No one’s POV

The striking face from her past suddenly filled Vivien’s entire view. He was leaning down, closer and closer. Vivien panicked, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. She looked around wildly, but she had no idea where they were. All she knew was that she was currently trapped in his slender arms, and he was tilting his head, leaning down to kiss her lips!

She panicked completely, her vision blurring as tears of confusion pricked her eyes. She forced herself to blink, focusing entirely on his sharp features as he closed the final distance between them.

As his face came into clear view, her eyes widened in absolute shock and she let out a loud gasp.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. Vivien bolt upright in bed, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily, sucking in the cool air of the dim room. She looked around frantically, her hands gripping the sheets.

It was just a dream.

She let out a long breath, trying to calm her racing heart. But her mind was spinning. Why on earth did her old high school crush suddenly decide to show up in her dreams after all these years? And worse, why was he trying to kiss her? Vivien rubbed her throbbing temples, a strange feeling pulling at her chest. Why did his face in the dream look so incredibly familiar? It was almost as if she had seen those exact same cold siren eyes somewhere very recently...

Before she could wrap her mind around the thought, a knock on the door interrupted the quiet room.

The door swung open, and it was her again- the mysterious girl.

The girl looked at Vivien’s panicked, sweaty state, but her dark eyes remained completely blank. She chose to ignore it entirely. She walked straight over to the bedside table, setting down a fresh roll of white gauze and medical ointment.

"Let me change your bandages," the girl said, her voice flat.

Vivien slowly nodded, still slightly dazed from her nightmare, and gently extended her arms.

The girl sat on the edge of the mattress and began carefully unwrapping the old gauze. As she worked, her sleeve slid back slightly, exposing her own forearm. Vivien’s eyes instantly fell on the thick white dressings wrapped tightly around the girl’s fair skin, with a faint circle of red blood still soaking through the center.

Vivien swallowed hard, the tension in the room rising. "What happened to your hands?" she asked softly, looking up to meet the girl’s quiet gaze.

The girl stopped moving for a second and looked coldly at her. Her dark eyes were entirely devoid of warmth. "Don’t bother yourself with something that does not relate to you," she replied, her voice flat and dismissive.

Vivien instantly shut her mouth, feeling the cold sting of the rejection. She sat perfectly still and silently watched the girl work on her bandages. Despite her cold attitude, the girl was indeed highly skilled. Her hands were steady as she applied the soothing ointment and wrapped the fresh white gauze around Vivien’s skin, making sure it wasn’t too tight or too loose.

The quiet in the room was awkward and Vivien’s curious mind couldn’t handle it. She swallowed hard and tried again. "Uh... how old are you?"

The girl looked up at her again, her eyes narrowing into a suspicious glare. In reality, the question caught her off guard. She herself didn’t even know her true age. She had been brought into this world by her master only a few months ago. In fact, deep down in her mind, she only knew one strange truth- her soul didn’t even belong to this world. She felt like an outsider trapped in a foreign body, playing a dangerous role she never asked for. Yet, she kept her expression completely blank, saying absolutely nothing as she quickly continued to finish wrapping the bandages.

As Vivien saw her tying off the final knot, she hurriedly reached out her hand and stopped the girl from pulling away.

"Your bandages are bleeding... can I do them for you?" Vivien asked softly, pointing at the red blood soaking through the girl’s sleeve. "Please? I am so bored sitting in this room all day, and I have absolutely nothing else to do." Vivien tilted her head, looking up at the stoic girl with big, pleading puppy eyes.

The nameless girl stared at her. She didn’t know why, but looking at Vivien’s sweet, innocent face made something shift inside her chest. For a split second, she felt her cold heart melt just a little bit for the injured girl. With a quiet sigh, she gave in to the request, pulled up her sleeve, and extended her bleeding arm toward Vivien.

Vivien smiled brightly, happy to have a distraction. She picked up a fresh roll of gauze and eagerly began to wrap the girl’s arm. However, her medical skills were definitely not great. She struggled with the tape, tangled the cloth, and ended up creating a very clumsy, messy bandage that looked like a giant white lump on the girl’s forearm.

But Vivien didn’t care. She looked down at her work, quite proud of herself for helping.

The girl looked down at the messy, oversized lump on her arm, and a strange sensation washed over her. The sight of the poorly wrapped bandage suddenly triggered something deep within her mind. Her head throbbed painfully as a wave of blurry memories started rushing into her consciousness. Images of a different life, different clothes, and a completely different world flashed behind her eyes, making her gasp silently as her breath hitched in her throat.

The girl suddenly grabbed Vivien by her shoulders, her grip tight. She glared into Vivien’s eyes, her breathing ragged. "Who are you?! Do you know me?! Do you know my name?!" she hissed, her voice shaking with an intense, sudden panic.

Vivien looked completely dumbfounded, blinking in shock. "I... uh?"

Finally snapping back to her senses, the girl realized what she was doing. She abruptly let go of Vivien’s shoulders and stumbled backward. "I apologize," she muttered coldly. She turned around on her heel and practically fled the room, leaving Vivien sitting on the bed in complete confusion.

What on earth was that? Vivien thought, staring at the closed door.

But as the room grew quiet again, a strange sensation crept over her. Why did she feel a lingering sense of familiarity? It was as if she distinctly remembered wrapping someone’s wounds in that exact messy, clumsy way before. Vivien thought deeply for a while, digging through the complex layers of her mind.

"Wasn’t it Viella who used to do Lily’s bandages whenever she would return from a dangerous mission?"

A soft, bittersweet smile touched Vivien’s lips, and she let out a quiet chuckle at the sweet memories of the novel’s characters. "Ah... I spent so much time in Viella’s body and her world, maybe that’s why I felt like it was actually me who did it. Silly me to assume this mysterious girl is Lily."

Suddenly, her smile stopped. Her face drained of color, and her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait... is she really Lily?"

Vivien’s heart started beating incredibly fast. "There is no way possible that she is right? She’s just a character In the book. But... if Dante can somehow come back and exist in this reality, couldn’t Lily too?!"

She shook her head violently, trying to clear her racing thoughts. "No, no. Or maybe I am just overthinking everything because I miss her so much."

Meanwhile, right outside the wooden door, the nameless girl stood perfectly still. She hadn’t left. She was pressed against the wall, listening intently to Vivien’s quiet murmurs inside the room.

Lily...the girl thought, her mind twisting in painful knots. Who was Lily? Why does that name make my chest ache?

Before she could process the strange thoughts, the loud footsteps of a maid echoed down the hallway. The maid stopped when she saw her standing there. "The Master is looking for you in his study right now," the maid announced stiffly.

The girl gave a single nod, masking her confusion, and quickly left the hallway to meet Enzo.

She opened the black door of the study and stepped inside. Enzo was standing in the center of the room, surrounded by old books and strange drawings scattered across his desk. The dim light made his blonde hair look dull.

He didn’t waste any time with greetings. He looked up, his eyes completely dark and cold. "We need more blood for the ritual. Open your bandages."

The girl stood frozen for a split second. She looked down at her forearm, staring at the thick, messy white lump that Vivien had so proudly wrapped around her skin just minutes ago. For the first time since she could remember, she hesitated.

Enzo noticed her hesitation instantly. His eyebrows pulled together in a glare. "What?" he snapped, his voice dropping. "Don’t tell me you can’t even do a simple task I told you to?! Are you losing your mind?"

His eyes traveled down to her arm, and his face twisted with sudden disgust when he saw the clumsy wrapping. "What kind of absolute rubbish is this?"

He marched over to her aggressively. Without warning, he grabbed her arm with a brutal grip, reached into his vest, and pulled out a sharp pocket knife. With one quick slice, he tore the messy bandages right off her skin.

He didn’t stop there. He lined the blade up with her half-healed wound and stabbed it wide open again, twisting the metal slightly. A gasp caught in the girl’s throat, but she forced herself not to cry out as the deep red blood immediately started dripping heavily down her arm, pooling in his hand.

Enzo ignored her pain completely. He turned away, dipped a heavy quill into her fresh blood, and began carefully carving strange, ancient symbols onto a piece of dark parchment on his desk. A twisted satisfied smirk played on his lips as he worked.

"Soon... very soon, everything will be perfect," Enzo muttered to himself, his voice sounding completely insane. "Only me and my babygirl will be left. We will be all alone in our own private world, far away from Dominic and anyone else who tries to touch her."

The girl stayed perfectly still, keeping her arm extended as the red fluid kept dripping onto the cold floor. Her physical pain was nothing compared to the chaotic thoughts suddenly crashing through her mind.

Master bought me from another world...she thought deeply, her blank eyes staring at the dark red pools at her feet. Could it be... did Vivien also come from that exact same world? Is that why she looked at me like that? Does she actually know who I am? Does she know my real identity?..The name Vivien had whispered outside the door- Lily- echoed in her mind.

Finally, after finishing the complex blood symbols, Enzo tossed the knife back onto the desk and looked over at her with a look of pure boredom. "Bandage it back up. I can’t afford to have any more dead corpses rotting in my house right now. It gets too messy."

The girl lowered her head respectfully. "Yes, Master," she replied, her voice remaining perfectly flat despite the burning ache in her arm.

Enzo leaned back against the edge of his desk, crossing his arms. "And what about the traitor? Have you found out who leaked our locations to Dominic yet?"

She shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes glued to the floor. "No, Master. We are still actively investigating the staff. The mole is hiding their tracks well."

Enzo looked at her with pure annoyance, clicking his tongue in frustration. "Make it quick. If Dominic finds us before the ritual is complete, none of us survive. Find them and silence them."

The girl nodded one last time. "Understood."

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TO BE CONTINUED