It was not someone from her present. Her maid—yes, that was it—her maid, Elyra. Elyra had always been there, a kind face in her chaotic life. But now, hearing her name called out so urgently, Aeliana's mind spun in confusion. How is she here? But everything was wrong.The market square was different, older, with narrow streets and wagons instead of modern carriages.
"Miss Aeliana!" Elyra's voice broke through her confusion again, now accompanied by hurried footsteps. "Miss Aeliana! Look out!!?"
Still in a daze, Aeliana turning her head frantically to know what Elyra was mentioning. And the noise of horse hooves galloping in cobblestones coming her way made her eyes widen that it was—going to hit her straight on like an animal in a roadkill.
'I AM GOING TO DIE!!!!'
'Shit! What luck I have to die like this, she thought as she forcibly closed her eyes shut for the inevitable death that was on her way, literally.
"Upsie-daisy" as in within a fraction of time before she meets her doom, a stranger with a horse pulled her up, positioning her on his mighty steed in front of him. "Hay-Yah!"
His dark hair framed a handsome face, his dark red eyes focused intently on her, a faint flicker of something unreadable in them. Prince Charming, If you will.
He was tall—commanding, even."Careful," he said, his voice low, a subtle edge of command in it. Lucian.... He couldn't possibly be here. He was supposed to be... dead. She'd seen him die in her previous life, seeing him break her heart and destroy everything they had—or will have.
"Are you alright?" Lucian's voice was softer now, almost as if he was waiting for a response. His grip on her waist remained firm but not threatening, as though he were prepared to catch her if she fell again."I... I'm fine," Aeliana whispered, still dazed, her mind racing.
She blinked up at him, unsure if she could trust her own senses. Had the system truly brought her back to this point in time? Was this the moment they had first met—when she was still an elf mage wandering the world, unaware of the truth behind his mask?The air around them felt heavy with the past she thought she'd left behind. But Lucian—this Lucian—was no longer the man she had known, the Demon Overlord who had haunted her dreams.
She could still see the cracks in his façade, the conflict that simmered beneath the surface, but this... This version of him hadn't destroyed her yet.But would he? Would history repeat itself?Lucian's brow furrowed as he took in her blank expression. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he murmured, his voice tinged with concern, though his usual cynicism lingered in his tone. Aeliana's breath caught.
"You are alive and well, Miss Damsel-in-Distress." He reassured her and gave a pearly white smile that seemed to brighten her day as she giggled at how cute he was. 'I wish I could freeze time so that nothing has to change—we don't have to fight, either of us has to die.'
"I just... need a moment," she said to catch her ground and keep herself out-of-panic mode
Lucian didn't seem convinced, but he released her slowly, keeping his gaze locked on her. She could feel the weight of his scrutiny, a quiet, dangerous thing."Rest assured," he said, his voice taking on a new edge, as though sensing something unspoken in her hesitation.
"I'm not in the habit of letting people get run over, especially not someone who looks as though they've been through hell."Aeliana's breath hitched. She didn't know how much time she had before Lucian's true nature would surface again—the man who could become both her greatest ally and her greatest enemy. But for now, all she could do was nod, swallowing her fear.
Because no matter how much she hated it, this moment was the beginning again. And this time, she couldn't afford to let it end the same way.---
NEXT MORNING
But warmth was the last thing she felt. Five years before that terrible moment when Lucian—the man she loved and hated all at once—had pressed a gun to her temple, then turned it on himself.
"Five years," she muttered, her voice trembling as she stared at her trembling hands. "The system sent me back five years.
'I must make things right again. This time it is my turn to save you—from yourself.' With furrowed eyebrows, and pressed lips into a thin line and a fist an inch away from her chest. 'THIS TIME' with a reassuring nod
"System Status!"
"Lucian Valtheris!"
She yelled, and she forgot that someone might hear and covered her mouth with both her closed palms. 'Drats! I forgot only I know that the Do-Over System exists, and others can't see or hear it but me!' She remained herself of the punishments for mentally ill people in this age, cause only a few know that magic and magical beings exist.
[Initiating System Status: Lucian Valtheris alias, Subject 274]
The system showed all his strengths, but it censored his weakness. "How can this be?" She muttered to herself, still confused about whether the system was glitching or some sorts.
"System, show all 'Stats'!!" she commanded, then a huge [COMMAND ERROR] in neon red with a calculator-matrix font was shown. It was like it doesn't want her to know what is censored.
That is when she realized, Aeliana had a computer engineering book that was with my other human books that she has read that she could try to, what's the term...
"AH! CODE!" As she then put on her glasses and typed away as flipping though the pages, a lot of trial-and-error moments 'I finally can see his weakness only to find the most devastating answer of all time. '
That it wouldn't even make enough sense anymore on why they even censored it. It was a neon red, calculator-matrix font in a size 14 saying..
[CONFIDENTIAL]