Avey’s POV
“Hahh… hahh… hahh…”
Avey’s breath was ragged, her chest rising and falling violently as she tried to regain control of herself.
She stood on the balcony the very one she had just jumped from.
“I’m back… hahh… hahh…”
She muttered to herself, her voice shaking from the sheer overwhelming experience she had just gone through.
Because
What she had just gone through shouldn’t have been possible.
One moment, she was falling, accepting her death.
The next
A portal had appeared beneath her.
Not just any portal, but something beyond comprehension a rift in space itself, pulling her into somewhere unknown.
And in that place
She had met them.
Beings who claimed they were not gods, yet wielded powers surpassing even gods.
—
Avey pressed a hand against her forehead, crouching down as she let her body collapse onto the ground.
She didn’t care how she looked right now.
She just needed a moment.
To breathe.
To process.
To accept that all of this was real.
—
She had spent three entire days in that place.
Three days with Max and the mysterious woman named Diablo.
They had told her everything she needed to know.
Everything.
Avey took another deep breath, calming herself.
“It’s alright… huff…”
She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stabilize.
She had a mission now.
A purpose.
Something greater than herself.
And it all led back to Lucian.
—
She let out a hollow chuckle.
“Guess trying to commit suicide was the best decision I ever made…”
She whispered to herself, shaking her head.
Because if she hadn’t done it
If she had never taken that step
She would have never known the truth.
She would have remained blind.
She would have never had the chance to save Lucian.
Her Lucian.
—
Avey clenched her fists, her resolve hardening.
Max and Diablo had given her a mission.
A clear directive.
She had to destroy Victor Veinze.
No
Not just destroy him.
Make every high-ranking, influential woman despise him.
That was the key.
That was the only way to save Lucian.
Why?
She didn’t fully understand yet.
Max and Diablo hadn’t explained much.
But they had told her one thing
She was the only hope left.
—
Avey’s fingers curled into the fabric of her clothes as she slowly stood up.
Her body was still shaking slightly, but her mind was clear.
“I will do it.”
“I will do everything correctly.”
Because failure was not an option.
Not when Lucian’s life was at stake.
—
Just as she took a step forward
A sharp, electronic sound rang in her head.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have acquired the Inner Voice System.]
“Ehh?!”
Avey froze mid-step, her heartbeat spiking.
“Ahh”
She quickly looked around, but
Nothing.
The voice had come from inside her mind.
“Is this… the thing Max mentioned?”
She murmured, recalling Max’s serious expression when he handed it to her.
“It won’t give you powers or wealth,” he had said, “but it might bring you closer to the thing you want most.”
Lucian…
His name slipped from her lips before she could stop herself.
And as if reacting to it
[Ding!]
Another notification rang.
—
“Ahh, yes! What’s this function?”
Avey quickly asked, remembering that Max had called it an overpowering ability.
“What is the Inner Voice System?”
[Ding! The Inner Voice System is designed to give the Host access to the inner thoughts and voices of individuals.]
[Limitations: The Host can only hear the inner voices of Lucian and those around him. The system will not reveal spoken words, only what is within their hearts.]
—
Avey’s entire body stiffened.
“Huh? It works like that…?”
She muttered, processing the information.
“But… what can even be done with that?”
Hearing people’s thoughts…
How could that help her save Lucian?
What was the connection between Victor Veinze’s downfall and this power?
She couldn’t figure it out.
But then
A single, terrifying thought struck her.
“Wait…”
Her breath hitched.
“Can I… hear what Lucian truly thinks?”
A strange, unsettling feeling washed over her.
For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
She couldn’t move.
Her mind was stuck on one thing.
One question.
One terrifying, heartbreaking question that had haunted her for so long
“Will I be able to know if he meant those words?”
“…That he hates me?”
She whispered to herself, voice barely audible.
She had to know.
She needed to know.
Even if the truth destroyed her.
Just as she was drowning in her thoughts, a voice suddenly echoed in her head.
[Ahhh… Mother and Celestia… I hope Rose doesn’t wake up in the middle of this.]
[Ahh… these idiots better act well, or else… Mother and Celestia will know.]
[Sigh… Celestia is asking too many questions. Why is she even like this?]
—
Avey’s body stiffened.
So many voices
So many thoughts
One after another, like whispers directly into her mind.
Her breath hitched as she snapped her head around, looking everywhere.
“W-what the”
Her heartbeat pounded.
And then
Recognition.
—
This voice…
Her chest tightened.
Her eyes widened.
She could never never be mistaken about this voice.
This was
“Lucian…!”
Avey froze, realization crashing over her like a tidal wave.
“Wait… is this?”
She blinked.
Right.
The system function.
This was what the Inner Voice System did.
It let her hear Lucian’s thoughts his real thoughts.
Not what he said out loud.
Not what he showed people.
But what was actually in his heart.
And right now…
His voice sounded worried.
Nervous.
He was hiding something.
—
Avey’s brows furrowed.
“Lucian… what are you up to?”
Her mind replayed his words.
– Rose waking up?
– Mother and Celestia knowing something?
– ‘These guys’ better act well?
Her mind worked fast, piecing it together.
Celestia…
Avey’s lips pressed together.
“Wait… Celestia… isn’t that the princess?”
Celestia Valentino.
She had seen her once.
At the engagement party.
The memory flashed in her mind.
Why is she with Lucian?
And
“What the hell is Lucian hiding?!”
—
Avey’s eyes darted to the hospital in the distance.
“There’s something weird going on.”
The people inside this hospital… everyone is acting strange.”
A General and a Government Minister in a hospital?
That was not normal.
Something was definitely off.
And worst of all
Lucian was hiding something from her.
—
Before she could think further, another voice rang in her head
A female voice.
—
[“There is definitely something suspicious going on… People inside this hospital, everyone is acting weird… And why is a General and a Government Minister even here in a hospital? There is definitely something sus going on in here.
Lucian is hiding something from me…”]
—
Avey froze again.
Her eyes widened.
Her breath caught.
“Wait… this voice…”
Her heartbeat skipped a beat.
This was
“Celestia?!”
Her mind spun.
—
“What the hell is happening?!”
She had assumed Lucian was just at home, avoiding her like always.
But
Celestia just mentioned the hospital.
Lucian was at the hospital.
Avey’s hands shook.
Her heart pounded violently.
—
“Lucian… at the hospital… is he alright?!”
“Did something happen?!”
Panic clawed at her chest.
Her feet moved on their own, pacing the balcony.
She felt restless.
Desperate.
She wanted to see him.
She needed to know he was okay.
But
A familiar fear gripped her.
“Didn’t Lucian say he hated me?”
“Didn’t he say he never wanted to see me again?”
Her body froze in place.
Her fingers curled into fists.
She hesitated.
She wanted to go.
But she was terrified.
—
And then
Another thought hit her.
Her entire body went cold.
—
“Wait…”
Her breath stilled.
Her head snapped up.
—
“Didn’t the system say I can only hear the inner voices of Lucian and the people close to him?”
Her blood ran cold.
Celestia.
She had heard Celestia’s inner voice.
That meant
Celestia was close to Lucian.
—
Avey’s mind went blank.
She felt like she had just been punched in the stomach.
She took a staggered step back.
—
“WHAT?! WHEN? HOW? WHY?!”
“WTFFFF… HUUUHHH?!”
—
Her head spun.
Lucian.
Celestia.
Together.
Close.
What the hell was going on?!
—-