6
My entire body went rigid. The blood in my veins felt like it had frozen solid.
“I…”
I tried to speak, but only a single, strangled sound escaped. The words were trapped in my throat. Or maybe, there was simply noth-
ing I could say.
I knew Eric was no saint. From the very beginning, he’d never bothered to hide his malice.
When the System first brought me to this world, I didn’t have a body to inhabit. It had to expend its energy to create one for me.
Because the plot had deviated and the world was at risk of collapse, its power was limited. It ended up making a miniature version
of me, based on my data.
I remember crouching by a small puddle, looking at my reflection. My face was chubby and round, utterly pinchable. I held up my
hands; they were chubby and pinchable too.
“How old am I?” I’d asked the System.
[Six years old.]
The male lead was seven, I was six. Close enough in age. All I had to do was stay by his side and guide him away from the path of
darkness. Simple enough.
Six years olaj
The male lead was seven, I was six. Close enough in age. All I had to do was stay by his side and guide him away from the path of darkness. Simple enough.
Gazing at my reflection, I gave my cheek a squeeze. I was so cute when I was six! Who could possibly resist this level of adorable?
Full of confidence, I ran to the desolate palace wing where Eric lived.
I tried to push the main gate open. It wouldn’t budge. I was too small.
i tried to climb the wall. I couldn’t get a grip. I was too small.
This was infuriating!
Finally, I squeezed through a crumbling hole in the wall.
Panting, I brushed the weeds and dirt from my hair.
And my eyes met a pair of. A pair of pitch–black eyes.
He was holding a shard of metal, its edge stained with blood. The smell of rust and blood were so similar, I couldn’t tell which was
which. All I could see was seven–year–old Eric, standing in a corner of the neglected courtyard.
At his feet lay the body of a maid.
Her throat had been slashed open. Her head was lolled to the side, her bloodshot eyes wide open, staring blankly towards the hole
in the wall.
A jolt of pure terror shot through me.
“You… you killed her!”
Little Eric brushed the metal shard against my cheek, using its sharp tip to flick away a piece of dry grass from beside my ear.
He smiled at me. “Another little mouse has arrived.”
