Chapter 4: Julies Evans [2]

“Give me a SYSTEM!”

Before I could shout in protest once more, a blue transparent window open before me with few text written on it.

[For the first time, a major original character has become aware of your existence.]

[You form a strong bond with ’Alice Draken.’]

[Alice Draken’s affection level is updated.]

[A main story is assigned to you. Meet ’Alice Draken’.]

The moment the translucent blue window appeared in front of me, I forgot how cold the floor was.

I just… stared.

Then I blinked.

Then I stared some more.

“…What the hell?”

The letters hovered in the air, neat and glowing softly, like they were part of some augmented reality screen. I instinctively waved a hand through it—like an idiot—but the text didn’t budge. No warmth. No weight. Just floating light.

So. A system.

I had a system.

I actually had a system.

A breath I didn’t realize I was holding slipped from my lips, part relief, part disbelief, part hysteria.

So maybe I wasn’t completely screwed.

Maybe.

I narrowed my eyes and reread the messages carefully.

—

[For the first time, a major original character has become aware of your existence.]

[You form a strong bond with ’Alice Draken.’]

[Alice Draken’s affection level is updated.]

[A main story is assigned to you. Meet ’Alice Draken’.]

—

“…Affection level?”

My voice cracked at the end.

This was Echoes of the Crimson Throne. It made sense that affection points would be a thing—every love interest in the game had meters you could raise by saying the right lines or gifting the right flowers or saving them from political assassination.

But Alice Draken wasn’t a love interest.

She was the villainess. A brilliant, sharp-tongued, politically savvy girl who everyone underestimated—until she burned them alive with a cold smile and enough blackmail to make a bishop swear.

She wasn’t supposed to have affection levels.

So why did she have one now?

And why was mine already being updated?

[Alice Draken Affection]

[-50 (Very Displeased)]

“?”

We haven’t even met yet.

For some reason, she doesn’t seem to think highly of me.

“This is a problem…”

But it’s not something I can address right now. The only way seems to be to meet her and face it head-on.

Frankly, even if I wanted to run away screaming into the snowy abyss, I didn’t have that luxury.

My luggage—Julies’s luggage—was already here. My body was already here. And worse, my identity had already been delivered like a cursed Amazon package to the doorstep of one of the most dangerous girls in the Empire.

I let out a shaky breath and glanced out the window. Snow still blanketed the world beyond the glass, soft and endless. Somewhere in that blinding white expanse was the Draken Estate.

And somewhere inside that estate… was her.

Lady Alice Draken.

The villainess. The ice princess. The eventual corpse in every route.

And currently, my new boss.

My very displeased new boss, apparently.

I ran a hand through my hair again. It was softer than I remembered—probably because noble shampoo existed in this world. Too bad good hair couldn’t save me from bad politics.

“Alright. Let’s think this through.”

Julies Evans wasn’t important in the game. He didn’t even exist in the official lore.

But I was Julies now. And the system just told me I’d been recognized by a major character.

That meant the game’s gears had shifted. Something had changed.

I wasn’t just a blurry background face anymore.

I was a player.

And Alice?

Alice was the first flag.

A very dangerous, very hostile flag.

So.

What did I know about her?

In the game, Alice Draken was the Northern Duke’s only child. A prodigy. Brilliant strategist. Feared and admired in equal measure. But because of political rumors and a few “accidents” involving certain heirs and heiresses, she’d been labeled a villainess. A snake. The Ice Thorn of the North.

And in every route, whether the protagonist sided with the Empire or rebelled against it, Alice always—

Always—

Lost.

If she wasn’t executed, she was exiled. If not exiled, assassinated. If not assassinated, married off to some corrupt bastard who clipped her wings and poisoned her slowly.

And now I, Julies Nobody Evans, was in the middle of her route?

No. No way.

I wasn’t going to be another disposable character caught in the blast radius of her downfall.

Not if I could help it.

“First step: meet her. Second step: survive the first five minutes.”

I pulled open the wardrobe beside the bed. Fancy clothes. Neatly arranged. Noble uniforms with silver buttons and dark blue trim—colors of House Evans, freshly pressed.

I dressed quickly, shivering slightly as I tucked in the last layer and pulled on the polished boots. The coat was heavier than I expected, lined with fur. One point for fantasy fashion.

“Okay,” I muttered to my reflection in the mirror.

“You’re not Kael anymore. You’re Julies. Julies Evans. Fifteen years old. Third son. Servant to a villainess.”

I looked ridiculous.

Too young. Too skinny. Too noble.

Too screwed.

But I couldn’t just hide in here forever. There was a main story quest now.

> [Main Story Quest: Meet ’Alice Draken’.]

> [Progress: 0%]

“Let’s go.”

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