Sleep didn't come that night.
My room was silent, only the candle flickering beside stacks of old documents. Books on history, royal bloodlines, forbidden rituals — anything that could tell me why the story was shifting so fast.
The hero arriving early… events speeding up… the system acting strange…
This wasn't normal.
And if it wasn't the world correcting itself, then there was only one explanation left.
Someone else was rewriting the story.
Someone like me.
Suddenly i heard a knock at the door. Three short taps.
"Come in."
Aria slipped inside, closing it gently behind her. She looked also tired too. "You found anything?"
"Not a name," I said, rubbing my forehead. "But I found a pattern."
I slid a paper toward her — a list of events that had happened weeks earlier than the original timeline. Training schedules changed. Monster attacks moved forward. The hero summoned too soon. Even minor nobles acting differently than they should've.
"Someone is pushing everything faster," she murmured.
"And they know what's coming," I said. "Which means they've read the story. Or lived it before."
Aria swallowed. "A second reincarnator."
"Exactly."
The candle cracked. Shadows stretched behind us.
"But why hide?" she whispered. "If it was you, you'd change things openly."
I met her gaze.
"Because they're not trying to fix the story," I said. "They're trying to win it."
Her silence confirmed it — she understood.
In stories like this, there were only three kinds of reincarnators:
1. The ones who want to save everyone.
2. The ones who want power.
3. And the ones who want to erase the competition.
And I had a bad feeling this one wasn't here to make friends.
The system pinged softly.
[Hidden Condition Detected: Rival Player is active.]
[Warning: Their objective is unknown.]
[Advice: Do not reveal your identity first.]
I clicked my tongue. "Yeah, thanks. That was the plan."
Aria folded her arms. "So how do we find them?"
I leaned back, lost in taughts. "We look for someone who is one step ahead of the world."
Someone who never looks surprised.
Someone too calm.
Someone who moves like they already know what happens next.
Then a face flickered in my mind.
Gentle smile. Noble posture. Never startled. Always watching.
Lady Seraphine Valmore.
The Duke's daughter. The one who appeared harmless in the original story… and died early in a side chapter.
Except this time?
She was very much alive.
And very, very involved.
"I think I know who it is," I said quietly.
Aria leaned in. "Who?"
I blew out the candle.
"Someone we've all been ignoring."
The room went dark.
Outside the window, somewhere in the silent palace,
another player was making their next move.
And they probably thought no one knew they existed.
⚜️ End of Chapter 9