"What? You went shopping?" Duchess Lucy asked, staring at Nessa.
Behind Nessa stood maids struggling to balance stacks of neatly wrapped boxes and cloth bags. Alfred stood calmly at her side while Olivia lingered just behind Nessa.
"Yes, for clothes for my new little sister, of course. Hope you can settle my bill, Mum!" Nessa stated with a playful wink.
Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine," she sighed, though the faint twitch of her lips betrayed her amusement.
"You're the best, Mum!" Nessa beamed, throwing her arms around her.
Lucy huffed but patted her daughter's back lightly.
"Let's take your stuff to your room, Olivia! Lead the way, Alfred!" Nessa chirped.
Alfred bowed slightly and led them down the grand corridor. Olivia followed quietly, her fingers brushing the fabric of one of the bags as if she still couldn't believe it was all for her.
Olivia's room was large, though not nearly as grand as Nessa's, but it was luxurious and spotless. Tall windows let in warm golden light, and the curtains were soft silk trimmed with lace.
Nessa stepped inside and looked around, nodding slowly in approval.
"Good."
She handed the bags to the maids, who immediately began arranging the new dresses inside the wardrobe. Silks, ribbons, embroidered gowns, colors Olivia had likely never imagined owning.
'Good. They gave you a decent room… or there'd be hell to pay,' Nessa thought, crossing her arms with satisfaction.
"You can go for dinner. I'm tired, so I'm heading to bed," Nessa said, gently patting Olivia's head.
Olivia stiffened at first, then relaxed into the touch.
"Thank you… Sister," Olivia whispered softly.
Nessa smiled before turning away.
Once inside her own room, Nessa headed straight to the bathroom. The maids had already prepared everything, warm water filling the tub, scented soap placed neatly beside a sponge.
She removed her clothes, sank into the bath, and scrubbed her body well with her long net sponge.
The warm water eased her shoulders before she rinsed up.
After drying herself, she slipped into her nightgown and collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
[ Hi, Master. ]
A glowing translucent screen appeared before her.
"Thank the heavens that I have a system!" Nessa cheered, sitting up immediately.
"Hmm. So what are you? Why am I here?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the floating screen.
[ Well, first off, this isn't a game world. It's a real world. ]
"Huh? How's that possible when I literally saw the game?" Nessa gasped, sitting up.
[ Basically, whenever a random person writes a story, a new multiverse world is created. It's added to the vast amount of existing worlds… until it eventually collapses. ]
"That sounds ridiculous," Nessa huffed, folding her arms.
[ It's not ridiculous! ]
"Alright, no need to be so loud," she said dryly. "So why am I here?"
[ Because I chose you, of course. You wanted to see your sister, right? So I brought you to a world where her soul reincarnated. ]
"That's actually my real sister?" she asked quietly as a calm smile slowly spread across her face. "I'm so glad…"
[ Enough sentimental behavior. My main point is that I'm not doing this for free. ]
Nessa immediately clutched her nightgown dramatically. "Don't say you want my body," she cooed, side-eyeing the screen.
[ I'm not that shallow, you wench! Respect yourself! ] the system yelled angrily, the screen flickering.
Nessa snorted. "Then what do you want?"
[ I would like you to become a world hopper. ]
"And do what exactly?"
[ See worlds like this, where evil people are given ridiculous amounts of power to do whatever they want. ]
"I mean… isn't that how most stories work?" she replied casually.
[ That's not the point! I want you to complete this world, give the main character, Olivia, a happy ending. And kill the male leads. And maybe complete other worlds. ].
"That I'm very happy to do. But how do you expect me to handle people like the male leads of this world?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
[ I will help you. This is a high-risk mission world. I thought you might be suitable to complete it. Once completed, you can choose to stay here until old age… or move to another world. Three women have already died trying to complete this world. ]
Nessa's smile faded slightly.
"Did the world restart or something?"
[ No. They died within a year of joining. They were too busy trying to 'change' the black-flag male leads… and were killed by those same male leads. How ironic. They didn't even bother to find Olivia. ]
"I'll do it," Nessa said at last. "But I do find this suspicious."
[ For real?!! Thanks a bunch! ] The screen flickered excitedly.
[ If you're curious, I'm a world-hopping system. My previous owner disconnected me from the main system during her mission and didn't connect me before she died. If this world isn't completed and Olivia suffers… I'll disappear into nothing. And I don't want to disappear! ]
Its static voice glitched slightly, beginning to sound more human, almost like a young man's.
Nessa studied it carefully.
"I get it now," she said softly. "And I look forward to our cooperation. After all, you gave me another life with my sister. All I want is to see her live happily." She chuckled lightly.
[ Thank you so much! ]
[ Now, would you like the memories of Nessa? ]
"Not really. Her life seems simple and doesn't have any secrets," she shrugged.
[ True… but that's not the case. So I will still give her memories to you! ]
The screen flashed brightly.
"Wait, "
A burst of light blinded her. For several long seconds, she couldn't see anything. Then,
Memories flooded her mind. Nessa's childhood moments. Nessa's private training with her mother and brother.
[ Also, would you like to look at your stats now? ] the system asked once she regained her senses.
"Sure," she said, a smile forming on her lips.