"Oh? The hell are you all doing here?"
John's face soured the mont his eyes landed on Rodolf. His brows furrowed, lips pressed into a tight line—he clearly wasn't thrilled to see him.
Honestly, he looked like he'd rather pretend they weren't even there. But luck wasn't on his side today—because his girlfriend? Yeah, no way she was going to ignore one of her best friends.
"Cylien!" Alia perked up instantly, practically bouncing over to her. "What are you doing here? Wait—don't tell . Is this a date? Hm~?" She teased, eyes glinting mischievously.
Cylien's gaze darted away as a soft flush colored her cheeks. "Um… yeah," she mumbled, clearly flustered. "You're out too, right?" she added, her eyes sliding toward John with a knowing look.
"Yep! And we're not alone either," Alia said, stepping to the side like she was revealing a prize on a ga show. "John's sister is with us. She's also Amael's girlfriend!"
That caught Cylien's attention instantly. Her eyes widened the mont she saw Layla.
"It's a pleasure to et my brother's friends," Layla said with graceful poise, offering a small, elegant bow. "I'm Layla Adriana Tarmias."
Rodolf, standing beside Cylien, looked like soone had just slapped him across the face with a revelation.
"Layla… no way…" He muttered, blinking rapidly.
Yeah. I could already tell exactly where this was going the mont I saw the dumb look on his face.
"That legendary Villainess…" He whispered like he was quoting a line from one of his favorite gas.
Hearing his whisper, I grimaced.
Layla tilted her head slightly. "Hm?"
"N–Nothing," I blurted quickly, already trying to steer this disaster train off the tracks. "We were just on our way sowhere. So, well—see you guys!"
John looked more than happy to follow my lead, already stepping after —until Alia decided to open her mouth again.
"Wait! Why don't you guys just join us?" She said, all cheerful and casual, like this wasn't a terrible idea.
John, my guy. Handle your girl, please.
"I don't see anything wrong with that," Cylien said sweetly, clearly delighted by the idea.
I would've shrugged it off—if not for the ticking ti bomb beside her. Rodolf. Or more precisely, Yanis, the little gremlin inside him who liked to scream JRPG lines out loud whenever sothing ani-worthy happened, even more when Layla was there, a character he must be rembering quite well.
"Sounds fun," Rodolf said with that annoying grin of his.
John's expression darkened, and he shot Alia a look. But when she gently nudged his side, pouting a little, he sighed through gritted teeth and gave in with a reluctant nod.
Pathetic.
I leaned toward Layla and whispered, "Stick close to . And for the love of everything sacred, stay away from that guy."
Rodolf's ears twitched. "Oi, I heard that, you bastard."
"Glad to know those fluffy ears aren't just for show."
"You wanna go, huh?!"
"Don't start it again you two," Cylien sighed.
"What's wrong, honey?" Layla's voice pulled out of my thoughts as she nudged gently. Her eyes scanned my face. Of course she noticed. It was nearly impossible to keep secrets from her.
"He's got Yanis's mories, and Cylien has Marlene's ones," I replied.
She blinked, registering the na. "Yanis, Marlene… your friends from Earth?"
I nodded, my gaze lingering on Rodolf in the distance. "Yeah. He was a big fan of your character, actually. So, if he says anything weird or starts acting overly dramatic, just roll with it."
Layla let out a soft giggle. "A fan of ? That's unexpected. I an… of all characters, why mine?"
To be fair, she had a point. Layla's in-ga character wasn't exactly a poster child for heroism—more like the exact opposite. She played the role of the cold-hearted villainess after all, the final boss in many routes. But so players… well, they had a taste for the complicated ones.
There were always outliers—like Ephera and Yanis. Ephera, especially, had this strange obsession with won who were ntally unhinged or morally gray. Layla, Myrcella, Maria… all of them had that edge, and Ephera loved it. It was almost funny—almost—considering how much darker their stories had been in the original ga.
In that version, Myrcella had lost her entire adoptive family—the Olpheans—after Edward brutally wiped them out. Maria's fate was no kinder. She'd watched Seraphina, the only person she loved, die right in front of her. Compared to that, the current tiline was rciful.
Thankfully, things had played out differently here.
Eventually, the three of us—Layla, Rodolf, and I—had ended up hanging out for a while.
Later, I left Layla chatting with Alia and Cylien, who were bubbling with curiosity about the outside world. They'd lived their entire lives within the walls of Sancta Vedelia, so of course they bombarded Layla with questions about what lay beyond—different cities, cultures, and all the chaos and beauty of life outside this cloistered kingdom.
anwhile, I was with the usual suspects—John and Rodolf. We were shaping up to be a pretty chaotic trio, to say the least.
Rodolf leaned forward with a glint in his eye. "So? Who were you in your past life?" He asked John point-blank, like he was just asking what he had for breakfast.
"I don't need to tell you that," John replied curtly.
Rodolf blinked. "What?"
I couldn't help but laugh.
"He didn't even tell anything, so good luck getting an answer." I smirked. "I barely know anything about his past life either."
John shot a flat look. "Do I know anything about your life?"
Fair enough. I hadn't exactly been an open book either.
"Well, I told you about Leon, at least," I pointed out.
"That was necessary," he said.
And he was right. I couldn't afford to keep Leon's existence or his link to a secret—not from John. Not when Leon could potentially ruin everything.
"Leon? If he's really that dangerous, I'll need more details," Rodolf said, shooting a glance.
Fair enough. I'd ntioned Leon here and there—mostly after the war, and always briefly. But I hadn't really sat him down and laid out the full picture. Not yet.
"I'll tell you everything," I replied, eting his eyes with a serious look. "But right now, he's not the one we need to worry about."
"Fine. For what it's worth, I already warned my brothers about a possible threat from Behemoth." He gave a dry scoff. "Obviously, they didn't believe ."
"Can't say I bla them. Since when have you shown any real concern for your kingdom? That must've freaked them out—'Who is this impostor pretending to be Rodolf?' or sothing," I said.
"Yeah," John nodded, deadpan. "You showing sudden patriotism? Definitely sus."
"Shut the hell up!" Rodolf snapped, scowling. "I care way more about my kingdom than you two ever cared about yours. My brothers will raise the defenses—they trust . So cut the whining and just remind again: which bastards do I need to keep my eyes on? I kinda forgot."
He was getting worked up, but I knew it ca from a place of real concern. Beneath all his usual bravado, Rodolf did care. He just sucked at showing it properly.
"Just the Behemoth executives," I said. "There are three left. And the one leading them… is Braham Moonfang. Your half-brother."
Rodolf's teeth clenched instantly. A muscle twitched in his cheek, and for a second, he didn't say anything. Then ca the cold mutter: "That bastard... He's not my brother. Just half-blood trash. He was stripped from the family the mont we found out what he did."
I didn't push. I knew Braham had killed his own parents—Rodolf's parents—but the rest of the story was murky at best. Not sothing Rodolf liked talking about, and I respected that.
"Next is Nikolas Tepes—Duncan's brother," I continued with a sigh. "Seriously, at this point, I'm starting to wonder if there's a single noble House that doesn't have a hidden psychopath in it. Olpheans excluded, of course."
Rodolf glared at for a second but didn't argue. He knew I had a point.
"And the third one... I don't even rember her na. She was so rando who got offed early on. Who killed her again?" I asked, looking over at John.
John shrugged lazily. "Think it was one of the Moonfangs. Maybe that Monarch guy? Honestly, she wasn't important enough to track."
"Jefer Moonfang?" I said after thinking it over. "I don't trust that guy. Rodolf, you might want to keep an eye on that one. I've got a few questions for him myself."
Rodolf gave a slow nod, eyes narrowing slightly. "What kind of questions?"
"Connor, obviously," I said quietly.
I needed answers. What really happened to him? Did Jefer actually kill him?
And if he did... why?
Rodolf didn't answer. Just gave a look that told everything I needed to know—he had no clue either.
"It's better if you're with when I ask him," I added, turning to face Rodolf properly. "I've already pissed off all the noble Houses. I don't doubt so of them are just waiting for an excuse to have thrown out. Having you there might stop things from spiraling."
He clicked his tongue and nodded. "Yeah, alright. I need to find out too. If Jefer's involved in anything shady, he can't stay as Head of House Moonfang. That's not negotiable."
I looked at him for a mont. Rodolf was rough around the edges—arrogant, impulsive, dramatic as hell—but when it ca to his House, he wasn't stupid. He knew the stakes.
And once again I was reminded that he wasn't Yanis anymore but the rge of Yanis and Rodolf.
"By the way…" I started, hesitating slightly as my eyes t his.
"What?" He asked, brow raised, sensing sothing behind my tone.
I thought for a second—about telling him everything. About future Roda, the tiline that might have been, the path she took, what beca of her. But the words stalled in my throat.
In the end, I just gave a small, noncommittal shrug and looked away.
"Never mind. It's nothing."
Now wasn't the ti to drop that on him. He had enough to deal with. Let him focus on the Behemoth situation. The rest… we'd deal with when we had to.
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