I ran back to the Moonlit Feast with Ace trailing me without taking a break to rest.

There was no time.

When we made it back, I scanned our table carefully.

Florence...Ash...Grey...Deux...and the twins.

Everyone was there except for Lilly.

Good.

We made it back before Lilly did...

I collapsed on the ground as all the air trapped in my lungs left me.

"Cordelia...?!" Ace yelled slightly as he wrapped his hands around my shoulder, attempting to support me from the ground.

"...I'm...fine..." I muttered.

But no matter how hard I tried, my legs weren't working the way I wanted them to.

I could hear the screeching of chairs being pushed as everyone from our dinner table stood up sharply as they saw me collapsed on the ground near them.

"Brat...?! Hey...Brat! What's wrong with you?!" my brother, Ash, yelled as he ran over to me at lightning speed to help Ace support me.

Deux moved over to me with a small frown on his face.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the twins along with their teddy bear stare at me closely.

...Were they trying to read my mind or something...?

They had scary looks on their faces.

Huh.

I always thought that the twins were carefree.

I must've been wrong.

"Milady...Would you care to explain how you ended up like this...?" my servant, Grey, asked from afar as he stared at me with some...pretty dark looking eyes.

I could see Florence standing by Grey.

He was strangely quiet.

Normally, he would normally bother me about this...but right now he was eyeing the steak knives on the table with a scary look on his face.

I wonder why.

"Guys. I'm alright. All of you are overreacting way too much. I'm not even injured! I'm just tired from...uh...playing a game of tag with Ace! Yeah...definitely...yep..." I said as I rolled my eyes at all of them.

"You're an awful liar, Lia. It makes it seem like you don't trust us enough," Florence said at an attempt to guilt-trip me into telling the truth.

But I wasn't going to fall for it.

"I'm d-definitely telling the truth! I was t-totally playing a game of tag with Ace earlier! Ace is way too fast for me...so our game...uh...turned into a workout session...uh...halfway through..." I stuttered as I tried to fortify my lie.

"Brat. All of us here would need a combined brain cell count of ten in order for us to fall for your awful lying skills...Just tell us the truth already," Ash groaned as he watched me.

"E-Excuse me?! I'll have you know that I am an excellent liar!!!" I yelled in defense.

"...So you admit that you're lying, Lia?" Florence questioned with a grim look on his face.

"What?! N-No! Of course n-not! I didn't mean it that way! I meant that I am telling the truth right now, but I can be a good liar when I need to be!" I replied loudly.

"Milady...What must I do to drag the truth out of you...? What do you want me to do...?" Grey asked in a scary voice.

I gave a small gulp under the pressure.

...I couldn't handle this anymore...

So, I did the only reasonable thing that someone would do in this situation.

I closed my eyes, flopped my body on the ground, and pretended that I had just passed out.

"Hey, sis! Sis! Cordelia! Brat! Wake up! Are you alright????" Ash yelled as he shook me.

Everyone started panicking.

Good.

.

.

An Hour Later

.

.

I pretended to be unconscious as Ace carried me with his wind magic to the infirmary.

The others followed along too.

Now, I was laying on a bed as everyone around me began to talk to one another.

None of them knew that I was actually awake...except for maybe the telepathic twins with their teddy bear.

I bet they were having the time of their lives reading my mind during all of this...

"What is wrong with her?" Florence asked everyone in a scarily deep voice.

"You were with her right, Ace?" Ash asked loudly.

"...I'm not sure...she was neither harmed nor physically overexerted..." Ace said slowly.

"Be honest. Milady was not playing a simple game of tag with you, right?" Grey said in a somewhat dark voice.

There was silence as Ace hesitated to respond.

"What happened to her that made her so exhausted though? It makes no sense..." Ash grumbled when Ace failed to reply.

"Ugh...I want to get mad at you, Ace. I really do. But it's impossible to get mad at you when I know for a fact that it's probably Cordelia's fault completely," Florence sighed.

"Yeah...She really has a knack for getting in trouble," Ash agreed.

Hey!

What's that supposed to mean?!

"...I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Ace murmured as he finally said something.

"It's fine, Ace. We're just confused why she's like that now. She was fine before and during dinner," Ash said as he gave a sigh.

Everyone was silent for a bit until the twins decided to talk.

"...Maybe it's because she just found out..." one of the twins said.

"...that she was backstabbed by one of her friends!" the other twin finished.

My whole body stiffened.

Most likely, Lin and Min had already read my mind, so they knew exactly what was going on.

Were they planning on blurting everything out right now?!

In my head, I gave the loudest screech I could possibly give to get the twins to stay silent.

SSSSSTTTTTOOOOOPPPPP!!!!!

Almost immediately, I could hear the twins laugh out of nowhere.

"Should we do what she wants, Lin?" Min asked.

"That's a tough decision, Min," Lin replied.

What were these twins thinking?!?!?!

Did they want me to kill them????

"What are you two talking about...?" Florence asked the two with confusion clear in his voice.

"Nothing~" Lin and Min answered at the same time.

"...Ugh. It's annoying not knowing what goes through your guys' heads. The way you two act makes it feel as if you know everything and are just messing with us because you can," Florence sighed.

"Dang, Lin," Min said.

"He's smart, Min," Lin agreed.

"Huh?" Florence questioned.

"Nothing~" the twins said together.

"Ugh..." Florence groaned.

"You should just give up, brat. Those twins are hard to wrap your head around," Ash sighed to Florence.

After a while of hearing them chat, I decided to finally "wake up" and open one of my eyes slowly.

"Did you sleep well, Lia?" Florence smirked as he saw me open my eyes.

"Huh...?" I asked him while trying my best to keep up my 'I-just-woke-up-from-passing-out-act.'

"You passed out earlier, brat. What is wrong with you! You could've given me a heart attack," Ash rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you treating me a bit too harshly? I literally just woke up," I muttered.

"I guess that's true, milady. I'm sure you must be quite exhausted for now...so please rest comfortably tonight. Once you are fully refreshed in the morning, I can expect some answers, okay?" Grey asked me in his signature devil's grin.

"Y-Yes, sir..." I muttered to my own servant.

I'm supposed to be the master!

So why does it always seem like Grey's the one in control???

"That's right...Lia must be absolutely exhausted. Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Florence said with a wink as the topic of the conversation took a sharp turn.

"My sister is not going anywhere with you," Ash said as he stepped in to block Florence's view of me.

"Ah...that's such a shame. It looks like the sis-con is jealous..." Florence sighed.

"I. Am. Not. A. Sis-con," Ash replied sharply.

"...Sure," everyone else in the room replied except for Deux.

Deux was sitting near me and gave me an empty look.

Was he...worried...about me?

"I'll be fine, Deux! Thanks for your concern," I smiled at him.

"...I...am...concerned?" Deux asked.

"Yes...I think so," I replied with an even bigger smile.

Deux rarely talked, so whenever he did, it always made the rest of us a little happy.

He slowly grabbed one of my hands and held it tightly.

It was kind of awkward, but I understood his message.

I gave a small giggle and gave Deux a small pat on the head.

Deux was definitely far from fully recovering, but he was slowly healing.

That was all that mattered.

"It's starting to get quite late, milady. Allow me to escort you back to your dorm room so you can get proper sleep," Grey smiled as he held out his hand for me with a smile.

Gah.

What was this seductive man doing to my heart??

Watching him offer his hand was like watching a god reach out to some pitiful mortals.

It was unfair.

Needless to say, I grabbed his hand.

Then, everyone followed me back to my dorm room as Grey led me there, which was completely unnecessary in my opinion.

After excusing all of them strongly outside of my room, I was finally left alone.

Jeez.

Those boys were a lot of work.

I gave a small sigh before opening my door and took a small step inside my room.

It was then that I realized that I had forgotten a slightly important detail.

Lilly was my roommate.

How the heck did I forget?!?!

"Cordelia...? You're back a bit late. Did you have fun with the others at the Moonlit Feast?" Lilly asked from inside the room.

"Yes, I had a lot of fun! How was your walk, Lilly?" I asked as I turned on the lights to our room.

For some reason, all the lights in our room were off.

What was Lilly doing by herself in the dark???

"It was quite lovely, Cordelia. Greenwood Academy looks beautiful at night. There are so many places that I wish to show you...if you are okay with me showing you...of course," Lilly giggled.

"Y-Yes...I'm sure you must have had a...grand time on your own..." I muttered.

"Of course," Lilly smiled.

"...Can I ask something, Lilly?" I asked her slowly.

"Hmm? Yes," Lilly replied.

"...Can I...trust you...?' I asked out loud.

"..." Lilly remained silent.

She didn't answer right away.

Haha...

What was I even expecting her to answer anyway?

"Cordelia? Are you feeling alright? You're asking quite the strange question...Did something happen before?" Lilly asked after a while.

Was she...suspicious of me?

Well...at least this confirms that she really is working with the Marquis and Marquess.

Ah...

What do I do now?

I wanted to get revenge against the Marquis and Marquess...but...Lilly was a different story...

"It's just something that has been weighing on my mind lately...I met you so suddenly and we became friends so fast that it was unnatural to me I guess. Because of my social standing..." I murmured an excuse in hopes that she would believe me.

"Oh...Please rest assured, Cordelia. You can trust me," Lilly said with a reassuring smile.

Her voice was filled to the brim with an honest tone.

No one in the world would assume she was lying based on her voice alone.

But.

How in the world are you supposed to trust the words of a spy sent by a couple who killed your friend and has been planning your assassination for years?

Simple answer: you just don't.

"Thanks...Lilly," I smiled back as I sat down on my bed.

"You must be quite tired after tonight. Let's go to bed early then," Lilly said as she observed me.

"Yeah. I think that'll be for the best too..." I muttered as I turned off the lights again.

I probably should've been responsible enough to take a shower and brush my teeth before bed...but let's be honest.

I was living away from all my maids now.

There was no way I was going to start acting like responsible kid now.

Besides, I was too tired.

So whatever I guess.

Once the lights were turned off, I could hear the sound of Lilly going underneath her blankets to sleep.

I did the same as well.

But instead of sleeping, I laid on my bed wide awake, wondering what to do next.

I had a lot of conflicting emotions in me—too many that I didn't understand.

What would someone else do in my situation?

Murder her...?

No...that doesn't sound like a good idea.

She's the heroine of this otome game world...so this world would likely be messed up without her...

Try to get her onto my side...?

Honestly, this was slightly idealistic of me to consider.

I don't know how or why Lilly is working with the Marquis and Marquess...

...What if she had a reason?

I don't know anymore.

Seriously, this was all too confusing for me.

I gave a small mental sigh.

Whenever I was confused or stuck with something, there was always one place I would go to.

Ever since I was little, I was blessed by the god of this world, Gadia, with the "Power of the Mind."

It allowed me to view my status, use an infinite library in my head, have a free storage space, and also...allowed me to have a hangout room in my mind where I could meet the gods while watching anime and reading manga.

And right now...I think I needed to have a nice and long chat with the gods.

I laid still, with utmost concentration until I could feel something flicker in the back of my mind.

Around me, everything went white until it changed into a room full of fluffy beanbags, TVs, bookshelves full of manga, various different gaming platforms, and an infinite snack bar.

Yep.

This was how I personally designed the room in my mind.

It was heaven inside my brain.

"Hey! You stupid gods! Where the heck are you two?!" I yelled, waiting patiently for a response.

I could hear a loud crashing sound somewhere in the room and I quickly turned in the direction of it.

"Get. Over. There. You. Cowardly. Fool," Gadia, the god of this world, said as he kicked poor Shai, the god of Earth, toward me.

"N-No! She's going to y-yell at us...!" Shai squealed as he attempted to run away.

Gadia gave one harsh kick into Shai's stomach to knock him down on the ground in front of me.

Now, Shai was on the ground between both Gadia and I...and I swear his face was as pale as a ghost.

"So~ I'm sure you two know why I'm here~ Right~?!" I asked sweetly as I looked at the two of them.

Neither of them said anything as they stared off into space.

"Hey. Listen to me. Why the heck is Lilly different than the otome game??? Why is she my roommate??? And why is she a spy??? I need answers now..." I smiled softly at them.

"I don't know what you're talking about, ugly," Gadia retorted in response.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Up until now, I've seen unexpected things in this world that didn't match with the game and I chose to ignore it. But now..." I muttered.

"I don't see the stupid problem."

"You guys were the ones who reincarnated me into an otome game world..." I muttered.

There was silence as Gadia looked at me straight in the eye.

"...We never said that this world was the same as that otome game you played. You assumed that yourself."

"What...?"

"It's like I just said. We never said that this world was the same as the otome game. We only promised to reincarnate you into a 'fun' world."

"Are you telling me that this world isn't an otome game...?!"

"Depends on how you look at it."

I stood there frozen.

This world...wasn't the same...

This whole time...

Was I was living under the assumption that it was...?

"That doesn't make sense. How come this world is almost identical to the game then?! Yeah, there are a few major differences, but all the characters are basically the same and everything is..." I tried to say.

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Gadia replied sharply.

"...I..."

"No one in this world is just a game character okay? They are real living people. I didn't think I would need to be the one to tell you that though, but apparently you were too stupid to figure that out on your own," Gadia groaned.

"...This world doesn't have a set storyline then...?" I asked.

"What do you think?" Gadia sighed.

A part of me always thought that since this was the world of an otome game, no matter what I did, everyone around me would end up with a happy ending, except for me.

I'm the villainess.

Lilly is the heroine.

All of it was meant to be a fun survival game for me.

...right?

"I think...we told her too soon, Gadia," Shai said slowly.

"No. We told her too late," Gadia replied harshly.

"...We have a favor we want to ask you," Shai sighed as he turned to me.

I looked at the two of them blankly.

What was it now...?

"Keep this world alive for us, okay?" Gadia asked as the look in his eyes flickered from annoyance to sincerity for a split second.

"Huh? I don't understand what you mean-" I said before Gadia pushed me.

Suddenly everything went black.

.

.

A Few Hours Later

.

.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock ringing.

I felt like I just had a weird dream...but for some reason...my mind was too blurry to remember exactly what it was.

Oh well.

It was raining today, which was great.

The rain represented my emotional and mental state perfectly.

I looked over to my side and could see Lilly waking up on her own bed.

What was I supposed to do with her now...???

I needed to find out more information before I could come up with a solid plan to suit this situation.

But for now...I needed to prepare for war...which was also known as breakfast.

Because...the moment I step inside the cafeteria, interrogation from the male leads will begin.

And Lilly, the reason why I'm being interrogated in the first place, is going to be right next to me the entire time.

--------------------------------------------------

A/N: We have reached chapter 50! Woohoo~

I know some of you have been wondering when this story will come to an end...and at this point, I can say that there are actually going to be more chapters than I thought there would be.

This story will likely come to a close around the time when school will start again~

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though~

And, yes, this world is not identical to the otome game~ But, I'm sure most of you knew that already!

Thanks, again, to my readers/voters/commenters! You guys are always so sweet and supportive~

Stay safe, everyone!

Okie byeee!

Word Count: 2918