She slowly unbuttoned her clothes before lying back against the bed in an oddly vulnerable position. Cassien stared at the ceiling for a second, then looked back at Alia with visible confusion.
"...What?"
She opened her arms slightly, though her bra remained intact. She hadn’t actually gone that far. Not yet, anyway.
"You heard ." Alia turned her face away, clearly unable to maintain eye contact any longer. "I gave you information. You know my secret now. This is usually how these situations go, right?"
For the first ti in a while, Cassien looked genuinely offended.
"What kind of ridiculous logic is that?"
Alia froze completely while Cassien let out a dry sigh, casually placing his knife onto the nearby desk.
"You break into my life, attempt to stab on the way ho, tell so mildly useful information, and sohow conclude the next natural step is..." He gestured vaguely toward her awkward position on the bed. "This?"
Her cheeks imdiately flushed bright red.
"When you say it like that, it sounds horrible."
"Because it is horrible."
Alia quickly sat up and began buttoning her top back up, nearly fumbling halfway through in embarrassnt.
"I-I just thought..."
"That I’m so deranged noble?" Cassien asked.
She stayed silent, which was honestly answer enough. Cassien crossed his arms, leaning slightly against the wall while thinking for a mont.
"Well, your assumption isn’t completely unreasonable," he admitted. "But I’m not interested in whatever strange survival strategies you picked up before getting here."
That only seed to confuse Alia more, and naturally, her mind drifted back toward her previous life. The one before all of this.
She had been a model. A beautiful one too. But beauty was rarely a blessing. More often, it simply attracted the wrong kinds of people. n who saw her as little more than sothing to possess, control, or ruin.
’Sleep with , or I’ll leak your photos.’
’Do what I say, or I’ll destroy your career.’
Secrets in the wrong hands had almost always beco weapons. Her life had taught her one very simple lesson. Once soone powerful held leverage over you, there was usually only one direction these situations went.
But there had been one exception.
One man. A blurry face she could barely rember anymore. A dark alleyway. A wall pressed cold against her back while rough hands forced her still, so disgusting man fumbling with her clothing.
And then suddenly, violence.
Soone had stepped in. Soone had saved her.
...
Cassien blinked for a mont.
’She reminds of that one model I saved back then.’
He leaned lightly against the wall.
’That woman tried offering herself afterward, too.’
A faint smirk ford.
’Different world. Sa trauma.’
Clearly, Alia had carried those habits with her even after death itself. Cassien’s expression softened, if only slightly.
"So..." He paused for a mont. "Are you happy you transmigrated here?"
The question was simple, but it struck Alia far harder than expected. She opened her mouth, only to realize she had no proper answer prepared. Not one she could say confidently, at least.
Before she could think any further, the familiar system voice echoed throughout their individual system interfaces.
[Transmigrator #55 Has Died.]
[Information:]
[Transmigrator #55][Role: A Baron’s Son][Na: Chris Afterfall][Points rewarded to anonymous killer: 10]
Alia slowly lifted her gaze toward Cassien.
"You rember the man who got shot earlier?" she asked. "Yeah. He’s officially dead now."
Cassien smirked slightly.
"Is that so?"
He casually glanced outside the dormitory window, where knights were still scattered throughout the academy grounds.
"That’s cool."
Alia stared at him. Sohow, his reaction disturbed her more than the announcent itself.
After a mont, she stood up from the bed.
"I should leave now."
Cassien nodded.
As Alia slowly approached the dormitory exit, Cassien suddenly spoke again.
"Hey, Alia."
She turned around.
"What?"
Cassien thought for a second, then smiled.
"What if..." He tapped lightly against his chin. "How do I explain this?"
He paused briefly before continuing.
"What if I told you I was also a transmigrator?"
Alia froze.
Cassien’s expression remained unreadable.
"I had a boring and miserable life before this one. Nothing special. Nothing remarkable."
His hand slowly reached into his pocket.
"What would you think?"
Then he pulled it out.
A pistol.
Alia’s body instantly stiffened. She physically couldn’t move, her breathing imdiately becoming shallow and uneven.
"W-what..." she whispered. "What are you?"
Cassien slowly raised the gun toward her face.
"If I kill you right now," he said calmly, "I get ten points."
His finger rested against the trigger.
"So tell ." He tilted his head slightly. "What exactly is stopping from doing it?"
Alia’s blood ran cold. Only now did it fully hit her. She had been manipulated from the start.
"D-don’t do this..."
Cassien’s expression remained blank.
"Not a valid answer."
Alia imdiately dropped to her knees, her hands instinctively coming together while tears began falling onto the floor beneath her.
"I’m innocent!" she cried. "Please don’t do this!"
Cassien narrowed his eyes.
"Still not good enough."
Then—
Boom!
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