Deviating from the original plot

Chapter fifteen

She squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed.

This was supposed to be a simple gala. Just one night. One night to work on her reputation and then leave quietly. And instead, she'd smashed a bottle over a man's head and become the centre of attention.

So much for keeping a low profile.

When Victoria arrived home. She headed straight to her room, closed the door behind her, and locked it. Without a second's hesitation, she dropped to her knees beside her bed, reaching underneath until her fingers found the familiar edge of a small brown box. It was old and worn, sealed with a tiny lock.

She slipped off her bracelet and detached the key cleverly hidden in one of its charms. The lock clicked open.

Inside lay her journal—thick, battered, and stuffed with pages of notes, timelines, and messy scribbles from her past life. Everything she'd managed to remember about the novel before she was pulled into this world.

She flipped through the pages quickly until her eyes landed on the one marked The Duke's Gala.

This was supposed to be the beginning of another subplot, she thought grimly.

In the original storyline, the masked man had killed the woman in front of everyone and escaped before the guards could stop him. The horrifying event caused a public uproar and sparked Evelyn's growing curiosity. She began quietly investigating the incident. That investigation led her to cross paths with the Crown Prince multiple times—each encounter bringing them closer as they unravelled the mystery together.

It was the start of the "Dark Cult" arc, a hidden group of dark magic users sowing chaos throughout the empire.

But now... the hostage was alive. The attacker was captured.

Victoria stared down at her own handwriting, her brows knit in thought. She had interfered—despite promising herself she wouldn't tamper with the original storyline. But how could she just stand by and do nothing?

With a quiet sigh, she closed the journal slowly, the pages rustling softly. All she can do is hope that there are not drastic consequences for this.

✦ ✦

The next morning, Victoria was stirred from sleep by a knock at her door. She blinked groggily, still in her evening gown and smudged makeup from the night before.

"My lady, are you alright in there?" Anne's voice called out, filled with concern.

Yawning, Victoria realised the door was still locked. She dragged herself out of bed and unlocked it.

"Good morning, Anne," she mumbled, clearly exhausted.

Anne's eyes widened the moment she saw her. "You slept like that?!"

Victoria rubbed her eyes and stepped aside to let Anne in. "Yeah... I guess I passed out the moment I got home."

Anne rushed in, fussing immediately. "Heavens, you must've been exhausted! You didn't even take off your shoes—look at you!"

Victoria sat back on the edge of the bed with a groan. "I had a long night, Anne. Things... didn't go as planned."

Anne paused, her expression softening. "Is this about the commotion at the Duke's gala? Everyone's talking about it. They say you were the one who stopped the attacker!"

"I didn't mean to get involved," Victoria said, reaching up to pull the pins from her tangled hair. "Everything happened so fast—I just reacted before I could even think."

Anne stared at her, momentarily speechless, then let out a breath. "That was dangerous... but incredibly brave."

Victoria gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I suppose."