[HEROINE'S POV]
Securing my good ending was infuriatingly difficult. Though I could see the script, I wasn't the director of this world; that power belonged solely to the Author.
I was profoundly bored and lonely, yet that wasn't the worst of it. The threat of my own mortality, the fear of being abruptly erased, was constant.
But so far, everything had become a monotonous routine.
Daimon, that pathetic swine, was too easy to manage. He was an Emperor utterly controlled by external forces, and he sought some semblance of comfort and authority by controlling me.
I wasn't socially gifted, I simply saw what needed to be done and flawlessly executed the behavior.
Still, everything was proceeding precisely as planned until now.
Agrona, that woman, seemed remarkably unbothered by the unfolding chaos.
In fact, the rumor mill suggested that immediately after my scandalous promotion to consort, she was already preparing the divorce and had secured a new candidate to replace Daimon.
My guess, confirmed by my observations, was Julian d'Arcy.
Unfortunately for Agrona, Julian was destined to become one of the heroine's Jewels.
While he was undeniably useless in terms of strength and standing, even copper holds value.
He was the perfect key for my future plans: gaining access to his aristocratic military household and eventually bringing the military faction to my side.
A hopeless romantic at heart, Julian longed for a woman in the mold of his mother, an idealized wife whom he could simultaneously adore and control.
Ostracized in his youth by his hyper-masculine brothers, Julian nurtured a fierce desire to be different from other men.
Tragically, this quest led to internalized entitlement as he saw himself as a savior, yet he was ultimately just as flawed and controlling as the very people he despised.
Therefore, I made my way to the National Library, Julian's predictable refuge, and found him exactly where the script said he would be.
That was exactly how it was supposed to happen, wasn't it?
So why, in this moment of perfect execution, was the woman I despised standing directly in front of me, obstructing my plans?
"Oh!" she exclaimed, her voice dripping with the fakest surprise.
What a magnificent bitch.
Even as a fictional character in this novel, Lilithia had the unique ability to grind my nerves into dust. "Is that you, Lilithia?"
Maintaining composure in that moment was nearly impossible. The flood of contradictory emotions threatened to shatter me.
First came disbelief, it was like seeing a ghost because she was a character designated as "dead" and officially scrubbed from the script.
That gave way to raw anger, fueled by everything she had done to me before I even realized this world was fictional.
Logically, my true fury should have been directed at the Author.
But Lilithia was the living, breathing symbol of my greatest fear, a constant reminder of my fictional mortality.
I couldn't afford to show that terror, the desperate drive to feel real and ensure I was never erased from existence.
It was baffling. Why was the other Jewel, Genevieve, here, acting as Cressida's escort?
The answer hit me with the force of a blow.
It wasn't Julian who was the potential new lover for Agrona. I had rarely seen him near the villainess. It was... Cressida?!
Had the Author added a massive plot twist? Was I going to be the one erased now, taking the place of the character whose story was never meant to be told?
I hate this. I hate this, I hate this.
I don't wanna die. Just, please, I just want to be real.
The fear is a chokehold. I can't be alone in this world, this empty, fabricated space. Once the ending comes, will I be gone too? Will I just... dissolve?
If the Author has changed the story, then must I change as well? Does this force me to actively fight the script and challenge their supreme power?
Should I?