“Ugh…”
“Ah!”
I blinked as the warmth of sunlight spilled across my face. My head rested against the back of a chair, tilted upward.
And above me, a woman’s face hovered close with her golden gaze locked onto mine.
“….”
The moment our eyes met, I froze.
Ba… Thump!
My heart skipped a beat as I realized now why people trapped within a spirit’s delusions refused to escape of their own volition.
“So much for trying to wake you up,” she said, giggling.
“….”
There were so many things I had turned a blind eye to.
So many truths I refused to accept. So many denials I clung to, buried deep in fear that confronting them would tear my heart apart.
She straightened, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“….”
I couldn’t speak.
My lips parted, but nothing came out. I just stared at her. Stare at the woman before me, with eyes like gold… just like Astrid’s. Just like Irene’s. And her hair was in a color somewhere between lilac and silver.
Of course I had seen her before.
Back in the game, her portraits had hung in the Imperial Palace. Though they were hollow depictions that failed to capture the beauty now standing before me.
Even when the memories had started trickling in… I hadn’t realized. Or rather, I had refused to… vehemently.
Because deep down, I was terrified of what it might mean.
“….Minjeong-ssi.”
“Hm?” She tilted her head. “Did you say something?”
The name slipped out before I could stop it.
Of course, this woman… this woman was not Kim Min-jeong.
“Are you not going to greet me?” she asked again, smiling sweetly. A smile so beautiful it nearly shattered me.
“….”
I couldn’t answer.
Because I knew without a doubt who she was.
Julia Barielle.
But it didn’t matter anymore what name she had.
Because no matter how hard I tried to deny it… no matter how many times I buried the thought…
Drip.
Tears stung at the corner of my eyes.
She looked exactly like her.
Kim Min-jeong. My benefactor, my teacher, my mentor, my fiancée.
The woman I hadn’t seen in over twelve years. The woman who took me in when I had nothing left, who smiled with me through every hardship, who had waited for me while I was gone.
The woman who died… just after I finished my military service.
Right after we promised to marry once I returned.
“….”
Julia looked down at me with an expression tinged with concern. I stared up at her with wide eyes, the tears already slipping down before I realized.
And I… I couldn’t breathe.
* * *
I felt like I finally understood how a single woman from an Earl’s family could capture the hearts of so many noblemen.
How even the Emperor, who was promised to another, found himself ensnared by her presence with no resistance.
And how even a commoner, like Vanitas Astrea’s biological father, who by all logic stood no chance with a noblewoman like Julia, had fallen so deeply under her spell that he was driven to madness.
“….”
Every movement Julia made, every word that left her lips, her naturally soft-spoken voice, the grace in her gestures, the alluring warmth in her gaze, the way she offered comfort to someone she considered her friend’s son, exuded pure charisma.
She didn’t even have to try.
“Ah, really~ No matter how old you are, you’re still such a crybaby, Vani~” she teased, kneeling slightly to gently pinch my cheek.
“Minjeong-ssi…” I muttered again, barely above a whisper.
Julia tilted her head, a curious smile tugging at her lips. “There you go saying strange things again.”
“….”
I couldn’t even think clearly. All I could do was look at her, at the woman who shouldn’t be here. The woman who should’ve been dead no matter what her name had.
“Vani~?” Julia’s tone shifted, softening further. “Are you okay?”
“….”
My throat tightened. I felt like a mute. Every gesture she made was reminiscent of Kim Min-jeong.
“….What are you doing here?” I managed to ask.
We were clearly at the old Astrea Mansion.
“How are you alive…?”
This version of reality clearly wasn’t the one I remembered. But not in a way that felt fabricated or false.
Then, the thought struck me.
Could it have been… a different route?
It wouldn’t be impossible. The game this world stemmed from was notorious for its alternate choices, leading to routes based on actions the player had taken.
Perhaps, somewhere along the branches of fate, the prequel played out differently, leading to this current reality.
A secret route?
A DLC?
If that was the case… then this reality was just as real as any other.
“Alive? Why are you acting like I’ve already died?” she said with a playful pout. “Ah, you’re acting so weird today. Did you hit your head or something?”
“….”
“Ah, whatever.” She waved it off with a soft sigh. “Anyway, did you forget? I’m supposed to attend the university today as a guest speaker. I called you, but you didn’t pick up so I came here instead.”
“A guest speaker…?”
“Yes, for my research.”
“….?”
“Stigmatas.”
She smiled.
* * *
There were things I’d figured out along the way.
First of all, Charlotte didn’t live with me. I wasn’t sure how this route had played out, but if I had to guess… our relationship hadn’t been resolved. She must hate the current me.
And beyond that, I wasn’t close to any of my students.
They looked at me with distant eyes. Even Astrid, who used to cling to me like glue, now watched me like a stranger as I stood at the podium, delivering my lecture.
There was also something else I had desperately tried to confirm.
Karina wasn’t here.
If Julia Barielle was alive in this route, then the whole tragic sequence involving her stepfather must never have happened. That meant the man was still alive, Vanitas Astrea hadn’t taken pity on Karina, and hadn’t gone to Elsa to recommend her admission to the Academy.
But more than that, my thoughts kept circling back to Karina.
Perhaps that was why I’d been so unknowingly soft toward her, long before I even realized it.
Maybe I, too, had been denying the resemblance she bore. I hadn’t seen it… I didn’t want to accept it until Irene mentioned it.
And after seeing Julia up close, I could no longer deny it.
They looked alike.
All three of them.
Karina, Julia, and… Min-jeong.
Maybe fate was laughing at me. Or maybe I was delusional.
But with someone else having confirmed it for me too, I was sure now that I wasn’t imagining things.
I felt like I had dug a grave for myself for not realizing any of these while playing the game. Or perhaps, there was no resemblance there? Just like the whole issue with my little sister and the Saintess.
I wasn’t sure anymore.
I felt like I could retch at any moment, everything felt dizzy. The more I tried to make sense of it all, the worse the nausea became.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was getting out of here.
I needed to find Margaret and drag her out of this twisted route before it swallowed both of us whole.
It was then.
Just as I wrapped up my bullshit lecture that didn’t even follow the curriculum, the door creaked open.
I clasped my hands, ready to dismiss the class, when she walked in.
At first, I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination, but my eyes couldn’t stop following her. The faint scent that trailed behind, the way her presence pulled all attention toward her, the elegance in her every step, reminiscent of both Astrid and Irene.
She approached the podium and stood beside me.
“Minjeong-ssi…”
Julia Barielle, the Imperial Queen.
She tilted her head slightly, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Hello? Professor? Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
I blinked. “A-Ah, yeah…”
Right. I had given her the cue to enter… but completely forgot to introduce her to the class.
“….”
My eyes met Astrid’s for a moment. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but it felt like she had just glared at me.
I cleared my throat, forcing my thoughts into order.
“Everyone,” I began. “Most of you may already have an idea, but for those who don’t, this is the Imperial Queen herself, Lady Julia Barielle. She’ll be joining us today as a guest lecturer to present her research on Stigmatas.”
I paused.
“Bow your heads.”
A shuffle of movement followed, the students lowering their heads in respectful unison as Julia stepped forward.
* * *
As Julia’s presentation on stigmatas wrapped up, I stepped out of the lecture hall, desperate for fresh air. My body was burning up. I felt like I was about to come down with a fever or lose my mind.
——Vanitas.
A familiar voice called out the moment I rounded the corridor.
I turned my head. “Headmaster?”
Elsa was there.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” she said, her voice urgent. “Why haven’t you been answering your calls? I had to rush all the way here when I heard you finally showed up.”
“Huh? Wait, what? What are you talking about?” My brow furrowed. “I’ve only been gone a few days, haven’t I?”
Elsa stepped closer, lowering her voice. “Vanitas. I need you to listen carefully. I don’t have much time, but you—”
——Vanitas Astrea!
A loud voice cut her off from behind. I turned, only to see a group of people rushing toward us.
My name echoed again and again down the hallway.
‘What the hell is happening?’
I instinctively stepped back as a squad of knights appeared.
“….”
This scenario… I knew what it was.
“Vanitas Astrea,” the leading knight announced, unfurling a scroll and reading aloud, “you are hereby placed under arrest for multiple offenses under the Imperial Code.”
“Article 27-8, for the alleged practice of forbidden and dark magic.”
“Article 19-4, for gross misconduct against the academic circle, including ghostwriting, plagiarism, and fraudulent credentials.”
“Article 11-2, for the suspected involvement in murders and violent crimes currently linked to your name….”
My mind spun.
“What…?”
Elsa’s eyes widened. “No. Not now—”
The knights surrounded me. I instinctively prepared to retaliate.
But then I saw her.
“….”
Julia Barielle was there beyond the formation. Her expression was laced with something far worse than anger.
Disappointment.
That single look told me everything.
I had been set up.
By her.
The woman who looked like Minjeong. The woman who had once smiled so kindly.
Julia Barielle had set me up.
And the cruelest part of it all? It wasn’t even Margaret who had issued the order, but a nameless knight acting on behalf of some faceless system.
And that told me everything I needed to know.
This wasn’t the same tragic ending Vanitas Astrea had in the game.
In the original game, it had been Margaret who fought and begged for Vanitas Astrea, lowering his sentence into exile.
But seeing that knight, who knows where Margaret was?
And so, the ending would play out differently for me.
I wouldn’t be spared.
“….”
I would be executed. I couldn’t even muster any mana anymore as the shackles around my wrists suppressed my core.
“Haha…”
Whoever made the report.
“Hahaha….”
Fuck you.
* * *
Weeks passed in my cell, and in that suffocating silence, I had time to reflect on everything.
There was no trial.
As if the evidence laid out against me was so absolute that not even a single protest could be allowed.
But the reason my execution hadn’t come yet… wasn’t mercy.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”
It was because of her, standing just beyond the iron bars, glaring daggers at me.
“….Charlotte,” I breathed.
It was none other than my little sister, who I protected and cared so much for.
Now looking at me like I was nothing. To be honest, my crime should’ve warranted confinement in Index. However, that never happened. At least, not yet.
“You had it coming,” she said coldly. “But don’t worry. No matter how badly you treated me… the last silver thread of my conscience won’t let me watch my brother be executed.”
“….”
“I used to look up to you, Vanitas,” she continued. “You were my role model. Someone I wanted to be like.”
It hurt more than I could admit.
“But now? I can’t even look at you properly. Every time I see you, all I can remember is how much you’ve hurt me.”
“….Charlotte.”
“Please don’t say my name.”
Her words struck harder than any sentence the court could’ve handed down.
I lowered my gaze as the heaviness in my chest made it hard to breathe.
“Then why are you here?” I asked.
A bitter smile touched her lips. “Because despite everything… I still hoped you’d say something that would make this all make sense. That maybe, even now, there was a reason.”
“….”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. There were no excuses that could fix this situation, as much as I would hate to admit.
Charlotte turned. “Don’t worry. I’ve convinced the court to delay the execution indefinitely. You’ll stay in this cell alone.”
She paused at the threshold, not looking back.
“You’ll live… but only just. For now.”
And then she was gone.
* * *
“….Aunt Julia, why?”
Another week had passed. Another visitor arrived.
This time, it was Julia Barielle.
“Your little sister told me everything,” she said. “I’m telling you this now because… I remember you as a good kid.”
Her gaze dropped for a moment, then met mine again.
“I’m just as shocked as you are. And… I’m utterly disappointed.”
Those words, coming from a face that looked like Minjeong felt like a blade had cut deep in my heart.
“Disappointed?” I echoed, my voice nearly breaking. “You think I did it, too.”
Julia didn’t answer immediately. She stepped closer.
“I don’t want to,” she murmured. “I really don’t. But everything… everything points to you. The evidence, the witness statements, even the sequence of events. Vanitas… what else am I supposed to believe?”
I clenched my fists. My throat felt dry, like ash.
“You’re right…”
A hollow laugh escaped my lips.
“Maybe you’re right… Maybe Vanitas Astrea did do all those things.”
“But why—”
“But I didn’t,” I snapped, cutting her off. “And I’m tired. I never asked for any of this…”
Clang!
My hands slammed against the iron bars as I gripped them tightly.
“What have I done so wrong?!”
“….Vani—”
“Don’t call me by that name!” My voice echoed in the stone chamber desperately. “I’m sick of it!”
Julia’s lips parted, but she remained silent.
“Why?! Why him?! What did I do to deserve becoming him?! Why is this world so cruel that you… you of all people… are standing in front of me looking at me like this?!”
“Who is Min—”
“Don’t—!” My voice cracked, feeling my eyes burning. “How much more do I have to lose?! I let go of everything back then… everything. We made a promise, didn’t we? You said you’d wait.”
My fists tightened around the cold iron.
“So why… why did you jump? Why would you do that to me?! Why would you…”
My breath hitched.
“Why did you…”
And then, finally, everything gave out.
“….Why did you leave me?”
Twelve years’ worth of grief I had buried so deeply I thought they had long died out and had spilled out like a dam torn open.
My shoulders trembled and my legs gave out beneath me as I sank to my knees before the bars, fingers still curled tightly around the cold iron.
And all the while, Julia just stood there.
She didn’t speak, but simply looked at me like I was a madman she couldn’t recognize anymore.
And then, without a word, she turned and walked away.
* * *
In the two months I’d rotted in this place while smelling like shit, I’d overheard plenty from the guards.
There had been an explosion in Illenia that killed several high-ranking officials.
But what caught me completely off guard was what came next.
“Haha…”
Franz had died in that blast.
Only then did it hit me, why I was here in the first place. What had driven me to this hellhole to begin with.
Margaret.
I had come to find her. To pull her out of that nightmare.
“Right…”
That wasn’t even possible anymore.
In the months that followed, Aetherion was in chaos. Civil war broke out, and chaos gripped the Empire. And as a convenient way to divert the public’s attention from the bloodshed, my execution was sealed.
Charlotte visited me the other day, and had appealed to have me exiled instead.
But the Parliament refused.
They needed a scapegoat.
And I was perfect.
In the days that followed, they had dragged me out like a beast paraded before the masses.
I stood there in shackles as nobles, knights, commoners, and politicians alike watched.
“Do you have any last words, Vanitas Astrea?”
I took in a shallow breath. Then I looked up at the sky.
“My name is not Vanitas Astrea.”
Whoosh—
I looked down at the stone beneath my feet. The same stone that would soon drink my blood.
“But if fate insists I carry his sins… then let me die with my own.”
Silence.
“Chae Eun-woo,” I muttered. “Codename: Acheron. Last mission, penetrate a suspected North Korean front. Status… failure.”
Clang—
The executioner stepped forward with his blade. I must have sounded hysterical as I whispered nonsense no one here could possibly understand.
I closed my eyes.
“….”
If this was the end, then so be it.
Slash—!