My eyes fluttered open as I tried to recognize where I was. The original Seri must have returned me back to this body. I quickly looked to where Dante had been sitting, but the seat was empty. I forced myself up and winced from the pain.

"Where the f*ck-"

"EEK!" I heard someone shout and looked to the corner to see William holding his heart from the sudden surprise. He shouted, "Don't just suddenly wake up like that! It scared me..."

Well there's William. Now where is Dante? Why isn't he here right now? I tried to sit up, but struggled. William threw down the documents in his hands and rushed over to me.

He looked at me worried, "Wait! You should stay laying down. The wound on your back hasn't healed yet. If you move, the stitches could reopen."

"Where's Dante?" I asked not caring about the throbbing pain in my back.

He made a troubled expression and looked away, "You just woke up and that's the first thing you ask?"

I looked at him, "William. Tell me."

My heart began to race. Had the original Seri been right? Could my Millie also be as twisted as hers? If she wasn't here now, does that mean she is torturing Dante as we speak?!

I shouted in a panic, "Millie! If you are behind these walls please stop your evil plans! I didn't die!"

William looked at me in confusion, "Are you alright? Millie can't be in the wall. It's a wall. Perhaps that coma really did damage your mind like the doctor thought it would..."

"Coma?!"

Well that doesn't sound good.

"Uhh... Yeah?"

I grabbed him by the collar and started shaking him, "Tell me everything."

"S-S-t-o-p s-ha-ki-ng me!" I stopped, but didn't let go of his collar. He cleared his throat, "You woke up once, but then you fell back asleep and were in a coma for almost two weeks."

God d*mmit original Seri. Your little trip down memory lane took two weeks?!

I forced myself to speak calmly, "What did I miss? Is the war going good or bad? Is Millie crazy? Where is Dante?!" I pulled him closer, "Did Mary eat anything suspicious?!"

William blinked from the questions being hurled at him, "Umm... Uh... Uh-"

I took a deep breath and released him, "Just explain everything that has happened since I've been unconscious."

He nodded, "While you were unconscious we discovered that Simon was actually a Prince of the Sanki Kingdom and he is leading the army against us. Right now, we aren't losing. As for Millie, we specifically didn't mention to her what exactly happened to you."

Somehow I have a feeling that she still knows.

He looked away, "And- well... Everyone else is fine and doing other things."

I feel like he is avoiding bringing up Dante. Seeing his refusal to bring him up only made my nervousness worse.

I looked at him closely, "And Dante?"

William pinched his lips together, "You really only care about him..."

I sighed, "William."

"I know. Dante... Well..." He took a deep breath, "It was all my fault that this happened, but Dante blamed himself. I tried to stop him... But..."

Noticing him having a hard time, I didn't try to rush him.

He shuddered, "Dante decided he wanted to go off to fight Simon... And Simon... Simon caught him off guard and kidnapped him."

I felt like my world just came crashing down. It was happening just as the original Seri said. Simon kidnapped Dante which meant that Millie would torture him soon. I recalled the gruesome scene I was forced to watch in the memory.

I gulped down my fear, "He was... Kidnapped?"

"He only went because of me..." William covered his face with his hands, "It's all my fault... It's all my fault..."

I tried to shift my focus away from thinking about Dante's torture scene, "Why do you think it's your fault?"

William looked at me with a painful expression, "I was the one who called him there that day... I was the one who forced him to... To..."

The memory of the day that I was struck down by Dante's sword came flooding back to me. I remembered how William had antagonized him to fight him, even though he didn't try to block nor parry.

I looked at William with a sharp gaze, "William. You were going to let him stab you, weren't you?" William looked away and bit his lip, but said nothing. I asked in a soft voice, "Why? Why would you do that?! Don't you know you would have died?"

"OF COURSE I KNEW!" William shouted out. He clenched his fists, "I... I wanted him to..."

As I watched William shake while attempting to hold back his tears, I spoke to him softly, "William. Tell me what is going on."

"I... I thought that it would be better for everyone if he was the King... So I thought that if he killed me, he could become King and everyone would be better off."

I was shocked by William's admission. I had no idea this was in his mind.

"Why would you think that?"

"Everyone liked him more. Everyone thought he was better than me. My father did. Everyone at the Academy did.... Even you did..." William sighed as he ran his fingers through his long hair, "It would be better for everyone if Dante was King..."

I stared at William for a while and watched as he struggled to speak. Some friend I am. I knew he had always been insecure because of his father, but I didn't think he was suffering to this degree. Did he really think he wasn't fit to be King? He was the male lead of the original novel. It's only natural that he became King...

And maybe that was the problem.

I spoke calmly, "William... Do you want to be King?"

He was surprised by my question, "I... No. It doesn't matter what I think-"

I interrupted, "William. Do YOU want to be King? Don't think about what your father wanted. Don't think about anyone else's thoughts except your own. Do you want to be King?"

He gave a small nod, "I do..."

"And why do you want to be King?"

"I..." His face scrunched together as he thought, "I want to become King to make the Kingdom a better place."

I smiled at his pure intentions, "There. That right there is exactly why you should be King."

"Me?"

"Don't get me wrong, I love Dante, but he's not really the compassionate type. Sure, he would probably make a decent King, but he wouldn't work too hard to make the Kingdom a better place. He would just do the bare minimum and call it good. On the contrary, you actually work yourself day and night to make sure the people in the Kingdom don't suffer. You are constantly putting others before yourself. You are working towards making the Kingdom equal for everyone. Commoners. Nobles. Men and women. You are truly a wonderful King."

He looked back at me with the light returning to his eyes, "You... You really think so?"

It was just like how he was in the original Seri's world. He always worked so hard for others no matter how much stress he had to endure as a result. Even though he was always working to find solutions to improve the situation, he still never forgot about Mary and the ones close to him. Even though he blamed himself for not helping the original Seri enough, he was one of the only ones who actually reached out to her. Behind that indifferent mask was a kind hearted boy who only wanted to make others happy.

He truly was too pure.

Before I realized it, I was reaching out to pat the top of his head. I guess I still think of him as that little tsundere boy.

William felt me pat his head and reached up to grab my hand. His voice was strained, "Then why... Why did you choose Dante and not me?"

I hesitated before speaking, "William... I already told you..."

He stared at me earnestly, "You said that you were a bad person and that we would never work. But, you're wrong. Sure you do bad things, but you are not a bad person. You're always looking out for me, Mary, Dante, all of us. Even Lucius."

I made a face at the last name. Who said I look out for Lucius?

He continued, "I don't know why you feel like you're a bad person. You would never do anything to hurt us."

"You're wrong." My voice was dark as I pulled my hand away from his grasp. I looked back at his confused face and stood up to walk away. I tightened my fists.

I can't hide it from him any longer. He deserves to know the truth.

I turned back to William with a pained expression, "William... I knew Simon was going to kill your father."

His voice caught in his throat as his eyes widened, "W-What..."

I forced myself to continue, "Not only did I know, but I also helped him escape undetected."

William looked as if he had been hit by a car, "You... You wouldn't..."

I clenched my fists and looked away. I couldn't look at him anymore. I turned toward the door and put my back to him. "Your father was a terrible person. He was always so mean to you. Not to mention he was cruel taxing the already poor commoners. I've always hated your father, William. That's why I had to have him killed."

It's better for William to hate me.

It's better this way.

Then, his shock changed abruptly into anger. "You! You helped kill my father?!"

I responded coldly, "I did. And I regret nothing."

He stood up shaking from anger, "Do you realize I could sentence you to death right now?!"

I spoke calmly trying to fight back the tears that threatened me, "I realize this. However, I must save Dante first. Just let me go and bring him back. Once I do that, you can do whatever you wish to me."

"And how will I know you will actually come back?!"

I stated firmly, "I will come back. And when I do, I will take whatever punishment you wish to give me. However, just know that I did this alone. No one else knows about what I did except for Simon."

"How... How could you do this to me?!"

I could hear the pain in sorrow in his voice at having been betrayed by one of his closest friends. My chest tightened. I knew this feeling more than anyone. Despite how painful I knew it felt, I still did it.

I really am trash. I really deserve to be hanged for this.

I paused before leaving. I turned my head, still shielding my face from him. "You should try spending time with Mary more. Who knows, you two may realize you get along better than you thought." I added in a small voice, "Mary would never do such a thing to you."

William bit his lip trying to bury his fury and pain, "Leave. If I see you again... I don't know what I may do."

I didn't stay another second. I ran out with tears running along my face.

I don't regret it. I don't.

No. I have to focus on something else. I must focus on saving Dante.

Just wait.

I will save him.

______

As William sat on the bed reeling from the overwhelming news, Millie pushed a painting revealing the hidden passageway. William jumped at the sound of the painting crashing to the floor. He was so startled he almost forgot what he was so upset about.

She climbed out of the hole in the wall and looked at the dumbfounded William with an indifferent expression. She spoke calmly, "Excuse me. I have to go follow Seri."

William watched completely dumbfounded as she scurried across the room. She paused at the door and turned back to William. "You know. She may have planned to kill your father, but in the end she tried to stop it. If it hadn't been for being poisoned, she may have actually succeeded. So stop looking so stupid."

William looked at her with painful confusion, "Why are you telling me this?"

She let out an irritated sigh, "I truly hate you. I do. I want nothing more than to watch you suffer." William's face twitched. She continued with difficulty, "However. Seeing you like this is truly disgusting. So stop crying already."

William wiped his tears as he watched Millie run after Seri. He only felt more confused.

He whispered to himself, "She really was behind the walls..."