'I swear I have to stop depending on the plot to know what's going to happen.' Lucius thought with a long, irritated sigh.
His head tilted slightly as his eyes followed Esmeralda, who had turned back to brushing soot from her burned dress.
'They never mentioned an Irael. Not in the story, not in the background lore, not even in the useless filler chapters. And now he's suddenly a childhood friend of the Villainess? How am I supposed to work with that?'
It was confusing, infuriating even.
The entire reason he'd relied on the "plot" was because it gave him leverage. Knowing when to duck, when to push, when to laugh.
But if the story started throwing new characters at him, all bets were off.
"That means he's your childhood sweetheart." Lucius finally said, lips smiling in amusement as he leaned closer to her.
Her head turned just enough to give him a sidelong glance.
