“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.

Val refused to let me go back to the library, extending the length of his observation. Was it spite? No. No, Val wasn’t like that. Val only had clinical fascination with people unless he cared about them, so why would he act spiteful?

The days all passed in a blur of focus and depression. It was hard to want to speak with anyone when I knew it would only make it more painful to leave them.

“Just bring me a sandwich or two or something,” I muttered dismissively to Kairos the next day, continuing to read through my book, “They aren’t my family anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Lucius asked as Kairos bowed and left the library.

I glanced up, then went back to the paper I was writing on, hardly able to read my own handwriting.

“I have no memory of them. Does it matter if we’re blood related if I only just met them? They’re not very pleasant people, I should just focus on escaping this place.”

The royal librarian stood up, walking away from the table. His lessons were over once I went to eat dinner, I supposed.

I picked up a book and continued studying. It helped that everything I learned was really interesting. Just as my world’s medieval era was interesting and full of drama, so too was this world’s. Everything I learned was like a dry and poorly written historical fiction but with dragons and magic in it.

As I adored both of those things, I found it quite interesting.

Right now I was reading of the forth king of Silve—

Thud.

My face was slammed into the book I was reading, a hand roughly grabbing my hair.

“You will value your life and defend yourself,” Val hissed into my ear, “Or so help me I will… I will…” A frustrated noise escaped his lips, “I don’t know what I will do, but you won’t like it, and there will be too many bodies for you to heal.”

I struggled against his hold, wondering once more what I did to make him get so out of character.

Was it just that he considered me an ally? I recall he seemed furious with Aph in the novel after she got hurt, once.

Huh. I suppose he was extremely protective and obsessive over his test subjects, right? And even more so over people he cared about.

But it wasn’t like they were hurting my soul or anything, and it definitely hadn’t been eight months. Not to mention it took that long for him to fall for a metaphorical angel, and I definitely wasn’t that.

I suppose when I overused my magic those few months ago it hurt my soul a bit… But this didn’t have anything to do with my soul! Some kid just threw a tantrum. And it’d only been like… three to five months, so there wasn’t even the possibility of him having started to like me!

“I-I’m not going to attack some kid just because she accidentally hurt me during a temper tantrum,” I replied, foot snapping out to release myself.

My heel had fallen off, so my bare foot met something soft, shoving the man off of me. The hand left my hair.

I stood up, rubbing my head as I frowned at Val. Val was looking at the ground, entire body trembling. His purple hair fell down his black outfit, blue eyes shimmering. More than shimmering.

“Are you… crying?” I asked softly, eyebrows scrunching together in concern as I walked up to him.

“I’ve never met someone as, as genuine and heartfelt as you. You are the singular most frustrating being on the face of this planet,” Valentine managed, one arm reaching up to wipe at his eyes.

I felt kind of bad. He was in his mid twenties at this age, right? Around the same age as me.

When he appeared in the novel, it was Aph’s forth year of the Academy, a five-year elite school of magic and swordsmanship. He was thirty when he was introduced, and had seemingly matured quite a lot in the prior half-decade.

I was three-ish months away from the entrance exam, now, and while I would definitely finish the theory of every subject by then, it only left a month and a half for the practical learning.

So while I would really prefer to be studying right now, I still found myself reaching out.

Val only seemed more frustrated at my comforting pat on his shoulder, teary eyes focusing on me.

“Yeah, I know. I’m a frustrating and stupid individual. I’m sorry,” I apologized, hoping he would stop crying.

Val sniffled. He did not stop crying. I felt really bad for the person I likened to an excited golden retriever in a lab coat, so I reached out, hugging him and petting his hair.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful, okay? So don’t cry,” I comforted, saying a lot more empty and fluffy words as he wrapped his arms around me.

Soon the door to the library opened, and I found Kairos serving me much more than a sandwich or two.

“This is unnecessarily grandiose,” I muttered, releasing Val.

“Lucius had informed me that you would be eating with him and Lance in his office,” Kairos mentioned as Lucius walked in, the food being taken to a different room.

“L—Oh.“

Right. Val was Lance.

“Uh, right.”

I should really be thinking of him as Lance. Did I call him Val to his face? It was a nickname the fans had given him. No, no, no way. He would definitely have commented on that.

Soon, I was eating my food quietly with the only two people I really spoke to. When was the last time I’d spoken to Kairos in any long conversation?

Wait. Didn’t Kairos disappear for like three weeks? When did he get back?

Whatever. We both had other things to focus on. Such as me, focusing on my upcoming doom. Any minute of any day, the Demon King could return and kill me without ever giving me a chance to say goodbye.

“I had not believed you would be such a quick learner,” Lucius mentioned as he waved his hand, “It is almost time to get into the practical work. What do you plan to specialize in? I will see if I can get you tutors.”

The servants in the room shifted and moved, and soon wine was being poured for us.

“Dual-specialization,” I mentioned, glancing up.

I didn’t feel as awkward around Lucius and Val as I thought I would. I was so used to curling into my meal, eating quickly, and leaving as soon as I could. It was odd that I no longer felt the urge to do that.

I felt bad for evading Mercury and Pelias as much as I have, but Aphrodite’s temper had only been getting worse and worse. I felt too guilty to stay around them and talk, so every dinner I’d had previously had been awkward.

When my wine was poured, I reached out. The maid waited patiently, re-pouring my glass of wine the moment I finished downing the first.

What a good maid, to memorize my drinking patterns by this point. I glanced up. Brown hair, gray eyes, freckles, plain appearance. I would remember her and give her preference, like I did James. I wonder what her name was.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

The maid didn’t hesitate, “Elizabeth, your highness.”

I nodded, looking back to my food, “Nice. I appreciate you, Elizabeth.”

I’d have to have Kairos tell the head butler to give her an extra gold this paycheck or something. An extra silver? Whatever, from what I’ve been taught, the royal castle has an annual budget of 10,000 gold for the servants alone, and there were only around a thousand actually working as a servant. The knights had a budget of 30,000 gold.

A single gold coin every now and again wouldn’t cause the kingdom to go broke.

“So you plan to be a battle mage like your fiancée? I suppose that will make it easy to get you a tutor, I could mention to your father—”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I choked on my wine, glad I didn’t have anything in my mouth as I reached out, covering my face with a cloth. Tears were in my eyes as wine spilled out my nose.

“My fucking what? I’m engaged to someone?” I demanded.

Lucius sighed, “Maybe you should get etiquette lessons as well. Yes, you are engaged to the northern Duke Grayson.”

Duke Grayson…

“Silas?” I asked, bewildered.

I’d never heard anything about that. Persephone was engaged to my favorite character and I didn’t know? Why didn’t the author mention that in her replies to my comments about him?! What the hell!

“Yes.”

“Fuck, man,” I complained, head laying on the table, plates pushed away, “I could have been simping over my one true love, the cold duke of the north, this whole time and no one told me?”

“… Simping? What is that?” Lucius mentioned.

I sighed, “Short for simpleton. It means being an idiot for someone because you like them. Such as giving them gifts and stuff when they show no interest in you at all.”

“Where did you learn such a word?” Lucius asked.

I huffed, lifting my head so that I could poke at my food, appetite gone. I wanted to send dumb lovey-dovey letters to the cold duke of the north talking about how hot he was and how impressed I was about his personality. Eating sucked in comparison.

“It’s derogatory,” I explained further.

For some reason that seemed to make a lot of sense to Lucius, and I felt kind of insulted. Was Persephone really so mean that simply saying that it was a derogatory term would explain why an amnesiac version of her had knowledge of it?

“Yes, well, I’m certain you can mention your newfound affection for him when he arrives to help you train to dual-specialize.”

I sighed listlessly, “I will.”

Of all the characters, I admired the cold duke of the north the most specifically because he had all the tools and backstory needed to be a villainous character, and he wasn’t. He wasn’t like Valentine, who was too dumb to become a villain.

Silas was someone Kairos was wary of, and even the Fae King and Demon King mentioned that he was a formidable opponent. He almost won the war single-handedly. Had he not been betrayed, he would have not only stopped the war, but won it.

Sure, he was a background character, someone who was into Aphrodite but who did not come onto her. Just an impressive professor from the Academy that she encountered at parties and such after the fact.

But he was amazing.

To think I could have been sending him romantic letters without anyone speaking ill of me or wars starting or anything was amazing! So many days had been wasted.

The dinner passed relatively uneventfully afterward, though Lucius and Valentine spoke of facts they knew about me that I didn’t know. Nothing as ground-breaking as literally being engaged to someone was mentioned, but apparently the reason Persephone was so buff when I first started controlling her body was because she was very into dance and hunting.

Huh.

When the dinner was over, Val dragged me to my room.

“Kai, get me writing supplies, I’m sending a letter to Silas,” I called as I struggled against Val’s hold.

“I do not see why you wish to fawn over a man who holds no interest in you,” Val sighed out as Kai waved for one of the other servants to do it.

“Oh!” I said, ignoring Val, “And also give Elizabeth a raise or something. Have whoever is in charge of paying her give her a gold. James too.”

“Of course,” Kairos mentioned casually, waving at another servant who ran off.

Val had to physically wrestle me into the room, only succeeding because of the writing supplies hastily shoved into my arms.

“Yay!” I said, sitting on the floor to begin writing.

My handwriting was really poor, but whatever.

To Silas,

Your beauty is only outmatched by your wit. I am very impressed by your strength, intelligence, and appearance, and am very grateful that we are engaged.

We should see each other and get to know one another more.

Your loving fiancée,

Percy

I stared at the horribly written letter, looking up to see Val focusing on prep-work, “Val, do you have good handwriting?”

To my surprise, he answered, “Yes. I am not rewriting your silly love letter to a man you are already engaged to, however.”

I pouted, “Aw, why not?”

“Because I do not see any purpose behind it. Maybe if you would answer my questions, I would consider it,” Val mentioned, on his hands and knees drawing with chalk on my floor in the area I usually stood in.

“What are your questions?” I asked, standing up to wander over, paper in my hand.

Val sighed, reaching out. I froze, panicked, as my feet lifted off the ground. I found myself put in the center of the circle he’d drawn, his magic binding me.

“There are many. Where are you from, that you frequently use such foreign words such as gravity and simp? How do you know of my true name? If you know of it, why do you decide to shorten it? Why do you know of others, some of which are impossible to know unless you are royalty or a spy? Do you work for Kairos, the spymaster? Are you a higher up in the Nightmare guild?”

I hummed lightly.

“That’s not a very good trade off. I appreciate that you’re trying to take more than what the service you provide is worth, though. You’re learning! I’m so proud of you.”

The chalk stopped scraping across the ground.

“The service I provide?”

“Yes. You’re asking me to give all my secrets away, and in return you’ll rewrite a single one of my love letters. That’s a very unfair trade, but I’m glad it’s weighed in your favor. Maybe find a balance between giving too much and taking too much, though,” I advised.

“…” Valentine stayed still for a very long moment, then he sighed, continuing, “Right. You wish the best for me. I do not see how teaching me how to take advantage of others is better for me, however.”

I sighed heavily, a warm sort of sorrow seeping into the cracks of my heart and breaking it more.

“Unfortunately this world is rather cutthroat. You are extremely powerful, massively intelligent, and incredibly handsome. If you give too much away, you’ll only ever come across people who wish to take everything you have and more. So the only way to truly thrive in this world is to take advantage of others. What’s the point in having all that power and intellect if you’re going to use it for someone else?” I rambled, watching as Val completed the circle.

By the time I stopped talking, he had stood up, and was staring at me with a curious expression on his face.

“What an interesting thing to say. I had presumed you innocent and naive. To think you would have such an accurate grasp on the world…” Val said, not realizing the pot was calling the kettle black.

My expression flattened at his words. He was the golden retriever, here. I was a shut-in who made her living by avoiding people as much as possible.

“Isn’t the first thing I said in this wo—in this body something along the lines of to keep someone under control, you have to step on their throat or whatever?” I wondered, sad I couldn’t cross my arms, Val’s magic keeping me in place.

“Your information network must suck if you hadn’t heard of that. Neither am I innocent nor naive. I’m just stupid, dude. Like I am the dumbest fucker you’ll ever meet.”

Val’s blue gaze was focused intently on mine, fingers trailing along the skin of my neck as I spoke. I found myself embarrassed, cheeks heating up at his gaze. Did I ramble too much? I felt like I did.

It’s quiet a long time, Val just staring into my eyes. Eventually, he spoke.

“Let us start, then,” He said.

My days went similarly after that, me simply having all three meals with Lucius, Val sometimes appearing for dinner. Every night I wrote a letter to Silas, though I never sent them since Val, Kairos, and Lucius all refused to rewrite them so they were legible. Sometimes I wrote more than one a day if a topic was really difficult or if I felt stuck on something. I had an entire drawer dedicated to my letters to my favorite character.

I always mentioned his personality traits that I adored, also sometimes explaining what was going on and how I thought he would feel and react to each action I made, as well as the whole picture.

Eventually, the day came that Lucius was done instructing me.

“Oh, really? I caught up to the theory? Even on magic and swordsmanship and stuff?” I asked, confused.

“Yes,” Lucius mentioned, “You finished earlier than I’d thought you would. You have two months to learn all you can under Duke Grayson. I am certain he will be impressed by your hard work.”

“As it is only noon, I should mention that Duke Grayson requested your presence the moment you finished your theoretical studies,” Kairos mentioned.

“Oh, I can go now, then,” I mentioned, stretching, “I’ve been holed up in the library awhile. I wouldn’t mind getting some exercise. Have a good one, Lucius! Thank you for teaching me, I really appreciate it.”

Lucius nodded once, “Of course, your highness.”

Kairos led me to a part of the castle I’d never been in. I glanced around at the different decor. It looked a lot brighter than I was used to.

I suppose that made sense, I’ve only seen the hallways when it was dark.

Servants opened a door to the area the duke was waiting. I found him waiting for me. I stared around at the room first, knowing if I started drooling over the duke I’d never see my surroundings.

The floors were wooden, to my surprise, the walls covered in plain sky blue wallpaper. The room was a simple meeting room, and the duke sat at a table, having tea.

I sat down across from him, waving, “Yo.”

The duke looked refined, his black hair neatly done. His silver eyes were piercing, and he was wearing a black suit. On his waist was a sword, and on one of his slender middle fingers, a braided silver ring with an obsidian gemstone rested.

On his left ring finger was a ring I’d seen on top of my dresser. Oh, oops. Was that our engagement ring?

His posture was straight, and his expression was already disapproving.

“Hello, your highness,” My favorite character said, his voice like molten chocolate. The soft lips forming the words looked as sweet as sugar.

I felt like I was meeting a celebrity.

“Yes. Hi. So you’ll, uh, be instructing me in the practical knowledge needed to pass the Academy exam?” I asked, forcing myself to meet his gaze.

It wasn’t hard to keep staring into his eyes. They were gunmetal silver, as beautiful as the man himself was. His intelligence clearly shone through his gaze, and his dignity was cast about his shoulders like a cape.

I rested my chin on my fist, enjoying the view.

Reaching out, the obsidian gem on his hand glowed blue for a moment, and a mass amount of letters appeared on the table between us.

I stared at the letters with a small amount of dread. Those weren’t mine, were they?