"Who are you?"
That was the question that stumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. It wasn’t planned... it just slipped out, raw and startled.
My feet moved on their own, taking a few quick steps back as if I’d just seen a ghost.
Because honestly... that’s what it felt like.
But just like , both Auren and Lady Celeste looked confused.
Auren’s brows furrowed, his expression caught sowhere between suspicion and surprise. Lady Celeste blinked at , her lips parting slightly as if trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
For a long second, no one spoke. The air hung heavy, filled with nothing but the quiet ripple of water.
I swallowed hard, my eyes darting between the two of them. "I—uh—sorry, I didn’t an to—"
But my words caught when Lady Celeste took a step forward, the sunlight slipping across her face.
And there it was.
Her face.
Sa features. Sa eyes. Sa everything... down to the faint curve of her mouth.
Except for one tiny thing... a small, dark mole just beneath her right eye.
My breath hitched.
It was like staring at a mirror that wasn’t mine.
"Who are you?" Lady Celeste asked back, her tone cautious but soft.
I blinked a few tis, completely thrown off, not just by the question, but because she looked exactly like . Sa hair, sa expression, sa everything.
My brain short-circuited for a full second.
Before I could even think of an answer, Auren’s voice cut through the silence.
"You," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at . "Are you... Celeste?"
The way he said it... was like he was half uncertain, half convinced, sending a chill straight down my spine.
He looked at like he knew .
Like he was sure I was the real one.
My lips parted, but no words ca out. I just stood there, caught between two identical faces — one hers, one mine, and not a single part of it made sense.
My head was spinning, my pulse too loud in my ears.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing myself to think. "Lucian... I need to find Lucian..."
The words slipped out in a whisper, shaky and half-panicked.
Without waiting another second, I turned on my heel, ready to leave before my brain could process another impossible detail.
But before I could take two steps, a voice cut through the air... sharp and commanding.
"Stop."
Auren’s voice.
It wasn’t loud, but it carried enough weight to freeze mid-step.
The tone wasn’t the sa one he’d used with Lady Celeste a mont ago. This one was colder... familiar in a way that sent a chill down my spine.
He locked his eyes on , looking so intense and in that very second, I could feel the space between us seed to shrink even though I hadn’t moved an inch.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice low, deliberate.
Then his gaze flicked briefly toward Lady Celeste standing beside him. I could see it then, the confusion tightening his jaw, the disbelief in the way his eyes darted between us.
He wasn’t just startled.
He looked... offended.
Like he was trying to figure out which clan had the guts or the power to pull a trick like this on him.
And the worst part? I didn’t have an answer.
"Auren..."
Lady Celeste’s voice broke the tension... soft, careful, almost lodic. It carried that poised gentleness that sounded nothing like mine.
But that wasn’t what startled .
It was the na.
She called him Auren.
Not "my lord," not "sir," not anything formal — just Auren.
My stomach dropped. That ant one of two things... either they’d already t before, or Lady Celeste knew him. Personally.
I stared at her, completely thrown off, my brain flipping through every possible page of the book like a panicked librarian.
That wasn’t how their first eting was supposed to go.
In the story, she didn’t even know his na until he introduced himself.
So why did she sound like she’d said it before?
Auren’s expression shifted, confusion flickering across his face, breaking through his usual calm.
"Did you just call by na?" His voice was low.
Her lips parted, and for a second, I thought she might answer. But then she hesitated, her voice soft, shaky. "Auren... I—" She stopped herself, her eyes darting away.
Sothing in my chest tightened.
They knew each other.
Of course they did! I an, I died at Chapter eleven... so this had to be sothing that happened before that. Before my grand, tragic cannon-fodder exit.
It made sense, didn’t it? The real Lady Celeste and Auren must have t sowhere in between the Chapters while I was still alive, just too busy dying on schedule to notice it.
I let out a shaky breath, my eyes flicking between them. Auren was still looking at her, and she was looking right back, like no one else existed in the world.
Okay, yeah. That was my cue to leave.
Before anyone realized there were two of the sa face standing around one emotional lake.
I turned slowly at first, then faster, until my steps turned into a near-run across the grass. I didn’t dare look back, the last thing I needed was for Auren to start asking more confusing questions.
The car was still waiting where I left it, and Marek looked up sharply the mont he saw sprinting toward him.
"My lady?" he asked, eyes wide. "Is sothing wrong?"
"Yes!" I said, out of breath as I yanked the door open and practically jumped inside. "Everything is wrong! Drive, Marek. Please... just go!"
He blinked but didn’t question it. "Where to, my lady?"
"Lucian’s company," I said quickly, pressing a hand to my chest to calm my racing heart. "Just... get there before I start questioning my life choices again."
"But my lady... you told earlier, Lord Lucian is eting you here..."
"Marek..." I dragged out his na, my tone sowhere between a plea and a warning.
His ears twitched slightly, Kirin instincts picking up danger, or maybe just my temper.
"Just drive!" I snapped, pointing ahead.
He didn’t ask again. The car jerked forward, wheels rolling fast along the dirt path.
The lake faded behind us, swallowed by mist, but my heart wouldn’t stop racing.
Reviews
All reviews (0)