Lunch ended in a thick, almost ritualistic silence. Everyone returned to their routines with an eerie calm, as if their bodies sensed what was coming, but their minds refused to accept it.
Evelin left with the two women in charge of placing the gas bombs that would later simulate a fire. Her steps were firm, calculated—like a soldier marching straight into the battlefield.
Urano, on the other hand, stayed behind a little longer. Chewing on the words he hadn't said, wishing he had asked more about Nora. But he hadn't. There was no time. And now, it was too late.
In the hallway, a hand grabbed his arm. Strong. Cold. Certain.
Before he could react, his body was violently shoved into a pantry. The door slammed shut behind them with a harsh thud, plunging the place into dimness. He was surrounded by jars of vinegar, cured meats… and a penetrating scent of cheap perfume with a metallic tinge.
Blood?
—"Do you know how hard it was to find you?"—whispered a voice he recognized instantly.
Nora.
She emerged from the shadows with the precision of a predator. Her gaze was darkened, pupils dilated like a feline's on the hunt. She shoved him against a shelf with such force that several jars rattled. Her hand pressed against his chest—not romantically, but possessively. Dominantly.
Her nails… weren't normal.
They were too long. Too sharp for a mere maid. And they were covered in blood.
A thin red line trickled down Urano's torso. His shirt soaked instantly.
—"You left me there,"—Nora spat, her voice trembling but controlled.—"In front of everyone. Like I was nothing. And then… then I find out you left with another woman. Do you have any idea how that felt?"
—"Nora… wait… I can explain…"—At that moment, Urano remembered who Nora was—the maid he had seen when he first arrived in this world. The cat-girl.
He didn't get to finish.
A brutal bite sank into his shoulder.
It wasn't a kiss. It was a wound. A primal claim.
Urano gasped. He felt the fangs. Fangs?
—"What the hell…?"—he thought, shoving her off him with force.
She staggered back a few steps. Her lips were stained red. Her tongue licked the trail with unsettling delight. Madness shimmered in her eyes, liquid and feral. As if the taste of his blood had awakened something dormant and wild.
His skin burned. He was bleeding. Nora licked her lips again, her gaze glistening with a wet, manic glow, as if his blood had triggered something primal and monstrous.
—"You said you'd be with me. Always. That it didn't matter where I came from… or your title. But then… you married someone else." Her words came out like blades, tearing her throat apart.—"Do you hate me that much?"
And she smiled.
It wasn't the smile of a wounded woman.
It was the smile of a broken one.
—"I won't let you leave me again. I understand now, you know? I'm not a princess. I'm not the chosen one. But that doesn't matter. I'm willing to share you, to be your shadow… to hide under your bed if I have to. Because even then, you'll still be mine."
Urano felt the air grow thick. Sticky.
This wasn't just a tense scene anymore.
It was an emotional trap written by an idiot.
—This is way too cliché,—he thought with a chill—The classic manga "yandere": sweet on the outside, insane inside. Jealousy, lust, violence, control… all wrapped in a hormonal bomb on legs. As a teen, I thought it was hot. Now? All I feel is cold fear… and second-hand embarrassment.
—"Maybe…"—Nora continued, her voice lower now—"Maybe it was my fault. I loved you too much. But I held back… for your family. For your title. Not anymore."
And without warning, she let her black dress fall.
The sound was barely a whisper: fabric brushing against stone.
Urano didn't want to look. But he did.
There was no modesty in Nora. Only intention.
Her skin was porcelain-pale in the dim light, her body marked with fine scars—evidence of training and survival. She wasn't fragile. She was strong. Her curves were real, her hips full, her thighs speaking of power and control. Her black underwear clung to her with surgical precision, revealing just enough. She wasn't a maiden.
She was a huntress.
And he was her prey.
She approached slowly, her chest rising and falling with a rhythm that betrayed her arousal.
—"You don't need to say anything, love. Don't lie. Just… let your body remember."
Her fingers brushed the edge of Urano's pants. Slow. Precise. This wasn't the first time she'd done this.
And that's when the damned message appeared:
⚠️ The character "Nora" has broken from her original narrative path. Auto-punishment will be triggered if not resolved soon. From now on, all lies will be impossible. Everything you say will reveal the truth.
Urano swallowed hard.
His body reacted… but his mind resisted.
—Goddammit!—he thought, furious—Who the hell wrote this? What kind of degenerate thought this was good narrative? Some hopeless romantic in their twenties, no doubt!
And as if the universe heard his complaint…
Somewhere in the distance, Evelin sneezed as she opened her bedroom door.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the pantry, Nora slipped a leg between Urano's, her face drawing close, eyes shining with desire… and madness.
—"Now we're going to make up. Even if I have to rip the moans out of you with my teeth."
And for the first time in a long while… Urano felt genuine fear.
It took nearly an hour to calm the impatient Nora down, explain the basics of the situation, and convince her to get dressed again. He had to summon every last drop of self-control to maintain composure. Because while in his past life he'd been a man in his twenties, in this world he had the body of a prince barely touching adulthood.
Having a fully developed woman try to seduce him so boldly was… intense. Not just because of the teenage hormones—though those certainly didn't help—but because technically, his body was that of a sixteen-year-old boy. Maybe that wasn't scandalous in this era. But to him, it was uncomfortable. And morally questionable.
—"Then tell me,"—Nora demanded, arms crossed.—"Why did you run off with that girl?"
She looked at him like a beast with her prey cornered. Urano sighed. There was no point in deflecting.
He told her the essentials: a conspiracy, hidden agendas, a possible coup. He left out the part about this world being a novel, and how if they didn't intervene, the royal family would be wiped out. Instead, he spoke of a group of investigators who had uncovered strange movements and feared an imminent uprising.
—"Investigators? Political intrigue? Since when does the young master get involved in matters of state?"—Nora asked, half-incredulous, half-surprised.—"And if it's true… why didn't you tell your family?"
—"Because I didn't want to be remembered as the family's useless one,"—he replied with a bitter smile.
That was the description Evelin had given him of his character: a spoiled noble, irrelevant to the plot. Just a minor obstacle for the protagonist.
Nora stared at him. Then nodded slowly.
—"Fine. I'll help you… for now."
What Urano didn't know… was that Nora understood none of what was happening.
But she liked being by his side.
Even if that meant dancing with chaos.
They left the room shortly after; staying longer might raise suspicions. Before parting, they agreed on a meeting point before the scheduled time for the operation.
Meanwhile, Evelin had her own problems in the shared bedroom.
—"How the hell are we supposed to hide this in the guest wing?"—she muttered, lifting a wooden box the size of a jewelry case. Small, but suspiciously heavy.
—"Careful with that, it's delicate!"—she snapped at the two women with her.
The women, who minutes ago had seemed willing to help, now hesitated. One of them frowned, visibly annoyed.
—"You said it wasn't anything special,"—she said, clearly offended.
Evelin sighed hard, holding herself back from arguing. The reception area was too open to hide something like this without risk. The other girls knew the place better than she did; after all, she had never worked there. And she'd never been good with words.
Until she looked down at her gloved hands… and remembered the electric stone Urano had given her.
She'd mocked him at first, but now she was glad he'd made her carry it. The weight of the device in her palm reminded her she wasn't alone.
And then, an idea struck her.
—"I understand why you're hesitant,"—she said, softening her tone, watching how the two women stood close—too close to be just coworkers.—"But maybe… there's another way."
Evelin stepped closer to the demon girl with graceful ease, gently caressing her chin.
—"This is important to us. Please… won't you help?"
The demon blushed, blinking rapidly with all her eyes. The elf beside her tensed and grabbed Evelin's arm in a poorly hidden jealous gesture.
Exactly what Evelin needed.
In a swift motion, she pulled the stone from her sleeve and pressed it against the elf's abdomen. A spark crackled through the room. The elf didn't even scream: her body went rigid and collapsed, unconscious.
The demon froze, horrified.
When she lunged forward, Evelin raised the stone again, holding it near the elf's motionless body.
—"Relax. She's just unconscious,"—she said coldly.—"But if you don't want her to stay that way… step back."
The demon's body tensed; all her pupils narrowed like blades.
Evelin's voice turned glacial.
—"Help us. I know what's in those syringes isn't for sleeping. It's to bring someone down like a hammer—and make sure they never wake up. So stop pretending. Game over. Also, from your reaction, it's clear you two are more than just friends."
The demon blinked, surprised by the edge in Evelin's tone. Then, slowly, her face settled into a neutral, unreadable expression.
—"What do you want?"
—"You already know,"—Evelin replied calmly.—"Do your part. If everything goes well, you might even have time to escape… and live out your little love story far away from here."
"…Fine," the demon growled under her breath. Her voice was bitter, laced with suspicion. Something about Evelin intrigued her: that sharp confidence, that measured cruelty… but she didn't ask questions. Not yet.
—"Something big is going to happen tonight,"—Evelin added.—"My sister and I will handle it. When chaos begins, that's your window."
She tossed the magic box back to her.
—"Just do your part."
Then she released the unconscious elf. A few minutes later, both women left the room without a word.
Once the door closed, Evelin let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the bed, nerves fried.
This isn't going nearly as well as I'd hoped, she thought bitterly.
Soon after, someone knocked on the door.
Urano, surely. They hadn't been apart for long. Where the hell have you been this time?
—"Come in,"—she said.
And yes, it was Urano.
But he wasn't alone.
Behind him stood a female figure—a woman with twitching black ears and sharp eyes peeking over his shoulder like a shadow with claws.
It was Nora.
Evelin's blood ran cold.
She recognized her instantly. Nora: a character introduced in the early chapters of the manga. A wild card. Unstable, dangerous.
She hadn't expected to see her here. Not now. And especially not at Urano's side.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Urano raised a hand before she could.
—"She's my assistant,"—he said quickly.—"Apparently, she followed me from the capital. She wants to help with the plan."