"Eveline…" I said calmly, trying to keep my voice steady despite the situation.
"What?" she replied, likewise, in a calm tone.
"What do you even want from me?" I asked, my frustration bubbling beneath the surface. Yes, I had started this whole mess, but…
Isn’t this a little too much?!
Eveline didn’t hesitate. "I already said it. There’s no way in hell I’ll allow you to end this relationship. If it’s ending, it’s on my terms."
She was seated uncomfortably close beside me, just like Lily on my other side. Their proximity wasn’t helping my already wary mind, but Eveline’s presence was particularly overwhelming.
Damn.
I’d forgotten about this sensation—the unbearable tension I felt whenever I was near heroines. As Eveline inched closer, it spiked. It was still manageable, but there it was: that faint, irrational desire to strangle her.
Haah.
Why did I feel this way? Was it because I was a villain? If that were the case, why didn’t she feel the same revulsion? We were supposed to be polar opposites—heroine and villain. So why was I the only one affected?
"Fine. Then do it. End it yourself," I said after a deep breath, my voice heavy with resignation. It was taking all my strength to keep Liliana, seated to my right, from acting on whatever impulse had seized her five minutes ago when Eveline grabbed my arm.
At first, I’d thought it might be wise to put up with Eveline for as long as this charade lasted. But now, after encountering Lily, I had to reconsider. This needed to end. I didn’t know why, but I had a feeling that letting this continue would spiral into something uncontrollable.
"What…?" Eveline’s eyes widened, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her face.
Damn.
I couldn’t understand her. There was no way she had fallen for me—we’d barely known each other a day. So why was she acting so out of character?
"You’ll only leave if it’s you ending the relationship, right? So do it. End it," Lily said suddenly. Though her tone was calm, I wasn’t fooled.
She was pissed.
So pissed that I could feel it radiating off her.
"Amael," Eveline said, gazing directly into my eyes. A chill ran down my spine at her intensity.
"…What?" I asked, my voice faltering. Her grip on my arm tightened, and for a moment, it felt like she might actually snap it.
"Hey… Let him go now, or you’ll regret it," Liliana warned, her voice low and dangerous. Before she could escalate things, I interjected.
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"It’s okay," I said, trying to diffuse the tension. "What do you want to say, Eveline?" I turned my attention back to her, meeting her gaze head-on.
"Why did you spread those rumors about being my boyfriend?" she asked, her expression devoid of any humor.
Sigh.
"It was the only idea I could think of at that moment," I replied honestly.
Her eyes narrowed. "Now, what do you think will happen if my sister hears about that rumor?"
My breath hitched. She had seen through everything.
"She… will set her sights on you," I admitted, my voice low.
"And what does that make me to her?" Eveline pressed, her tone calm but deliberate.
"Her enemy," I replied, feeling a sense of unease growing within me.
"And what do you think my father would do if he caught wind of this?" she asked, her voice eerily even.
...Fuck.
I’d overlooked a crucial variable. Her father. What would he do if he found out? The answer was obvious.
"He… would try to kill me," I said, and immediately felt Lily’s grip on my arm tighten.
"So…?" Eveline leaned closer. "What do you think would happen if I suddenly told the truth?"
I thought deeply about her words, and it didn’t take long to realize what she was implying.
Is… Is she threatening me?
Wait.
WHAT THE FUCK?!
"What do you want, Everline?" I asked again, this time with a firmer tone.
She held my gaze for a long moment before a smile crept across her face—a smile that didn’t belong to the Everline I remembered from the game. It was unsettling.
"Just know," she said, her voice calm yet edged with defiance, "I am not some piece of trash you can discard so easily. There’s a reason I’ve survived this long."
I frowned.
Reason?
Hm.
And here I thought she was one of the sane heroines.
"So?" I prompted, wondering what she was about to demand.
"All you have to do at this moment is…" She glanced at Lily, her grin widening mischievously. "Don’t push it. That’s all."
She stood up as if that cryptic statement explained everything.
"Wait… What the hell does that even mean?" I blurted, trying—and failing—to make sense of her drama. "What do you actually want?"
"You’ll keep being my boyfriend," she said, now walking toward the door. "I’ll decide when we end this charade. And while you’re at it, you’d better really play the part of a boyfriend."
She stopped at the door, turning slightly with an infuriating smirk.
"In other words, Lily stays the ’close friend,’ and I stay the girlfriend. But… you can always choose to go against it. Only, I don’t know how my brother might react if he found out his dear sister was being threatened into a situation like this."
And with that, she smiled and left.
I stared at the closed door, my thoughts in disarray.
JUST HOW ARE HEROINES MADE HEROINES IN THIS WORLD?!
...
...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
On the other side of the door, Everline leaned against it, her face flushed with embarrassment.
She couldn’t believe the words she had just uttered.
But… she couldn’t bear it anymore.
Everline wasn’t someone who sought attention. It always came to her effortlessly. Yet, for the first time, someone—a vibrant, young man—was treating her like a nuisance.
It irked her. Oh, how it irked her.
She hated the look in his eyes. That dismissive, indifferent glare wasn’t the same as when they first met at Aden’s Gate. Back then, though he would surely deny it, she had sensed it: he had been enchanted by her, just like everyone else who lined up at her door.
But now?
After seeing her—Lily.
He started treating Everline like garbage.
The way he looked at Lily with adoration, and the way Lily flaunted it so smugly… Everline hated it.
She hated how it made her feel. She didn’t even know she could feel this way.
Initially, she had thought of their relationship—fake as it was—as something any guy would kill for, an honor beyond measure. But he had the audacity to break up with her? Just like that?
No. She couldn’t stand it.
True, she didn’t care much for what others thought of her. But to be dumped in her very first relationship—even if it was fake? Unacceptable.
Worse, he’d even given her the option to end things on her terms. Yet, somehow, it felt bitter.
She couldn’t let it end like this.
So, she clung to him in the only way she could think of, at the very least to get back at Lily, who was rubbing her victory in Everline’s face.
"I hate that idiot," Everline muttered, holding her cheeks as they burned with shame. She recalled the boldness of her words, the way she’d stooped so low as to blackmail him.
But… who could blame her?
She had genuinely been worried about him when the connection shattered in the conjured world. When they were expelled from it, she had searched for him everywhere. That’s when she found him—with her.
For reasons she didn’t fully understand, the sight of Lily carrying Amael around as if he belonged to her had been infuriating.
But Everline had played it cool, masking her emotions and trailing them all the way to the room assigned to the three of them.
When Amael woke up, instead of showing any gratitude or acknowledgment, he’d tried to dismiss her. Like she was nothing.
"What did I even do?!" Everline thought, groaning inwardly.
She remembered how Lily had smugly informed the official that she’d be sharing the room with him—since he wasn’t in a condition to care for himself. And Everline, imagining all the ways Lily might exploit that situation, had impulsively declared she’d be staying too.
Now, here she was.
Forced to share a room with them for at least the next two days until the authorities fixed the conjured world’s malfunction and prepared for the second phase of the exam.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! I want to die!" Everline buried her face in her hands, overwhelmed by the weight of her actions and emotions.
She shook her head, frustrated with herself for losing control. But deep down, she couldn’t deny it.
She hated being ignored.
And more than that, she hated seeing him look at someone else the way he once looked at her
...
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!