The loud, panicked screams of the assassin, followed by the loud thud of his body hitting the floor, had alerted everyone. The sound of multiple doors creaking open, followed by rapid footsteps through the hallways, spurred me into hiding. My injured hand was still throbbing, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins eclipsed most of the pain. I had to disappear, before it was too late.
I darted from the scene, my eyes scanning frantically for a hiding spot. A large tapestry depicting a hunting scene hung on the wall just a few paces away. It was thick, heavy, and offered a decent amount of concealment. Without a second thought, I slipped behind it, pressing myself flat against the wall.
I could still hear the footsteps, as they grew louder and numerous, converging at the spot where the assassin lay. Blood still dripped from the deep cut on my hand. I was filled with guilt, fear, and a lingering, unsettling surge of the rage that had driven me to stab the assassin multiple times, then finally kill him. I had murdered someone. My hands, the hands of Alex Miller, is forever stained with blood.
I could properly hear thier reactions, "Impossible?!" Lord Sapphire's voice, usually so composed, was now sharp with shock and fury. "An intruder!"
"By the heavens!" Lady Sapphire's voice, high-pitched and trembling, followed. "A body! And… blood! Is everyone alright? Are the children safe?" Her voice was with genuine terror, a mother's fear for her children. "Guards! Check every room! Ensure no one else has been harmed! Find the perpetrator of this heinous act!", she ordered.
I heard the rapid dispersal of footsteps as guards, began to fan out, their heavy boots thudding on the Manor's floors. My hiding spot felt less secure with every passing second.
Then, Evelina's voice. "No! Oh, no! What happened here? Who is this man?" Her voice was tight, on the verge of breaking. I heard a soft gasp, as if she had just seen the assassin's body up close.
"My Lady, the manor is secure," a guard's voice reported, slightly out of breath. "We are checking all rooms. The young master Luminous is safe in his bed. The young miss Evelina is here." He paused. "But… young master Kai's room is empty, my Lord."
Damn it, I thought, knowing full well that my absence from my room gave Lord Sapphire enough reason to conclude that I was the one who killed the assassin.
Evelina, her voice rising in pitch, a frantic, almost desperate edge to it. "I was just with him! He was in his room, just moments ago! We were talking! He said he was going to get some fresh air!" Her voice was laced with a raw, desperate worry for me.
"Kai! Oh, Kai, please be alright! Please, let him be safe! He wouldn't… he couldn't just vanish!" It was a desperate prayer, She wasn't just worried; she was consumed by it.
"Find him!" Lord Sapphire roared, his voice echoing with cold fury. "Find Kai Lorne! And find whoever is responsible for this outrage! No one attacks House Sapphire and lives!" His vow resonated with a chilling authority, a promise of brutal retribution.
With a flick of my hand, the blue system came into existence. Its glitching seemed to rise higher.
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NARRATIVE OVERRIDE ENGINE
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WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED USER DETECTED
Host: Kai Lorne
Identity: [Extra / Background Character]
Current Fate: [Assassin's attack: Chapter 5 - Survived]
STATUS: UNSTABLE INTEGRATION, GLITCH COEFFICIENT INCREASED BY 4 PPT.
[OVERRIDE POINTS]: 30
[GLITCH COEFFICIENT]: 9%
[REALITY DIVERGENCE]: 12.6%
CURRENT CHAPTER: 5
CURRENT EVENT: "Assassin's attack - Aftermath"
UPCOMING EVENT: "Investigation & Search"
PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 25%
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STATS
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Strength.... 7
Agility..... 12
Intelligence... 18
Charisma.... 9
Luck..... -5
Narrative Influence... 3 (unlocked)
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ACTIVE OVERRIDES
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[Scene Override]
→ Modify a small environmental or character variable.
→ Cost: 3 Override Points
[Role Inversion]
→ Swap scripted fate with another character.
→ Cost: 10 Override Points
→ Status: [Cooldown: 48h]
[Edit Dialogue]
→ Rewrite spoken lines during key scenes.
→ Cost: 5 Override Points
→ Risk of Narrative Collapse: +7%
[Pause & Observe]
→ Freeze the world briefly to scan a scene like a reader
→ Cost: 1 Override Points
→ status [ Max time: 30 seconds ( INT : 18 ) ]
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INVENTORY
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Olberic's Diary
Thirty Override Points. My eyes widened. That was a massive jump. From 8 to 30. As per the novel, defying canon events, especially a scripted death, yielded significant rewards. The system was basically paying me to break the story. A risk-reward mechanic. The more I deviated, the more power I gained to deviate further. My probability of survival had also jumped from 4% to 25%, still low, but a significant improvement. And I finally unlocked the narrative influence stat, increasing the effect and range of my overrides.
But the Glitch Coefficient. It had increased by another 4 percentage points, now standing at a staggering 9%. The system flickered more often now, a rapid, almost frantic blue shimmer at it edges .
"He's one of ours!" a guard's voice suddenly exclaimed, closer than I expected. "By the family crest on his inner tunic… he's a Sapphire guard!"
A stunned silence fell over the hallway. Then, a collective gasp from the family.
"A… a Sapphire guard?" Lady Sapphire's voice was a horrified whisper. I wandered when their will notice that his a sapphire guard, but it seems that the nobles of this world can't even remember who they employ.
"Impossible!" Lord Sapphire roared. "Take him outside and secure the body. No one is to speak of this. Not a word." His voice dropped to a low growl. "This is an internal matter. And it will be handled internally."
An internal matter. He knew. He knew it was one of his own. And he wanted it covered up. It confirmed every suspicion from Olberic's diary. Lord Sapphire wasn't just a scholar; he was involved in something dark, something that required assassins from within his own ranks.
The footsteps began to move away from my hiding spot, towards the manor front door. I heard the sounds of the assassin's body being dragged away.
I was hiding and was injured, in a manor where the very guards were assassins, and the patriarch was covering up a murder. And I was the only one who knew the truth.