❝𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒❞ ✘ bungou stray dogs

chapter [redacted]

"y/n l/n... what an interesting name you've got." the girl said, using her non-occupied arm to flip through the book as she read through the story.

reading was something she was immersed in, forgetting the cruel world that she calls her reality while engaging in stories that she was aware she won't ever relate to nor live in. it was her escape- her solace from everything that she was forced to live in.

why? why her? she's no one special, nothing out of the ordinary- she was just a sixteen year old girl trying to get through life as fate told her to do.

right now, she was reading her most favorite book of all time titled "the price of perfection". something that she oddly relates to, especially with the main character, y/n l/n. she has read this countless of times now throughout the span of the author publishing one chapter every three months. still, even then, she feels a connection with the protagonist. a girl stuck in an act of being the most precious gem in her family- a girl who lived her life in the hands of others. a normal girl who, due to chance, was worshiped like a goddess just because of her talents.

'a great pretender', was what the book labeled her as. and for some reason, she knew exactly how the protagonist was feeling even if they never met in real life.

she doesn't feel pity, nor empathy for her.

why should she? no one ever pitied her.

who would pity a seemingly perfect girl who had everything?

perfection trumps over everything. even with nothing, if you're perfect either in appearance or skill, you are praised for being 'blessed'.

blessed? where's the blessing in this life of torment and hell?

she doesn't know, nor is she interested in knowing.

and as she reached the end of the book, she felt sorrowful that the lovely protagonist finally ended the whole facade, giving the world the biggest closing act that one who has been acting all her life can give.

she doesn't deserve this, the girl thought. no, she deserves better.

but who is she to change the unfortunate ending of y/n l/n? afterall, she would be utterly useless without that precious ability of hers, no? what can a girl who only knew how to make small ornaments change the trajectory of her favorite character? what does she have?

in a way, she envies her. even when she lived a life similar as hers, how did she managed to change her fate? how does one even do that? she was meant to grow up to be an artist, someone that people would adore and cherish even if it was against her will- that was what fate had written for her. so how? just how did she manage to break free from the cruel chains of chance and give herself the sweet feeling of freedom though death?

even she didn't know how to defy the being itself.

y/n wasted her chance, is what she thinks. why would she throw away a perfect cover up that easily?

if she managed to live through this whole ordeal that she calls a play, then why couldn't the protagonist?

"i want to be in her place..."

"anywhere but here..."

a knock resonated in her room, making her attention shift from her book to the door as a rather beaten up man entered, a small smile on his face as he tried to hide the limp that he's got. if it weren't for the fact that she was perfect, she would've been suffering alongside him.

she's useless.

pathetic.

all she can do is smile and hide the fact that she has to live in the reality that even someone as powerful as her can only do so much.

"what's wrong? do you need help?"

"ah.. ophelia..."

hidden beneath the sheets was a book that she calls her own, an item that only she can command and submit itself to her.

'trade y/n l/n's soul with mine, with the price that my soul disappears from this world.'

'you are different from me. similar, yet so different. if you managed to change your fate in your life... can you change niccolo's in this one?'