Chapter 27 We Attempt Group Therapy
"So we're doing group therapy now," I said.
"I prefer the term 'narrative stabilization session,'" Liora replied, adjusting her oversized glasses and flipping through a binder labeled Love Polygon Crisis Management.
We were gathered in the drawing room, sitting on magical bean bags enchanted to vibrate if anyone was being too emotionally repressed.
Ashrin's was already buzzing.
Lucien had conjured a therapy-appropriate candle. It was black. It smelled like regret and cedar.
Caelis had brought snacks. They were glittery and sang faintly.
I was holding the duck. For comfort.
Liora cleared her throat. "All right. Let's share feelings. Ashrin, you're up."
Ashrin stared at the floor. Then at me. Then back at the floor.
"I don't want to share her," he muttered. "But I'd rather be near her and confused than not near her at all."
Lucien: "That was almost poetic."
Ashrin: "Shut up."
Liora: "Excellent progress. Lucien?"
Lucien folded his hands like a tragic priest. "I loved her before memory. Before fate. If she chooses me... I will not ask for anything else."
Caelis grinned. "Great. My turn."
He stood.
And started singing.
"When We Were Beta (The Soulbond Song)"
A spontaneous romantic ballad by Prince Caelis.
With choreography. Somehow.
"Back in the test build, just me and you,
Pixel hearts, and choices few.
You saved my soul, then disappeared—
But now I'm back, and canon's near!"
Ashrin: "IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
Lucien: "He has backup dancers."
Caelis finished with a jazz hand flourish and a minor key reprise. The chandelier blinked out of sync. The duck wept.
I looked at Liora.
"Please tell me this counts as emotional sabotage."
Liora was furiously taking notes. "This is gold. The fandom's going to eat this up."
Later, after the music died down and the emotional beanbags powered off, I wandered into the East Wing. A place I never visited.
Until I saw it.
A door.
Old. Sealed. Labeled in gold script:
"VERENIA'S TRUE ENDING — DO NOT ENTER."
Which, naturally, meant I had to open it.
The handle burned when I touched it—but didn't stop me.
Inside was...
A room.
Silent. Covered in starlight.
A mirror. A single throne. A crystal that pulsed with voices.
And a single message scrawled across the wall in my handwriting:
"If you choose this path, everything resets. Even love."
I stepped forward.
The crystal whispered.
"Would you like to see the ending only you can trigger?"
I hesitated.
Because suddenly, this wasn't just about love triangles, or dating sim routes, or witty banter over cursed tea.
It was about me.
Who I was before the rewrite. Who I could be again.
And whether I was brave enough to find out.