This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 1291: Divine Game: Graveyard of Bones 13

The black quicksand suddenly dispersed, breaking apart like a thin veil drifting down through the air.

Rita stood before the desk, meeting Byme’s cold gaze.

Time passed.

Then, without warning, Byme smiled.

Still gentle. Still beautiful. Like every Vineborne, her smile seemed to carry a faint fragrance.

The light from the wall lamps fell across her face. There was no shadow, no trace of darkness.

She looked exactly as she had yesterday, sitting here, smiling as she said, "So, a Vineborne."

"That does sound... like something I would do."

Her smile was almost innocent. Like someone admiring a completed masterpiece.

Then, with a hint of annoyance, she added,

"No wonder she never came to see me."

There was no confusion left in her eyes. No hesitation.

Rita, however, felt something else entirely.

It was as if Byme had been waiting for this moment all along.

Who altered this memory? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Was it Deceitful Bloom?

Or Byme?

Or both of them, silently agreeing to reshape it together?

Rita didn’t know.

But she knew this.

Byme was done pretending.

She just didn’t want to be the one to tear everything open.

So she waited.

Waited for someone meddlesome.

Waited for someone who understood the Vineborne.

Waited for someone who knew Deceitful Bloom.

Someone who would push that door open with her.

Could Byme have figured this out on her own?

Of course she could.

She knew far more than Rita did.

She knew herself.

She knew Deceitful Bloom.

She knew everything before the third bell.

Even if she had forgotten how her divine talent reached completion, she could still see its name, its effects.

And those had to be tied to what happened.

She had completed something unprecedented.

A pruning unlike any other.

She had cultivated the most brilliant Flower of Deceit.

The colors of the castle walls, and of the Vineborne before her, grew more vivid. More real.

Rita spoke softly.

"Does your divine talent... have something to do with cultivation?"

"’Pruning.’"

Byme gave the answer freely.

She seemed to be in an excellent mood.

"You’ve already uncovered the truth. So what’s the last piece you want from me?"

"Have you regained your memories?" Rita asked instead.

"What she left behind could only alter parts of the story," Byme replied simply.

In other words, the forgetting had been her own doing.

And now that the truth was exposed, she no longer cared to maintain the lie.

"So you and Deceitful Bloom rewrote this time together?"

"Yes."

Rita thought back to the alternate version of events. The false path.

She pressed her lips together, holding back judgment.

There were still things she didn’t understand.

"I want to know how fast the bell came," she said. "Was it so fast that she couldn’t even transfer a portion of the Vineborne?"

If they had planned to invade Tingo, they must have had enough invasion sequences prepared.

Even if Deceitful Bloom returned and found that Byme had not acted, even if time was already running out...

She would not collapse into despair.

Rita knew exactly what she would have done.

She would not waste time confronting Byme.

She would immediately pick another world, initiate an invasion, and use the dungeon system to transfer as many Vineborne as possible before the bell struck.

No matter what, it should not have ended with only Deceitful Bloom remaining.

"So either there was no time..."

Rita’s gaze sharpened.

"Or you did something else."

She paused, then said with certainty,

"You must have. Even if you were willing to gamble the lives of all Vineborne, betting that her suffering would make her brilliant...

"You would never gamble her life. Not on the hope that Starsea would spare her just because of her power."

Byme was a gambler.

But even gamblers had limits.

Some things were never meant to be wagered.

"Why not assume she accepted it?" Byme asked lightly.

She tilted her head, as if genuinely confused.

"Your dragon is right. You trust her too, don’t you?"

"I don’t trust her," Rita said.

She ignored the strange look Nivalis shot her.

"If she doesn’t suffer, she gets pruned."

Stories shine because they are complex.

Timelines shine because of burning soul fire.

"If she had accepted that plan... she wouldn’t be who she is now."

Byme burst into laughter.

The lingering killing intent in the air vanished completely.

She looked almost delighted.

"Yes. Exactly."

Her eyes lit up.

"That’s why she’s worthy, isn’t she?"

Her voice rose, filled with conviction.

"Without her, the Vineborne would no longer be Vineborne. Without her, we would have died in the wars long ago."

"So why shouldn’t I have done it?"

Rita said nothing.

She waited.

Waited for Byme to finish.

Waited for the answer she needed.

Byme’s voice softened as she sank into memory.

"I used the Midsummer Celestialkin as leverage. I threatened Midsummer and signed a contract with it."

"After transferring the Celestialkin through an invasion, I gathered all players in Midsummer and initiated an Adjudicator vote."

"I wanted to become Midsummer’s Adjudicator. Only an Adjudicator can appoint or remove leaders."

Her tone remained calm.

"Every time I failed, I pruned everyone who opposed me."

"The vote was anonymous. But my divine talent let me see which lives were vines that should be discarded."

"I became Midsummer’s Adjudicator before she returned from Graveyard of Bones."

"On the final day, I stripped her of her position as leader."

"I removed every anchor she had to Midsummer."

"And then..."

Byme smiled faintly.

"I had Starsea assign her a new world."

"When she finished the game, she would be sent there."

"Starsea was happy to comply. Everything followed the rules. Everything was perfectly valid."

She let out a quiet sigh.

"It was the first time I saw her lose control in the chat."

"For her entire life... she had never looked like that."

Silence filled the room.

Rita couldn’t imagine that moment.

Couldn’t picture Deceitful Bloom like that.

And she didn’t know how to look at the Vineborne before her.

After a long while, she spoke.

"After figuring out part of the truth, I thought..."

She paused.

"I thought she was trying to fix her regrets inside your memory."

"And you were trying to hide your mistake."

Byme didn’t react to the word mistake at all.

She believed she was right. Completely.

No judgment mattered to her.

Not even Deceitful Bloom’s.

"Sounds like there’s a twist coming," she said calmly.

Rita looked straight at her.

"I want to know one thing."

"The ability that let you see other timelines... the one that showed you how events unfolded elsewhere..."

Her voice lowered.

"Was it yours?"

"Or Deceitful Bloom’s?"

Byme answered without hesitation.

"Hers."

Then she gave a faint, crooked smile.

"So?"

"What new conclusion did you reach?"

Rita held her gaze.

"In this memory..."

Her voice was quiet, but certain.

"The one trying to prune away the truth... wasn’t you."