Poisonous Love

Chapter 32: Simple? Or Not?

Age: 16

It is now summer vacation for the students of the Academy.
Meaning I'm free from those dreadful classes for the time being.

I returned home, was greeted lovingly by both my mother and father. Vincent was more aloof now, a maturity growing on him.
His light pink hair was now casually pushed back, and his features were much sharper than before. A nearly cold appearance taking place.

He grew taller too, which burned my soul deeply to see how much bigger he's gotten under our father's spartan training. The hell goblin had long resigned after Vincent apparently crushed him in a mock battle. I almost felt bad for the guy... almost.

"Welcome home" Vincent had greeted me sweetly, kissing the top of my head and taking my hand to show me the nice changes in the garden.
Mother had become found of koi fish- so father built an entirely new area for a large pond with nice marble walk ways so she could gaze at the koi beneath her feet. Lotus flowers bloomed in the pond as well.
It was quite a beautiful sight.

Mother had questioned me about school.

Honestly. It was going far easier than I imagined.
The heroine? She wasn't really interested in the capture targets I suppose. She would occasionally speak to Ceil, but they were both so formal and robotic that it became comical.
How did those two even end up together in the game?

My main tormentor was not Ceil this time. It was Kai. Ceil's polar opposite in fact.

Another thing has occurred as well.

New nightmares. Ones I can't quite decipher, have been recently taking my sleep.

I thought my main worry would be the otome game setting, but it seems nothing of the like is happening presently. In fact, it's as if all my hard work was unnecessary, enough to warrant my deepest frustration.
I'm well liked in the Academy, my class position is within the top ten, and my social position is extremely high.
Once my death endings stopped appearing in my dreams, I assumed I would face new complications regarding the fate situation.

Yet... nothing.
When I returned home, all was normal. Not a thing out of place, only increasing my anxiety.
Something just seemed off, yet I couldn't place what it was.

My mother happened to fall in love at the sight of Benjamin, so she happily took over raising the sweet puppy.
My father has taken up the task of immersing Vincent in Political duties involved with the Kingdom before he enters the Academy, which was coming up quickly.

Everything is so normal.

If it weren't for my newest strange dream, I might relax.

Yet it was so vivid and real, yet so confusing.

I was standing in only a nightgown at the edge of a cliff just outside a thick forest. No where I had ever seen before.
The ocean was hitting the sharp jagged rocks at the bottom, the smell of salt floated up in the air.

The wind was strong, but my hair was short, blowing in my face lightly. My bare feet were covered in dirt, and my fingernails had dried blood beneath them, but that was the worst of any injuries besides fatigue.

When I turned my body away from the cliff to face the forest, I was staring into the eyes of myself. Yet it wasn't quite me.
It was the game Rosalia. A slightly more plump and far taller Rosalia, with a face full of confusion and recognition.

Then, she frowned, and looked terrified.

"How is this even real?" She laughed bitterly.