Chapter 120 – Reader

At the wealthy, outrageously beautiful Wealth family mansion, inside a room where every light except the small lamp illuminating a desk had been switched off — plunging everything else into a shadowless darkness — Meadow sat with an expression brimming with excitement that was desperate to be released.

"I need to finalise everything for tomorrow." She muttered, low and hushed, her heart hammering inside her chest.

She was wearing her pink pyjama set, the pants so baggy they dragged along the floor. She had swapped her glasses for a black pair set in black diamond: a gift from her Third Brother on her seventeenth birthday, a year ago.

Unbothered by the darkness pressing in on all sides, Meadow tried to focus and draw back the memories of the recent events.

She filtered out the lengthy interrogation from her family about why she had come home so late and what had happened at the Event, and reached for a quieter, more concentrated space inside herself.

In front of her was a fresh sheet of paper and her pen. Everything was ready.

The only thing left was to write what she had experienced during the week, then refine it into a file she would send Cassius tomorrow.

But Meadow inexplicably found herself stuck.

She had witnessed so much during the Royal Event that she couldn’t decide what to write or where to begin.

Should she write about the Red Moon, and the monsters that had sent genuine shivers through her heart?

Should she write about her impressions of the other Heirs?

Or perhaps the battle between Cassius and Emrys, which had proven something none of them could have foreseen?

Or...should she write about Cassius and Isolde, dancing together in that shattered Hall, looking like beings from a distant world who had graced her with a love she had only ever believed possible in fiction?

All these questions. All these options, making the act of choosing feel more nightmarish than it had any right to.

After a moment of tense silence spent thinking in dizzying circles, Meadow let out a deep, long sigh.

’No need to overthink it.’ She decided, taking the pen slowly into her right hand and feeling the coolness of it at her fingertips. ’Cassius told me to write what I went through. That is more than enough. I only need to recount what I witnessed and felt.’

But that was precisely the problem. She had felt far too many emotions at the same time; and not only had she forgotten most of them already, but even the ones she still remembered...how could she possibly translate them onto paper with any accuracy?

Meadow had no idea. But she knew sitting here thinking about it would not help. So without another thought in her head, she pressed the pen to the paper and began to write, her mind travelling back through whatever she still could retrieve.

<I confess, reader, for someone who aspires to be a writer, my memories abandon me remarkably fast. As if they have better places to wander than inside my own head.

I wonder where those places are.

I confess, too, that this is simply an excuse I give myself, because I am afraid I will never do justice to what I experienced today. For today was the Royal Event where I met all my peers. The ones I will need to compete against in one month.

But, reader, I am no fighter.

I have never fought in my life. And today, as that Red Moon loomed over me, I nearly pissed myself in fright. No, that is not a joke. I genuinely almost did. The monsters — Children of the Red Moon, they were called — were trauma-inducing. Their single red eye in the middle of their chest was enough to send cold through my soul.

I was paralysed with fear. And that fear made me act in a way I never imagined.

I actually sought help from Cassius Desdemona.

Do you remember him, reader?

Yes, that man I told you I did not yet understand well enough to describe. That is still true. But I may have some new information about him.

Information that might actually surprise you, given what I said last time.

For one, Cassius Desdemona is monstrously talented. But that is not what surprised me most about him, reader. What made my heart beat faster — with excitement, do not misunderstand me — was his unyielding nature.

He did not give up even when he knew he was outclassed. He simply fought with everything he had and held on until the very end.

It was... inspiring.

And it made me realise that this is a quality I must absolutely take from him if I want to become a bestselling author.

I need to be unyielding, steadfast and resilient.

Just like Cassius.

Because the road toward a dream is never straight and never free of obstacles. If it were, it would not be a dream. And only steadfastness could carry me through every test ahead.

Honestly, I have so many things to write about from today. I only hope I don’t fall asleep in the process, because my eyes are heavy and my body is begging for rest.

But I know my memory. And I know I will forget more if I leave it until tomorrow.

So let me write now. And while I am at it...I may as well write about a new book idea that came to me today.

A romance book. Of course, what else?

Heheh.

But for it to work, I will need the acknowledgement and participation of Cassius and Isolde. I want them to be my reference and inspiration.

My muse, to be precise. Every author needs one, right? I think these two would be perfect.

What do you think, reader?

...Do you think they will be happy if I write a book based on them?>

And so, Meadow continued writing.

But instead of recounting what she had gone through...

...she had begun talking about how to write a romance book based on a couple who had struck something deep inside her.

...

Sunday arrived.

Solar light crept through the clouds and over the horizon like reaching fingers of brightness, dissolving the night and ending Saturday in a quietly glorious way.

Yet Cassius, having just woken up, was unable to appreciate any of it.

Not only because his entire body — already suffering under the Tier Five poison — was being battered by Isolde’s limbs, which could obviously not stay still during sleep. There was also the matter of the missed Saturday Origin Store.

To say Cassius was disappointed would be an understatement.

However, amid all of that, there was good news. And right now, flat on his bed with Isolde’s right foot pressed against his face, he looked at the notification panels that had been clamouring for his attention since he regained consciousness.

[Good morning, Cassius.] Ananke said, her voice soft and warm.

Cassius smiled — strained somewhat by the foot — and replied, ’Good morning, Queen. The day is finally over, isn’t it?’

[Finally.] She nodded, then her voice turned gloating. [Didn’t I tell you it would be alright?]

’Is this a sign that I should have unwavering faith in the Queen of Fate?’

[Because you didn’t? If your own faith in me isn’t unwavering, what am I to expect from anyone else?] Ananke complained.

’You know I am your most devoted believer.’

[By some twisted set of circumstances.]

’I am lucky, aren’t I?’

[You are.]

’Should I offer some burning essence to the goddess of luck, then?’

[If you wish to die...] Ananke grated. [Why not?]

’Harsh.’ Cassius chuckled inwardly. ’Would you kill your — and I am simply quoting you — Beloved Blessed?’

Ananke paused, her lips twitching with sudden embarrassment. Rather than answer, she chose silence, finding it pointless to continue trading words with her Blessed.

Cassius chuckled, then turned his attention fully to the notification panels in front of him, wanting to go through all of them before Isolde woke up.

’Now, what do we have here?’

First, the items obtained from killing the Tier Five Child of the Red Moon.

[You have obtained: Salt of Crimson Starlight (Tier 5), Cracked White Bone (Unknown).]

[Salt of Crimson Starlight: Ingesting this salt will either kill you instantly or grant your blood the characteristic {Poison}: one that slows the heartbeat of your opponent. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Choose wisely.]

[Cracked White Bone: A fragment of the bone structure of a being who once worshipped the Red Moon, back when it had not yet become dust and starlight.

Its use is unknown. It is an Incomplete Artifact.]

Cassius barely had time to finish reading before the items materialised in front of him.

He grabbed them quickly with his free hand before they could land on Isolde’s face, and stored them in his space ring after a brief look.

The Salt was contained in crimson wrappings that appeared to be made from the skin of a Child of the Red Moon. The Bone was only a fragment, about the length of a finger, bone-white and covered in crimson runes.

The aura coming off it was unsettling even in its incomplete state.

He shook his head, having no idea what it was or what it could be used for even with his game’s knowledge, and turned his attention to the rest of the notifications.

These ones concerned his Fated Quest.

[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! New Me!]

[Sit tight, Last Born. This one requires some elaboration.

You have proven yourself, not only to yourself, but to your peers and to all who witnessed that Event, that you were not what they all believed. Magnificent!

You have successfully framed an Organisation that predates your own birth, and done so without anyone suspecting a thing. Splendid!

You have assisted your sister in an action that violated every moral boundary without hesitation...purely out of love. A Desdemona, indeed!

You have further strained the relationship between Emrys of Heavens, beloved by the Sky, and Anesthesia of World, beloved by the Earth. Fantastic!

You went further still, placing Anesthesia of World in a difficult position against two other Chosen Ones, Jonathan of Grace and Love de Bayard. Cunning!

You have undeniably drawn the attention of every Chosen One present at the Event.

Glorious!

Congratulations, Last Born of the Desdemona. Your standing as a Fated Villain has taken another step forward in the Eye of the World. You are step closer to the next Villain Level.]

[Rewards: 200 Stat Points, 8,000,000 VP, Show Me Show Me Show Me Ticket (x2)]

Faced with these notifications, Cassius was so completely caught off guard that he unconsciously bit down on the foot of Isolde that happened to be resting near his mouth.

Teeth on flesh. Hard enough to register, soft enough that the pain dissolved a second later.

But that one second was all Isolde needed.

Her eyes snapped wide open. She twisted instinctively and drove her foot straight into Cassius’s jaw.

CRACK—!

"DAMN IT, ISOLDE!"

—End of Chapter 120—