Chương 333: Dinner with the Assassin

Luke stepped out of his room dressed in formal attire, looking like he was on his way to a gala rather than a dinner meeting with someone who could easily kill him.

"How did you even know my measurements?" he asked Anne as they walked down the corridor.

"A maid… always knows," she replied softly. They continued in silence. Luke had been waiting for this meeting with Erza Grimhart, not just to talk about the Assassin's Garb, though that was part of it. That particular problem could wait. What he really wanted was information about the final battle. There were three bosses: the Midnight Lord, the Witch, and the Midnight King. They already had a weapon for the last one; the trick would be surviving long enough to use it.

After a while, they reached an ornate set of doors. Anne opened them, and Luke found Erza waiting inside, seated at a long dining table. She wore a gown of deep crimson silk, heavy and lustrous, the fabric folding around her like living shadow. The black gloves that reached past her elbows seemed to drink in the light, while her long, dark hair gleamed beneath the moon's silver touch. The breeze from the balcony stirred faintly, carrying with it the scent of metal and roses.

Her presence filled the room before she even spoke, commanding attention the way a storm commands the sea. If Luke hadn't known exactly how dangerous she was, he might have been fooled by the picture of elegance in front of him. It was still strange, seeing her after spending so much time around her porcelain twin. The doors closed behind him with a muted click. Anne walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and gestured for him to sit. Erza occupied one end; Luke took the other.

Anne poured him a glass of wine, the faint clink of crystal echoing in the quiet room.

"Are you enjoying your stay?" Erza asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, absolutely. Compared to how I was treated before, I'm seriously considering switching factions," Luke replied with a faint grin. Anne began serving him slices of meat, careful and precise in every motion.

"Good," Erza murmured.

"But I'm guessing this dinner isn't just about hospitality," Luke said.

"Of course not." A sly smile curved her lips.

"Though I am curious… how many different escape routes have you planned so far? And please, don't insult me by pretending you considered the balcony."

"Escape? Me? I'd never dream of it," he said casually. Anne froze mid-motion, eyes lifting to his.

"Lying… is bad," she whispered before resuming her task.

"Let's just say dolls are… intimately familiar with lies," Erza said. Luke cut into the meat and took a bite.

"Wasn't there a story about a wooden puppet whose nose grew whenever he lied?" Erza chuckled lightly.

"Funny you mention that. My family came from the same universe as that little wooden liar. In fact, my sister and I are descendants of that puppet, who eventually became a god there." Luke frowned, blinking in disbelief.

"Earth's stories were never entirely fiction," she continued.

"Every time the System approaches a universe, it seeps into the minds of its inhabitants. Artists, writers, musicians—they start creating echoes of what's to come. So when the System finally arrives and dragons appear, no one's truly shocked. It's like the universe was being educated in advance."

"I knew that much," Luke said.

"I'm just surprised the story of the lying puppet was part of it." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"In part, yes. A writer's imagination colors the truth, but the core knowledge always lingers beneath the myth." After serving both plates, Anne stepped back and stood silently at attention, hands folded, her porcelain face emotionless.

"So you were born more human, and she more… doll?" Luke asked. He could tell Erza wasn't going to dive straight into whatever subject truly mattered tonight. This was just the prelude.

"You really want to know a family secret, one from a World Government family, no less?" she asked, lowering her wine glass.

"I promise I won't post it online," Luke said. Erza smirked and took another sip.

"I trust you." She sliced a piece of meat from her plate. When her eyes drifted toward the tray beside her, her doll-like maid stepped forward and refilled her dish without a word.

"My family was founded by a woman," Erza began.

"About a hundred years ago. I'm talking about this universe's branch, of course. She made a pact with the God of Assassination. He arranged her marriage with the Puppet God from the story you know. A few generations later, my sister and I were born." The maid withdrew from the table again, silent as ever.

"In our family, only women are born. Never men. That's the Grimhart rule. There are… ways to influence the sex of a baby before birth. We're chosen carefully, even from conception, to ensure each generation is stronger than the last. Our bodies were shaped for it. Even our ovaries select only the most suitable seed to create the next heir. One of the many advantages of being half doll," she said matter-of-factly. That was a lot to process. Ovaries, seeds, selective wombs.

Was it wrong that he suddenly wanted to know how dolls even reproduced? Probably. Better to stay respectful and keep his curiosity in check.

"So they decided to have twins, then," he said.

"Oh, no." Erza's tone turned almost amused.

"The doll isn't my biological twin. She's more like my soul twin." Her lips curved into a knowing smile.

"You wanted a family secret, didn't you? Fine. I'll tell you one. But understand that if you ever reveal it, the punishment is execution, yours and everyone in your family." Luke froze, fork halfway to his mouth.

"On second thought, maybe I don't need to know it."

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone, didn't you?" she teased, her smile turning sharp as she resumed eating.

"Don't worry, I trust you." He took a long drink of water.

"Yeah, but I don't trust me. Let's change the subject."

"Now that it's getting interesting? Come on, this is what friends do, they share deadly secrets over dinner." She grinned, predator's smile gleaming as she cut another piece of meat. She was enjoying this far too much.

"When a Grimhart girl is born, the Puppet God visits her on the very day of her birth," she continued.

"Most children are born with their System already active because their parents have one. But my father didn't. Even so, my System awakened immediately thanks to my mother's lineage." She swirled her wine, eyes glinting crimson under the moonlight.

"Every member of the World Government is a hybrid, born with an inherited skill. Ours creates a soul twin." Her voice dropped to a near whisper.

"The baby in my mother's womb was divided, two souls sharing one body. Think of it as conjoined twins, but on a spiritual level. Normally, that would drive someone insane. Two souls growing inside the same shell." She leaned back, resting her chin on her hand.

"But the Puppet God knows how to cure a doll's madness. He crafts a second body, special, custom-made, and transfers one of the souls into it." Luke glanced toward the maid.

"So that's how the madness ends? Because the second soul gets its own body?" Erza nodded.

"Exactly. The doll body isn't a toy. It's not mechanical, either. Think of it as a fusion of flesh and porcelain, shaped through divine craftsmanship rather than technology. The Puppet God is a master artisan." She tilted her head slightly, a faint smile crossing her lips.

"Remember the story of the lying wooden puppet? The same craftsman who made him a body of flesh made one for my dear soul-sister too." Luke thought it was one hell of a story. An entire alternate universe where puppet-people were real, and now he was sitting across from two living descendants of a god from that world.

"In the end, it sounds like things turned out well for both of you," he said. Erza's smile was faint, and not entirely warm.

"Not quite. A double will always envy her human sister. That's what the Puppet God told my family. Because she'll want to be real, just like the puppet from the story. She'll always ask herself: 'Why was I the soul placed in the doll's body? Why didn't I get the real one?'" Her eyes lowered, voice softening as she spoke.

"For a doll with a human soul, even without ever eating or sleeping, it's torture to watch your sister living in the body that could have been yours." Her gaze shifted to the maid, lingering for a heartbeat.

"The Puppet God told her once that if she managed to kill me, she could take my body." Luke coughed into his hand.

"Wow. That's… uh… dramatic." Yeah, maybe I regret learning the family secret after all.

"Want to hear another secret about my family of dolls?" Erza asked.

"No. I'm kind of… full on secrets right now."

"Oh, but now that we're so close?" Her smile sharpened into something playful and dangerous.

"Don't worry. You'll like this one."