“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.

The next day I woke up as refreshed feeling as I had before. Getting up, I did much the same as I did the last time I woke up earlier than the servants. Getting myself ready, I left my room.

In the hallway, Kairos was waiting. I hesitated.

“Ah, hello,” I greeted.

“Hello,” Kairos replied, falling just a step behind me as I walked to the library, “Apologies for not being around very often. I have been working elsewhere in the castle.”

“Hm? It’s fine,” I dismissed, glancing at him, “Get any useful info?”

Cyan hair and honey eyes made me relax. What a beautiful guy.

“Nothing that would indicate what you have foreseen, no,” Kairos disagreed.

I hummed, shrugging. I didn’t expect him to find anything useful. The only thing I could really rely on to help stop the war and save the world—or at least my favorite characters—was my own knowledge of the events and of the political climate.

… To think that I’ve almost been here a week, and two people already know my secret. Did Kairos know I was from another world? Valentine was too oblivious to suspect anything like that, so I was safe in that aspect.

Safe. Safe. Why would I care if Val knew I was from another planet?

…

Because he would definitely want to do a full-soul-scan, which was much worse than whatever he was doing now, according to the novel. It was described as the worst feeling on the planet, even.

I didn’t want that. That would suck. I already had several moments each day where I would start trembling because of the foreignness of being in a body not my own. If he did that I wouldn’t even be able to move my limbs correctly.

That would really suck.

Bang!

My back slammed into a wall, all the breath leaving my lungs as I stared into crimson red eyes.

Crimson… huh? Who…

My vision took a while to focus, and I found myself staring at the Demon King. Pain burned through my back, the cold of the stone brick numbing some of it.

His hand was by my head. Glancing to the side, I saw a crater in the wall, his fist still in it. Oh. That… didn’t seem good.

“Uhh…” I managed, looking back to the Demon King.

The refined elegance and cruel villainy I’d admired him for seemed gone. If anything, he looked kinda… sad?

“Are you okay?” I asked, tilting my head.

“You’re no longer a virgin,” The Demon King said.

I blinked, “… Huh?”

“While demons do not pay much heed to how many you’ve had in bed, we still value loyalty,” The Demon King replied. His voice was intent, but not angry.

Oh. Oh no. Was he dating me? Were we dating? Did I accidentally cheat on this guy? Oh that was so sad. No wonder Percy hated Aph, if Aph literally stole Percy’s boyfriend from her.

“Um,” I enunciated, unsure how to go about this, feeling just as heartbroken. Noo I hurt one of my favorite characters! Agh he was my second favorite too! No, how could I fix this?

“You… Uh, w-were we… together?” Before he could respond I continued, “Sorry, I mean, um, I have amnesia, so I don’t-I don’t really… know? If we were, I am so sorry. I would not have, um, cheated, had I known. That we were a thing.”

“Amnesia…” The Demon King looked down, his long black hair straight and silken.

He looked like he needed a hug, but I felt like if I hugged him it would only hurt him more.

“She certainly didn’t know,” Kairos agreed. I looked over, seeing him looking oddly smug, “She came up with everything she could think of as reasons we shouldn’t have.”

Kairos dived to the side as the Demon King’s hand snapped out, an odd energy escaping his hand. Tears filled the Demon King’s eyes as he turned to glare at Kairos. The enraged Demon King darted forward.

“Kairos!” I yelled out, eyes wide as blood sprayed.

I stared at Kairos as he collapsed to the ground, spraying blood slowing down after a moment. This was real. Oh my god, this was real.

Fuck.

Fuck.

This wasn’t just a story where all the characters would be okay, where everyone would survive and everyone would be happy.

He was my only ally. I couldn’t lose him.

But I couldn’t move. The Demon King turned, staring at me with glowing red eyes, blood covering his face. I stared at him.

No.

No…

I, I had to—Persephone was good at healing magic, right? So, so all I had to do…

Magic. Magic was circles. Circle math, right?

Circle…

Math…

The Demon King took a step forward, and my thoughts frayed, vanishing as I looked to him. My breathing hitched.

These weren’t just characters. These were real people. Real people who could die. Real people who could be gone forever.

Kairos couldn’t die. The world wouldn’t have survived half as long without him.

The world blurred and faded around me. I only realized I’d been backing away from the Demon King when he darted forward faster than I could see and grabbed me.

Before I could do anything, I blinked, yawning as I woke up. I was leaning against the wall of my house. Glancing to the side, I saw the shredded book.

“It was a dream? Wild,” I mused, picking up the scraps of paper, staring at some of the words. Even the title was illegible, though. I sighed, standing up.

It felt like so long…

Well, whatever.

Looking around my home, I hesitated at the sight of the Demon King.

“Am I still hallucinating?” I wondered, walking up to him. He seemed taller when I was Percy.

An odd but familiar feeling overcame me. Carefully, I reached out, afraid. My hand touched his chest. I jerked back, dancing away like I’d just touched a spiderweb.

“Fuck, you’re real!”

The Demon King looked around, at my home, “You are not Persephone.”

I hesitated. No point in lying now, “Uh, no. No, I, um… I kind of just woke up as her. The moment I punched Aphrodite is when I woke up as Persephone. You… were there…”

The Demon King looked back to me, “Did you die?”

“What?” I asked, bewildered.

“Did you die, in this world? This is Earth, realm of the mundane, not Eros, realm of magic.”

I blinked. Oh… right… I suppose he would have access to both worlds, right? Being the king of hell and all…

“Uh, n-no? I didn’t die. I just destroyed that book and stood up, pretending to punch Aph…” I gestured.

The Demon King hummed, looking at the scraps of the book I’d destroyed.

“You are lucky, then. If you had died, it would mean Persephone was dead. She might be alive in your body.”

I blinked at the knowledge, “That’s… possible?”

“Yes,” The Demon King muttered, speaking to himself even as he wandered around my apartment, “If she had died before you took over her body, that would mean you’d be in a coma… Where is this on Earth?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

A coma? Me? I had no one to take care of my body… No one to notice I was in a coma. If I was in a coma, I would have died from dehydration by now.

I swallowed, feeling vaguely sick. Did that mean that even if I wanted to go home, I couldn’t? That if I did find a god that they’d tell me I was shit out of luck?

A hand wrapped around my throat, shoving me against the wall. Red eyes glowed violently, the king of demons really looking the part.

“Where is this?” He demanded.

“L-like my address?” I asked, listing it off for him.

After a moment, he nodded, dropping me. I found myself standing in the hall I’d just left.

On the ground, Kairos bled. No. People could die, but not now. Not him.

Reaching out, I felt my soul, knowing what it felt like due to all the interaction others have had with it. It felt like me.

The healing circle was about three inches when Lucius healed himself. This is a serious injury, so I would say two-pi-r, two-r is just the diameter, so if I want a diameter of say five feet, that’s sixty inches, that’s sixty times pi, which is sixty times three-point-one-four, which is…

I didn’t notice the large green circle appearing in front of my hand.

Six times four is twenty-four…

Two-forty, so add two to the base numeric and four to the first decimal. One times sixty is easy, that’s sixty, add six, six plus the two already there, that’s…

Eight-point-four right now.

Sixty times three is ninety.

That means the answer is…

Ninety-eight-point-four…

No.

Sixty times three was…

180!

The answer is 188.4!

A giant green circle spanned the entirety of the hallway. I focused on Kairos.

Come on, come on, come on, heal, please, please don’t die.

Wait! I could help the spell with medical knowledge, right?

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, cells are what make up a human body, they stick together with sticky proteins that act as a sort of glue. In order to survive the brain needs oxygen, which, while typically delivered by blood, doesn’t have to happen. If my magic can add oxygen into the blood currently in the brain directly I would have more time to close the wound and—

I staggered, eyes glazed over as I collapsed to the ground. At my yelling and the loud explosive sounds guards and others must have been alerted, because I found myself being picked up by… Pelias?

His arms felt secure around me, and while I knew he would kill me should he find out I wasn’t actually his sister, I couldn’t help but feel comforted.

But…

“Kai…?” I managed before I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was happy. My head was splitting open, my entire body felt like it was on fire, and my soul ached like Val had decided to drag it across nails instead of simply observing it.

But Kairos was very clearly alive, standing right next to the bed. He looked exhausted.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” I muttered as I sat up.

Kairos jerked, eyes widening, “Y-are you crazy?! You almost killed yourself trying to save me! The king had said I was dead. Had you been anyone else you would have been executed for necromancy before you could wake up!”

I hesitated, “Huh? No, it takes… it takes a long time for people to die after their heart stops beating. I’m not a necromancer,” I stood up, whimpering when I was shoved back down, holding my head.

“Stay here. I need to inform everyone you’re awake.”

My plans for the day had been not only thoroughly ruined, but now I was closer to the deadline of the entrance exam.

And also the Demon King was coming to either kill me or send me back to the mundane realm.

Suddenly, I really, really wanted to stay. I wanted to save this world. I wanted to meet all of my favorite characters. I wanted to try the weird looking foods. I wanted to hug Mercury more, and I wanted to be a good sister to him and Pelias. I wanted to protect Aphrodite. I wanted to call that ethereal king dad, and I wanted him to think of me as his daughter. I want to interact with the story that I’d obsessed over for what felt like years.

It wasn’t mine to want. It was something the original Persephone should have.

My day was full of trying to get out of bed and getting forced back down as more people appeared. Soon, I was just chilling, sitting between Pelias and Mercury.

“Father, please—“

“That’s enough, Aphrodite,” The king snapped, “I don’t know why you believe that this is not your sister, but two of the most prominent soulmancer’s in the country are absolutely certain she is. The Demon King himself looked at her and said she was my daughter.”

Huh? That was news to me. The Demon King said I was Persephone? Why would he do that? Didn’t he plan to kill me if Persephone wasn’t inhabiting my body back home?

Regardless, I ignored the argument that had been going on for the entirety of the meal, slowly eating all the rainbow and weird things put on my plate.

I was glad I did. Each flavor was unique and wonderful, and I adored the food I was certain I wouldn’t get to enjoy much longer.

I savored every bite. For the next week, my life was waking up to Kairos standing by my side, going to the library and struggling to catch up, listening to Aph fight with the king about me during dinner, and then going back to the library to continue studying until Kai or Lucius physically pried the book away from me.

Then Val reappeared, and I hesitated as I walked inside, already exhausted. Kairos had only just managed to drag me from the library.

“It’s been two weeks since you almost died saving a servant,” Val muttered, not being kind as he flung said servant out of the room with magic, the door slamming shut.

I stared at him, confused. As he turned to me, I tilted my head, “Are you annoyed you weren’t able to do more research?”

Val hesitated, “Can I not be concerned about your wellbeing?”

“No,” I righted my head, staring at him earnestly, “For the moment you only see me as an interesting test subject, right?”

Val frowned, “I see you as an ally.”

I hummed, not believing him. Whatever.

“Okay,” I agreed to placate him.

It took him eight full months of consistent exposure to fall in love with a literal saint. No way in hell would he think of me as more than a petty interest of his until at least five months have passed, right?

Ugh, speaking of eight months, “What’s believable blackmail to pin on Silas? Or what threat do you think would work?” I asked as I wandered to the approximate location I always went to.

Magic spread throughout the entire room. It felt weird. I could actually feel it, now. I could feel the way it pulsed out, and I could feel the equations behind it. At least partially, anyway.

“You’re really powerful,” I said, sort of awed at the feeling pulsing all around me.

“Yes, you’ve said before,” Val mentioned as he walked up.

“This is my first time feeling it, though,” I refused, looking at him.

Thwack! The world spun as I found myself on the ground, dazed.

“You idiot. I feel it is only appropriate to do as you have done to others and mention all of your stupid fallacies,” Val said harshly as I picked myself up, “You almost killed yourself for a servant.”

I blinked a few times, confused. Did he just…? “Ah, uh… Yeah… kind of.”

“Kind of?” Val snapped.

“Um…” I thought, a bit dazed, hand reaching up, “Fuck you hit hard. Did I hit them that hard? Jesus.”

“If I see you doing such reckless things again, I will not be as easy on you as I am today,” Val threatened.

“Huh?” My eyes focused on his, pain forgotten.

That was out of character. Val didn’t threaten people.

His expression was irate, and his hair was a frizzy mess. There were bags under his eyes, and in general Valentine looked like he’d pulled a few all-nighters.

“Are… you okay?” I wondered, tilting my head.

His annoyance grew, and he glowered, “Are you mocking me?”

I blinked, “What? Dude. Can’t you see souls? You should be able to see how genuine I’m being. Are you… Like are you actually okay? I’m worried about you. Are you hungry?”

“Am I—“ The glower on Valentine’s face vanished, and he looked almost faint, “You…”

After a long silence, he shook his head. Valentine’s magic reached out, and I found myself pinned in place.

“You didn’t answer,” I muttered, head shifting and cheek turning to avoid his touch.

Val sighed, “Yes. I am fine.”

I gave him a discerning look. I couldn’t read his face, though, and before I could really focus too hard I was suffering under the observations of my soul.

After that, Val appeared in the library each night instead of just waiting for me to get back, dragging me to my room several hours before I usually appeared. Whenever I tried pushing it off to a later time, I was magically floated off the ground.

The first time I’d freaked out, clinging to Val and apologizing profusely, begging to be set down. The fifteenth time I was just sullen. The dinners continued along the same strain, each one getting louder and louder.

“What do you mean no?! It’s not hard to get another soulmancer in here!” Aph yelled, throwing her bowl of soup at me, “That’s not Persephone! Why won’t you believe me?!”

It hurt. I jerked back, standing up, hands coming up to hold at my face. My eyes burned, and my fingers felt like they were melting.

Slowly, I dropped my hands, blinking a few times. Though my eyes wouldn’t stop tearing up, I could still see, so I just turned and walked away.

I ignored the rest of the argument and waved off my brothers.

When I got to my room, I hesitated, seeing Val. He glanced up even as I ignored him. Did he always wait here so early in the day? I thought he would arrive after the sun set, seeing as that’s usually when he pulled me from my studies.

I had to go strip and wash my face, now, though, so I walked toward my room. Magic reached out on my journey to the door. My face and eyes hurt a lot less.

“Thanks.”

“What happened?” Val asked.

“Nothing,” I muttered, avoiding his grasping hand.

Maybe I should just avoid them all. Aph was right. They weren’t my family anyway. I just needed to focus on getting into the Academy and preventing a war from breaking out.

Val reached out. My arm was yanked. I was forcefully turned around, seeing Val’s serious expression. I just looked down and to the side, though, not meeting his gaze.

Maybe wanting a family was too much to hope for. I shouldn’t covet the life I’d stolen. I should just use the opportunity to save my favorite characters and then maybe go hang out with them for a few weeks each, then find the Demon King and request he help me return home.

… that was as unrealistic a plan as every other one I’ve made. I doubted I’d get much further in this life before he reappeared with the real Persephone and sent me back home.

Val sighed roughly, the hand not tightly holding my arm reaching up and rustling his hair. Looking up to watch the action, I saw he seemed extremely frustrated.

“I suppose I will find out regardless if it is from your lips,” Valentine promised, sounding spiteful. He released me, and I went to take a shower.