Seraina was still lacking the details she needed to figure out the personality of the original owner, so she stood behind Asher and watched the frail man at the end of the hallway. It was just like in the original world. Despite his handsome features, the man was tall and had a sickly grey complexion.
At first, the sickness had been nothing serious. It just meant he couldn't be as active as the other kids and had to stay indoors when the weather was cold, or it was a day when his health was low. Seraina and Asher were happy to keep him company and had plenty of things to do inside to keep them from getting bored.
That was how they spent most of their days, and for a while, everything was fine, until something shifted within Callen. As they both reached their late teens, Callen's feelings towards Seraina changed. She wasn't just his friend, but now someone he saw in a favourable light.
In the beginning, it was a harmless crush. And for a while, he tried his best to pursue Seraina, and make her like him the same as he liked her. And until his death, things only became worse because of his jealousy; it didn't go away even when he was too weak to get out of bed and lasted until he closed his eyes for good.
Jealousy stemmed from seeing Asher and Seraina growing closer and the affections that were blossoming between them. He did everything he could to sabotage them, and stop them from spending time alone: even if it meant one of them getting hurt, he didn't care if it succeeded at keeping them apart.
Maybe it was his sickness clouding his judgement, or it was something else, but in the end, none of them could figure out what the problem was. And now Seraina was in another world, with no idea what was happening with Asher, or anyone else. She would never know what went wrong.
Three best friends: one dead, another unknown, and one travelling to different worlds, hoping to return home when the tasks were all completed. From anyone's perspective, their many years of friendship were worth nothing in the end.
☽
The sickly man stood at the end of the hallway and watched as Asher and Seraina ran into the house hand in hand. He glared at the intertwined fingers, and green flickered in his eyes for a moment, and anger rose in his chest. If it wasn't bad for his health, he would have gone on a rampage the moment he realised Seraina was not in her room.
The garage was separated from the garden only by a fence, so if he was standing outside, it wouldn't be hard to hear what was happening on the opposite side. Asher telling Seraina to hurry and run back to the house had all been heard by Callen setting off his anger and jealousy.
Now it was worse when he saw her standing behind the other man in hopes that Asher would protect her. One of the qualities he didn't like in Seraina was her frailty, but it also worked to his advantage, since it meant his family could influence her.
A couple of years ago, Seraina's family had forcefully brought her to the house and abandoned her on the doorstep, leaving behind just a letter and her cries went ignored. In the letter, they stated that seeing as she was to be engaged to Callen, Seraina was their problem now and that what happened to her in the future was none of their concern.
It was a plus for Callen's parents, who had been seeking a wife for their son for a long time. And when they had lost all hope, a perfect candidate had been delivered right to their doorstep. All they need was someone with a weak mentality, good housekeeping skills, and someone who could be at their son's beck and call every minute of the day.
They, themselves, were getting old and sooner or later, they wouldn't be around to look after their son anymore. When they were racking their brains on what to do, they thought it would be good to marry their son off, and it would be like having a live-in nurse - one that didn't require any payment. It was a win for them, in their eyes: they didn't once consider the feelings of the potential bride, and only thought about their sickly son who needed a lot of care.
And that was how Seraina had found herself here, and two years later, the parents decided it was the best time for the wedding and were planning to go out after work to meet a wedding planner.
All of this wasn't known by the current Seraina, who wasn't the original owner and was standing behind Asher, to give herself time to figure out what to do next.
Her mind was in a whirl from seeing two people she thought were long gone, and from the sudden departure of the System. If only they were here and could give her the plot: things would be so much easier. But, alas, she was stuck here with no clue what this novel's plot was about.
Callen saw that the two people opposite weren't planning to speak, and he hobbled forward, the cane clutched tightly in his right hand. He controlled the jealousy still raging within and demanded through gritted teeth, "what are you doing out of your room? You were told to stay put until the meeting with the planner later. Why do you never listen?!"
Seraina took a step back and was stopped from going any further by Asher's hand tightening on hers. His back went taut, and he moved in front of her more to block her from Callen's view. This movement was seen by Callen and his hatred towards the other man grew exponentially. His breathing grew more haggard, and he raised bloodshot eyes to meet Asher's own calm ones.
"What are you doing?"
Callen now stood in front of Asher and feebly tried to push him aside, but he stood firm and wouldn't move an inch. This was all he could do for Seraina, and no matter what, he wouldn't let Callen get his hands on her. After all, he knew what was going to happen next in the plot of the novel, and he would do anything to prevent that event from taking place.
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