Chapter 3

As she walked away, her golden bells jingled softly.

Alaric supported her, his gaze lingering on her with quiet concern every few steps.

As the iron gate clanged shut behind them, I slid to the ground.

My mind kept circling back to the poisoning and perfume. The script had written it clearly: [The elder sister used a poisonous perfume to harm her younger sister, leaving her skin split open and her face nearly ruined.]

But at the spice shop Seraphine sent me to, the owner handed me something with that exact smell.

Since I was following the script back then, I didn't really think twice about it.

I always thought the System had formulated the poison for me, and all I had to do was use it.

But that wasn't true.

That vial was what she wanted from the very start.

I poisoned her, set her up, and stole her fiancé. Every step I took was exactly what she wanted.

[WARNING! Plot has deviated. Host must find the truth.]

I looked up at the wet stone ceiling overhead.

I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Late into the night, the iron gate opened again.

Seraphine came alone, with no maids or guards.

She waved away the jailer standing at the end of the corridor.

As soon as the iron gate shut, her tearful act disappeared.

She dragged a chair over, sat right in front of me, and crossed her legs. "Isabella, aren't you tired of keeping up this act for so long?"

I didn't say anything.

She pulled a small knife from her sleeve, its blade glinting with a sickly green light.

"I'm dead tired," she said, idly picking at her nails with the tip of the knife. "I've been keeping up this act with you for a whole year, crying three times a day. My eyes are still swollen from all those tears."

"Seraphine," I said.

She looked up, grinning. "Well, look at that, you're actually calling me by my name. Before, you always called me a bitch."

"It was you."

"It was me." She admitted it, not even trying to hide it. "I was behind it all, from beginning to end."

I stared at her.

"Did you really think the so-called System and novel just appeared out of nowhere?" She let out a laugh. "Isabella, the very first words you heard in your head on the day you arrived in this body were designed by me."

My breath caught. "That's impossible."

"Why not?" she tilted her head. "This world has magic, forbidden spells, and souls. Why can't there be a fake 'System' to fool you?"

She stood up and paced around me. "I spent three years studying forbidden spells, just waiting for a soul from another world. Someone who could play the role of the perfect 'evil sister.'"

"Why didn't you just play a part yourself?"

"Me? Play a part myself?" Seraphine laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. "A perfectly kind woman? Then who would make me look good by comparison? Isabella, stars only shine in the darkness.

"Without you as my night sky, who would ever see how bright I really am?"

The chains on my wrists dug painfully into my skin.

"The engagement," I said.

"That's right, the engagement," she said, crouching down so we were eye to eye. "Alaric was meant to be yours. Father always wanted you to marry into the royal family. But I wanted him too."

"So you used me as your tool."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I had the 'System' give you those missions, made you steal your own fiancé right in front of everyone. He was yours from the start, but the moment you took him, you became the villain. Pretty genius, huh?"

"Poisoning," I added.

"That was my proudest move," she said, clapping her hands. "That vial of perfume was super rare. Only three vials in the whole Western Continent. I made you think it was poison, and you handed it to me yourself. I owe you my thanks, Isabella.

"I'm obsessed with that scent."

"Father," I finally said.

"Father?" Her face fell. "He was the toughest. He loved you more than anything. So I brought in a master of forbidden spells. I convinced him you were possessed by a demon."