Where Futures Begin (Saeran x Reader x Saeyoung) COMPLETED

XVI: Neutral Route:(Rika)

She should have brought disciples.

Or council members.

Hell, even believers would have been useful.

Rika picked up a glass vase and threw it at the wall, watching it shatter like the plans she had so carefully laid out.

Her plan made sense. She had worked so hard, giving Saeran high and higher dosages of the Elixir until the boy couldn't tell right from left, clinging onto Rika's words as the ultimate truth. She sat in front of him for eight hours straight, conditioning his mind until the white-haired boy truly believed that he loved MC. That he resented (Y/N).

So why did he still resist?

Rika smiled proudly, watching Saeran inject the concentrated Elixir into (Y/N), just as she knew he was going to.

"Saeran, wouldn't you like to spend some time with MC now?" Rika whispered into his ear, pulling him back as (Y/N)'s body began shaking uncontrollably, the girl too overwhelmed by pain to even scream.

Rika cocked her head and gestured for MC to stand up. She ignored the brute called Vanderwood as he shouted insults at her and Saeyoung, instead opting to talk to the redhead. "You can take him, Sae-"

Saeyoung interrupted her, though. "I don't go by that name anymore." Rika raised an eyebrow. "Call me Luciel." He said.

Rika almost rolled her eyes, but she figured she had wasted enough time.

She got what she needed. Rika turned to V, her eyes cold and unmoving as she stared at her ex-lover. "Good luck bringing Saeran back," She said, not wasting a moment of pleasantries with a man she never wanted to be pleasant with again. "I highly doubt he'll come willingly."

She turned around, ignoring V's desperate response as she pulled (Y/N) up to her feet. The snowy-haired girl was barely able to stand for a moment before collapsing to the ground in pain, trembling and whimpering.

Rika sighed, about to pull another syringe out of her pocket to temporarily halt the pain whilst she brought (Y/N) back the Mint Eye, but Saeran was faster. "Stop!" He shouted, utterly ignoring MC.

Rika frowned.

That was not a part of the plan.

"Go with MC, Saeran, that is a direct order." Rika knew her voice had authority. She thought that Saeran would listen to her if not out of loyalty, then out of fear; but the boy proved her wrong.

In that instant, his eyes had clarity, as if he had pushed the Elixir out of his system through sheer will, and his judgment was no longer clouded by its effects.

"No!" He shouted, scooping (Y/N) up into his arms. "This...this must be even worse than her secondary commitment! The pain must be horrible! I have to take care of her!"

Rika clenched her jaw. If she ever had the opportunity again, she would not hold back against Saeran. She had been merciful with the elixirs, in the future, she would drown him in the liquid until he forgot about (Y/N) altogether.

"Are you disobeying me, Saeran?" Rika asked.

The question was simple.

The answer was simple.

Saeran, however, was conflicted.

Rika's eyes widened, shocked that the boy even had to think to answer. "You stupid fool!" She screeched, raising a hand to strike Saeran, only to be blocked by Saeyoung.