Rivals' Reunion

"How...?"

"Don't give me that now. You know it very well. After all, you're also in this world, along with those backstabbing traitors. It doesn't really matter how I got here, anyway. As long as I can fulfill my wish, I'll accept any premise – whether it's because of magic or reincarnation."

Stunned, Hal was stuck in place, completely forgetting that this vile woman was this difficult to converse with.

He knew that she needed to be disposed of as soon as possible, but still had little to no idea on what this was all about. It's his first time encountering such a predicament, thus he couldn't just deal with it the way he always did. Much worse, an innocent civilian was deeply involved this time, making the whole situation a tad harder.

However, she did mention a wish, which must mean she's using Eli to achieve something.

"What did you do with Angelica Claes?" he questioned through gritted teeth.

"That's unusual. You never seemed to care about others that way before. Now that I think about it, there's the time you saved her from those wenches, and there were also those sweets... My, my. What do we have here~?"

She's clearly mocking him now, which only made him scowl in miff.

"I'm merely inquiring a victim's well-being. For what gain are you using her body?"

"Gain, you say? Why, have you forgotten already? Why else would I consider the premise of being reincarnated?"

The air around Eli suddenly turned ferocious and savage. Her face twisting into that of a predatory beast – sanguinary and vicious – ready to pounce on her target.

Murderous glare, a disgruntled frown, and a menacing aura overall – she has gotten rid of any jest or witticism by now.

Despite these, Hal firmly stood his ground and did not avert his eyes, unbothered by the change in atmosphere.

"You're all responsible for my demise! That's what this is all about! All of you ruined my life and you deserved to pay for that a hundredfold!" she hollered after a short pause, fuming and aggravated.

As her outburst took place, some strands of Eli's hair were highlighted in white. Her face obscurely contorted to resemble Venus's features – grey eyes turning fiercer, rose-coloured tinge smearing her pale cheeks, and a more refined figure.

The transformation, however, only enhanced Eli's inborn beauty, accentuating her aesthetic facets and enshrouded physical attributes.

At this point, Venus successfully took over her entire body, and was now preparing herself for a roughhouse.

Hal, on the other hand, bitterly came up with the conclusion that she went all through this trouble, reviving from the dead and stealing someone's body, just to take revenge on them.

"Too bad, boy. Even in this world, you'll never find a true happy ending. Neither you nor that girl..." she grimly muttered before lurching towards her opponent, a battalion of shiny, sharp glass shards in tow.

At her uncalled-for remark, the memory of Venus's last words flashed through his mind.

Up until the present, the image remained eerily vivid in his head.

Back in that throne room, the fallen Empress had stabbed herself with a sword, causing blood to ooze out of her chest. With a scornful smile, she glared at her rival's mystified expression before dropping the words, "May the goddess of love never smile upon you."

On her dreadful end, she left a curse that gave him a woeful beginning as her successor.

Recollecting his composure, Hal calmly fisted an edge of his black coat before veiling himself with it and spinning around.

With that, he vanished into thin air, not leaving a single visible trace to track him down.

Venus clicked her tongue in insouciance, abruptly halting along with her glass fragments. At the snap of her candle-like fingers, the darkness dissipated, turning the surroundings back to normal. She remained still in her spot, cautiously scanning the area for any movement.

"You still got that childish power of yours, huh? Making yourself invisible and all that. How preposterous."

Venus felt a subtle puff of air from behind, thus instantly turning around and leaping backward. Unbeknownst to her, Hal was aiming to make her pass out by elbowing her on the nape, a sensitive spot which is also entirely bare. He figured that he could not eliminate Venus by killing her since she's possessing Eli's body.

As a result, the two were forced to engage in a game of hide-and-seek for quite some time.

Venus, after meticulously assessing his roundabout shuffling and darting around, finally realized that he wasn't really planning to give her a fatal blow, considering that she's in another person's body.

But then, she didn't expect him to suddenly pull a sneaky move on her while she's processing these thoughts. With a loud thud, Hal had successfully trapped her between the floor and himself. He's now hovering on top of her with a mischievous smirk, completely irking the proud royalty.

"Look how you've fallen, Empress. Enjoying the view?" he cheekily quipped, provoking her even more.

Infuriated, Venus commanded the darkness to devour them once again.

---

In the middle of nothingness, Eli was in deep slumber, body curled into a ball.

She then felt her cheeks being pulled until they throb in pain. Realizing the assault, her eyes quickly flew open, palms rubbing her red tinted cheeks to soothe the ache.

"Big sister, are you awake now?" a child-like voice asked out of nowhere.

Eli perked up at the sight of a little girl beside her. Due to her ghastly white hair and cream-coloured dress, she can't help but rub her eyes in bafflement, thinking that she may now be dead and this little girl is actually an angel assigned to escort her to heaven.

"No, I'm not! Venus is human!" the girl chimed in as if she just read her mind.

Venus.

That name sent shivers down her spine for some reason.

She felt threatened and controlled just by hearing it. Forcing the gears in her head to start turning again, she aimed to recall what previously went down, who this girl was and why she was acting like some kind of a telepathic.

"Big sister, for a top pupil, you're seriously dumb, you know?" she suddenly added, much to Eli's annoyance.

She wanted to disregard their age gap and hit her for that insulting remark, but then, that feeling was quickly overcome by a sense of déjà vu.

In an instant, memories began flooding in her, starting from Venus's appearance up to her discovery of Hal's hidden identity. Like jumbled puzzle pieces, her memories piece themselves together, making her recall hearing a similar statement from that very beautiful, yet obnoxious woman who, apparently, looks a lot like the girl next to her.

With that realization, she slowly turned to face her with a wobbly smile, eye subtly twitching in nervousness.

"Don't tell me you're...?"

"I'm Venus! Nice to meet you, big sister!"

Eli felt like going back to her slumber.

Unwillingly, she found herself in the company of a young Venus.

The good thing is that she knows a handful of valuable information despite being a cheeky brat.

Venus revealed that this place they're currently in is somewhat like their subconscious mind – a faculty of the brain that stores all previous life experiences. Since she and Venus are now sharing the same body, they have become two personalities in one vessel, which means they're the same person who shares the same knowledge, memories, skills and more.

However, despite having similar inputs, they're still capable of providing different outputs – their behaviours, values and decisions vary according to their own persons. Eli being there means that Venus currently has the upper hand as she is now controlling her conscious mind – the part of the brain that is presently in use.

By various certain means, however, she can still influence her actions or trigger something that can affect her decision-making.

"So it was really Venus who made me feel all those horrible things?" Eli asked.

"You only realized now? Wow, you're really dumb," the young Venus retorted with false amazement.

"One more 'dumb' word and I'll sue you."

"Stupid, then? Idiot, scatterbrain, airhead, slow poke..."

Eli is feeling more and more murderous by the second.

She must not waver in front of a child, though. Like she said, she's the big sister here so she has to act mature.

"I may have read about Venus being a villainess, but I'm the kind of person who's not in favour of prejudice. People are often misunderstood for who they used to be. I believe that there's a reason for those feelings. You shouldn't really judge a book by its cover, you know. So, to sum it up, I think Venus isn't really what she makes herself appear to be," she calmly explained like a guru imparting words of wisdom.

Contrary to her expectation, Venus only reacted with an inscrutable, hooded expression. Eli noticed how the little girl tensed up at her words, silence stretching on until a pin could be heard dropping.

After a minute or two, she felt a thug on the hem of her skirt. Looking down, Eli was caught off guard by Venus's watery eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Do you mean that, big sister?" she questioned, voice low and brittle.

"To be honest, Venus isn't really bad. You see, Venus loves doing good deeds and helping others. Venus likes being praised for her good conduct. But then, that prophecy came up and Venus could no longer play the role of a good girl... Big sister, will you listen to Venus's story?"

At that moment, Eli felt a rush of agony and anguish in her chest.

She remembered that the story of the Book of Metis was mostly focused on the main characters' respective developments and background stories.

All the while, the antagonist's whole upbringing was kept in the dark like most storybook villains.

Venus debuted as a vainglorious Empress and died as that.

Now, with how their conversation is going, it appears that she's about to learn how this flat character will turn into a round one.