"I trust you, Cal."

My heart almost melted at Haniel's words.

Because more than love, the weight of trust was heavier to me. After all, it was easy to feel love for anyone, but it was hard to learn to trust someone.

Right now, he's entrusting me such an important task that could make or break this story. Haniel asked me to convince Ruth to sever her contract with the devil, which is by no means an easy feat.

What if I fail? Then we would've wasted time and manpower just by trying to get the grand duchess on our side. In the first place, she is the villainess.

That was her role, and this wasn't a fairytale.

You can't just convince evil to stop being evil.

"I'm not sure about this." I mumbled, feeling queasy all of the sudden. "She won't listen..."

"Callie."

"She hates me too, you know?" I panicked.

"Cal, look at me..." Haniel gently cupped my face. His voice was so soothing. "If you can't make her stop, then so be it. What matters is that we tried."

I swallowed the lump on my throat.

"I am confident that I can defeat Lilith even with their contract intact. The only reason I'm asking you to try and sever it is to minimize the damage in the north and to prevent unnecessary deaths."

At that moment, I felt ashamed.

The main character had such a noble heart.

While I was thinking how difficult it would be on my end, he was only thinking how it would save more lives. Indeed, what an altruistic fellow he is.

I smiled bitterly. I don't deserve him.

"Alright." I closed my eyes. "I'll do my best."

"Hmm," The mage placed his forehead on mine, softly nudging our noses. "I'm counting on you."

After a moment of silence, Haniel pulled away from me and prepared himself for battle. His purplish eyes had a sharp glimmer on them.

"Fellini," He called in a baritone voice.

Ashen Fellini, the leader of the underground organization Sanctum and my former boss, stepped forward. "At your service, my lord."

"I leave her in your hands." Haniel declared.

With that, the main character sprung out of his spot and catapulted himself towards the bleak skies, where the devil incarnate was currently imprisoned within a massive spell launched by the mages. Without an ounce of hesitation, he went through the yellow-tinted magic barrier.

My heart pounded anxiously. Will he be okay?

"The barrier is exclusively meant to cage the devil incarnate. Lilith won't be able to leave, but anyone else can come and go as they please. Rest assured."

I flinched upon hearing that hoarse and familiar voice. I turned around, eyes narrowed into slits.

"If things go south, Haniel can escape from the barrier without any problem." My treacherous brother added. "Long time no see, dear sister."

Servan. So he was really here, too. Nothing much changed about him. He still had that curly brown hair and blue eyes with freckles across his face.

I frowned. "Who are you calling your sister?"

Despite the thick, round lenses he wore, they weren't able to hide the sadness on his eyes.

"I already know everything." He admitted in a contrite tone. "That this world is a novel, that we're all written characters... Haniel told me."

Ashen, who stood still behind us, moved in front of me rather protectively. "This lad safe or nah?"

"No," I scoffed. "He's fickle. He might betray you."

Servan seemed hurt by my response.

"Allari," He called me, remorseful. "I'm sorry."

The truth is, I had already long forgiven him.

After his sordid betrayal, I was seething in rage.

But after some time, I realized that it was the the work of the novel and Servan, just like any other extra, was simply a character who had no self-awareness and acting according to the plot.

He was given that role. That's all there is to it.

Even so, the hurt that he caused me remains.

"I won't accept your apology, because I am no longer your sister. Save that for her grave."

I coldly turned my back from him.

"But if you truly feel penitent," I looked at Servan over my shoulder. "Then help us finish this story."

With that, the three of us began our mission.

The war between the devil's army of the dead and the imperial knights was still ongoing. We pushed our way through the throng of decaying skeletons, busting and slaying them down along the way.

When we reached the center of the battlefield, we halted. There she was, kneeling inside the enclosed barrier with her hands intertwined.

Ruth Alessia di Camellia, the evil villainess.

The author of this story and my sister, Runa.

"Let's try again." I muttered to myself.

I unsheathed my sword and swung it towards the dense, purplish barrier. As expected, my blade couldn't even put so much as a scratch on it.

I turned to Servan. "Can you dismantle it?"

"I can try," He replied instantly and knelt down on the snow. "But it'll take some time to deactivate it."

The mage wasted no second and manifested his own magic. While he was preoccupied with that, Ashen and his men protected us from the enemies.

"Don't worry about these filthy things, Kallen." Ashen patted my shoulder. "Just focus on what you have to do. Our job is to protect you, okay?"

I thanked him before kneeling down right beside the barrier and taking a closer look on my sister.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and she seemed out of breath while chanting some incantations nonstop.

Even her fingers were red and swollen from the way she was clasping them together. Ruth was praying to the devil like there's no tomorrow.

"Runa."

I carefully placed my hand on the barrier.

"Can you hear me?" My voice cracked.

There was no response from her.

"I don't know if you can hear me," It felt like there was a lump on my throat. "But I just wanted to tell you that..."

I stopped. I couldn't string the right words.

What did I want to say to her?

Who exactly is she to me at this moment?

When I first had a grasp of my role in this world, she was the villainess, my master who sheltered me under her wing. All this time, I had resented her for betraying me and killing the people who were dear to me. That was her place in my life.

From murdering my friends to stealing my first love, she became the subject of all my rancour.

"My dearest sister, Runa."

But then I regained all the memories of my past life, changing my perception of her in an instant.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind."

Tears streamed down on my cheeks.

Before being the villainess, she was my sister first. While her evil deeds remain, I could no longer resent her now that I remember everything.

In my eyes, Runa was just a child.

When I took my own life, she was left all alone.

How heartbroken she must've been, to the point that my sister was pushed to resort to murder.

Moreover, Runa began to loathe the story that she used to love writing. For an author to despise their very own work, how painful could it have been?

I'm not justifying her actions until now.

But I understand why she turned out this way.

"You don't have to give me an apology."

When I lifted my gaze to her, my sister was finally looking at me. However, her eyes looked so empty, like the vast and still ocean unable to be disturbed.

"If anything, I should be the one saying sorry." Even her voice sounded so dull. "I said some hurtful things to you. That's why you did it."

I shook my head frantically. "No."

"You must've been fed up with me." The corners of her eyes filled up with tears. "After all, you spent your whole life raising me, but then I grew up as an ungrateful brat. I would've been fed up, too."

She bit her lower lip.

"I would've killed myself, too."

The villainess burst out into sobs. At that moment, the image of the young girl who used to cry in my arms came into my mind. My little sister, Runa...

"But, sister... I just wanted to tell you," She told me in between sobs. "That every single thing I spoke that day, I didn't mean any of them! I didn't want you to die... I can't imagine my life without you!"

She broke down, shoving her face onto her hands.

"I'm sorry!" Runa said hysterically. "I'm so sorry!"

In the end, these must have been the words that she's been meaning to say to me after my death.

"It's okay." I placed my forehead on the barrier that was keeping the two of us apart. "It's okay now, Runa. It's all in the past. Forget about it."

The villainess raised her head, her eyes red and swollen from all the crying. She looked like an innocent child who was scolded thoroughly.

"Let's focus on our new lives from here on." I told her desperately. "That's why you need to help me change the story. I'm begging you, Runa. Sever the contract between you and Lilith. Please help us."

At that moment, her sanguine face was suddenly painted with helplessness. She shook her head.

"I can't." She whispered. "I'm sorry, sister."

"Why?" I asked with a sense of urgency.

"I'm done. The spell will deactivate now!" I heard Servan behind me, but I paid no heed to him.

"Because the only way to sever the contract is..." The purplish barrier surrounding the villainess shattered. "To have me, the contractor, killed."

My eyes twitched.

"So I can't sever it, but you can." Runa continued.

"No." I replied absentmindedly.

"Isabelle, you have been waiting for this moment, right?" She smiled bitterly. "It's time to exact your revenge upon the villainess. The day has come."

"I said no!" I shouted defensively.

Her blue eyes sharpened in anger. The villainess stood up and held both of my shoulders. "I thought you wanted to save this world? You have to do it!"

"I don't want to!" I insisted angrily. "Haniel... He told me that he can defeat the devil even with the contract intact. You don't need to die. He'll win!"

"Ah,"

Her shoulders dropped. She seemed hopeless.

"Obviously, you haven't read the ending."

My heart pounded intensely.

"Let me give you a spoiler, then." Ruth squeezed my shoulders. "As long as I'm breathing, Lilith is bound to the mortal realm. And that man you are so proud of, he's going to sacrifice himself. Why do you think this novel is tagged with tragedy, sister?"

I inhaled sharply. I couldn't breathe properly.

"The final arc of this story is called Everlasting Winter. Do you know why?" She stated through gritted teeth. "Because the only way that Haniel Calypso Astana could save the world was to seal the devil into unbreakable ice along with him!"

In an instant, I was mortified by her words.

"This novel was entitled A World Without Light, because the protagonist was sealed for eternity in this land, where the sun never rises and the only constant thing is winter! Do you understand?!"

"No," I said in disbelief. "Haniel? He's not..."

"Callista!" Ruth shouted. "You have to kill me!"

My jaw clenched. How could I do that? We've only just reunited. How can I lose you again, my sister?

While I was staring at her blankly, the entirety of Chioni shook violently all of the sudden. Both of us lifted our gaze to the skies, and we found the mages struggling to maintain the massive spell where the devil was restrained and imprisoned.

Within the yellow-tinted barrier, Haniel was fighting against Lilith with his mana-induced sword. He seemed unharmed but frustrated.

My chest heaved. It hurts, but I have to do it.

After all, I'm the only one who can do it.

I stood up weakly, my feet buried on the snow.

I faced the villainess and held the hilt of my sword. My hands were trembling so bad.

When the grand duchess saw the determination on my face, she faltered for a moment, as if she weren't truly ready to die yet. I saw that fear.

But she quickly hid it behind a sinister grin.

"Yes, that's it." She encouraged me. "Do it."

The villainess stared at me rather sentimentally.

"Kill me. It's the only way to change this story."

At that moment, my heart was torn asunder.

Perhaps the reason we were transmigrated into the world of the novel that ruined our lives is to bid our farewells to each other, to finally let go.

However, to think that the novel would pit the two of us against each other... It only proved that our transmigration was never meant to be a blessing or a second chance, but rather a punishment.

"Runa," I raised my sword. "I'm sorry."

For a moment, I stopped breathing.

Amidst the snow, my lips dithered from the cold.

I had pictured this moment countless of times, but it was harder than I thought. My hand was frozen.

"I can't." I blurted out. "I can't do it. I love you."

The person in front of me simply did not look the same anymore. When I look at her, I don't see her ocean eyes or her bluish white hair. I don't see the evil woman who betrayed me or the antagonist of this world.

All I see is the child that I raised on my own.

My dearest little sister.

How could I kill her with my own hands?

Before I knew it, I was sobbing uncontrollably.

When the villainess saw me breaking down into tears, she also had an emotional look on her face. But Runa, being the more logical one at that point, walked up to me and embraced me with her arms.

"If I could choose my next life in another story..."

Her tears fell as she whispered into my ear.

"I truly wish you would be my sister again."

In the end, I couldn't do it at all.

Perhaps my sister knew that I wouldn't be able to make the ultimate decision to kill her, so she decided to do it for me. Unlike me, the villainess has always been brave and strong from the start.

So when she thrusted a dagger on the side of her head, there was no trace of hesitation from her.

I hated it. I hated it so much. How ridiculous.

It was so out of character. Ruth Alessia di Camellia would never kill herself for the good of humanity.

But then I remembered, she wasn't just that.

She was my sister too, and that version of herself would have done it to save the world she created.

She wasn't just some villainess in a twisted novel.

Because she was Runa, the author of this story.

And the dearest little sister I will always love.

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