For days now, Gerah had been haunted by dreams.
The same figure in all of them—hooded, quiet, standing at the edge of the castle gate. Watching her. Always watching.
She shook it off as stress. After all, her life had turned upside down—she wasn’t even supposed to exist in this world.
But on this particular morning, as she walked through the palace library with Anya, she froze.
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He was there.
The man from her dreams.
And he was real
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“Princess Gerah,” the hooded man said smoothly, pulling down his cloak.
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He looked… familiar. But unfamiliar. His eyes, a deep gray, looked straight into hers like they knew something.
“Do I know you?” Gerah asked cautiously.
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“You will,” he replied. “But not yet.”
They sat in a hidden study room, away from curious ears.
Anya waited outside, nervous.
“My name is Aelric,” he finally said. “I’m the keeper of written fate.”
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“Written… what?” Gerah blinked.
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“I know you’re not from this world. You wrote it. I read your drafts. I watched you type them in cafés and in your lonely room.”
Gerah’s heart dropped. “What—how?”
“This world is alive because of you. But the moment you entered it, you altered its spine. You’re not just here to witness. You're here to be rewritten.”
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Meanwhile…
Prince Xavier stood by the balcony, staring down at the training field, where Jiru was sparring. He wasn’t focused.
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“You’ve been distant lately,” Jiru said, noticing his brother’s silence.
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“Just thinking,” Xavier muttered. “About… her.”
“You mean the ‘side princess’?” Jiru teased.
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Xavier didn't deny it.
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Jiru laughed, shaking his head. “Seems like everyone’s story is changing lately.”
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He glanced toward Dahlia, who was talking to the palace gardener and smiling—something she never used to do.
So many people were beginning to feel things they never felt before.
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Back at the library, Gerah leaned in.
“Tell me the truth,” she whispered. “Why me?”
Aelric stood up, voice calm but urgent.
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“Because, Princess Gerah… if you don't find the end of your rewritten story, you’ll be trapped in it forever.”
Aelric disappears, leaving behind an old, bound copy of The Side Princess.
But this one’s title page is different.
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It reads:
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“Version 2.0 – Authored by the Story Itself”
And the last chapter… is missing.
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