complete tasks before midnight. Bypassing Prince Dio’s office, he pushed open the ornate doors of a meeting hall.
Organized chaos. Prince Dio sat silently at the head of a long table, lost in thought. Keith and Zen hunched over blueprints for a dormitory arrangement. Brenda looked ready to tear her hair out, buried in a paperwork mountain, while Eliza diligently transcribed regulations for the incoming knights.
Earl’s entrance broke their concentration. Brenda spoke first, tone sharp. “I thought you were unwell.”
“You left us with all this!” Keith added, playfulness frayed.
“I am… better. Let me help.” Earl moved to join Keith and Zen.
Brenda shook her head, returning to her documents.
Prince Dio hadn’t noticed. His mind was trapped in a loop.
‘I know what you did.’
G6’s cold accusation echoed. How do I even apologize? I’ve been an idiot.
Then, another memory surfaced, vivid and unbidden: G6’s sleeping, drunken face in the liquor storage. A forbidden film reel. Her flawless features, her incomparable beauty, a strange lullaby to his heart. The memory of her lips, stained deep red from wine, made his regret feel hollow. He wasn’t sorry for the act—only for getting caught.
A faint blush colored his cheeks. The others exchanged looks.
“What’s wrong with him?” Brenda muttered.
“Look! Actual color in Dio’s face! He’s bright red!” Keith teased, bursting into laughter.
“Is His Highness unwell?” Zen asked, concerned.
“HEY!” Keith shouted directly into Prince Dio’s ear, shattering the reverie.
“What?” Prince Dio snapped, face still flushed.
“We’ve been asking about tenant arrangements! Instead of answering, you’ve been staring blankly! We’re tired!” Keith’s patience snapped.
“I see. Wait a moment…” Prince Dio’s expression shifted, gaze sharpening into a blade that made Keith look away. “Why are you yelling? Looking forward to an early death?” Prince Dio’s hands ignited with controlled flame.
“Just get yourself together! Earl, tell him!” Keith deflected, retreating to Zen.
Earl? He’s back? Prince Dio studied his friend’s face. Why does he look so… pleased?
“You’re back,” Prince Dio stated, eyes dropping to untouched paperwork.
Keith and Brenda shared a glance, deliberately returning to work—a silent agreement to give them space.
“Yes,” Earl answered, taking the seat beside Prince Dio. “Dio, about earlier—”
“Forget it.” Prince Dio’s tone was low, serious. “Maintain your composure. And do not forget who Reise is.”
“I know. I lost my head. I’m glad we are… alright now.” Earl stood to rejoin Keith and Zen.
Prince Dio rose, walked to the blueprints. “Squadmates room together. Builds camaraderie.”
Keith stared. “What?”
“We don’t have the squad lists yet,” Keith said, patience wearing thin. “Because you keep slacking, you damn prince!” Zen clamped a hand over his mouth.
“And I thought I was the only one slacking today,” Earl remarked, already gathering applicant profiles.
“Don’t sound proud. We’re behind. I’ll have my golem strangle you,” Brenda threatened without looking up. “GET BACK TO WORK! Because you all dawdle, I missed dinner with Lady Reise. Tsk.”
“You’re not the only one in a hurry, you geeky woman!” Keith barked back, free from Zen’s grasp.
“Let’s start forming the teams, Dio,” Earl said, the neat stack of profiles a silent call to action.
As bickering subsided into focused work, the Bastion hummed. Across the palace grounds, a different kind of scheming was underway. While the heirs managed the kingdom’s affairs, G6—armed with a royal alliance and a scholar’s gift—was quietly laying the groundwork for her own, far more personal war. The night was young, and for the Reaper, the real work had just begun.
「WEST VILLA」
Time Check: 07:00 P.M
G6 entered her empty room. She placed the Cryomancy book on her bed, the velvet jewelry box beside it. Then she opened the bedside drawer—home to the Witherby book and Reise’s diary. She cleared the unnecessary items, leaving only the two texts. She stacked them neatly, then carefully added the Cryomancy book to the pile.
“Well. You three are the most important things to me right now. Keep quiet in there until I find the clues you’re hiding.” She closed the drawer.
She roughly shed her coat and gloves, throwing them to the floor, and fell back onto the soft bed with a sigh.
“Who would have thought this day would be so exhausting?”
She closed her eyes to review the day’s events, but accumulated stress pulled her under. She fell into a deep, sudden slumber.
「Time Check: 08:15 P.M」
Tina and Lilia entered quietly, hoping their mistress had returned.
The room was dark, but moonlight fell upon G6, sleeping soundly. She lay diagonally, feet still on the floor—proof of unintentional sleep.
“Lady Reise had a very tiring day,” Lilia whispered.
Tina’s eyes were full of worry; the fading bruises still alarmed her. She turned to Lilia. “Go have dinner, then rest. Let’s give our lady space.” Lilia nodded, smiling sadly.
“I’ll take care of her clothes.” Tina gestured to the floor.
“Understood.” Lilia left.
Once alone, Tina sighed, picking up the coat and gloves, placing them neatly at the foot of the bed. Her gaze returned to her sleeping lady.
“What exactly are you doing?” she mused softly. She took a decorative blanket and gently covered her.
The velvet jewelry box caught her eye. Confused, she picked it up and placed it on the bedside desk.
Carrying the garments, she left.
After delivering the clothes to the laundry, Tina went to the kitchen. Lilia happily ate at the table. Alistair and Janin were nearby, Janin holding her newborn.
“Miss Tina, sit!” Lilia called. A plate was already set.
“Is Lady Reise still asleep?” Janin asked.
Tina sat, sipping water. “Yes. Utterly exhausted.”
“What’s with the long face?” Alistair asked between bites.
“It is nothing.”
“Come on. I can tell you’re worried.”
“It is just… I do not understand.” Tina’s voice lowered. “Every time she goes to the Utility Magic Department, my heart grows heavy. She feels like… a completely new person. Someone I can no longer recognize.”
Alistair and Janin exchanged a look. “We understand,” Janin said. “We’ve known you since before Reise was born. She was like a little sister to you. Seeing her drift away is frightening. But Edmund will protect her.”
“Protect her? She came home covered in bruises. How is that protection?” Tina’s voice held anger.
“Calm down. Edmund would never harm her,” Alistair said. Why assume Edmund caused the bruises? More plausible they’re from a failed landing, he whispered, for Janin alone.
“Alistair is right,” Janin soothed. “We are all indebted to the Worthons. We all wish to protect them, especially the youngest. We are always here.”
“Besides, Edmund’s loyalty is no longer just a debt. It’s something that comes from her directly. That old bachelor doesn’t pledge loyalty to just anyone,” Alistair added.
“It is because Lady Reise is nice!” Lilia chimed in, absorbed in her meat. “She may look like she could kill you with a stare, but she is nice. She lets us sit with her, have tea, share meals.” She stared at her plate, smiling. “Before, I heard rumors of her violence. But when I bumped into her, she offered her hand. Her stare is cold, but her hands are warm.”
The three adults looked at one another. “You are right,” Tina said. “She has changed greatly. She never used to let anyone near except me, but now she oddly attracts people. If I were to compare, she is even more intimidating now.”
“You feel she is a silent storm, never knowing when she’ll strike?” Alistair laughed.
“She is cunning, sly, clever,” Janin added. “I ended up telling her about my old profession without realizing. I might have told her everything if Lady Brenda hadn’t called me away.”
“Yes. She is oddly dangerous, yet I feel safe with her.” Tina admitted.
They all smiled, acknowledging the strange truth. Their admiration had grown far larger than any design of G6’s.
“I prepared something light for her late dinner. Easy to digest. Bring it when you check on her later,” Alistair said.
Tina nodded.
「Time Check: 09:35 P.M」
Tina walked back toward G6’s room, tray in hand. “I wonder if she’s awake.”
The silent, dimly lit halls of the second floor felt different.
Come to think of it, ever since Lady Reise changed, the main building has changed as well. Only nine, yet all lights are off.
The villa was silent, much like their mistress.
She paused at the door, knocked twice, and entered.
The room was still dark, but the three-arm candelabra above the mantel was lit, flames flickering.
G6 was not in bed. Tina looked to the balcony. There she stood. Dressed in a black satin nightgown and loose robe, she was a magnificent silhouette.
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Moonlight caressed her face, highlighting her overwhelming beauty. She leaned against the railing, gazing up at the stars.
Tina sighed, placed the tray on the tea table, and walked out.
She stood by the balcony door, watching her mistress’s emotionless face. Her eyes, fixed on the stars, seemed utterly empty.
“It was a long day, wasn’t it?” G6 said.
“Yes. Alistair made you dinner.”
“Not hungry.” G6 looked away from the sky, down to the gardens. “Say it, Tina. How was I before?” The intended conversation began.
“What do you mean?”
“From the start.”
Tina walked to stand beside her, gazing quietly down. “I was thirteen when I came to the House of Worthon,” she began, savoring the nostalgia. “Lady Reyna was three months from giving birth.”
Hmm. No backstory for Reise in the book. Just the villainess, G6 thought, absorbing the words.
“Worthon is a house of comfort. The servants are warm, like Lady Reyna and Master William,” Tina smiled. “Not long after I settled, the lady gave birth to you. The house sparkled with joy. On the day you were born, the messenger of the All-Seers statue shimmered with mana—as if delivering the blessings of the Gods.”
G6’s brow furrowed. I know that name… “The messenger of the All-Seers?”
“No one knows its name. Its statue stands in the Worthons’ garden. Its identity was purposely concealed.” Tina waved it aside. “But back to my story. Not only the Worthons rejoiced; all the people of the domain did. You were magnificent, truly beautiful. News of your godly beauty spread far.” Her face changed, growing somber. “You grew up well-mannered, disciplined, kind, and lovely—regardless of standing. But not long after you were promised to Prince Dio, you slowly changed. You became too committed to the role you thought was the only way to help your family. Your strong purpose warped into a melodramatic love for the Prince.”
“I did that, right?” G6’s tone was almost mocking.
“But you are not what they said,” Tina insisted. “You were written as the villain, but you were soft inside. You acted distant and cold toward servants, but you never yelled. Yet the stories that reached other nobles were different. You were given a reputation accepted because of your aloofness. It is true you grew jealous when noblewomen clung to Prince Dio; you would mock them or throw things… but they never saw how you cried silently and alone afterward.”
“What do you mean?” G6 leaned away from the railing. “Wasn’t I vicious? Slapping and yelling at every servant? Hated by my brothers, left alone because of my horrible personality?” What is she talking about? Why do none of these details match the book? Reise wasn’t nice. She was wicked.
I knew something was wrong. I thought it was just because I refused to follow the story. But these details… they don’t match. What is the truth?
“Lady Reise, what are you talking about? Yes, you were savage for three days when you first arrived because you did not want to be bothered. But hated by your brothers? You have seen how much they care. Such a thing would never happen.” Tina flustered.
“You never directly hurt anyone… you just threw things near them. You hated company, only allowed me near. You grew sadder every day. Your most drastic change began when Prince Dio and the two youngest Pillars left to study. The thought of them preparing without you seemed to hurt deeply. You locked yourself in the library, read many books, until a librarian encouraged ancient texts.” Tina’s face shifted to worry. “Your sadness grew deeper. I never understood why you liked those books. We were finally asked to live in the Palace when the Prince returned. You locked yourself away again after three days here—I think because the Prince did not bother to greet you after the long separation. On the fourth day, you asked me to bring you to the Apothecary Department, claiming you needed something. And that was it. On the sixth day…” Tina looked straight into her eyes. “On the sixth day, it felt as if you were a completely new person.”
Tina's words struck something within the impenetrable G6.
“But I like this better.” Tina’s voice cracked, tears falling uncontrollably. “You are not the woman who begged for Prince Dio’s attention anymore, the one who drove people away. You are cold now, yet you feel oddly warmer than before. You are not sad; you do not cry silently every night… I like this better…” Her voice broke. “Yet it frightens me… because I feel you cannot feel any emotions. Every time I look into your eyes, there is nothing. Just emptiness. You are right here, but I feel you are slowly drifting away.”
Finally, she had said it.
G6 just stared, analyzing, storing every detail.
“Tina—” G6 began, but Tina, gathering all her courage, hugged her distant, cold mistress. A tight, warm embrace G6 could not understand.
“Forgive me, Lady Reise…” Tina whispered through sobs. “I should have reached out instead of keeping my distance, putting protocol first. I should have asked and comforted you, instead of standing silently behind the walls, listening to you cry. Forgive me. I will not make the same mistake. I will not ignore anything that could harm you…”
Then G6—devoid of warmth—loosely returned the hug. “Thank you for telling me everything, Tina,” she said, her voice low and emotionless. “Instead of questions, just support what I am doing. Believe in me.”
Tina moved away, smiling through tears. “I will. I will not ask further. I will just trust and believe in you, my lady. Just promise me one thing.” She paused. “Just always come back alive.”
Her last words felt like an insult, yet they struck a hollow, confusing ache deep within G6—a feeling long buried.
Why do they keep asking a Reaper to stay alive?
Under the cold starlight, a bond was silently reforged—not in warmth, but in a pact of unwavering loyalty. Tina’s tears had watered seeds of truth, revealing a past that contradicted every record G6 knew. As the maid retreated, G6 was left with a chilling realization: the story she thought she knew was a lie, and the mystery of Reise Worthon’s death ran far deeper than poison.
The game was no longer about survival; it was about uncovering a truth someone had killed to hide.
?.?.?
After Tina left, G6 silently sat on her couch, the Witherby book in her lap.
“So, my first theory was right? The people in that novel were merely inspired by these real people?” she mused.
“Wonder of a Wonderful World…” She scoffed. “I thought I would solve my case board. I just added more questions.” She laid the book aside, stood, and walked to a shelving cabinet.
From behind an ornate vase, she retrieved the old bottle of whiskey stolen from the liquor storage. She grabbed a shot glass hidden behind a figurine, placed both on the tea table.
“First, let’s consider the nearest possibilities. That none of the events happening right now—” She paused before opening the bottle. “Right. The book does not mention demons or mana dampening. Why did I not think of it sooner? I am in the time before the engagement, before Reise was written to die. Why? Why did I miss such details?” She was realizing the events unfolding were not in the book.
“Was I the trigger? Or was the book purely fictional, and this world truly exists?” She harshly opened the bottle.
Footsteps outside. Tina?
She put down the bottle, opened the door. Prince Dio stood there, startled.
“What are you jumping at?” G6 asked coldly. “What are you doing here so late?”
Prince Dio looked at her. “I just returned from the Collegium… I did not know you were still awake.” Almost shy.
“That is not an answer.”
“I was just… I just…” What am I even doing here? My feet brought me.
“I have had enough conversation for one day. Come inside if you want to talk.” The offer left him flustered.
“It is not appropriate to invite a man into your room at night!” he exclaimed.
G6 raised a brow. “Do not worry. I do not see you as a man. Get inside or leave.” She waited.
“Tsk. Bother.” She moved to close the door. Prince Dio stopped it.
“T-Then… if you do not mind.” Face bright red.
“Close the door.” G6 turned away. Prince Dio took a steadying breath, stepped inside.
“Your room really hates light.”
“I grew up in dark rooms. I can see without light.” She sat at the tea table. “What are you standing there for? Did you not carry me back here after you kissed me?” Blunt. Prince Dio grew uncomfortably shy. “Sit.”
Prince Dio sat across, his eyes landing on the whiskey.
“Forgive me. I do not know what came over me that night.” Genuine remorse.
“I would be lying if I said it was not a big deal.” G6 poured drinks, slid one toward him.
“You know there is much to do tomorrow.”
“I do not care. If I do not drink away my rage now, it will not end well.” She downed her first shot.
Prince Dio stared, taken aback. “Is it because of what I did?”
“Give me a break. What you did violated my boundaries, but it is nowhere close to what I am going through.” She poured another.
“Should I bother to ask?”
“Do not bother. You will not get answers.”
“Then, is there anything I can do to atone?”
G6 paused. One thing she had always wanted to ask. She downed her second glass. “Reise…” Prince Dio called, concerned.
“That night you were in the garden with Eliza, what exactly happened?” Not looking at him, but at her empty glass.
Prince Dio’s brows furrowed. Was this what Keith said she saw? Has it been bothering her? No… I cannot discern her reason, but there are no lingering feelings behind it.
“I was merely welcoming her. It was the same night I introduced her to the servants the Queen assigned.”
G6 studied his face. He is not lying. “Is that all? Were you not all smiles and grace? As if in love?” Pressing, recalling the diary.
“That is absurd. I am always graceful. Smiles? I recall smiling once when she thanked me for accommodation. It meant nothing. It was all the Queen’s order.”
G6’s eyes flickered. Another mismatch. In the book—fuck! I might have been stupid, too preoccupied! In annoyance, she unintentionally slammed the glass, startling Prince Dio.
Reise never shared a villa with Eliza. No Royal Collegium… or are the Magic Department, Invention Lab, and Knights & Order in the book just different names for Sanctum, Omnia, and Bastion? What the fuck does this mean?
“Reise? Are you all right?”
She looked at him. This guy used to look at me the same way he looks at others, especially at the Gazebo. So why is Snow White not head over heels for Eliza? Why did I just notice?
G6 sighed. Only one way to confirm. In the book, he deeply hated Reise for cornering him. “Tell me… do you hate me?”
Prince Dio looked straight into her eyes. “How could I? When all you ever wanted was to fly.” His voice held understanding, pity—remembering her words and cries to her father.
His words meant little to G6, but one thing was clear: the book and this world were two entirely different realities.
“Drink up. This is getting cheesy.” She downed her third glass.
Prince Dio reached for his drink. “It was my fault you were branded the Wicked Rose. If only I had not said those words.” A whisper.
Is he referring to what Brenda told me? Tsk. Headache.
“You cannot change what has already happened.”
“Can you forgive me for everything?” Dio said, almost pleading.
“It is too late. The Reise you wronged is long dead.” She replied. Flat, another drink.
Her words struck like a knife. He had sought to atone for misunderstood intentions that caused the old Reise suffering. Was it truly too late?
In the dim quiet, two souls sat across a chasm of misunderstandings and secrets. One sought forgiveness for an unchangeable past; the other grappled with a reality nothing like the story she’d been given. The whiskey burned, but the hidden truth burned deeper, leaving both to wonder if any absolution could be found at the bottom of a glass.
「THE NEXT MORNING…」
“Why… why are they…” Lilia stammered, utterly flustered.
“Tell me this is a dream. Wake me up,” Brenda said, composure crumbling.
“Were you not with her last night, Tina?” Edmund asked, lost.
“This… this is… should we leave, or—” Tina panicked, incoherent.
Brenda clutched her chest, breathing heavy rage. “It is not a dream! PRINCE DIO, YOU SCUM!”
The cause of their shock lay on the bed: the two highest-profile figures in the villa, sleeping soundly under the sheets. Prince Dio and G6.
The morning revealed a scene that would send ripples through the palace’s very foundations. There, in the soft dawn light, lay the kingdom’s most unapproachable prince and its most volatile noblewoman, shrouded in shared slumber. Questions hung, unspoken and dangerous, in the stunned silence.
How? What did it mean? What happened last night?
One truth became terrifyingly clear: when they awoke, the entire West Villa—and perhaps they would be forced to reckon with the consequences.
—To Be Continued…—
