Chapter 24: Welcome Home
Esme was stunned. Her analytical mind completely faltered. Every plan, every calculation, and every detail she had pieced together over the past two weeks didn’t make any sense anymore. The system hadn’t told her about this.
In all the stories she had read, the system was a powerful force that pulled modern souls into fantasy worlds to complete quests. It was like a game that the player had to win to return to their original world.
But as she stared at the oil painting of her modern self, the chilling truth sank deep into her bones. Her being transmigrated into this novel wasn’t merely a coincidence. She wasn’t just any random player.
"What do you mean?" Esme asked, her voice shaky.
She stepped back, trying to distance herself from him, until her back collided against the silver bars of the cage behind her.
"I knew before you even opened your eyes,"
Eveyr replied and walked into the blue light.
The frenzied obsession that usually filled his eyes had vanished, replaced by an unsettling reverence. He looked at her as if she were a deity who had finally arrived in his temple.
"I don’t know what you are talking about," Esme lied, trying to protect herself. "I am Esme Sterling and I am your wife..."
"You are my wife," Eveyr cut her off, brushing the dust away from his shoulders. "But you are not Esme Sterling. Esme Sterling was a frightened little spy who cried at the slightest gust of wind. But you? You look at me like I am nothing more than another obstacle standing in your way."
Esme’s stomach clenched as he stopped just a few inches away from her.
"I have seen your face in my dreams for years. The Aldric curse has always sought one true mate to anchor our madness. But my magic rejected every noblewoman, every royal, every soul in this empire. Because...it wanted you."
Esme’s breath caught in her throat but she refused to bow.
"Do you even hear yourself, Eveyr? Watching my face in dreams? You are delusional."
But Eveyr continued, ignoring her words completely.
"When Julian sent me his spy, Esme Sterling, I had no intention of marrying her. She had your face but not your soul," Eveyr murmured, taking another step towards her. "I was going to break her neck at the altar and burn the capital to ashes. But then you looked at me at the wedding altar and I found what I’ve been looking for all these years," he smiled.
Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in Esme’s temples. The system interface in her vision began to glitch rapidly.
[CRITICAL SYSTEM ERROR]
[ANOMALY DETECTED: HOSTILE MAGIC INTERFERENCE.]
[TARGET AWARENESS EXCEEDS PARAMETERS! SCRIPT BROKEN!]
[CONNECTION SEVERING... SEVERING... SEVERING...]
Esme gasped, clutching her head. The system hadn’t chosen her randomly. Eveyr’s ancient magic had reached across time and space, tearing a hole in reality to pull her soul into this timeline.
Her mind refused to believe everything he was saying. None of it made sense. The system had never mentioned dreams, curses or someone searching for her.
Was he lying? Or...had the system been lying to me from the beginning?
"What is hurting you, Esme?" Eveyr asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Tell me."
She didn’t answer. The red warning messages flickered one more time then vanished.
"You’ll be fine. Don’t worry."
Eveyr closed the remaining distance between them and cupped her cheeks, brushing his thumbs softly under her eyes.
"In my dreams, you sat in a glowing box, staring at screens of light," Eveyr whispered, describing her office cubicle. "You looked so worn out...and dead inside. Hundreds of people saw you every day...but none truly looked at you. But I saw you. I watched you for years, Esme. I saw you build walls around your heart so high that no one could climb them. So, I decided to tear down the universe to bring you to me."
Esme struggled to comprehend everything. She tried to calm her racing heart, to rebuild her emotional walls and block out the vulnerability rising within her. She had always survived by being unreadable, treating everything like a game of chess.
But today she failed. Her mask shattered. Standing in front of the man who had ripped apart dimensions just to reach her, she felt utterly exposed. Unexpectedly, tears began to stream down her face.
"You are insane," Esme choked out, a sob catching in her throat. "You are completely insane."
"I am," Eveyr agreed as he wiped away her tears with his thumb. "And you are mine. I built this cage for you before I even met you. I gathered the silver and bone, waiting for the day my magic would finally pull you through the dark."
Before Esme could grasp the weight of his confession, he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and lifted her off the ground. He spun them around, and before Esme could brace herself, he threw her through the door of the silver cage.
Esme landed softly on thick rugs inside, her robe pooling around her legs. She scrambled to her knees, reaching for the door, desperate to escape. But it was too late.
CLANG.
Eveyr slammed the door shut. The blue runes carved into the ancient bone immediately blazed with magic. The cage was permanently sealed.
Esme grabbed the silver bars, shaking them frantically, but the magic pushed her hands away, sending a shock through her arms. She stepped back, panting, expecting to find Eveyr standing outside, gazing at his trapped prize.
But he wasn’t outside. Eveyr had stepped inside with her. The runes on the cage flared one more time. A silver sigil appeared in Eveyr’s palm. He closed his fist around it and the sigil dissolved into motes of light.
"No one will ever open this cage again," he muttered under his breath.
Then he turned to her, the madness in his eyes was finally unrestrained.
"Welcome home, Esme," he whispered. "We are never leaving this cage."
