The gold under my floorboards was a comfort and a curse. It was my safety net, but the single point of increased Corruption felt like a brand. I was playing a careful game, trying to be bland and harmless, but the system knew I was a cheater. I could feel the ghost of Null stirring in my soul, restless and impatient with this slow, careful dance.
A week after the salon, I was in the royal library, pretending to study a dusty book on herbology. My real focus was on the table across the room. Prince Cedric and Violet were there, their heads bent over a shared text. It was a peaceful scene. A boring scene. And it was making my old villainous instincts scream.
My current strategy was passive. Hide. Avoid. It was working, but it was fragile. One wrong step and it would all collapse. I was a mouse hoping the cat wouldn't notice me.
Null had never been a mouse. He had been the one who controlled the cats.
A new, dangerous idea began to form. What if I wasn't a mouse? What if I wasn't even the predictable, arrogant bully they all expected? What if I was something else entirely? Something they couldn't predict.
The original Klaus was a straightforward opponent. An insult here, a sneer there. He was easy for a hero like Cedric to understand and defeat.
But what if Klaus was… unstable? Unpredictable? What if he was charming one moment and subtly menacing the next? A person like that isn't just a rival; he's a potential loose cannon. People are careful around loose cannons. They don't know which way they'll fire.
It was a risk. A huge risk. I would be deliberately raising a doom flag, but I would be bending it, changing its shape. I wasn't trying to avoid Cedric's attention anymore. I was going to demand it, but on my own terms.
I took a deep breath, my heart hammering a war drum in my chest. This was it. Time to stop being a passenger in Klaus's life.
I stood up and walked towards their table. My interface flickered, a frantic pulse.
Prince Cedric: Favor: 12. Corruption: 15.
Lady Violet: Favor: 20. Corruption: 5.
"Your Highness. Lady Violet," I said, my voice calm, polite. I gave a perfect, shallow bow.
They both looked up. Violet offered a small, hesitant smile. Cedric's face was neutral, but his eyes were wary. He was waiting for the insult.
"I couldn't help but notice you're studying the medicinal flora of the eastern provinces," I said, gesturing to their book. "A fascinating topic. Though I've always found the text to be… incomplete."
Cedric's eyebrow twitched slightly. This wasn't the script. "Incomplete? This is considered the definitive work, Viscount."
"By scholars who have never left the capital, perhaps," I said, my tone light, almost conversational. I let a faint, condescending smile touch my lips. It was a look Klaus had mastered. "It fails to mention, for instance, that the Blue-Spotted Nettle, when boiled, creates a vapor that can cause temporary paralysis. A useful bit of knowledge, don't you think? For those who know how to use it."
The air at the table grew cold. I wasn't insulting Violet's heritage or Cedric's intelligence. I was talking about poison. Casually.
Violet's smile had vanished. She was looking at me with wide, uncertain eyes.
Cedric sat up straighter. His princely mask was firmly in place, but I could see the tension in his jaw. "That is… specialized knowledge for an academy student, Herrmann. Where did you come across it?"
I held his gaze, my smile not wavering. "A nobleman has many interests, Your Highness. Some of them are more practical than others." I let the implication hang in the air. I have hidden depths. Dangerous depths.
I saw his knuckles whiten where they rested on the table. My interface flickered.
Prince Cedric: Favor: 12 -> 5. Corruption: 15 -> 16.
Good. His favor had plummeted, but his Corruption had ticked up slightly. I had provoked not just his dislike, but his suspicion. He wasn't just looking at a rival for a lady's affection anymore; he was looking at a potential threat.
I turned my attention to Violet. Her Favor had dropped to 15. She was frightened. A part of me hated that. But it was necessary.
"Don't worry, Lady Violet," I said, my voice softening, but with an edge that made it sound like a threat disguised as comfort. "I'm sure such crude methods are beneath the future queen." I emphasized the last two words, looking directly at Cedric.
I was doing two things at once. I was implying I knew about his growing affection for her, and I was suggesting that my own knowledge was in the "crude" and practical world he was too sheltered to understand.
I gave another slight bow. "I've taken up enough of your time. Do enjoy your… studies."
I didn't wait for a reply. I turned and walked away, my steps measured and calm. I could feel their eyes on my back, burning into me. The silence I left behind was louder than any insult.
I didn't go back to my dorm. I went to the training grounds. I needed to move. I needed to let the adrenaline out.
As I practiced sword forms with a heavy, blunt training blade, I reviewed my actions. It had worked. I had shattered their expectations. I was no longer just "the bully." I was now "the unpredictable noble with dangerous knowledge." Cedric would be cautious now. He wouldn't just challenge me to a simple duel; he would investigate me. And that would take time. Time I needed.
But the cost was high. I had seen the fear in Violet's eyes. I had felt Cedric's suspicion solidify into something harder, colder.
Later that evening, as I was cleaning my practice sword, a shadow fell over me. I didn't need to look up. I could feel his presence, solid and imposing as a fortress wall.
Sir Roderick.
He stood there, arms crossed, watching me. I finished my task and finally met his gaze.
Sir Roderick: Favor: -8 -> -5. Corruption: 20. Obsession: ???
My breath caught. His Favor had gone up. The question marks by his Obsession seemed to swirl, darker and more intense than before.
"That was an interesting performance in the library today, Herrmann," he said, his voice a low rumble.
I stayed silent, just looking at him. I wouldn't give him anything for free.
"Most nobles, when they try to be threatening, puff out their chests and make noise," he continued, his flinty eyes missing nothing. "You… you were quiet. You used words like weapons. That is a soldier's trick. Or an assassin's."
He took a step closer. "Who are you?"
It was the question I had been asking myself since I woke up in this body. I gave him a slow, deliberate smile. It was the same smile I had given Cedric. "I am Klaus von Herrmann, Sir Roderick. The third son of my house. Nothing more. Nothing less."
He stared at me for a long, long moment. The air between us was thick with unspoken threats. Then, to my utter shock, he gave a short, sharp nod. It wasn't a nod of approval. It was a nod of acknowledgment. Like one predator recognizing another.
"See that it stays that way," he said softly. Then he turned and left.
I stood alone in the fading light, my heart thumping a wild, chaotic rhythm. I had done it. I had established a new persona. I was no longer a predictable pawn. To Cedric, I was a dangerous mystery. To Roderick, I was… intriguing.
But as I walked back to my room, my interface flickered one last time. A new line of text, faint and ominous, appeared beneath my Corruption stat.
[Persona Established: 'The Unseen Blade']
[Corruption: 86 -> 88]
I had stopped pretending to be a mouse. I had chosen to be a knife in the shadows. And with every step deeper into the darkness, the ghost of Null grew stronger. I was saving myself from one doom, only to walk willingly into the arms of another.