章 12: The Goddess

She was so tired that she collapsed on the bed upon reaching her home. The maids didn't let her sleep, though. Ignoring her fussing they helped her get out of that gown and into something more comfortable and left her to rest.

"I knew I chose the right person."

A voice whispered. Adeline who was so close to sleeping immediately woke up and looked around. That voice was too loud, she thought that the person was right next to her but she was wrong. In the semi-dark room, only she remained.

She chalked it up to her tiredness making her hear things and tried to fall asleep again. Being a child is hard, she got tired too easily and spent most of her time sleeping. "I must be crazy..." She murmured before closing her eyes.

"You aren't crazy. It is I, the Goddess of this world."

???

Her eyes fluttered open yet again.

"What? Goddess? Am I hearing things again?"

"You aren't, Adeline. It is me. The divine entity that created this world."

Adeline's eyes were as wide as they could go, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"I know you aren't from this world."

!!!

Adeline frantically reacted to the voice.

"You were my favourite character, you know?"

"Do you know you're just a fictional character too? How does this work?"

"I am not a fictional character. I am the creator of this book."

Adeline had to take a deep breath to calm down.

"Are you telling me you wrote this story?"

"Yes!" The voice basically shivered with glee. She sounded too proud of herself.

Adeline was completely furious. Not only did this 'Goddess' write the worst story in existence, but she forced her to become one of the saddest characters in the worst story in existence. This. Was. Annoying.

She could hear giggles and snorts. The creator seemed to find her situation very funny but Adeline didn't share the same sentiment. She raised her fist and shook it like an old man yelling at a bunch of teenagers. "Just shut up!"

The Goddess found it hard to stay mad at the cute little child she was stalking.

"Your story is bad, and I wish I had burned the book before I was dropped into this world!"

"..."

Adeline vented her frustration and waited for a response but she heard nothing.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?!"

"You told me to shut up!" She protested.

"..." This time Adeline went silent. She was speechless to be exact.

"Why did you contact me now?" Adeline finally asked an important question.

"Oohh good question. I knew you were smart. It's because I agree with you. I wrote this story when I was a dumb teenager. I hate how it ends. I want you to change the ending."

"And why would I do that?"

"You might die if you don't, and if you die, you might go back to your original world."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"For you, yes. I know your past life, it was pretty pathetic haha."

"..."

A thousand thoughts occupied her mind, all of them were violent. 'You slimy piece of sh-'

"CHILDREN SHOULDN'T CURSE!"

Adeline's hair stood up. Could she read her thoughts?

"No, I can't read your thoughts. They were basically written on your face."

"So what if I do change the ending? What do I get?"

"Maybe the real reward is the friends you made all along."

She never wanted to hit a 'god' before today.

"What's your name?"

Adeline wanted to dig further and find out who this 'Goddess' was but she heard no answer. She called out again but this time a maid came running in thinking she was being called upon.

'I can't believe she left like that.'

She eventually realised that there was no way to make contact with this diety again. She didn't even know how was contacted in the first place, there were no clues to go on in order to replicate the situation. She just had to wait and see if the other person would make contact again.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully for her at least. The heir to the Duchy faced a whole new problem.

Alaric was honing his casting magic when his father called him into the study.

"Father?"

With no warning, no greeting he suddenly popped the question, "Please answer me truthfully Alaric, have I been a bad father?"

"Um-"

The urge to close the door to the study and run back to the training grounds was taking over him. What was happening? Why did he ask this all of a sudden? Alaric recalled the past.

His sister was just a baby and his brother was just a child when his mother passed away. He failed to remember that he too was just a child. The world around him was changing too fast.

His father shut himself in and rarely came out, his siblings were so young they didn't know what was happening, and his mother's dying wish came to his mind, 'Please, take care of each other.'

After all that they've been through, what they have now was far better and he didn't want to lose it. His father's words gave him a thought though, things could be better too...