Living in a Rewrite of My Own Book World

Chapter 11 - The Rewrite in which my Story Gets a "Happily Ever After"

"Marry me?"

I heard a voice whisper in my ears as I drifted in and out of consciousness. Was I hallucinating? Did I want to hear those words from James so much that my brain was having him propose to me in my sleep? I opened my eyes, the first sight that greeted me was the tired and drawn face of Duke Harrington. He held me closely in his arms, and for the first time in a long time I felt safe. Before he could notice I had woken up, I closed my eyes again, my mind racing.

Had I heard correctly? If I had, what would I say?

I fell back asleep shortly, stress and exhaustion taking over my body.

When I woke up, my body felt refreshed but my mental state was confused and overwhelmed. I quickly got dressed and headed out, trying to sort out my thoughts.

"Miss Katrina!" A voice called out to me. It was Captain Alexander, he strode up to me, a nervous smile on his face.

"Captain."

"I'm so glad you're okay! When I heard what happened..." He paused, his face red from shame. "I'm sorry I...we didn't protect you." He bowed his head.

"It's not your fault, I made my own decisions." I wasn't sure how else to comfort him.

"It is my fault, you should have never been in danger." His intense stare made me a little uncomfortable. I remembered his attitude towards me the past few years, the blushes and meaningful glances. I was grateful for his help with learning to fight, but never had encouraged a relationship beyond what I shared with the other guardsmen.

In the past I had always comforted myself that he was going to find his true love soon, but now...

I had been wrong about so many things. About the kidnapping, about Savalle...

About James.

My predictions were worthless, who knew if the two would ever meet, or even if they did if they would fall in love like they did in the book? I felt lost and confused and could only look at him helplessly.

I can't promise him a future with a woman he may never even meet.

Seeing my sad gaze, he seemed to misinterpret something and his face grew serious.

"I've heard... I heart that Duke Harrington was able to rescue you?"

I nodded in reply.

"Good." He seemed satisfied. "At least if I am to lose to someone, it's someone who is worthy of you.

"..." I felt like I should deny it, but in the end, I stayed silent.

He smiled, and if it was a little bit of a sad smile, neither of us mentioned it.

I left the capital, borrowing a horse from one of the guards. I needed to get away from everyone, think about things carefully. Since I arrived here as Katrina, I had only focused on changing the ending of the story. Autumn's kidnapping, James's death, I had spent every waking moment trying to prevent these from happening.

I had been so focused, I had never thought about what would come after that.

Marry me.

Those two words he whispered in my ear made me realize: even after four years I had never considered myself as truly living in this world. I had taken on the role of an active spectator, watching from the sidelines and only interfering enough to change the ending. I had never thought through spending the rest of my life with the people here. The story was done, the book was over, but life kept going.

I stared around at the scenery, this far out away from the capital the surrounding areas gradually changed to farmland. Here and there men, women and animals could be seen, tending the fields. This world was massive, far beyond the limits of my poor little imagination.