#eris.

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Who's excited for Chapter 4? 👀

alt text under cut:

You don't know why you are here. Again.

You tug at the threads of memory and they snap, one by one, voices and choices leeching out of you like blood from a wound you do not feel. You are swallowed by the dark, by the ash, by the smell of ruin. Eris stands before you, their eyes sharp as broken glass and leveled on you. The hairs on the back of your neck stand when you realize that they are not on their knees, not at all surrounded by blood on marble stone, like you last remember them.

“I admit I underestimated you,” their voice is velvet, but there is nothing seductive in their malevolent gaze as they draw near. “But you are still too weak to whittle at the Crown.” The bitterness of their words makes the world fall even further away.

“I need you to stop—” 

You freeze upon realizing that they are barely a foot away. Too close.

“You need,” they trace your cheek with the back of their ice-cold hand. “Then let us speak of need, my little bluebird.”

[strifecord]

[fukashiin]

have i ever told u how i love ur pseudo SO much

OMG YOU MEAN WINOU??? LIKE THE WINOU WINOU. I LOVE YOUUY HERE TAKE MY ENTIRE HEART

[fxckinstallionduck]

Maggie I’m literally already talking to u rn

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I can't decide between Vallens and Eris 💔 I'll just flirt with both ig, which brings me to a question: Will the story acknowledge it if we flirt with multiple ROs? How would they react?

Can't decide? WHY NOT BOTH‼️ If we recall correctly, when we last did a fav RO poll, ERIS ended up in 1st place and VALENS was winning at first but ended up 2nd. That was before the demo release though, so it would be fun to see if opinions differ now— what do you guys think, should we do another poll?

And to answer your question: YES the story will definitely acknowledge it if you flirt with multiple ROs! If another RO notices/overhears/sees you flirting with someone else, they will react, but how depends your relationship meter with them, and who they are. VALENS, for example, already holds a very obvious dislike for ERIS, so an MC who flirts or gets deeply involved with Eris can expect some bitter and angsty acknowledgement. Meanwhile, an RO like SIBYL— who's fond of the MC from the start— would react very differently (can't spoil the exact details!) Flirting around isn't a "game over" for anyone's route, but there will be reactions. In fact, the code currently tracks A LOT more of your choices than you might expect, especially as of the newest update. Those of you who reached the final scene at the end of Chapter 1 probably know exactly what we mean... 👀

PLAY THE DEMO HERE ✦ FORUM

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Hi! How would the RO's react if MC has a crush on a fictional character (from a book or something)?

Ooh fun question, anon! 📚

VALENS would roll their eyes. At first, they would make little snide remarks like, “You do realize they do not exist, yes?” but once they see you truly have a crush on that character, they would never let it go. The next time you landed yourself in trouble, Valens would appear at your side with a wry smirk, drawling “And where is your beloved now?", waiting for you to plead with them before stepping in to help out.

For CALDER, it would depend less on who the fictional character was and more on what exactly MC sees in them. He would ask a few mild questions here and there, smiling as though he were merely indulging your enthusiasm. A valiant hero would earn approving nods; a charming villain or tormented antihero would interest him far more. “And what, precisely, do you find forgivable in them?” he would ask, with an intensity that feels strangely personal.

SIBYL would secretly acquire the book and read the entire thing in one night, partly out of curiosity and partly because they desperately want to understand what makes this fictional person so special to you. They would begin unconsciously borrowing little habits from the character— how they speak, how they dress, perhaps even recreate a scene for you, all in hopes of getting you to like them more.

ERIS would regard it as an act of insolence. They would have the book silently disposed of and replaced with several lavishly bound volumes chronicling the royal bloodline, every chapter concerning Eris conspicuously marked. One volume would even bear a hauntingly beautiful portrait of them on its cover. If confronted, they would scarcely glance up. “I merely ensured you have better things to occupy your imagination.”

PLAY THE DEMO HERE ✦ FORUM

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In an AU where child eris went to a expedition with their family to all the cities of the realm, when they got to mc town. How different would be their route if by any chance mc and eris met and left a good impresion on eris?

Ooh, that's an interesting AU to contemplate 👀 So interesting in fact, that we wrote a little snippet for it! Perhaps this will also glean some further insight into ERIS and their family dynamic (aka trauma)... ERIS POV SNIPPET BELOW THE CUT:

The carriage takes the cobbled path at a crawl. Eris grimaces at every jolt, one hand resting on the hilt of their new sword— their fourteenth nameday gift from Father— until the gilded metal presses into their palm. They look through the window at the village falling away behind them: crooked roofs, a narrow road, a collection of small houses gathered around the river. Their sword is worth more than the whole place, Eris thinks. The thought offers little comfort.

“Whatever is the matter, my darling?”

Eris looks up, but Mother is not speaking to them. Their brother has both hands pressed against the carriage window, watching Eolias disappear behind the hills.

"Must we depart so soon?" he asks. "I would have liked to stay a while longer."

Mother smiles gently and brushes the hair from his forehead "There is a great deal more to see, my darling, and far grander cities than this. One day, all of it shall be yours. You ought to know it well."

Yet even with that, their brother is not consoled.

"But I shall miss playing with them," he mumbles. Mother tilts her head, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulder. "With whom?"

Eris knows with whom. The child from the river, the one who had waded into the shallows and drawn their brother into some game without bowing or waiting to be addressed. It had angered Eris to watch. The heir, barefoot, laughing and playing in the shallows like a village brat; a future king making himself ridiculous.

The child had caught Eris scowling from the bank. Instead of cowering, they had come over and pressed a wrapped sweet into Eris’s hand—one finger held to their lips, smiling as though the two of them now shared some secret.

Eris tightens their grip around the hilt, the sweetness still lingering on their tongue. They do not know what possessed them to eat it. It could have been a trick, or even poisoned. Yet every suspicion had been clouded by those bright eyes and that uninhibited smile, unlike anything they had ever seen at court, where every kindness concealed a hungry noble and every generosity demanded repayment twofold.

Eris’s lips pull into a crooked smirk.

“Merely some commoner he has taken a liking to,” they reply to Mother in their brother’s stead. “Are you so easily won by a pretty smile, dear brother?”

He goes scarlet and sputters. “I-I am not! We only played, is all!”

Eris turns back to the window and lets him squirm. So, dear brother had taken a liking to that child.

Eris rolls the last of the sweetness across their tongue and swallows it, thinking with a satisfaction entirely unbefitting of such a small victory:

Perhaps there are some things even the heir does not get to have.

PLAY THE DEMO HERE ✦ FORUM

P.S. ERIS would likely seek MC out again some day before their brother can.