Cressida immediately recalled Lilithia's promise that a letter would arrive "soon," but this was lightning fast.
"It smells... sweet?" she murmured.
The paper was heavily perfumed, not with a faint touch, but a loud, undeniable scent of an expensive floral fragrance.
This odor was so distinct, it could easily identify the sender.
Sending a heavily scented letter into an estate crawling with vampires, creatures renowned for their heightened sense of smell, seemed like an act of deliberate, glamorous sabotage.
Cressida stared at the paper, the powerful floral scent stinging her nostrils. "Is she aware I might get killed for this?" she muttered, knowing Agrona's nose could pinpoint that perfume from across the estate.
The raven was long gone. Careful not to tear the message, Cressida gently opened the envelope flap. Inside was a single, elegant sheet of parchment.
===
To the newest member of the Imperial family,
I do hope my letter arrived without incident.
I've taken the liberty of securing us a brief, private audience. As fellow "outsiders" in this tedious narrative, we must dispense with the formalities and I'd love to know you better.
You will find me at the "Whispering Gardens Tea Salon" in the diplomatic quarter. It is secured against eavesdroppers and its windows offer an excellent view of any suspicious black ravens.
Date: Tomorrow, during the noon hour.
Do not be late. I have already accounted for your attendance in my schedule. Failure to appear will, unfortunately, result in complications that even your fiancée cannot heal.
Your reluctant partner in this novel,
Lilithia,
===
║[SYSTEM ALERT]║║Unscheduled Event Detected — "Invitation from the Heroine."║
║[ERROR_2077] — Cross-Narrative Interaction Beyond Canon Boundaries.║
║System generating options…║
║[Join the Heroine] — Observe and interact cautiously.║
║[Decline] — Maintain current storyline stability.║
║…Processing…║
║…Processing…║║[ERROR_2081] — Option 'Decline' has been forcibly removed.║
║NOTICE: The system has classified the Heroine as an Absolute Narrative Hazard.║
║Compliance is now mandatory, not by the system, but by the meta-aware character. Non-compliance will lead to more aggressive endings.║
Wait.
Does Lilithia somehow have access to the system?
That shouldn't be possible.
The more logical, and terrifying, explanation was simply that the novel revolved around the heroine.
No matter what Cressida chose, going to the salon or not, she was perpetually bound to meet Lilithia if the heroine demanded it. The protagonist's gravitational pull over the story was inescapable.
This is starting to sound extremely bad.
Cressida looked down at the scented parchment, the elegant script suddenly seeming ominous. "Is this really an invitation, or is it coercion?"
She didn't know what the next day held, but she wouldn't let the anxiety consume her just yet.
Her first priority was survival by concealment.
She went straight to the bathroom to vigorously wash off the persistent floral scent of Lilithia's letter.
Only after scrubbing away the evidence did she return to bed, hoping to sleep peacefully and confident the heavy perfume was finally gone.
The night passed in what felt like a disorienting flash.
Cressida woke up without having dreamed, greeted once again by the sight of the eternal moon hanging in the sky.
She couldn't tell if the strange, mood-swinging atmosphere was due to the unpredictable chaos of her life, the constant twilight of the empire, or if she was simply going insane.
She rose and began to dress. Thankfully, Agrona had finally provided her with dresses that were actually her size, so she no longer needed to steal or wear ill-fitting clothes.
"Before I step one foot out the door, I need to check the digital store."
Most of her purchased items lay unused, gathering virtual dust due to her persistent streak of bad luck. Relying purely on chance against a heroine like Lilithia was a fool's game.