The Valmore garden looked peaceful in the morning.
Too peaceful.
White flowers lined the stone path, birds hopping without a care, the faint sound of water from a fountain carved into an angel holding a sword. Pretty. Quiet. Suspicious.
And sitting right in the middle of it, reading a book like she owned the world, was Lady Seraphine Valmore.
Gold hair. Calm smile. Soft posture that could fool gods and idiots alike.
She looked up as if she already knew I was there.
"Lord Kael," she said gently, closing her book. "You enjoy gardens too?"
I walked closer. "Only when the flowers have secrets."
A tiny pause. So small most people would miss it.
But I didn't.
She smiled again. "Then this must be your favorite place in the capital."
I sat across from her. No servants. No guards. No audience. Perfect.
The wind moved. My pulse didn't.
"If you could rewrite fate…" I said, casually brushing petals off the table, "would you?"
She blinked once. Slow. Thoughtful. "Depends. Is fate worth rewriting?"
There it was.
No confusion. No 'what do you mean.' No hesitation.
Wrong answer for someone normal.
I leaned back. "I used to think stories were cages. Turns out, they're just puzzles."
She tilted her head slightly. "And have you solved yours, Lord Kael?"
"Not yet," I said, smiling just like she did. "But I met someone who might know the ending."
Silence stretched.
Then, very softly—almost like a private joke—she said:
"Careful. Some endings bite back."
A chill went through me.
That line… wasn't from this world.
Not from history books, not from poems, not from politics.
That was a line from Volume 4. Chapter 39 of the original novel.
A chapter no one here was ever supposed to read.
I exhaled once. "So you remember it too."
Her eyes didn't widen. Her hand didn't shake. But the air around her changed.
She closed her book fully now.
"Remember what?" she asked, smile light as cloud, voice sharp as a sword.
I tapped the table twice. Our old world's curiosity habit. A test.
She tapped once more in response.
Rhythm complete.
Mirror answer.
Checkmate.
"You were never meant to live past Chapter 12," I said quietly.
"And you were never meant to wake up at all," she replied just as softly.
There it was.
Cards finally on the table.
Not confession. Not denial.
Recognition.
Two players. Same board. Different intentions.
I stood, dusting off my coat. "Glad we understand each other."
She opened her book again. "Understanding isn't alliance, Kael."
"Never said it was."
I started to walk away, then stopped.
Without turning, I added:
"But if the hero gets too loud… we might both need the villain to survive."
No reply.
Only the sound of a page turning.
But I felt it — the shift.
The game had officially evolved.
And we were both smiling at a war no one else knew had started.
🛡️ End of Chapter 10