The bell rang like a warning shot. I had survived the first half of the morning at the Academy without being thrown into a duel or chased out by suspicious students. Barely.
Whiskerdoom stretched lazily from the bag.
"Barely? Kid, you walked straight into their lion pit wearing the villain's face. Barely surviving is highly optimistic."
"Shut up," I muttered, adjusting my coat. "At least Eren's keeping me alive… probably."
We made our way down the long corridor toward my locker. Marble floors, portraits of old heroes staring down, and banners that made the villain in me want to scream.
I stopped in front of my locker. A cold chill ran up my spine. Something was… off.
It wasn't the usual messy student lockers with stickers or graffiti. My locker door had a faint glow. Just a little. But enough that my hair stood on end.
I hesitated. Diary? Anything about glowing lockers? No? Of course not.
Slowly, I opened it.
Inside lay a sword.
Not just any sword. The kind of sword you only saw in books, games, or terrifyingly vivid dreams: silver blade, etched with runes that glimmered with holy light, and a hilt wrapped in gold and white leather. A sword that practically screamed: Hero only.
I froze.
"Uh… Whiskerdoom?"
The cat's tiny voice piped up, sounding concerned for once.
"That… that's not in the manual, kid. That's not supposed to happen."
I reached out, hand trembling. The sword was heavier than I expected, yet perfectly balanced. My reflection in the locker's shiny interior gave me a warning: crimson eyes, silver hair, villain grin—not me. Not real me.
And then, a whisper.
" Chosen one… pick me… wield…"
I jumped. "Okay, nope. Definitely not real. Definitely hallucinating."
Whiskerdoom snorted.
"You're welcome for the sanity check. And yes, that voice is real. Don't ask why."
I tried to close the locker, but the sword resisted, almost screaming for me to take it.
"Why me?" I muttered. "I'm… I'm the villain. I'm supposed to die before I even get a chance to swing anything shiny."
Eren appeared behind me, still as cheerful as ever.
"Wow, that sword! It's amazing!"
"Uh… yeah," I said, backing away slowly. "Amazing. Totally… not cursed, obviously."
Eren laughed. "You're shaking. Want me to help you pick it up?"
I gave him a look that could kill.
"No! I mean… sure, but… careful."
We lifted the sword together. As soon as my hand touched the hilt, the diary vibrated violently in my coat pocket.
"New entry detected. Unknown event. No prediction available."
Great. No prediction. Fantastic.
"Diary's freaking out," I muttered. "Guess I'm not supposed to do this."
Whiskerdoom's tail twitched.
"Kid, you just opened a plot hole so big I could nap in it. Congratulations."
And that was when I noticed the faint figure watching from the end of the corridor.
Princess Celis.
Her smile was bright, sweet, and terrifying. She clutched a book to her chest and tilted her head, eyes sparkling with something I couldn't name. Curiosity? Amusement? Malice? Probably all three.
"Enjoying the sword?" she called, voice soft.
I froze. Do I… say something? Hide it? Pretend I didn't see it?
"Uh… yes! Very… impressive sword, Your Highness," I stammered.
She smiled wider, stepping closer. "Riel, I always knew you had… potential. Perhaps you'll surprise us all."
I gulped. Diary screaming, sword glowing, princess smiling… and Whiskerdoom hissing quietly.
"Kid," the cat muttered, "this is bad. Really, really bad."
"Yeah," I said, gripping the sword tighter. "I can feel it."
Because at that moment, the game—or whatever this was—just changed the rules.
And for the first time, I realized: the diary didn't know everything.