Long night

Clip clop

Jaden and Aliana were on their way back to the Brimstone residence. Both were sitting with their mouths shut. They could hear the sounds of knights talking outside the carriage. Jaden didn't pay attention to it.

'What should I ask her first?'

It was about time he got answers to some of his questions. He could still clearly remember the events that took place throughout the day.

Asking important questions first was the only option that looked better to him. The eagerness filled his eyes and voice.

"Since when have you known about this world being inside a novel?"

She had mentioned that she was villainess by herself when she was destroying the auction house. Not to meantion, she was aware that Jaden was the author of their world.

That made him reach to the conclusion that she happened to know about it. But he had no idea since when.

She stayed quiet for a while trying to make Jaden impatient. Sad for her that he awaited for her answer patiently.

"From the beginning, that's all I can say."

Jaden could feel the hair on his arms touch the fabric of his clothes. He was getting goosebumps.

That was not the answer he was expecting to hear. What he had assumed was that Aliana only knew about it from a certain point before the ending and just that much.

"How long have you been planning everything?"

What unfolded during the whole day was something that wouldn't have happened with the planning of mere days or months. Just how many years had she planned this all?

"If I say eighteen years, would you believe me?"

Aliana smiled at Jaden with a mysterious look in her eyes. Jaden was a bit shocked by what he heard, but he managed to keep his composure.

'Just what is she...'

Jaden thought that it might be a possibility that she was a person from his world who read the novel and got transmigrated into it like him. But before he could ask, Aliana spoke.

"I can't answer you anything else than this. If you follow me, you might find answers to your questions sooner or later."

Aliana touched the windowpane and brushed off the dew drops that had formed on it. It was cold outside, but she was using magic to maintain the temperature inside the carriage.

Jaden stayed silent and thought about it for a while. He wasn't sure what was the right thing to do at the moment.

He felt that if he agreed to whatever Aliana asked, something similar to what happened the previous day might happen.

The memory of him making the soul contract with Aliana was replaying itself in his mind.

'What exactly does she mean...?'

He couldn't figure out what Aliana meant by following her. That's when Jaden recalled the conversation Aliana and Dragon King Solas had.

-We plan to leave this place soon.

She had mentioned this only once, which was more than enough to get a confused look on his face. Those words sounded scary for no particular reason.

The drops of cold water that had formed on his neck slid down, making him shiver. He spoke while wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

"What did you mean by leaving this place earlier?"

If she had said that 'she' was going to leave, Jaden would've thrown a party. To his misfortune, she happened to say 'we'.

Aliana shook her head, as uf she was in deep thought. She maintained her silence before replying.

"Before answering that... may I ask you to promise me something?"

Jaden looked at her face while tilting his head. He couldn't help but feel nervous at what absurd thing she might ask him to promise.

"W-what?"

Jaden asked while looking at Aliana with nervous eyes. She giggled, witnessing the funny expression he had.

Soon, her smile faded away. The tone in which she was speaking had mysteriously switch to a mixed one.

"Kill the demon lord when the time comes."

His eyes made a frown, and his forehead was drenched in sweat. The demon lord had gone missing for mysterious reasons.

The demon generals were a totally different case though. That's how he set it up in 'Light of Dragonaria'.

'If we ever meet him...'

Jaden bit his lips. Instead of getting answers to his questions, more questions were piling up. And Jaden had no idea how to even ask Aliana about them.

Was there any other option in front of him, though? No matter what he tried to think of, there was no escape. Rather than getting lost, he preferred going along the flow.

"... Fine."

There was no way that Jaden would actually come across the demon lord. He had no special role, even within the original novel.

Thinking about that, Jaden agreed to Aliana's promise. She was smiling but something was different.

"Then..."

Snap

A paper appeared in front of Jaden. It was floating in the air. He observed it carefully. The red markings on the paper glowed, making the traces visible as a map.

"We will be travelling to other places."

The only part with no markings was where the kingdom of Dragonaria was located. Jaden couldn't figure out what Aliana's purpose was.

It would be pointless to travel around without any proper goals. Jaden's worries didn't end with that.

"We will be leaving tomorrow morning."

Aliana's smile was the same as the one she had when Jaden was pushed on the platform during the banquet. The tiredness feeling he had been having since earlier had intensified.

If they were going to leave the day after, then of course he would need to get ready for it. That made him feel more pressure on himself now.

There was one more thing he had almost forgotten. Julianne was awaiting his explanation.

He scratched his head while sighing. Aliana looked at him and laughed softly.

"Right..."

Creak

The carriage came to a halt. It was about the time that Jaden got off. Aliana continued speaking.

"You will need to explain everything to your sister. So..."

Fwip

A folded piece of paper appeared in front of Jaden. It looked like a note. Sinec he had no time to waste, he took it in his hand.

"Just hand it over to her. The rest will be fine on its own."

She looked into Jaden's eyes before the carriage's door opened. The Brimstone residence was in view. Jaden got off the carriage.

Without turning back, he walked past the main gates. Aliana looked at his back without saying a word. She slowly pulled the door of the carriage shut.

As Jaden heard the sound of the door being shut, he tried to take a look behind with his one eye. The carriage had begun moving away.

And soon, it reached to the spot from where he couldn't hear the sounds of the horse's footsteps anymore.

'What is this note...?'

He tried to open the folded paper. But it didn't open. Some mysterious force was not allowing it to open. Jaden had a guess why that was happening.

Aliana wanted only Julianne to read that note. And so a spell was cast on it before she handed over the note to him. He sighed while he made his way to Julianne's office room.

Clank

He opened the door to the room. There were no lights. In truth, he wanted to hand over the letter to Julianne himself.

But at that moment, he felt like it would be better to just leave the note on Julianne's study table.

'What should I do next...?'

Jaden thought as he placed the letter on the table filled with bundles of papers. He was slowly walking out when a voice fell on his ears.

"Welcome back, young master."

Jaden flinched and looked behind. The voice was a bit familiar. There was no way he would mistaken it for someone else.

The darkness in the room made it difficult to perceive the face of the person standing in front of him. But he was certain that it was a woman.

"Or should I now call you young lord?"

Jaden squinted his eyes and tried to look at her face. Suddenly, a light flashed from the huge window behind the woman.

Her expressionless face became visible for a spilt second. After which, a sound followed.

Rumbleeeee

The sound of thunder spread throughout the atmosphere. Judging from how low the sound was, lightning must've struck the ground somewhere at quite a distance from the Brimstone residence.

"Ah... Rudia."

Jaden could see her face for a moment, which made him let out a sigh of relief. Not wasting any more of his time, he walked outside the room.

Rudia was following him, despite him not saying a word. He was already tired and annoyed by everything that happened the whole day.

"Leave me alone for a bit."

They were soon near the door to Jaden's room. Rudia was about to speak as Jaden shut the door close to her face.

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

Sigh

Jaden was lying down on his bed. Too much had happened within just a day. This was maybe the first time in his life that he found himself in such a predicament.

'What will even happen tomorrow...?'

It was late at night. Once the sun rises, Aliana will be coming to pick him up again.

Jaden had no idea where they were about to head. She had only mentioned that they would be leaving Dragonaria the next morning.

'Demon lord, hmm...'

He thought while covering his eyes with his arm. The candlelight in his room went out, making the smoke slightly visible.

Jaden kept lying down and didn't move an inch. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't.

The Demon Lord had gone missing. That part was still the same. That was no simple assumption on his side.

The reason behind it was too simple, though. If the demon lord still existed, there was no way that Lilith would've hidden herself in a small, shabby shop in the middle of Dragonaria.

'Still, it won't hurt to keep my guard up...'

Jaden was trying to be as alert as he could. He was already in a mess. Any further, and his life might get threatened. He was feeling a bit more drowsy.

"Hah..."

He tried to remember all that happened throughout the day. And after a while, he could feel a weird feeling within his heart. He came to realise something.

-We are going to steal the show.

Aliana had not only said that but actually put it into practice. She had managed to walk out of the banquet hall without any injuries.

And not to mention, all the characters who were supposed to die survived till the end. The story had changed by too much.

They were already in the afterstory of the novel. But this wasn't the story Jaden remembered writing.

This had never happened in the story he knew. Lenon was no longer the Crown Prince either. Everything was just a huge mess.

"Does that mean..."

Jaden's prior knowledge about the novel was pretty much useless now. Jaden stopped thinking about it.

He decided to do whatever was in his power to find out about the person who had brought him into the novel.

'Let's stop it...'

Finally, he stopped thinking and let himself fall asleep. He needed to rest. Unbeknownst to Jaden, more schemes were unfolding behind the scenes. He had no idea what was going on while he was sleeping.

-Imperial palace-

Thud

"What do you mean Lenon is missing?"

Roland broke the wooden table as he punched it in anger. He wanted to use Lenon to teach the prince they were about to support.

"Calm down, old man."

Blaise said while he adjusted a monocle on his left eye. He was trying to examine the papers to lessen their burden.

"We will have guards look for him."

Blaise didn't move his gaze. He sat while reading the paper in his hand.

"It's not like we can know what the future holds for us."

Roland sat on the chair quietly after listening to Blaise's words. He knew that the man was stating facts.

Julianne stayed quiet and tried to finish their work as soon as possible. But it seemed like the night was going to be a long one.

-Rosenstein residence-

Swish

Aliana opened the window and looked towards the sky. The storm brewing above the Kingdom of Dragonaria had calmed down.

There were no clouds, but only the yellow moon which was clearly visible. She stared at it while mumbling to herself.

"With this, I and him have managed to steal the roles."

Aliana's plan had finally been set in motion. She looked down at her hands. The gem on the ring was shining underneath the moonlight. Smiling a bit, she closed her eyes.

The gentle breeze that brushed on her face was the sign that the atmosphere was too serene and peaceful, but Aliana knew that it was the silence prior to the storm.

-Belcher residence-

"Ouch!"

She groaned as she fell to the ground. The push she had felt against her arm was too much for her.

"Claire Belcher, No. Claire, you are disowned as of now. Leave this mansion."

The head butler of the Belcher family said this while throwing the woman out of the main gate. Claire was at a loss of words.

The situation was far bad for her than what she had expected. Thankfully, she had the skills to survive on her own.

"Where should I even go now?"

She mumbled to herself as she gathered the clothes that fell out of her luggage. That was within her expectations since she had failed to become the empress.

Her gaze was fixed on her clothes lying on the ground for a moment. Then she stuffed them back in and began walking down the street nearby.

-[I think I know who might be of help.]

The voice in her head kept speaking as Claire slowly walked down the street.

The night was going to be a long one for everyone else, aside from Jaden, who was sleeping like a child.