“Hey, guys! Will you stop? What is happening here?!”
Olivia’s voice finally broke through the suffocating silence, her tone rising in shock and disbelief.
Her wide eyes darted between Rose and Lucian, her mind struggling to grasp what she had just witnessed. “Rose… why did you?” Her voice wavered, filled with both confusion and demand.
Rose opened her mouth to respond, but before she could form a single word
“GO DIE, YOU BITCH!”
Celestia’s enraged scream tore through the air.
Before anyone could react, a two-foot-wide ceramic pot came flying toward Rose’s head at a terrifying speed.
—
DING!
[System Notification]
Warning: Conflict Detected!
[Heroine Celestia has initiated aggression toward Heroine Rose. Intervention Protocol Activated…]
[Core characters are restricted from harming each other unless permitted by the plot.]
Action Restricted! You are not allowed to proceed.
—
Suddenly, a red screen appeared, flashing with red alerts in front of Celestia’s eyes. A red light flickered rapidly, distorting the air around it.
“Huh? What’s this thing?” Celestia frowned in confusion, her gaze locked onto the floating text in front of her. She had just thrown the pot, yet now strange words completely unreadable were appearing before her.
Before she could even attempt to decipher them, she instinctively reached out to touch the glowing screen only for her hand to pass right through it.
“What are these… unreadable texts?” she muttered under her breath.
“I can’t read it. What language is this?”
“Why is this screen here? Is this some kind of technology?”
She stood frozen, dazed by the strange red transparent screen hovering in front of her. The flickering warnings seemed urgent, but none of it made sense.
“What are these words…?”
She didn’t know why, but something about this felt wrong.
A strange unease crept up her spine. What is this thing? The eerie sensation coiling around her chest made her feel… disconnected.
She shook her head quickly.
“What’s happening? Wasn’t I in the middle of killing that bitch?”
Snapping out of her daze, Celestia’s sharp gaze darted toward the large two-foot pot she had just thrown at Rose.
Her eyes widened in shock.
The pot was suspended in mid-air, as if frozen in time.
Her frown deepened. What happened?
It was just standing there, hovering in the middle of the room completely motionless, as though time itself had stopped.
Celestia blinked.
The moment her eyes shut and reopened the pot vanished.
“What the?”
Her head snapped toward the spot where she had picked it up from earlier.
It was back. Sitting exactly where it had been before she threw it.
“What the fuck?”
Something was wrong.
She turned sharply, scanning her surroundings, and that’s when she noticed it everything was grey.
The world around her had lost all color.
Lucian, the purple-haired man, general, and the butler they were all standing still.
No movement. No breath. As if time had completely frozen.
“Why did time stop now?” Celestia whispered, her frown deepening.
This shouldn’t be possible.
She hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t revealed anything. She hadn’t even thought about revealing the fact that she came back in time.
Then why had time stopped?
Her eyes narrowed as a thought struck her. No one she had ever encountered could move when time was stopped. No one.
But then…
How could Rose?
Her gaze darted back toward the hospital bed.
Was she special like Celestia? But why?
Celestia clenched her fists, confusion and frustration clouding her mind. Time only ever stopped when she tried to let others know about her secret of coming back in time.
So how could this be happening?
She shook her head, pushing aside her racing thoughts. Now isn’t the time to think about that.
No.
She was still angry.
Her rage hadn’t subsided.
“Let me kill this bitch now. This is the perfect time,” Celestia murmured darkly.
In the frozen moment of time, she stepped forward toward Rose’s motionless figure.
But the second she moved
She stopped.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Her eyes widened in shock.
What did she just see?
No.
How could that be?
It’s impossible.
Celestia stood frozen, staring at Rose who was staring right back at her.
Her first thought was that maybe Rose was still frozen.
But no.
Looking closer, Celestia could see her blinking.
Her expressions were changing.
Rose’s wide, stunned eyes met Celestia’s own, her face mirroring the same shock.
Celestia’s mind reeled.
Did she just move now?
She thought in disbelief.
And then
“Wait… you can move too in stopped time?” Rose’s confused voice rang out, filled with the same bewilderment.
Celestia’s mind went blank for a second.
She couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Rose just saw time stop around her she was confused as hell.
Even though she normally didn’t try stopping time, she was sure she hadn’t spoken about her secret of returning back in time now.
Just moments ago, she had been having an awkward moment with Lucian, and suddenly, everything turned grey.
Just like always.
When time stops.
But something was different this time.
For the first time ever
She saw someone moving.
Someone else.
Celestia.
“Can… people move in stopped time? Except for me?”
Rose’s mind was spinning.
This was the first time she had ever seen it happen.
She had so many questions.
Celestia, for once, was speechless.
Her expression one of rare disbelief showed just how unthinkable this situation was.
Her sharp, calculating mind was trying to make sense of it.
She stood there, eyes narrowed, staring at Rose as if analyzing her every move.
And then
“Wait… did you also come back in time?” Celestia’s voice cut through the silence, her gaze unreadable.
She had already pieced together a logical answer in mere seconds.
Rose’s mouth opened in shock, but she quickly closed it, her dumbfounded expression shifting to a calm realization.
What a surprise.
“So you came back in time too?” Rose thought dazed.
“But why? I thought I was the only one.”
Her heart pounded. Why is she too?
But Celestia’s expression darkened.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
Her lips curled into a sinister smirk.
“Killing you without you feeling anything wouldn’t be satisfying enough. Now, I’ll make sure you suffer.”
“How dare you touch my darling, you slut.”
Celestia’s shock faded.
Her rage remained.
She didn’t care how Rose could move in frozen time.
She didn’t care why she had come back in time.
She would think about that later.
For now
She would make Rose pay.
Celestia’s eyes burned with madness as she was just about to run toward Rose, who sat on the bed.
“Who’s gonna stop me now? I’m gonna break those hands you dared to hold Lucian face first!”
Celestia was just about to charge when suddenly
“You both… from the past life too?”
A shocked female voice rang out.
—-
