"THE

...

"I’m going to put the plan into action." Blandina said, already saying goodbye to the others, her posture different, far too relaxed for the test.

"This is a good chance to take the Token." She added.

"Where are you going, Blandina?" one of the Dragloaf twins asked.

"To the Emperor’s palace." She said simply. "To steal the Token."

"What!? Just like that?"

Blandina shrugged, a light, almost casual gesture.

She grabbed her own skin. "Now I’m a noble." She said. "You guys should learn how to use that too."

Each of them looked at themselves for a moment, perhaps remembering for the first time consciously that they were no longer in just any world. They were in Aethelgard, where a noble title opened doors that no brute force could ever force open.

The Rosengard House carriage rolled alone through the wide streets leading to the imperial center, with only Blandina inside, dressed in royal clothing.

"Miss." the coachman said, his voice hesitant. "May I ask what you’re going to do there?"

Blandina didn’t answer immediately, looking out the window, watching the city change character as they approached the palace.

"I mean..." the coachman continued, "...it’s so sudden. No appointment. And... we’re talking about the Emperor, you know? You should be afraid. Not to mention your father might not even know... and... and..."

"Calm down." Blandina cut him off, her voice firm. "It’s just a study visit. Nothing more."

"But it’s so sudden, Miss..."

"I said calm down." She repeated, more firmly this time. "He’s my father. If I screw up, I’ll be the one getting punished. Not you."

Blandina Rosengard, daughter of Baron Rosengard, a noble family with enough connections to justify a formal visit to the palace without prior notice.

She sighed, looking at her reflection in the window.

"Ay, qué necesidad tener tantas reglas en este mundo de mierda..." she muttered in Spanish, more to herself than to the coachman.

As they drew closer, all that could be seen were guards with black crests, rigid posture, silver masks reflecting the afternoon light.

They asked no questions. The Rosengard House crest on the side of the carriage was enough. They simply watched, calculating, and let them pass.

The coachman swallowed hard and made the sign of his religion, a quick, almost invisible gesture, fingers touching forehead and chest.

They reached the main gate. Two guards signaled them to stop.

Blandina opened the carriage window.

"Lady Blandina." one of the guards said, recognizing her immediately, his tone respectful but cautious.

"I’ve come to deal with matters related to Astraeus Eldrath Academy." She said, her voice completely changing, formal, rehearsed. "I require access to the historical archives regarding the academy’s founding. The Emperor granted Eldrath students priority access to those documents, did he not?"

The guard hesitated.

"He knows." Blandina thought. "I played the original game. I know exactly how much the Emperor values the academy, and the priorities given to its students that would only be officially revealed after the tests ended."

"Are you an Eldrath student, my lady?" the guard asked. "I thought you were still taking the entrance tests to confirm that..."

"I am." She confirmed with perfect composure.

The guard looked behind him, silently consulted something with his companion, then turned back.

"One moment."

Minutes later, enough time to make Blandina genuinely nervous despite all her calculated confidence, the guard gestured.

"Open the gates."

High above, Eugen was studying, books and scrolls full of calculations about the Custodians’ coin system spread across his desk while a servant wrapped fresh bandages around his chest.

He heard the gates opening.

"My lord, you really shouldn’t keep risking your life like this." the servant said, finishing the knot.

"For the Empire, I’d do anything." Eugen answered without looking at him.

"But you know you may become the heir someday. You’re among the candidates."

Eugen smiled, small but genuine.

"I have no intention of becoming Emperor."

He stood and walked to the balcony to see who had arrived.

It was the Rosengard House carriage.

He recognized the crest before consciously processing it.

He remembered the day at the Cathedral, her neck in his hand, discovering her true identity.

"Blandina Rosengard Van’Morvayne... I uncovered your secret."

He smiled again.

Then walked back inside.

The butler was already preparing appropriate clothes, not armor, but refined civilian attire.

"Arthur will be the Emperor." Eugen commented as he put on the shirt the butler held out. "My brother has far more talent for those things."

"Arthur." the butler repeated, his tone neutral, though something in his voice suggested unspoken doubt.

"He’s coming today." Eugen added, without needing to specify who. "I know he is. He needs to attend Eldrath."

He looked aside. There were flowers in a vase near the window. He picked one, smelling it.

"Women like these, don’t they?"

The butler frowned, genuinely puzzled. Seeing Eugen show any interest in women that wasn’t strategic was unusual.

...

The palace interior was breathtaking in every way.

Blandina couldn’t help herself, walking through the waiting hall taking in every detail with her eyes: enormous deep-red velvet curtains, paintings covering entire walls with scenes of ancient battles, artifacts displayed inside glass cases, each pulsing with its own mana.

"Now this is the pinnacle of royalty." She thought, stopping before a marble statue.

"You know... thinking about it... maybe I should’ve chosen one of the Emperor’s daughters in the original game."

"Blandina."

She turned.

It was Eugen, wearing royal attire beneath a black coat, blond hair falling slightly over his forehead, carrying himself completely differently from the armored knight she’d seen before.

He bowed.

Blandina bowed as well, automatically, old habits from childhood.

Because that was exactly what they had been in the game: childhood friends, lovers of stories and military literature, back when the world had been simpler and neither of them knew what the other carried inside.

There was no need for unnecessary formalities between them and, importantly, neither version of them (from the original game) had ever developed anything romantic, only friendship.

"How have you been?" Eugen asked as he approached. "It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Did you come to meet the Emperor?"

"Not directly." Blandina answered. "I came to deal with matters related to the academy. I need books concerning Eldrath’s founding."

"What an interesting coincidence." Eugen commented. "I’ve been researching the academy’s history lately too." He wasn’t lying.

"Because of our test?"

"Because of several things."

They walked together through the corridor, footsteps echoing over polished marble while the guards gave slight bows as the two passed.

Eugen suddenly stopped and took something from the inside pocket of his coat.

A rose, red, perfect, still covered in drops of dew that shouldn’t have existed indoors.

"Oh?" Blandina raised an eyebrow.

"I saw your carriage arriving." Eugen explained, holding it out. "I knew it’d be you. Quite an unexpected visit."

Blandina accepted the rose.

The flower darkened instantly, crimson turning black, the petals keeping their shape while losing every trace of their original color.

"Thank you." She said, genuinely surprised. "I’m surprised."

"Long-term mission." Eugen thought, smiling inwardly while keeping a neutral expression outwardly. "Make Blandina fall in love with me. She has something that’ll help with the Imago Dei... A Gamer. Hahaha."

On her side, her thoughts were completely different:

"Damn... I don’t think that’s something an ordinary NPC would do." Blandina thought, carefully holding the black rose. "My crush just had to be an NPC..."

"But for now I should only use him to get into the relic chamber."

"Come." Eugen offered his arm.

Blandina accepted, and the two continued down the corridor.

...

"You’ve been disappearing a lot at the academy." Blandina commented. "I only saw you during the opening ceremony."

"I’ve been handling a few matters." Eugen answered, intentionally vague.

They arrived at the royal library.

The butler came running, a bottle in hand.

"Master Eugen, your medicine. You forgot to take it."

"Oh, right." Eugen took the bottle and drank it in one gulp.

"Huff." He grimaced. "That burns."

The butler opened the library doors, revealing an enormous space, bookshelves stretching toward an unseen ceiling, only a few occupants inside: several saints reading quietly, two or three knights speaking softly in one corner.

"Are you sick?" Blandina asked, noticing his expression.

"Sort of." Eugen said. "Injured, actually."

"Injured?"

"Want to see?"

Moments later, they stood together in an isolated corner between towering bookshelves. Eugen removed his coat, then his shirt, revealing a muscular torso partially wrapped in fresh bandages.

"Damn." she thought quietly. "This NPC is killing me."

His body looked sculpted despite the bandages, old scars mixed with newer wounds, every muscle defined in a way that looked more like art than ordinary anatomy.

"Want to touch?" Eugen asked, his voice far too casual to be completely innocent.

Blandina slowly placed a hand against his torso, hesitating in a way that didn’t match the confidence she’d shown all day.

"You’re still acting like a tough guy." She said, trying to keep her tone light.

"Not at all. I’m just naturally like this."

"How did you get hurt like this?" She asked, her fingers still resting against his skin, feeling the warmth, feeling something she hadn’t expected to feel.

Eugen took her hand, not roughly, but firmly enough to keep her from pulling away.

The afternoon sunlight streamed through one of the library’s tall windows, striking his eyes, making their deep blue glow with an almost supernatural brilliance for a brief moment.

Blandina lifted her face without realizing she was doing it.

"Gamer." Eugen said, not asking. Stating.

Looking straight into her eyes, serious, with none of the flirtatiousness from a few minutes earlier.

Absolute silence.

"Shit." Blandina thought, feeling her heart race for reasons that had nothing to do with romance.

"He knows."

"He always knew."