"'Where am I?'"
 
I scanned my surroundings until I saw and reached the light.
 
I found a book lying against a golden tree.
 
"Maybe this is the origin of the system. Did Jessica come from here?" I wondered before taking a step closer and flipping through the pages. The writings in the system I faced before were fresh in my mind, and they were no different from what was written here.
 
"That's why no matter what I do, I can't do anything because this book is so powerful that no one can break it. How was this done? What kind of magic was used here?" I wondered as I examined the book. A mix of sadness and amazement filled me.
 
I stepped back without hesitation when the pages flipped automatically, the tree's glow intensified to the point where I could no longer see, so I closed my eyes.
 
"Gracia?"
 
"Gracia? Open your eyes."
 
A warm, soft hand touched my cheek, causing me to slowly open my eyes. A woman dressed in white, who looked like me, appeared before me, causing me to step back.
 
"Don't be scared," she said first.
 
"Who are you?" I immediately asked.
 
"I'm the book." she answered.
 
"Then why do you look like me?!" I asked, and she chuckled slightly.
 
"Don't misunderstand. I'm the book, so I don't have a physical human form. The only thing I can do to talk to you is to imitate your appearance. That's why everyone who sees me ends up disrupting the fate of others," she explained, making me furrow my brow.
 
"W-Wait, I don't understand."
 
"Let me explain..." she took a deep breath.
 
"I'm the book, The Book of Fate, but everything changed when a soul from another dimension entered the book. I don't know where he came from, but his power has no boundaries. He can interrupt the fate of others. He was stuck here for the past hundred years, and he managed to rewrite the book of fate into a one-perspective. He broke the balance, favoring one person. That's why the book of fate became the book of ruins, and it's also why I became conscious. The freedom for people to choose their own fate was formed, and I became that. The soul of the book separated from the physical book, which is why you're facing me," she explained, taking my hand.
 
"I tried to access information from him, and I learned that he came from a free world, a world without magic. They were blessed with free will in exchange for no magic, which is completely different from life in our world. The purpose of this book is to monitor the equality and distribution of mana, to prevent conflict. It's not that we don't have free will, but there's someone watching our every move. But what happened caused a biased distribution of mana, and conflict arose in the world. If this continues, everything will be destroyed, and I will disappear completely."
 
"Gracia, for as long as I've been trying to destroy the fate he wrote, I've opened your mind. You managed to deviate and fight what he wrote. Gracia, I need you to fix this," she explained, but I hesitated to pull my hand away and shook my head.
 
"No. I can't help either. I'll try, but I can't," I replied, but she shook her head.
 
"You're wrong. Escaping what he wrote is a miracle and a huge help. There's still hope, help me. You're the only one who can help me, and there's no one else," she insisted.
 
I couldn't help but remember the pain I experienced there and unknowingly cried. "H-How? I-I can't," I replied, losing hope.
 
"I'm with you. One more time. Just one more time, and you'll be with me in this fight. You're not alone," she pleaded.
 
I closed my eyes and hesitantly reached out my hand. "I'll try. For the sake of those he hurt and will hurt," I replied.
 
Whether I admit it or not, it's not over yet. My parents are still there, and I have many more people I want to protect. So I'll do it.
 
"What can I do?" I immediately asked, and she smiled in relief.
 
"The only way to redo the book is to kill the author," she said.
 
"How? I couldn't even kill the heroine, let alone the author?" I asked.
 
"That's what I thought too, but while watching you, I noticed something and I saw hope," she explained and brought out a screen.
 
"Didn't you wonder why your character changed in the end? You changed. It's because of your intense emotions. Love and desperation, we'll beat him at his own game," she explained.
 
"Love him? Tsk! You know that's impossible. My stomach can't even accept forgiving him, let alone loving him?!" I shouted, seething with anger, but thankfully she shook her head.
 
"No. Not you, but him. He needs to learn to love you and let himself kill him. He's the only one who can kill himself, and making him fall in love is the only way to do that," she explained, making me hesitate a bit.
 
"Are you afraid of falling for him?" she asked, noticing my hesitation.
 
I immediately shook my head. "No. I'm just afraid of getting hurt again. If that's your plan, it means I need to gamble with my emotions. I've gambled everything, but gambling with my emotions without any love, I don't know how to do that yet," I replied, looking at her.
 
"I know I'm asking a big favor, Gracia, but after this, let me make it up to you."
 
I took a deep breath before looking at her and nodding.
 
She slowly faded away, and a sprout emerged from the floor, gradually growing into a tree until it spat out the book.
 
"Place your hand on it, and it will suck you in," she ordered.
 
I obeyed, and suddenly a gust of wind pulled me in.
 
"Princess Lithea!" a woman shouted and pulled me into the room.
 
"Princess Lithea, you need to hide first. Prince Kian has captured the Royalty, you're the only one left. If he catches you, you won't be able to survive. He'll probably retaliate," she explained while guarding the door of the cabinet where we were hiding.
 
'System?'
 
'I'm not that stupid system. I don't even know that fucking system. Call me fate! A book of Fate!'
 
"Who am I? Why am I here? I thought I was reborn?" I complained in my mind.
 
"Sorry, I didn't tell you. I'm just the Book of Fate, I can guide souls to their destiny, but not set destiny to the point of rebirth. Only the author can do that, so sorry, this is the only thing I can do to bring you back," she explained in my mind, making me complain loudly.
 
"You're useless."
 
My maid looked at me. "Princess Lithea, I know I'm useless, but please don't be noisy..."
 
Before she could finish, the cabinet door suddenly opened, revealing the face of a man who looked somewhat familiar to me.
 
"Lithea, why are you hiding?" he asked.