Aaaahhhh! Why is he the same as a kid and as an adult?!
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The System was right, he really did go completely dark. He called me a mouse when he was a little psycho, and he’s still calling me
a mouse now that he’s a big psycho.
Fine, I’m a mouse–person! Can’t a mouse–person just go back to her sewer? Please?
I don’t want to do this redemption mission anymore!
I want to go back to my 8 AM lectures!
I screamed for the System in my head, but it was completely unresponsive. The System is a mouse–system! It dragged me here,
how could it just abandon me and run off? Did it go back to the sewer too?!
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?
Eric is a real–life killer! And this is an ancient world. He’s the Emperor, and I’m just some suspicious person who randomly appeared
in his palace. Killing me would be perfectly logical.
I’m getting angry.
I’m going to die.
I take back every bad thing I ever said about my 8 AM lectures. I miss them.
Sob.
While my mind was racing, the man behind me slowly, deliberately, circled around to face me.
The sword at my throat didn’t waver by a fraction of an inch. In fact, as he moved, it pressed even closer against my skin. I was
afraid that the simple rise and fall of my breathing would be enough to slice my own throat open.
He was standing directly in front of me now.
I didn’t dare look down, and I didn’t dare look up. My entire field of vision was filled with the embroidered dragon on his black robes.
wa
The blade slid from the base of my neck upward, coming to rest under my chin. A sticky, viscous drop of blood trickled down from the sword’s edge and disappeared into the collar of my nightgown.
I felt his gaze, which had been fixed on my face, drift downwards.
Maybe it was because I was about to die, but my brain, completely devoid of any useful survival instincts, decided to recall some
random nonsense I’d seen on social media.
Specifically, what a tall person sees when they look down at a shorter person.
Even though my nightgown wasn’t particularly low–cut, I was… well–endowed. I’m a C–cup!
He could probably see everything!
I instinctively tried to cover my chest.
A soft snort of derision came from above.
What’s so funny! Even the dead have a right to their dignity!
He tilted my chin up with the sword.
This was the first time I was seeing the Eric of ten years later. He didn’t look drastically different, his features had just sharpened arid matured, his entire aura more restrained and contained.
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and matured, his entire aura more restrained and contained.
He looked down at me, his eyes glinting with an emotion I couldn’t decipher.
Who could possibly understand a twenty–eight–year–old man? I can’t even figure out guys that age in the modern world, let alone an emperor from an ancient one! I get a big head just pretending to be an emperor on the internet; he was the real deal. He must be completely lawless.
I met his gaze and stammered, “Hey, uh, d–don’t do anything rash.”
Don’t let your hand shake!
I slowly backed away, and when he didn’t move, I pushed the blade away from my neck. As the immediate threat of death receded, I let out a small sigh of relief.
Eric just stood there, unmoving and silent.
Is he broken?
Pasked cautiously, “Do you… remember me?”
After being in this world for ten years last time, I had trouble remembering a ton of people on my friends list when I got back. I had to scroll through ages of chat history just to figure out who was who. For Eric, it had also been ten years since he’d last seen me.
His gaze slowly roamed my face, his brow furrowed slightly as if trying to place me.
I pressed on. “I’m Ava. Your childhood friend? Do you remember?”
I looked at him expectantly.
Eric reached out.
His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb tracing my skin, inch by inch. His palm was covered in a thin layer of calluses.
It tickled.
I didn’t dare move.
He slowly enunciated three words. “Childhood friend?”
I nodded vigorously. “Mhm!” A whole decade of friendship!
He let out a dry, humorless laugh. “I have no friends.”
What?!
So I wasn’t even a friend to him?
That stings.
What stings more is that if he doesn’t consider me a friend, I’m probably toast, right?
I clutched my cake and hung my head in despair.
Well, this is it.
Might as well finish my cake.
The System won’t answer me, Eric doesn’t remember me. I’ll just wait here to die. It’s not like I can go back anyway. I wonder if
dying will send me home.
I dug out a spoonful of cake. White Peach. Not too sweet. Delicious.
I’d barely managed two bites before the cake was snatched from my hands.
Chapter 2
The man pinched my cheek. “What are you crying for?”
I hastily wiped at my eyes. “I’m not crying.”
But the tears just fell faster.
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I had already completed the mission, and the System still dragged me back. It had promised to let me go home once the task was
done. Liar. Now I’m about to die here, and it’s not even trying to save me.
I miss my mom and dad. What will they do when they realize I’ve vanished?
Eric bent down, bringing himself to my eye level.
Through a blurry veil of tears, he gripped my chin.
“What are you crying for?”
I snapped, “Wouldn’t you cry if you were about to die?”
He caressed my skin, his voice slow and deliberate. “Who said you’re going to die?”
My eyes darted from the wide–eyed corpse on the floor back to Eric’s face.
“You’re not going to kill me?”
His thumb traced a path downwards. His body heat was intense, his fingertips scorching hot. From my chin, down my neck, to my collarbone…
He leaned in, his forehead resting against mine.
His breath brushed against my lips.
My body went completely still.
He… he was…
I couldn’t run. I couldn’t fight back.
I clutched my cake helplessly and heard him say with satisfaction, “So soft.”
An icy dread consumed me.
Eric’s hand roamed freely as he murmured, his tone deceptively casual, “You have a pretty face. Serve me well, and I’ll let you live.”
