This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1289: Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 11

A mistake?

Byme’s expression went blank for a moment. She shook her head.

"I can’t think of any."

So that was it. That gap. That blind spot.

Rita looked at her and said calmly,

"I can’t think of one either. Not something she would need to correct through you."

Nivalis, who had been quietly listening the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

"Actually, you and Byme have the same problem."

Rita turned to her, curious.

"What problem?"

"You both assume Deceitful Bloom can’t be wrong."

Nivalis went straight to the point.

"And you never even considered that invading Tingo might have been her mistake."

She didn’t stop there. She laid it out piece by piece.

"When we first got here, the Vineborne were already planning to invade Tingo while she was away. They even had reasons and advantages ready.

"Why didn’t you consider that Deceitful Bloom was the one who refused the invasion?

"That Byme and the others wanted to move fast, so they planned to act while she was gone?"

She paused, then continued.

"Something must have happened right before they left. Maybe like what happened to you, they tried contacting her and got shut down. Or something else entirely.

"And Byme herself said it. Deceitful Bloom made it clear. No invasions unless she was present. No final descent without her."

Nivalis had listened to everything. She had also heard what happened in the final war. That Deceitful Bloom was the last remaining Vineborne.

It wasn’t hard to connect the dots.

"In Byme’s memory, she already gave us both sides," Nivalis concluded. "Deceitful Bloom had a reason to stop the invasion. Byme had a reason to push it.

"Honestly, everything points to Deceitful Bloom being the problem."

It was obvious. Almost too obvious.

Rita had thought of it.

And dismissed it immediately.

She said quietly,

"It’s not that I think she can’t be wrong."

She paused.

"I just think... she wouldn’t be wrong."

Nivalis froze.

"...Do you hear yourself right now?"

Byme’s gaze locked onto Rita.

"So you think it was me. That I was the one who stopped the invasion?"

Rita nodded.

"And whatever the reason was, it mattered enough that she couldn’t let it go."

Byme lowered her eyes slightly.

"Why do you think that?"

Rita gestured.

"Move the timeline forward. To the moment her soul fire lights up."

Byme complied without hesitation.

Time shifted.

Rita stepped forward and stood directly in front of Deceitful Bloom. She studied the outline of the soul fire at her forehead in silence for a while.

Then she spoke again, but instead of answering, she asked a question.

"Does she really visit you often?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"No... has she ever come to see you at all?"

The black quicksand began to drift through the air, coiling like a massive serpent.

Byme’s voice remained steady.

"What’s your point?"

"You keep creating the impression that she visits you frequently," Rita said. "You repeat it again and again.

"You say she never gives you answers. You say the old ones come and talk about the past but not the present.

"But your wording is always vague."

She paused, then continued.

"The biggest problem is how you described hearing about me.

’Because you always make Deceitful Bloom angry.’

"That’s not how she would describe me. Not our relationship."

Rita stopped there.

She kept staring at the soul fire, studying its outline.

Then suddenly, she laughed.

Soft, but sharp. Like she had just solved it.

"Adventure Lamb. So that’s what it is."

She turned back to Byme, ignoring the coldness in her expression.

"That phrasing. Making her angry. That’s how an observer would describe it.

"That’s how those gods who enjoy watching would put it.

"If it were me, I’d call it resistance.

"If it were her... she’d call it taming."

Rita shrugged slightly.

"Every time I push back, she just finds it more interesting. Honestly, I think that’s a retired person’s personality disorder."

She waved it off.

"But that’s subjective."

Then her tone sharpened.

"You know what the real evidence is?"

Byme clasped her hands behind her back.

The massive quicksand serpent had already coiled around Rita and Nivalis.

She nodded slightly.

"Go on."

"Her Flower Island."

Rita met her gaze directly.

"She’s cultivated tens of thousands of flowers there. Flower Crown Murder. Heartless Temptation. March Winter Sleep. Flower of Deceit.

"Freedom. resilience. sorrow.

"She appreciates every kind of beauty.

"She plants every Vineborne she acknowledges."

Rita’s voice dropped.

"But there are two that don’t exist there."

She stepped closer.

"Variational Quicksand. And Song of Avian Cause."

She repeated it, slowly.

"They’re not there."

Because she doesn’t want to see you.

The air turned heavy.

Killing intent thickened until it almost felt solid.

The massive serpent lowered its head. Its gemstone eyes fixed on Rita at point-blank range. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Byme no longer looked gentle.

She looked like the one who had stood atop a wind whale, forcing quicksand down its blowhole.

Cold. Violent.

Strands of black sand drifted across her face, dimming her features.

Rita didn’t move.

She simply looked at her and said quietly,

"Can’t find the answer?"

She took a step closer.

"Or don’t dare to?"

Nivalis stood on her shoulder, already prepared. If a fight broke out, she would sync her stats instantly.

Rita circled around Byme, unhurried. The serpent followed her every step.

"I’m close," she said. "Just one piece left."

She glanced sideways.

"Want to figure it out with me?"

"Or we stop here. I stay quiet. When time’s up, I leave."

Byme let out a soft laugh.

"You don’t want the burial location of Cat’s Ideal’s creator anymore?"

Rita answered honestly.

"I’m worried you’ll give me a Quiet Mountain god and set me up."

"You can detect lies."

"You control everything here," Rita said flatly. "If I mess up, I pay for it. I’m not risking that."

Even leaving this place carried risk.

If the method was wrong, the worst case was being stuck for another twenty four hours.

That was manageable.

But this?

This was different.

Byme could simply change the environment and trap her completely.

A quiet sigh echoed across the clock arena.

"And you still chose to expose it?" Byme asked.

Rita met her eyes.

"Because I’m curious too."

Her voice was calm, but steady.

"What kind of thing happened back then...

"That made her unable to forgive you...

"And still bury you with her own hands."