Chapter 26 My Supposed Canon Fiancé Arrives With a Sword and a Billboard
"I might be in love with both of you," I said.
The air went very still.
Ashrin looked like he'd just short-circuited his entire knightly code.
Lucien looked like someone had handed him the crown to a kingdom and told him he had to share.
Liora, who had somehow rebooted her megaphone, made a confused noise. "Wait. Are we doing a polyamorous romance arc now? Because I did not print new flowcharts."
I looked between the two idiots I'd caught feelings for and tried to be reasonable.
"I mean, hypothetically, we could talk about what that might look like—"
Ashrin said, "How would that even work?! We swordfight to flirt. He summons fog to monologue. What are the logistics?!"
Lucien said calmly, "We build a dynamic rooted in communication and mutual respect. Possibly with a schedule."
Ashrin said sharply, "I'm not scheduling romantic tension!"
Lucien agreed, "You're right. It should be organic. Perhaps—an alternating week system."
Ashrin reject the idea, "THAT'S WORSE."
Meanwhile, the sky turned pink.
Which was not normal.
[Error: Route Conflict Detected]
[New Route Synthesizing: Chaotic Love Triangle+]
[Unlocking... ???]
The palace shuddered.
A glowing rift appeared in the middle of the garden.
Out stepped a man with glorious hair, the confidence of a stage actor who's read ahead in the script, and a royal-blue cloak covered in marketing slogans.
He unsheathed a sword made of sparkles and shouted:
"BEHOLD! I AM PRINCE CAELIS — VERENIA'S ORIGINAL LOVE INTEREST. CANON. ENDGAME. PRE-ORDER EXCLUSIVE."
Ashrin: "NO."
Lucien: "I refuse to acknowledge him."
Caelis winked. "She saved me in Version 0.1 Beta. We were soulbound."
I stood up. "I never played that build!"
He pointed at me dramatically. "Then prepare... to remember."
The sky flashed.
Memory shards rained.
And I saw—
A younger version of me. A battle-scarred realm. A prince with glitter in his eyes and a wound on his chest.
"If I fall, the story ends. But if you love me... I'll live."
The scene dissolved.
Back in the present, I stared at Caelis.
"You were... a test route," I whispered.
He grinned. "And I passed."
Lucien took a step forward. "You are not canon. You are content bloat."
Ashrin: "He's DLC! He doesn't count!"
Caelis twirled his sword. "Then why did the system bring me back?"
Liora, now hiding behind a bush with an Emergency Arc Management Manual, peeked out. "Guys... I think the game is trying to force a Final Route Selection."
I turned to her. "Already?! But we're barely halfway through!"
Liora flipped a page. "Yup. 'At 25 chapters, if the love triangle is unresolved, inject chaos route.' It's in the metadata."
The duck, wearing tiny sunglasses now, sighed dramatically.
I looked at all three of them.
Ashrin: loyalty and fire and sarcasm.
Lucien: regret and poetry and old promises.
Caelis: forgotten history and charisma and dangerously shiny cheekbones.
I was going to need—
Time.
Therapy.
And possibly a fourth option.