I Refused to Die, So the World Glitched

Chapter 1 — I Refused to Die, So the World Glitched

The chains had been unlocked, but my heart was still in shackles.

I was supposed to be dead.

Minutes ago, I was on the execution platform, a perfect villainess in her final act. The crowd was hungry for blood. The heroine was weeping prettily in the prince’s arms. And the prince—Ciel D’Arsen—was preparing to give the signal for my death.

But something… snapped.

He hesitated.

Just for a second.

But a second was all it took for the story to break.

Now, I’m sitting in a cold stone room—no longer the public square, but somewhere beneath the royal palace. My wrists ache where the shackles had been. My dress is torn, black velvet now stained with dirt and disgrace. And I’m still trying to understand what just happened.

Not in the game.

Not in the script.

Not in any possible route I remember from Crimson Crown: Royal Bloodline.

“This isn’t right,” I whisper to no one.

And yet I’m still alive.

 Flashback – Moments Before It All Collapsed

“Do you have any last words, Lady Evelyne?”

His voice was cold. Detached. The crowd fell silent at his question.

I raised my head slowly, staring into the eyes of Prince Ciel—the man who, in the game, had ordered my death more times than I could count. Every route. Every ending. He always chose justice.

But that day…

I didn’t cry.

I didn’t beg.

I smiled.

“Do you ever wonder what happens when the villain refuses to die?” I said.

His golden eyes flickered. Just barely.

And then—chaos.

A loud crack split the sky. Magic flared from somewhere—white-hot light blinded half the audience. The platform beneath my feet trembled. The chains melted. Soldiers shouted. The crowd screamed.

And Ciel shouted, “Take her to the dungeons. Alive.”

Alive.

The word rang louder than the storm.

 Back to Now – In the Dungeon

I pull my knees to my chest.

My mind races through everything I know about this world. The game had five main love interests. I’ve met all of them. I played through every ending. I know every death flag, every betrayal, every trigger.

But this… isn’t one of them.

I wasn’t supposed to remember my past life.

I wasn’t supposed to escape.

And Ciel wasn’t supposed to save me.

The door creaks open.

I flinch.

A figure steps inside—tall, broad-shouldered, black uniform trimmed with gold. His sword is sheathed but glints dangerously. His eyes, midnight blue, narrow as they lock on mine.

“You’re awake,” he says.

I recognize him immediately.

Commander Lior Caelum.

Ciel’s right-hand man.

And in the game… one of the hidden routes.

“What do you want?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he tosses something onto the floor between us.

A folded piece of parchment.

“Orders,” he says. “From His Highness.”

I unfold it with shaking fingers. One line.

She is not to be harmed. Keep her under watch. She may still be of use.

Of use?

I clench my jaw.

So I’m not dead, but I’m not free either. I’m a pawn again—this time not in the game, but in a version of it that’s spiraling out of control.

I need to survive. That’s still my goal.

But now, I need to understand something else, too.

Who broke the script?

And why am I remembering things I never should have?

If I’ve truly broken out of the story’s rails…

Then I need to find the new rules.

Before they kill me again.

---

The door closes with a dull echo.

I’m left alone with the parchment still trembling in my hands.

 She may still be of use.

That phrase repeats itself in my head like a curse. A reminder that no matter how much I try to change, the world still sees me as a tool, not a person.

I press my palm against the stone floor to steady myself. Cold. Damp. Real. This isn’t some scripted event. This isn’t a background scene. This is new.

And that terrifies me.

Because if the story is changing…

Then anything could happen.

Hours—or maybe minutes—pass in silence until the door opens again. This time, I don’t look up immediately. But I know who it is.

His presence fills the room like smoke. Cold, regal, suffocating.

“Lady Evelyne,” Prince Ciel says softly. Almost too softly.

I raise my eyes slowly.

He looks… conflicted.

Same golden eyes. Same perfect posture. Same cursed crown hovering over his head in my memories. But there’s a crease between his brows now. A crack in the mask.

“You’re alive,” I say.

It wasn’t a question. Just a statement. A fact I still can’t quite believe.

“I am.” He pauses, then adds, “And so are you.”

“Was that… your decision?” I ask.

“Yes.” A beat. “And no.”

My breath hitches.

So he doesn’t understand either.

“I don’t know what happened,” he says at last. “But when you looked at me… when you said those words… it felt like the world tilted.”

“You saw it too,” I whisper. “The glitch.”

He freezes. “Glitch?”

Wrong word. Too modern. Too telling.

“I mean… something unnatural,” I cover quickly. “Like time folded.”

He narrows his eyes. “You are not the same Evelyne I’ve known all these years.”

“You mean the one who screamed and begged and clawed at your robes at her execution?” I smile bitterly. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“No,” he says. “I mean… you look like her. But your eyes…”

He steps closer.

“Your eyes are awake.”

I stand. Slowly. Despite the trembling in my legs.

“Maybe I finally opened them.”

Our eyes meet. And for the first time since I woke up in this nightmare of a second chance, I feel like I’m not the only one sensing something wrong.

Or maybe right.

Because if he’s broken too…

Then maybe I’m not alone.

The prince leaves not long after, but not without one last warning.

“You’ll remain here. For now. Out of sight.”

“Until what?” I ask. “Until I’m ‘useful’ again?”

He doesn’t answer. He just looks at me once more—quiet, unreadable—and walks away.

The moment he’s gone, I slump against the wall.

This isn’t just survival anymore.

Something has been set in motion.

And I need to get ahead of it—before the original script tries to correct itself.

Because I remember something now.

In the game, when a route is corrupted or skipped, it doesn’t vanish.

It resets.

Harder.

Darker.

I can’t just sit here. Waiting.

If I truly broke the execution flag, then I need to be ready for what comes next.

There are others—four more love interests.

Each with their own roles.

Each capable of saving… or destroying me.

I’ll have to find them.

Change the way they see me.

Before the heroine does.

Because she’s still out there.

And if this world is rejecting its own story…

She might not be the sweet little angel I remember.

I stand and walk to the narrow barred window near the ceiling.

Moonlight trickles through.

It’s not much. But it’s enough to remind me:

I’m still alive.

And I’m not giving that up so easily.

Let the story try to rewrite me.

I’ll rewrite it first.

---