The gasp from the crowd rippled through the ballroom, a wave of shock and confusion. One lone voice, louder and braver than the others, broke the stunned silence. "It was Selena's hatred!" the noblewoman, a Countess with a flair for the dramatic, shrieked. "What if it was her who poisoned Lady Iris?"
The accusation hung in the air, a final, desperate attempt by the System to reclaim its narrative. The crowd, so recently baffled by Selena's strange actions, now had a villain they could understand. The murmurs began to grow. This was the moment the original Selena would have lashed out, confirming their suspicions with her rage.
But this Selena simply smiled. It was a serene, chillingly confident smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My lady," she said, her voice clear and precise, cutting through the noise like a silver knife. "When would I have poisoned it? I wasn't the one who bought it for Lady Iris, and I wasn't the one who recommended it to the Duke Cedric either."
She didn't have to lie. The truth was her most potent weapon. She had only to expose the uncomfortable facts of the System's own plot. The nobles, who had witnessed every public moment between Duke Cedric and Iris, knew it was true. The Duke had personally selected the necklace for her, a grand romantic gesture. He had a reputation for being meticulous and discerning. He would never have been careless with a gift for the woman he loved.
The gaze of the entire ballroom, a thousand pairs of eyes, now swiveled to Duke Cedric. His face, usually a mask of calm authority, was pale. The accusations that had just been aimed at Selena now turned to him. The logic was irrefutable. If Selena hadn't poisoned the necklace, and no one else had touched it, then...
A faint, almost imperceptible screen appeared in Selena's mind.
"Warning: Plot Disruption. Duke Cedric's reputation is being compromised. User has created an illogical paradox within the narrative. Immediate action required to restore plot."
The System, in its literal-minded frustration, was begging her to fix its mistake. It was like a game developer yelling at a player who had found an exploitable bug. It had wanted her to be a villain, but her cleverness had made the designated hero look like an incompetent fool, or worse, a poisoner.
Selena, however, was not one to fix other people's problems. She had more important things to do, like ensuring her own survival. She turned her back on the Duke and walked directly to Iris, who was now being attended to by a few worried noblewomen. Iris looked at Selena, her eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and gratitude. She had a strange, almost ethereal look, as if she had just woken from a long dream.
"The Duke's taste is impeccable, of course," Selena said, her voice loud enough for the Duke and the surrounding crowd to hear. "But magical artifacts are a tricky business. Only a professional can verify their safety. It is a good thing I have one at my disposal."
She then pulled a sealed letter from a small clutch, a note she had prepared beforehand with Liam's help. It was addressed to an obscure but highly respected alchemist. "I had this prepared in case something went wrong," she announced, handing the note to one of the servants. "This gentleman will take the necklace to the alchemist for verification. It is better to be safe than sorry."
The Duke, seeing his reputation on the verge of being shattered, saw his chance. "An excellent idea, Lady Selena," he said, his voice regaining its usual firmness. "A wise precaution. One can never be too careful when dealing with priceless antiques. I will personally oversee the process to ensure its authenticity."
The System's screen flickered, a faint green light now appearing in the corner.
"Plot Re-stabilization: Initiated. Duke Cedric's reputation restored. User has successfully manipulated a minor subplot."
She had done it again. She had taken a catastrophic act and turned it into a moment of social and political victory. The nobles, who had moments ago suspected her of a vile crime, now saw her as a wise and calculating noblewoman who had saved the day with her forethought. Duke Cedric, who had been on the verge of public humiliation, now owed her a political debt.
Her final mission was now complete. She had earned the points, and she had done so without committing a single villainous act. But the final warning, the one about the "more hostile manhwa world," still lingered in her mind.
A final screen appeared, its light a pure, crystalline white. It was unlike any screen she had seen before.
"Mission Complete: All tasks have been completed. User has successfully navigated the storyline with minimal plot deviation. All rewards and punishments have been delivered."
The screen vanished. The System was gone. The buzzing in her mind was gone. The constant, suffocating presence of the clockwork heart was silent. She was free.
She looked at her hand, and the familiar ache of the System's control was gone. The compulsion to act, the invisible puppet strings, the constant knowledge of what was to come—all gone. She was no longer a player in a game. She was just Selena Valerius, a noblewoman with a betrothal to a duke she didn't love, a reputation for being an eccentric genius, and a newfound, terrifying freedom.
But a question still lingered in her mind. Who or what was Liam? The System had never acknowledged him. He was not a player, not a character in the plot. He was a bug in the code, a ghost in the machine who had helped her from the shadows. She had a new mission now, one that had nothing to do with System points or plot points. Her mission was to understand the nature of the world she now inhabited, and to find the boy who had helped her escape from her golden cage.