Thin Ice

Upside down.

That's how the world looked like when Eli opened her eyes. It seemed that she had lost consciousness again after they returned from Venus's fabricated mirror world.

Looking back, the hallway that time was immersed in citrine fluorescence, mellow streaks of the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window panes. The pleasant quietude could mean there's not a single soul out there when they arrived, which was probably a good thing.

"Are you seriously daydreaming right now?"

At that, Eli snapped out of her daze.

That's only when she fully digested the sight in front of her and realized why her everything just turned a hundred eighty degree.

The ash-haired girl found herself inside the library, her mid-body tied up in a rope while hanging upside down from the ceiling. She looked like someone who just went bungee jumping.

Then, she saw Hal smirking in front of her.

"No way. You've gone deaf?" he jested, which she didn't find humorous at all.

Much to her flummox, he suddenly fished his revolver out of his pocket and pointed it at her, an ominous smile gracing his face. Then everything finally clicked in her head.

"W-Wait! Hal, this is me! Eli, your classmate! I'm not Venus anymore!" she frantically clarified, panicking at the sight of the deadly object.

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

With that, Hal finally lowered the weapon, making Eli sigh in relief. For some reason, she felt like she'd be wanting to do that more later on.

A few minutes already passed by but she remained dangling in mid-air like an idiot. She's starting to sweat at how peculiar Hal was acting at the moment.

It's like seeing another side of the coin for the first time – one she never knew existed.

Then again, she just found out his secret earlier, which she believed wasn't just a normal one that he'd easily let anyone who discovered it make it out alive. Perhaps, she's in for a much bigger trouble than she thought or worse, a planned assassination.

"Umm..."

Eli tried to converse, but she really felt like gagging at how weird all of these are.

Hal suddenly yanked a chair from who knows where, placed it in front of her, and flopped his bottom on it with a thud. With a smug expression, he propped his chin over the back of his hand, elbow resting on his knee, and looked at her with amusement.

"Never thought you'd be the first to know our secret," he started, grinning condescendingly.

Eli felt like being interrogated for a crime. What's more, she never thought it's the ever courteous Hal who'd be doing it.

Seriously, she didn't see any of this coming – not his bumptious mien nor his failure to sugarcoat his minacious remarks.

"I think you figured it out at some point but let me formally introduce myself. I'm Harrison Louen, eighteenth generation Emperor of Aristia. Like that crazy woman earlier, I'm a fictional character from one of the books you borrowed the other day. It wasn't supposed to fall into someone else's hands but oh well... Damage was done."

Eli flinched at the deflated tone on his last words.

Now that she thinks about it, Hal's full name is Harrison Louen, the name of the main protagonist of the book. She should really practice memorizing names and people's faces from now on.

"S-So you're really that protagonist in the book... T-Then, were you also reincarnated or something?" she stammered to which he only guffawed in reply.

"Pfft...! As if. That's what that woman thought, at least. In case you haven't read the ending yet, I didn't die, you know... Oh, spoiler warning."

"You're supposed to say spoiler warning first. And I already finished it, so no hard feelings."

"For real?! In just one day?"

"In five hours. I've read it the night after I borrowed it."

"Wow... That explains those panda eyes, then."

"Hey!"

At this point, Hal's image as a gentleman who knows what delicacy means completely crumbled in Eli's head.

Besides, they should be talking about something more important than her unsightly guise.

Then, as if he just read her mind, Hal's playful vibe suddenly turned foreboding, hooded amber eyes brimming with menace.

"So then, care to explain how my mortal enemy ended up in your body?" he asked, voice low and intimidating.

Eli tried her best to ignore the shivers running down her spine at the moment, and tremulously explained everything that happened, starting from Venus's appearance on the mirror one morning up to the reason why she was alone in that hallway earlier. As she kept on rambling, she noticed how his stony look slowly contorted into a burdened one.

It seemed like this whole mess was gnawing at him more than it did to her.

Hal then heaved a sigh once she finished talking.

"While you're telling me all that, are you aware of your current situation? To tell you the truth, you're now stepping on thin ice. Once it broke, you might never return to your normal life," he questioned, voice and expression devoid of any jest.

Now, she could certainly feel the gravity of the situation.

"We're not reincarnated, but were literally sent out from the Book of Metis. Unlike the Empress who claimed to awaken to a second life, our lives in this universe are just a continuation – leaving off from wherever the story ended. We're fictional characters who're now living amongst humans of this world, blending in while disguised as normal people. Now, then..." he suddenly trailed off before standing from his chair and sauntering to her, their faces now only inches apart.

"Wanna break the ice?"

Smoky. His voice came out smoky, perplexing her even more.

Eli then blushed at their proximity, utterly dumbfounded at his audacious action.

With such a small gap between them, she could smell his soft, cool water fragrance that wafts her nostrils like the scent of ocean breeze. She didn't really want to bother herself noticing all these, especially in this situation, but she simply couldn't help it.

Too absorbed in her train of thoughts, Eli wasn't able to decipher his words.