POV: YOU’RE THE PLOT TWIST

"THE NOVEL I've read is written in Runa's POV," Zoe said to Isaak and Yosef. "I mean, point of view. It was written as if Runa was the one telling the story."

"I can think of two possibilities," Yosef said, then he sipped the glass of beer in his hand. "First, the author of the novel you've read has seen the future, then they wrote a novel using their vision as an inspiration."

"But the things that I've read in the novel that happened here were pretty accurate, except for the stuff that I've changed on purpose," she reasoned. "Are the visions that people in this world see as detailed as a novel?"

"No, of course not," the High Priest said. "I've been serving my god since I was a boy, and I've seen visions countless times already. But those visions are often up to your interpretation. They're vague, since visions aren't supposed to spoon-feed you. They only serve as a guide."

[Sounds about right.]

"What's the other possibility that you came up with?" Isaak asked curiously. "You said you've come up with two explanations for this."

"Oh, right," His Eminence said, then he gulped down the remaining beer in his glass. "I've already mentioned it earlier. But I believe that the person who wrote the novel that Zoe has read in her world was writing from her experience. If the novel was written from Princess Runa's point of view, then we could say that the author was someone close to the royal princess."

"But according to Zoe, the novel has already reached the part where Princess Runa had come of age," Isaak said worriedly. "Then does it mean…?"

"Yeah," Yosef agreed while pouring beer into his empty glass. "We regressed– everything in this world regressed."

Zoe's brain was lagging again.

[Huh? What are they talking about? Did I miss something?]

She couldn't understand what was happening, so she asked Isaak for help.

[My dumbass is so frustrating.]

"Please explain," she pleaded with him while giving him puppy dog eyes. "Pretend you're explaining to a three-year-old baby."

"Oh," Isaak said, then he paused for a moment before he explained. "We think that the person who wrote the novel was close to Princess Runa– close enough for them to write an entire novel about the royal princess's life. But you said you've read the story until Princess Runa has reached adulthood, while the Princess Runa here is still a little girl."

She nodded, still confused. "That's right."

"Then it means that when you arrived here, this world has regressed," the ghoul duke explained. "Your arrival turned back time, and you were probably sent here to change Princess Runa's future."

Her brain buffered.

Her shoulders suddenly felt heavy.

She belatedly realized that she indeed turned back time when she arrived in this world. Didn't she come here before the main story began? In the novel, Princess Runa is already a teenager. How could she not realize that this world had regressed?

"Zoe?" Isaak called her name worriedly, then he put a hand on her shoulder gently. "Are you shocked?"

She nodded. "I'm shocked by how dumb I actually am. Why didn't I realize it sooner?"

"You're not dumb," her husband said, frowning. He was obviously not pleased by the fact that she was underestimating herself. "You were thrown into a bizarre situation. Anyone in your shoes would be as lost as you."

Isaak was just being kind and considerate.

If a smarter person took her place, then they would have saved Runa earlier. Plus, they would have probably realized what kind of person Zoanne Rochester was…

… wait.

[It doesn't matter who the author is. The fact that Zoanne turns out to be a complex person matters more. And why did Liane choose a dumb person like me to take Zoanne's place?]

Come to think of it, Zoanne apologized to her before.

[She apologized as if she already knew what would happen to me…]

"You understand now, don't you?" Yosef asked while watching her with intense eyes. "You finally realized that there must be a reason why the late Empress Liane chose you, and that reason might be connected to Zoanne Rochester's true identity."

Zoe nodded firmly. "I need to talk to Marquis Hendrix Rochester."

***

[I'M BACK, finally.]

Zoe was finally back at Marquis Hendrix Rochester's mansion.

Of course, she was with Isaak.

Her husband also sent a notice to her father about their return. Thus, when they arrived at the estate, the servants were already waiting for them. Secretary Anderson, the marquis' aide, ushered them straight to her father's study.

The marquis didn't come out to greet them, and instead summoned them to where he was. She may be dumb, but she knew what it meant.

[Marquis Rochester probably knew that we're here for a reason.]

After the servants served them tea, Anderson and the maids left the study to give them privacy.

"I apologize for not coming out to greet you," Marquis Hendrix Rochester said after they were all seated. The marquis sat on the accent chair across from the sofa where Zoe and Isaak were sitting side-by-side. "I was busy retrieving your mother's photo album, Zoe."

Zoe was surprised to hear that from her father, but she brushed it off. "I'm sorry, Father. But can we talk about mother later?"

"I'd love to hear about my late mother-in-law as well, but I'm afraid this isn't the appropriate time to do so," Isaak said in an urgent yet polite voice. "Lord Rochester, we're actually here because–"

"Because you want to know about Zoanne Rochester's identity, don't you?"

Zoe covered her mouth with her hands when she gasped loudly. [He already knows that I'm not the real Zoanne?!]

Isaak's face hardened while giving the marquis a suspicious look. "My lord, how much do you know?"

"Do you think I wouldn't recognize my own daughter?"

Oh, right.

The marquis had a point, but…

"But I thought you don't care about Zoanne, F-Father," Zoe said. It felt awkward to call the marquis 'father' now, but she was already used to it. "That's why I thought you wouldn't notice that I'm not your daughter."

Well, in the first place, she didn't bother to hide it–

"You're mistaken, Zoe," the marquis said, cutting off her thoughts. "You're wrong for assuming that I wouldn't recognize YOU– my own daughter."

Okay, now she was confused.

"You are my real daughter," Marquis Rochester said. "The previous soul that occupied your physical body wasn't my daughter. She was a girl who came from another world and stole your body when you were young, Zoe. But now, you're back."

Zoe's brain finally functioned again, then she pointed a finger at herself. "I'm the real Zoanne Rochester?"

But her memories as Kim Zoe…

[They're real, aren't they?]

"How did that happen, my lord?" Isaak asked, and he looked as confused as her. "Zoe doesn't have memories of this world."

"That's why you shouldn't have interrupted me when I was talking about my wife," Marquis Hendrix Rochester scolded them, then he focused his gaze on Zoe. "Listen, Zoe. All of this happened because of the ability you inherited from your mother– and that ability is for your soul to "borrow" other people's physical body."

***

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