I wonder how long it would take for me to break you.

I opened my eyes, exhaustion having faded away. I felt well-rested. My ceiling was hidden by the fabric of my four-poster bed. Sitting up, I looked to the side. I was in a bedroom—my bedroom. The curtains were closed, and no sunlight was showing through.

Close enough to morning.

Standing up, I had no issues with balance. I felt better than ever, actually. Which was a bit odd. Didn’t Aph always take a few days to rejuvenate after Val interacted with her soul? He even tried doing his experiments every three days, but Aph couldn’t keep up, so Val made it once every five days.

Right? Am I misremembering? I only reread the webnovel once or twice before it all got stubbed and turned into an actual series of novels, rereading it again in novel-format maybe twice. It was a several million word series, so doing much more than that would be excessive.

I always enjoyed it, though. It always felt like I noticed something new and exciting, and each character was so well crafted that there were hints of who they were behind their masks even at their first introductions. It was brilliant.

Going to the office, I saw it was cleaned of the chalked-on circle Val had drawn. How long would he do this?

Eight months, two days, four hours, and thirty-eight seconds.

I blinked at the memory of the words Val-Stans quoted all the time, nose scrunching.

That was how long Val said it took him to fall in love with Aphrodite after he started using her—with her permission—for various experiments. In reality, it was just how long it took them to fuck.

“I’ve noted that you are quite the… naughty individual,” Professor Lance murmured as he knelt by Aphrodite’s side. His cold purple hair was tied up behind him, sapphire gaze trailing hot lines down her form.

Aphrodite whimpered as Professor Lance’s fingers trailed her sweat-soaked form, the writhing of her soul calming at his touch. Pleasure rad—

Shaking my head to clear it of that scene, I go to the bathroom and draw myself up a bath. The water was a bit too hot, but I didn’t mind, removing the gaudy dress and using the full-body mirror to remove the various pieces of jewelry.

Soon I was in a bath with floating red rose petals within, the water a gentle pink and giving off a nice fragrance.

I gently scrubbed at my body. It felt nice to do it myself, instead of having a bunch of random chicks scrubbing roughly at my form. Soon my make-up was gone, and I remained in the bath for a long time, relaxing.

Then I got out after ensuring I was as clean as I could be, drying myself off and making sure I didn’t leave anything behind. I couldn’t figure out how to drain the bathtub, so I just left the water in it.

Wandering out, into my room, I went to my wardrobe. It was bigger on the inside, to my surprise, and I had to climb into it to look through the dresses.

Eventually I found a simple and nice one that matched my eyes, the dark forest emerald a nice color. The dress was simple but felt like satin. Regardless, it fit nicely, the shoulders being exempt from the sleeves and the dress’s back not being too hard to tie by myself so long as I had a mirror.

It felt like it needed something, I mused, looking at Percy in the mirror. Maybe… earrings and a necklace? No. I mean yeah I hadn’t put any jewelry on yet, but… Oh!

Going back to my wardrobe, I grabbed a thin black cloak that didn’t close in front. Wrapping it around my shoulders, I looked in the mirror.

Crimson red hair fell over my shoulders, and the cloak really made the relatively simple dress stand out. Humming, I go to where I saw people pulling out jewelry from and opened it.

Taking some simple green earrings, I put them on, also slipping an emerald-embedded ring onto my middle finger.

I felt like that was enough, since so far as I was aware I wasn’t going anywhere. Going through my wardrobe, I found green shoes that didn’t have high heels and put them on.

While seeing the rainbow armada of clothing, jewelry, and shoes was a bit overwhelming, I just ignored it.

Unprompted, a memory of my well-loved and dull shoes that were falling apart came to mind.

I missed them. They were comfortable, though they didn’t look good.

I left my hair down, letting it do whatever it wished as it dried. It curled and spun, to my surprise, hair growing wavy.

It was only a surprise because Aph had straight hair, so I’d assumed I did too, with how I’d only seen it after the servants dealt with it.

Persephone looked nice with wavy hair, I mused, wandering to the exit of my room and going into the office. Making it out of the office and into the hallways, I walked to the library.

Slipping in, I walked to the stack of books I had to finish by the time the lessons started. Going back to the one I was pulled from, I continued reading through it.

A few hours later, Lucius sat down in front of me, looking disgruntled.

“The castle is looking for you,” Lucius commented.

I hummed, flipping to the next page, “And?”

“It’s a serious thing when a princess goes missing,” Lucius responded, reaching out.

“Hey!” I cried, defensively holding the book I was reading to my chest, “What sort of monster are you? I’m mid-paragraph.”

Lucius hesitated, then sighed, standing up, “Very well. I have to inform the king that you had simply decided to be proactive about your studies.”

I hummed again, continuing to read. I was struggling, but it became easier and easier as time went on. After all, they still spoke the same language, it just had a different written form than I was used to.

Thankfully it was phonetic instead of something like pictograms. The book I was reading was about the history of the kingdoms.

I think. I was more focused on reading the words and understanding what each word meant rather than understanding the book as a whole. I would have to re-read all the books I’d set aside once I was able to comfortably read.

From what I knew so far, there were five major kingdoms and a bunch that no one really cared about. Each major kingdom had an alliance to a specific realm. The five kingdoms were Silver, Light, Life, Effort, and Rage.

Our kingdom, the Kingdom of Silver, was allied with the Fae that resided within the forestry of our borders.

The Demon King—and he was a king, not a lord—was the ruler of the Kingdom of Light, allied with the Demonic realm.

The Kingdom of Life was allied with the realm of the gods.

The Kingdom of Effort was allied with the realm of the Void.

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The Kingdom of Rage was allied with the realm of spirits.

No one was currently allied with the astral realm, to my surprise. Why did the astral realm participate in the war if no one was allied with them?

I suppose Orion, an immortal angel with hair, eyes, and wings black as midnight was the ruler of that realm. If he truly wished to take Aph as his own, he would probably force his realm to participate in a war on this realm. The realm of magic. I wouldn’t really know, I didn’t like him much.

He was kind of a douche-bag. I suppose it wasn’t his fault he was a bag of dicks, but whatever.

I didn’t have to like a character just because their dickish behavior was explained away by cultural differences.

Before I could finish more than a page, the doors to the library slammed open. I looked behind me, seeing that Pelias and the king were there.

Pelias was breathing heavily. I found myself being dragged to my feet and hugged tightly by him.

What? What was this? I hesitated, slowly returning the hug.

“Pelias?” I asked awkwardly, patting him a few times on the back.

“Call me brother,” Pelias muttered, hugging me tighter.

“What?”

“Call me brother. I really liked it when you called me that, before,” Pelias admitted, “You never responded to us before you lost your memories. You only ever spoke to father, or spoke of us as if we weren’t there.”

“… Huh.” What a piece of work. Why wasn’t Persephone focused on more in the novel, if she was such a piece of shit? “Okay, then. Brother, if you would let go?”

Pelias tightened his grip. I couldn’t breathe, struggling in his hold.

“No. I thought… twice now, I thought I’d lost a sister. I’m not letting you go.”

…

Well. This was kind of awkward. Poor Pelias. How long has he been pining for his sister’s affection, for him to be like this after I go missing for a bit?

I tried speaking, but I wheezed instead. His grip on me relaxed, and I gasped for air.

Pelias held me for a long time, the king quietly taking his leave sometime between. I felt kind of guilty, so I made sure to hug him tightly.

“Sorry for how I treated you in the past, then,” I proclaimed at some point within the hug, very awkwardly, “I won’t do so in the future. Should you wish to hug me or otherwise converse with me, I would welcome it. However if I don’t study I won’t get into the Academy…”

“It’s nine months away,” Pelias refuted stubbornly.

I sighed, “Dude. I can’t read. I need those nine months.”

Pelias was silent for a moment, then his arms dropped. I stared up into clear eyes reflecting the green of mine, his hand resting on my hair. His tone was serious.

“I’ll get Mercury to help create blackmail for Silas.”

I gaped as he turned on his heel, walking away.

“Aw. I’m not that hopeless, am I?”

“Unfortunately, unless you study harder than is actually viable,” Lucius mentioned casually from where he was sitting at the table, a book open in his lap. I sighed, walking over.

The next three days were miserable, me suffering through reading and re-reading books, Lucius drilling me on various subjects as well as further expanding on others.

He was quite the good teacher, to my surprise, explaining everything well. If only he didn’t mention how unlikely it was that I would pass the entrance exam every time I answered a seemingly obvious question wrong…

Soon enough, Val reappeared.

“So. You’re a professor of the Academy, right?” I asked before he could even glance up.

Val hesitated, looking up from the book he’d been reading. He was clearly dazed, having been quite into whatever he’d been reading.

“Yes…?”

“So you totally have dirt on other professors, right?”

Val thought for a moment, accurately guessing what I wanted from him, “I don’t believe Silas has done anything illegal nor dubious since the time we started working together. If ever.”

I sighed heavily, “Does he really have no weaknesses?” I whined, slumping into the chair opposite Val, “How am I supposed to get into the Academy if the barrier between me and entering is a paragon of fucking perfection?”

“I did not say he had no weaknesses,” Val mused thoughtfully, “However I do not believe anything could be used against him. He is a very righteous individual.”

“He is,” I agreed wistfully, sighing as I thought about my favorite character.

He wasn’t villainous, but he could outsmart some of my other favorites. Silas was truly a beautiful, wonderful man. I really adored him. He was kind of a slut, though.

I hummed. Wait, couldn’t I use that against him?

“Doesn’t he have—no, wait, nevermind,” I muttered, recalling the laws of this world regarding sex. Or, rather, the lack thereof. I sighed heavily.

It was a world from an Erotica novel. If there were stigmas against being sluts in this world half the things that happened, wouldn’t. The men especially had no qualms, some having multiple wives and husbands. Well. The women did too, I guess, some chicks having ten or more husbands.

Children and heirs without known parents were common amongst nobles in this world. So was contraception, though. And DNA tests, I think, unless that small side-story about Mercury and Pelias wasn’t canon.

Damn.

“I do not see why you would wish to go to the Academy at all,” Val queried, fingers tapping at the table as he stared at me, “While it would prevent you from ascending the throne and becoming Queen, you don’t seem keen on leadership.”

Why did Val only ask the questions I couldn’t answer?

“… Yes,” I agreed, sighing as I pouted at him.

Couldn’t he ask easier questions that I could answer, like what my favorite color was?

“Then why do you wish to get into the Academy?” Val asked.

My pout faded, and I shrugged, “I have stuff I have to do. Things I want to learn.” People I want to save. Dimensional boundaries to another world I want to cross.

Val frowned, “You say you came here by accident, and yet you seem to have a lot of secrets you wish to keep. If it is something important to you why don’t you tell me? As your ally I can only help you if I know what your intentions are.”

I hesitated.

Val sighed, shaking his head as he stood up, “Very well. Keep your secrets, then. Come here.”

I stood up, wandering to the area I’d been in before. Like what happened before, Val lost focus, working hard to set up his ritual to observe my soul. Magical lines once more appeared throughout my entire office, and I was bound to one spot by Val’s magic.

“Excellent,” Val muttered, sighing as he stood up, tossing the chalk to the side as he walked toward me.

I looked into his eyes as he reached up, fingers gently brushing against my cheek as he pushed my hair behind my ear. It’s silent a moment, no pain nor magic occurring.

“I just want to help,” Val said.

I tried to look away, but Val’s hand was on my chin, preventing me from doing so.

I stared into his gaze, mesmerized. What beautiful eyes. Did everyone have eyes as beautiful as his?

“Tell me, please. I’m certain I can be of use to you.”

My entire world was the blue of his eyes.

“It’s difficult to explain, it’s best if I don’t. Can you please drop it?”

Val’s fingers trailed to my neck, his eyes focused intently on mine, pleading with me, “Do you truly believe that I would wish ill-intent upon whatever plans you pursued? I am your only ally. You can rely on me, I promise.”

I hesitated. I wish Kairos was here. I need him. Would Valentine knowing really hurt anything?

“I…” My will broke, “If…” I stuttered a lot, unsure of how to say what I wanted. What my purpose behind going to the Academy was. What was my purpose?

Obviously to try and prevent the grudges that formed within the walls due to Aph’s beauty and unwillingness to commit to a relationship, stopping a war and saving the lives of my precious favorites.

But how could I say that?

“… A… war. I’m trying to stop a war from happening that will destroy this planet and all the mortal denizens within. It starts at the Academy, with Aph being the cause, so far as I know.”

I felt dazed as I stared up at Val. This was a mistake. I need to… I…

“Are you from the future?”

“No,” I admitted easily.

“Then how do you know this?”

“Nnn—“ Don’t answer, “The same way I know your name.”

Val looked frustrated, sighing roughly.

“Are you a prophet?”

“No.”

Val shook his head, “Let us move on, then. Most individuals can’t handle this twice in one week, but you seem to be fine.”

I blinked, “Huh? Yeah, I was fine morning after, so far as I know.”

Val hesitated, eyes glittering, “Really?”

“… Yeah?”

“Interesting,” Val breathed.

Before I could reply, he started. I couldn’t prevent the first cry, only barely suppressing the second.

The end of my day was very similar to how it had been before, Valentine writing as I slumped into the chair opposite him.

“I would like to try this again tomorrow,” Val mentioned once I was mostly able to stand again, not tripping me this time.

“Y-yeah, ‘course,” I managed, going to my room.

“I shall see myself out, then,” Val murmured as I closed the door. Flopping onto the bed was the best thing I’d ever done in my life.