Chapter 11 – The Fractured Timeline

I was standing on a cliff, the cold wind biting at my skin, my grip firm around Lily's wrist as she dangled over the edge. Her wide, terrified eyes met mine, pleading, searching for something—mercy, hesitation, anything.

But I was done with hesitation.

"You know," I murmured, tilting my head, "people always assume I've done something to you. So I might as well actually do something."

Then I let go.

Her scream tore through the air, fading into the abyss below. A part of me expected satisfaction, maybe even relief, but instead, the world fractured. The sky cracked like shattered glass, light bleeding through the seams of reality. A deep, humming pulse vibrated through my bones.

Then—darkness.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't standing on the cliff anymore.

I was seated across from Lucas, a candle flickering between us, the faint scent of parchment and ink filling the air. Plans and maps were scattered across the table. A week ago.

I stiffened. I had been here before. This exact moment had already happened. But how?

Lucas leaned back, observing me with sharp eyes. "Something wrong?"

I ignored him, standing abruptly. The timeline had reset. I was here again, but why? Who could have done this? Who had the power to manipulate time itself?

Then, the answer came to me, a cold realization settling in my chest.

One of the Seven Fairies.

My mind raced through possibilities, connecting scattered fragments of knowledge like pieces of an intricate puzzle. If a fairy had interfered, it meant this world was far more than what I had been led to believe.

And if time had been rewound, then Lily—

I inhaled sharply. She wasn't just some random heroine. No, she was something more, something dangerous. The fairy's avatar or reincarnation.

And that meant… the original Eleanor was also a reincarnation. My own past incarnation.

The Fairy's Curse.

I clenched my fists, suppressing the surge of emotions threatening to surface. If that was true, then my entire existence here had been manipulated from the beginning. This wasn't just a novel. It had never been just a novel.

Turning sharply, I called out to the system.

"Enough games. Tell me the truth."

Silence.

I narrowed my eyes. "I know you can hear me. Tell me why you lied—why did you tell me this world was a book?"

For a long moment, nothing. Then, a broken, static-filled voice echoed in my mind.

"…Memory… scrambled… system damaged…"

I stilled. Damaged?

Right. Because I had nearly killed the system back in the void. Whatever it had once known was now fragmented.

But amidst the distorted words, one phrase stood out.

"…Maker…"

I inhaled sharply.

Maker?

Someone created the system?

Someone was behind everything?

My lips curled into a slow, sharp smile.

"Interesting."

I had been planning to destroy Lily before. To tear apart the script and burn everything down. But if she was truly connected to the fairies—if she was their chosen vessel—then there was a far better way to win this game.

I wouldn't just kill her.

I would break her.

And in the process, I'd tear apart whoever had dared to write this twisted fate for me.