***
I stood frozen for a half-second, the Head Cook's furious eyes boring into me, the jeers of the other servants echoing in the cavernous, hot kitchen. The System window flashed, demanding a choice.
[Plead] was the choice of a victim, and I was done being a victim. [Bribe] was the choice of an idiot. I had nothing.
That left [Defy] or [Improvise]. I didn't have time to improvise. I needed a blunt instrument. And the only one I had was the name of the boy they all feared.
I lifted my chin, forcing my trembling body to feign a confidence I didn't feel.
"I'm hiding this," I said, my voice sharp and clear, cutting through the kitchen's clatter. I pulled the warm loaf from my shawl. The cook's eyes widened, her face purpling with rage at my audacity.
[Choice '2' Selected.]
"It's for the young master," I said, the words coming out like ice. "Are you going to be the one to tell the Head Butler that you denied him food?"
Silence.
A heavy, shocked silence. Eliza, the maid, dropped a spoon. The Head Cook, who had been lunging forward, stopped dead.
Her face cycled through an extraordinary range of emotions: pure rage, then confusion, then... a flicker of something new—a tiny, new, reptilian fear.
It wasn't fear of me. It was the fear of the implications.
What if this were an order? What if I were acting on the Head Butler's behalf? What if the Duke—God forbid—ever found out that the child, the cursed thing in the tower, was actively denied food?
I wasn't Elara, a pathetic beggar. I was Governess Elara, an employee, and I had just invoked her charge's name.
"You... you wretch," the cook sputtered, but all the venom was gone, replaced by a grudging, furious panic. "You think you can... coming in here, stealing..."
"He's starving," I said, my voice flat. "And he's cold. His food was spoiled, and his room is a block of ice."
"That's not my—"
"I am his governess. This is my problem. Which means," I said, taking a bold, terrifying step toward her, "I'm making it your problem."
[System Alert: New Skill Unlocked!] [Skill: 'Intimidation' (Low-Rank Servants) LV 1. (Temporary)]
The cook stared at me, her chest heaving. She was beaten, and she knew it, and she hated me for it.
"Fine," she hissed, her voice a venomous whisper. "Fine! You want to feed the little monster, be my guest!" She snatched a small, cloth-wrapped wedge of cheese from a counter and a bruised, yellow apple and threw them at me. "Take this, you miserable girl. Now get out of my kitchen and don't come back!"
I caught them, fumbling the items slightly, then clutched the bread, the cheese, and the apple to my chest like they were treasure.
[Result: SUCCESS!] [Reputation (Kitchen Staff): -10] [Reputation (Head Cook): +1...???] [Item Acquired: Stolen Bread (Small Loaf)] [Item Acquired: Pity Cheese (Wedge)] [Item Acquired: Bruised Apple (1)]
I didn't wait to be told twice. I turned and ran, bolting from the warm, bright kitchen and back into the freezing, dark stone halls.
The System window flickered beside me as I ran.
[System Note: That... was not the statistically probable outcome. 'Intimidation' success chance was 12%. Player 'Elara' is a statistical anomaly. Recalculating... Please stand by.]
"Just... shut up... and let me... run," I panted, my lungs burning.
The smell of the bread was torture. It was fresh, yeasty, and warm. My stomach, which had been silent, let out a painful, hollow groan. The hunger was a physical claw, tearing at my insides.
[System Alert: 'Stamina' at 15%. 'Hunger' stat at 80%.] ['Willpower' Test (Resist Food): Initiated.]
My hand, of its own accord, tore a small piece of the crust off the bottom. It was an unconscious movement. I brought it to my lips.
I stopped.
My reflection, pale and haunted, stared back at me from the dark, leaded glass of a hallway window. I looked at the bread. I thought of Kaelen's magenta eyes, filled with that ancient, simmering hatred.
He thought I was a monster. And if I ate his food, I was.
I shoved the piece of bread back onto the loaf, pressing it into the soft white interior.
"No," I growled, my voice shaking. "Not for me."
[Willpower Test: SUCCESS!] [Stat 'Willpower' +1 (Permanent)]
I didn't feel any stronger, but I kept running.
I was almost at the East Tower. Fire. He needed fire. I passed a dark alcove, which served as a storage closet for armor polish and cleaning supplies. The door was shut with a heavy, old-looking iron lock.
[System Alert: New Action Available: 'Break Lock'.] [Strength: 2. Probability of Success: 5%.]
I was too weak. I threw my shoulder against it. It was like hitting a wall. It just hurt.
"Stupid, useless..." I hissed, looking around. My eyes landed on a decorative, medieval-looking suit of armor, standing guard in the hallway. It held a halberd, the iron polearm rusted and probably fused to its metal gauntlets.
I didn't need the whole thing. Just... a piece.
I grabbed the iron shaft and pulled. It didn't budge. I put my bare foot on the armor's chest and heaved with all my 19-year-old, malnourished body's might.
SCREEECH!
The polearm's head snapped off, rusted through, and I went tumbling backward, the heavy, 6-foot iron pole clattering onto the stone floor with a sound like a thunderclap.
[Improvise!] [New Action: 'Use Lever'. Strength: 2 + (Tool: Iron Pole). Probability of Success: 75%.]
I scrambled up, grabbed the pole, shoved it between the lock and the door, and put my entire weight on it.
CRACK!
The old wood of the doorjamb splintered. The lock popped free, clanging to the ground.
[SUCCESS!] [Stat 'Strength' +1 (Minor)] [Acquired: 'Resourceful' Trait (LV 1)]
I threw the door open. Inside: firewood. Dry, splintered, perfect firewood and tinder.
I grabbed an armful, the rough wood scratching my arms, tucked the pole under my arm, and ran the last stretch, bursting back into the nursery.
Kaelen was exactly where I had left him.
He was still huddled in the corner, but his head had been down, his silver hair hiding his face. The bang of the door made him jump, and his head snapped up. His magenta eyes were wide, and... were they wet?
He had expected me to abandon him. He had been waiting, alone in the dark, and had probably just given up.
The shock on his face when he saw me—not empty-handed, but loaded with food and wood—was a sight I would never forget.
I didn't say a word. I was too breathless.
I dumped the firewood in the hearth. I used some tinder. I had no flint. I looked at the iron pole in my hand. "This'll do," I muttered. I struck the iron pole against the stone of the hearth. ...Scrape... Nothing. ...Scrape... I did it again, harder. ...SCRAPE... SPARK!
A tiny, weak spark landed on the tinder. I dropped the pole and blew on it, my breath shaking. "Come on, come on, come on..."
[Skill Check: 'Start Fire' (Improvised). Difficulty: High.]
The tinder glowed red. A wisp of smoke. And then—whoosh—a tiny, beautiful, glorious flame.
[SUCCESS!] [Skill 'Firemaking' Acquired (LV 1)]
I added the wood, and in seconds, a real, actual fire was crackling in the hearth. A weak, orange light began to push back the years of cold and gloom. The room was still freezing, but the promise of warmth was there.
Kaelen was staring at the fire, mesmerized. His lips were slightly parted.
My body was screaming to sit by the fire, but I had one more task to complete.
I walked over to him. Not too close. He flinched, but he didn't retreat—there was nowhere else to go.
I sat on the floor, a few feet away, just as I had before.
I laid out the meal using my shawl as the temporary placemat, including the loaf, the cheese, and the apple. The smell of the fresh bread filled the small, cold room.
Kaelen's eyes snapped from the fire to the food. I saw his throat work as he swallowed, a dry, painful movement. He was starving.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said again, my voice rough from the smoke and running.
I broke off a large chunk of the bread, added a piece of cheese, and took the apple. I slid them across the dusty floor. They stopped a few feet from his huddled form.
He just stared at it. Then at me. His eyes were wide, filled with that deep, painful, agonizing distrust. This had to be a trick.
"It's not poisoned," I said, my voice flat. "I ate a piece on the way back." It wasn't even a lie; I had almost put that crumb in my mouth.
He didn't move.
I sighed, my body aching with a bone-deep weariness. "Fine. Watch."
I took the other half of the loaf—as an example—and tore off a piece. I put it in my mouth.
"Hmm..." It was... it was divine. The taste of the warm bread, the salt, the yeast... it was the best thing I had ever eaten in either of my lives. I almost cried.
[Stamina +10]
"See?" I said, my voice thick. "Food."
I looked at him. He watched me, his magenta eyes unblinking.
And then, so slowly he was barely moving, his small, pale, stick-thin hand darted out from his tunic. He snatched the bread and cheese. He didn't take the apple. He retreated, pulling the food back into his dark corner.
He didn't eat it. He just clutched it to his chest, staring at it, his small body heaving.
But he took it.
[Objective: Stabilize Target's 'Fear' Stat - COMPLETE.] [New Stat Unlocked: 'Trust'] [Trust (Kaelen): -99 / 100] [...A-affection... 'Affection' (Kaelen): -19 / 100]
The System window flickered.
[System Note: 'Affection' stat has increased by +1. This is a statistical anomaly.] [This System recommends... This System... Player 'Elara' must be monitored.]
A +1. From -20 to -19. It was the smallest, most beautiful victory of my life.
I let out a breath I'd been holding for an hour. My body finally gave out, and I slumped forward, my head resting on my knees. I was so, so tired.
[Warning: 'Stamina' dangerously low.] [Sleep required.]
I had to get back to my own cell. I pushed myself up.
Kaelen flinched, his eyes back on me.
"I'll... I'll be back," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "For the... the next meal... eat the food."
He just stared, clutching the bread.
I backed out of the room, pulling the heavy door shut, leaving him with the fire and the food. I stumbled back through the mausoleum-like halls, my body on autopilot. I was almost at the attic stairs, my mind fuzzy with exhaustion.
I just had to get to my straw mattress... to sleep.
I passed the entrance to the main, grand hall.
And froze.
I heard footsteps. Not the shuffling, quiet steps of a servant. These were heavy, booted footsteps. The steps of someone who owned the very stones they walked on.
And a voice.
A deep, cold voice that froze my blood far more than the icy hallway.
"Thorne."
My heart stopped.
"You will tell me precisely why I was informed of a disturbance in the kitchen."
The voice was like silk and steel.
"And you will tell me," the voice continued, a deadly, quiet menace, "why I smell smoke coming from the East Tower."
I heard the Head Butler, Thorne, stammering. "M-My Lord! We—weren't expecting you! You weren't due for another three days...!"
I flattened myself into a dark alcove, my hand over my mouth, my heart trying to escape my chest.
Through a crack in the tapestry, I saw him.
He was tall. Impossibly tall, a giant of a man, casting a shadow that swallowed the hall. He was dressed in a long, black, silver-embroidered coat. His hair was as black as midnight, and his eyes... even from here, I could feel them. Obsidian. Cold.
His face was so beautiful it was terrifying. It was a masterpiece carved from ice.
It was him.
Duke Zander Voronoff. The Archduke of the North. The Male Lead. The Ice Duke.
The man who, in the original story, kills me.
Right on cue, a blinding, frantic red alert flooded my vision.
[SYSTEM ALERT! SYSTEM ALERT! SYSTEM ALERT!] [FATAL ERROR! MAIN CHARACTER 'ZANDER VORONOFF' ARRIVAL (3) DAYS EARLY!] [SCENARIO 'SURVIVE FOR THREE DAYS' - CANCELED!]
[NEW MAIN SCENARIO - INITIATED!]
[SURVIVE. RIGHT. NOW.]
(End of Chapter 3)
***
(Author's Note)
FATAL ERROR. 🚨
I repeat: FATAL. ERROR.
Zander wasn't supposed to be here for three more days! Elara has no preparation; she's covered in soot, holding stolen bread, and the "End Boss" is standing five feet away.
Don't forget to Add to the Library to see if she survives this glitch next #TickyTockTuesday!
👉 SCENARIO POLL! (Tap the paragraph to vote):
The Duke is here 3 days early, and he smells smoke. Elara is hiding in the alcove. What is her best survival move?
A) Hide and pray. (The "Stealth 100" route)
B) Sneak back to the attic. (The "Tactical Retreat" route)
C) Step out & confess. (The "Honesty is the Best Policy" route)
D) Step out & blame the staff. (The "Throw Them Under the Bus" route)
E) Run back to Kaelen's room. (The "Human Shield" route)