Claude wore the most confused expression I'd ever seen.
I had completely forgotten about Aisha.
Claude's childhood friend.
The girl who looked eerily similar to me same hair, same presence.
That was when it clicked.
What if Aisha was the trigger?
Something must have happened to her. Something bad enough that Claude started the war. In the vision, she appeared at the very end too late to stop it. That hadn't matched the original novel, but now it made sense. The future had already shifted. I hadn't died. The female lead, Lilia, hadn't mattered yet.
So the answer was obvious.
Claude couldn't fall in love with Aisha.
He had to fall in love with Eliana, the original female lead.
If that happened, there would be no war. Or at least… a better ending.
And if I stayed really close I could figure out where everything went wrong. Touch people in the castle. See deaths. Trace the beginning and the end.
How had I not thought of this sooner?
If I married him, I'd stay in the palace. I'd gain access. Time. Information. Distance from Landon.
Father would never refuse a prince. Even if Landon objected, Father wouldn't side with him over royalty.
A win-win.
The problem was convincing Claude.
He stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"You're suggesting," he said slowly, then burst out laughing, "that I marry you?"
"Yes."
"Why would I ever do that?" He wiped at his eyes, still amused but soon turning into his cold stare. "Don't tell me you've fallen for me."
"Not at all," I said flatly. "It's a matter of convenience. So the world doesn't turn to ash when you start a war."
He stopped.
"Oh," he said dryly. "So I'm responsible for that now?"
"Yes."
He crossed his arms. "And your solution is marriage."
"Exactly. You don't even have to like me. I just need time in the castle to prevent it."
"And why," he said with a smirk, "would I believe any of this?"
I froze.
He leaned closer, voice light, amused but sharp underneath.
"I have no reason to trust someone who appears out of nowhere claiming to see the future. Plenty of women ask to marry me. Being strange doesn't make you special."
He straightened taking off my mask.
"And saying the world ends doesn't mean I'll say yes."
Then he froze. Her long brown moving through the wind, her blue eyes sparkling through the moonlight. He just froze.
I swallowed.
Right.
Convincing him was going to be harder than stopping a war.
Claude studied me for a long moment just admiring her beauty, amusement replaced by something sharper.
"You're either insane," he said calmly, "or very confident."
"I'm tired," I replied. "That usually looks like both."
He scoffed. "You expect me to marry a woman who threatens me with an apocalypse?"
"I'm not threatening you," I said. "I'm offering a workaround."
"A workaround for what?"
"For you," I said simply. "And your terrible future decisions."
That earned a short, incredulous laugh.
"You talk like you know me better than I know myself."
"I know what you become when you lose the wrong person."
His gaze flickered.
"Careful," he said. "You're starting to sound desperate."
I tilted my head. "If I were desperate, I'd be asking nicely."
Silence.
Then he stepped back.
"No," Claude said. "I'm not marrying you. Not now. Not ever."
I nodded. "That's fine."
He glared. "That's it?"
"For now," I said. "You'll change your mind."
He looked down on me. "You're unbelievable."
"I know," I replied. "That's why you'll remember me."
I turned and walked away before he could respond.
Because I didn't need his agreement.
I just needed time.
Claude watched her walk away longer than he meant to.
She didn't look back. No hesitation. No dramatics. Just… gone. Like she'd already decided the conversation was finished.
That annoyed him.
Most people lingered. They waited for permission, for reaction, for approval.
She hadn't even bothered.
Interesting.
By the next morning, rumors had already spread.