103 - Tampered
A/n: I'm sorry for being late. I was doing stuffs AND organizing the plot in my head. Tbh, the villain didn't exist in my initial draft but I thought, why not make one? Coz yeah, I'm into hot villains. Hehe~ Anyways, enjoy!!
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Mariana finished the last of the broth slowly, both hands wrapped around the bowl for warmth. The spice lingered pleasantly against her tongue, enough to make her nose slightly pink.
"That was... unfairly good." She muttered.
Zafiel looked entirely too pleased with himself. "Of course it was."
"You sound arrogant."
"I am."
"... at least you're self-aware." She sighed dramatically before setting the bowl down carefully.
For a moment, silence settled comfortably between them. Strange. Comfortable. Mariana didn't know when silence around him stopped feeling suffocating. That realization alone was dangerous.
She quickly stood from the stool. "Anyway," she brushed imaginary dust off her skirt, "I'm leaving."
Zafiel blinked once. "Leaving?"
"The library...!" She clarified quickly. "Not the palace." Then immediately frowned. "... not because I can't leave the palace... apparently."
"You can leave once the empire stops trying to collapse."
Mariana stared flatly at him. "That sentence should not even sound normal."
"It's normal for me."
"That's concerning."
A faint chuckle escaped him. Then his gaze softened slightly when she avoided eye contact before muttering awkwardly, "... bye, Zai."
Silence. Mariana instantly regretted it.
Why did I say it so naturally that time...?! Stupid me...!
Meanwhile, Zafiel looked like someone had just handed him the entire world gift-wrapped. Dangerous. That expression was genuinely dangerous.
"Say it again."
"No." Immediate rejection.
"You wound me."
"You'll survive."
Barely listening anymore, Zafiel turned toward the nearby servants standing frozen in the kitchen entrance. "You." A butler immediately stepped forward and bowed deeply.
"Yes, Your Imperial Highness."
"Prepare her lunch and dinner on time." Zafiel ordered calmly. "And snacks."
Mariana blinked. "Snacks...?"
"She forgets to eat while reading."
"I do not-"
"You absolutely do."
"O-Okay, maybe sometimes..."
"Healthy snacks." Zafiel continued mercilessly. "And tea every three hours."
"THREE HOURS...?!" Mariana looked horrified. "Am I a houseplant?!"
The butler, to his credit, maintained a perfectly neutral expression. "Understood, Your Imperial Highness."
"I'll be away handling business matters." Zafiel added. His gaze sharpened slightly. "If she requests anything, prioritize it immediately."
"Yes, Your Imperial Highness."
Mariana crossed her arms. "You're acting like I'm some kind of tiny spoiled empress...!"
"You are."
"I am not!"
"You've conquered me, the Crown Prince, already."
Her face exploded red instantly. "YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT CASUALLY...!!"
Zafiel only smiled faintly. Then aura surged. Unlike mana's elegant flow or faith's radiant warmth, aura dominated space violently. Sharp pressure distorted the air around him briefly.
Mariana stiffened instinctively.
Aura Blink.
In the next instant, Zafiel vanished completely. Silence filled the kitchen afterward. Mariana stared at the empty space where he had stood moments ago. "... show-off."
But despite herself, her chest felt oddly lighter after seeing him smile like that. Which was another problem she absolutely did not want to analyze.
-
The library was quiet when Mariana returned. Sunlight spilled through the towering windows, illuminating endless shelves stretching upward like a maze of knowledge. The scent of old parchment and polished wood wrapped around her instantly.
Normally, she would've rushed toward the nearest shelf excitedly. Today, she simply sat down.
Books surrounded her in uneven towers once more. Ancient magic theory. Political history. Geography. Divine studies. Mana circulation. Aura techniques. Records of monster outbreaks.
Enough books to bury a normal person alive yet Mariana wasn't reading any of them. She sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, staring blankly at an open page without processing a single word.
"The world is collapsing..."
The words echoed again. Her fingers slowly pressed against her forehead as a headache began forming behind her eyes.
Everything feels wrong... too many things aren't lining up anymore... Astrid fears whoever brought me here...
That alone was horrifying. A goddess. Afraid.
Mariana exhaled slowly before leaning back against one of the book piles carefully. "What even is happening anymore...?"
Her thoughts drifted again-toward Zafiel. His face. His strange possessiveness. The way he looked at her like she was something sacred. The way he said she was his light. His truth. His salvation.
Mariana frowned slightly. "... why me?"
She genuinely didn't understand. Yes, the original novel's Zafiel had always been obsessive in a twisted way. But not like this. Not this intense. Not this desperate.
The Zafiel she remembered was cold, calculating, terrifyingly intelligent. He loved Sadia eventually-or at least the novel insisted he did. Didn't it?
Mariana froze slightly. "... wait." Her brows furrowed.
That ending... why can't I remember it properly?
She swore she finished the novel. She remembered scenes. Dialogues. Characters. Tragedies. But the ending itself-
Her head suddenly throbbed violently. "Ah-" Mariana immediately grabbed her forehead. Pain shot through her skull sharply, enough to blur her vision briefly. "What...?"
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Why does it hurt just trying to remember...?
Again, she forced herself to think.
Zafiel and Sadia were supposed to-
Pain exploded again. Mariana gasped quietly, clutching her head tighter. It felt wrong. Not natural forgetting. No, this felt blocked. Like something was actively preventing her from recalling certain memories.
Cold dread crept slowly down her spine. "... no..." Her breathing became uneven.
Something is interfering with my memories.
The realization terrified her more than she expected. Then suddenly, the beach. Mariana's eyes widened. That purplish-black magic circle. The strange distortion she saw before everything changed.
Her fingers trembled slightly. "Co-Could Zai...-"
No. No, that didn't make sense. Does it...?
But the timing. His strange attachment. The way he knew things about her previous life. The way he called her "Iana" immediately. And Astrid said someone else brought her soul here. Someone frightening.
Mariana's stomach twisted. "... no way..."
Could Zai... have something to do with my isekai...?
The thought alone made her chest tighten painfully.
Even if it's indeed true, then what exactly is he?!
Not just obsessed. Not just desperate. Something deeper. Something darker. Mariana lowered her head slowly into her hands.
"I want to talk to Sadia..." She whispered quietly.
And Lady Joana too. Someone familiar. Someone who might understand. But she couldn't.
They were far away handling matters of their own while she remained trapped here inside the Crown Prince's Palace like some protected artifact. Her fingers curled tightly against her sleeves. And then another horrifying realization surfaced.
If my memories are being tampered with... then how much of what I can remember is actually trustworthy...?!
Her breath hitched.
Zafiel's words echoed once more. "The world you know is already collapsing."
At first, she thought he meant politically. Now? Now she wasn't sure anymore. Because this felt bigger than rebellions. Bigger than noble conflicts. Even Astrid sounded afraid.
Mariana slowly looked around the library. Thousands of books. Thousands of years of knowledge. Yet suddenly, none of it felt stable.
The world itself felt wrong. Like something rotten existed beneath reality itself, hidden just out of sight. A shiver ran through her body. For the first time since arriving in this world, genuine dread settled heavily in her chest.
Not fear of Zafiel. Not fear of the palace. Fear of something far larger. And somewhere deep inside her instincts, Mariana realized something quietly terrifying.
Zai... might not have been exaggerating at all.