49 THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

ZOE DIDN'T know where to start.

Isaak brought her to the rooftop of his mansion's main building. Apparently, it was covered with a protective barrier to make sure that no one could eavesdrop on them.

[This place is a little scary, though.]

She could see the overview of Isaak's territory from her spot. And honestly? The dukedom was a little gloomy to look at since it was surrounded by dangerous forests.

[If I remember it correctly, the dukedom prevents the ghouls from attacking the empire.]

Only Isaak Viotto could live in such a dangerous place while protecting his people and properties at the same time.

"Zoe, you told me you already know me even before you came to this world," Isaak, who was standing beside her, said calmly. He wasn't looking at her, though. The ghoul duke was looking ahead as if he was afraid to meet her gaze. "Did you mean the late empress told you about me before she sent you here?"

"No," Zoe said in a soft yet clear voice. "I already know Liane even before she appeared before me."

A significant silence ensued before the ghoul asked.

"Then how…?"

She took a deep breath and clenched her hands before she confessed. "I've read your life story in an online novel."

He saw her turn to her from her peripheral vision.

She didn't have the heart to look at him, though. After all, she was afraid to see what kind of facial expression he had at the moment.

"An online novel is like a book, but it's posted online," she explained, panicking a little. She wasn't smart to begin with. Thus, her brain was kind of buffering at the moment. "It's hard to explain since computers don't exist in this world–"

"You don't have to explain what an online novel is since it's not important," he cut her off impatiently. "I get it. You said novel, so I already get the picture. You're saying you've read about my life in a book as if it's a piece of literature, right?"

As expected of the main character– he was smart.

"It's under the "historical fantasy romance" category," she said. "And to be precise, Runa is the female lead of the story."

"Princess Runa?"

"Yes," she said. "But you're also considered as the main character since you are Princess Runa's father."

"But why me? Princess Runa has a father."

She closed her eyes tight before she dropped the bomb. "In the novel, Emperor Rino died before you could even prove to the empire that Princess Runa is the real princess and not Empress Veronica's daughter."

Another long silence ensued.

She couldn't bear it anymore, so she opened her eyes and turned to Isaak.

As opposed to what she thought, the ghoul duke was calm. But when he turned to her, she saw the emotions in his violet eyes clearly.

Pain.

Anguish.

Fear.

Disbelief.

And finally, anger.

"I lost my parents. I became a ghoul. And now you're telling me I'm going to lose my brother as well?" Isaak asked, his voice full of resentment. "You're telling me that all the shit that I've gone through and will go through is only caused by someone's imagination?"

She knew that Isaak's anger wasn't directed at her, but she still felt a little intimidated while looking at his angry expression.

But she could understand the ghoul duke's wrath.

[Authors who make their characters suffer are the worst.]

"How did the book end?" the ghoul duke asked impatiently.

"I didn't finish the novel because my brain can't handle the complicated stuff," she confessed awkwardly. "But Runa would grow up as a tyrant and kill all her enemies– including the empress and the fake princess."

The anger on Isaak's face was replaced by shock.

But she wasn't done yet.

"You raised her that way, Isaak," she said carefully, shocking the grand duke even more. "You and Eunice Harper."

He knitted his eyebrows. "Who's Eunice Harper?"

"I haven't gotten the chance to confirm it yet, but the other readers believe that Eunice Harper is your love interest."

"Love interest?"

"Potential lover," she explained. "You and Eunice Harper seem to be really close."

This time, the ghoul duke looked confused.

"You know about the existence of my potential lover, and yet you still approached me…?"

"What's wrong with that?" she asked defensively. "You haven't met Eunice Harper yet, and the novel didn't say you were lovers. It's not like I did something wrong."

"But what would have you done if I met Eunice Harper and I fell in love with her while we were still married?"

"Divorce exists in this world."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "You'd divorce me?"

"Of course," she said bluntly. "I know that noblemen in this world are legally allowed to have a mistress. And although I respect consensual polygamous relationships, it's not for me. I want to have my lover all to myself, so I'd rather lose you than share you with someone else."

"I see," he said while nodding.

Thankfully, Isaak seemed to have calmed down now.

"Zoe, why did you like me even though you knew I was only a book character?"

"Isaak, you're a lot better than the men I met in the real world– trust me," she said. "But to be honest, I don't feel like this world only exists inside a novel. The more I got to know you, the more you felt real to me. In the end, I stopped caring whether or not you were just a book character. I like you, and I have already decided to stay here for good."

He looked surprised by what she said.

"But don't get me wrong, Isaak," she explained urgently, just in case she misunderstood her words. "I'm not invalidating your feelings, and I'm not taking this lightly. I know that it's hard for you to accept that this world was created out of someone's imagination. Your feelings are valid. The things that you've experienced all your life are real."

Yet another long silence ensued.

"Moreover, I don't think the author has complete power over this world," she added. "After all, ever since I arrived here, my thoughts and actions are mine and mine alone."

"I felt like shit earlier."

It was her time to get surprised.

[It's rare for Isaak to curse.]

"When I heard that this world only exists inside a novel, I felt like my whole life was just a big joke to the person who wrote this awful story," Isaak confessed, and his facial expression softened up a bit. "But after hearing you confess your feelings to me, I realized that it doesn't matter to me anymore whether I'm a book character or not. As you said, all the things that I've gone through are real. At least, to me."

She nodded in agreement.

Thankfully, even though she was dumb, she was at least emotionally intelligent.

"Maybe the things that happened in the past have been orchestrated by the author," the ghoul continued. "But I want to believe that everything has changed when you arrived in our world. After all, you weren't supposed to be a part of the story. And yet, you're here– and your feelings for me couldn't have possibly been influenced by the author."

"I can say confidently that my feelings are my own."

"Thank you, Zoe."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Don't thank me, Isaak. I actually feel guilty for not telling you about this earlier."

"But knowing you, you probably couldn't tell me because you were afraid I'd get devastated if I found out that I was just a book character."

"That's right," she said.

"That makes me feel better," he said in a soft and sincere voice. "Can you tell me more about it later? I want to know how the story unfolds."

"Of course," she said, nodding eagerly. "But Isaak, you know that I have a small brain, right? I don't remember everything I've read, and I didn't get to finish the book, too."

"It's alright, Zoe," he assured her. "And you don't have a small brain. Please don't sell yourself short."

She grinned widely, then she "shot" the ghoul duke with finger hearts. "Gomawo, yeobo."

"That's right– I'm your yeobo," Isaak said while nodding. "And Zoe? I'm confident that even if I meet Eunice Harper now, my feelings for you won't change."

She tilted her head to one side, purposely acting cute in front of him. "Really?"

"I'll prove it with my actions later," he said, then he changed the topic. "Zoe, can we share this with Yosef? Although he acts like that, he's still a High Priest. Moreover, he serves a god. Maybe his god knows how our worlds got connected."

She nodded. "It's fine with me. I just wanted to let you hear about it first."

Isaak nodded, then he extended his hand to her. "Let's go, yeobo."

'Yeobo.'

It wasn't the first time Isaak called her 'honey,' but it never failed to give her butterflies in the stomach.

"Okay," Zoe said, then she grabbed his hand. "Let's go, yeobo."

***

"THAT CAN'T be right."

Zoe, who was sitting beside Isaak on the sofa, stopped putting the piece of grape in her mouth midway. "What can't be right?" she asked Yosef, who was sitting on the bed while leaning against the headboard. "I'm not lying, Your Eminence."

"I'm not saying that you lied," Yosef said. "I'm saying that you might have the wrong assumption."

"What do you mean by that?" Isaak asked curiously. "Zoe read the story of our world in a novel."

The High Priest fell silent as if he was in deep thought.

That actually made her nervous.

"I need some booze," the High Priest suddenly declared. "This is going to be a long talk."

"I won't get you some booze if you don't at least tell us the gist of what you're thinking," Isaak said firmly. "Yosef, what do you think is going on here?"

"The book that Zoe has read might not be a novel," Yosef said in a serious tone. "It might be the author's collection of memories."

Zoe gasped because she didn't think of it.

[Come to think of it, what's the name of the author again?]

***

"KIM SUA, you're back?"

Sua took a deep breath and braced herself before she turned around to face her older brother. "You're here, Seok oppa?"

She was nervous, but she was trying hard not to show it.

But it was hard to remain calm while her oppa approached her while looking like a predator that was about to devour its prey.

Her apartment on the second floor of the Korean barbecue restaurant was small, and she wasn't confident she could outrun her older brother if she had to. It wasn't like she could jump from the window.

After all, she didn't have Mana in this world.

"Do you know, Sua-ya?" Seok said, then he grabbed her by the shoulders. "The soul of the person who occupied your body when you left has stopped calling me 'oppa' a long time ago."

Her heart dropped to the floor.

[He knows!]

Unfortunately, she couldn't move even though she wanted to run away from him.

Her body froze in fear, like it always did in front of her cruel older brother.

"And she doesn't call herself 'Sua' anymore," Seok said, his eyes turning cold and sharp. "She calls herself Kim Zoe– Zoanne Rochester's nickname before you stole her body."

Sua could only shut her eyes tight.

***

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