[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining":3,"chapter-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-83":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","QT: I hijacked a harem system and now I'm ruining every plot(GL)",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1854672,2462,"Chapter 83: Alone","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-83",83,"\u003Cp>Chapter 83 – Daphne POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m not in the right state of mind to even paint today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And set the brush down gently beside the palette, my gaze lingering on the half-finished landscape stretched across the canvas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s beautiful, I think. Soft pastels, a blur of forest and stream in the glow of imagined sunlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it feels hollow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like I’m trying to paint someone else’s memory instead of my own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Avoiding me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A voice like silk-wrapped steel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t turn. I don’t need to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only one person in this castle speaks like the world answers to her. Like power is her native tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Duchess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I dare not, Your Grace,\" I say smoothly, picking up my brush again, feigning calm, feigning distance, feigning everything I no longer feel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hear her step closer, soft heels on stone. She stops just behind me, her presence folding into the room like a second breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This place looks beautiful,\" she says quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your hometown?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I glance at the canvas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rolling hills. A little wooden bridge lost in light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah.\" I nod once, pretending to dab at the blue along the edges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well—partially. It’s not the town I was born in, no. But it is the one Yuxi and I called home. The one where laughter echoed in kitchen halls and sunlight spilled on floors where we danced barefoot. The place we said forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So yes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is my hometown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I feel her move again. She’s close now. I can sense the warmth of her behind me, the subtle hush of her breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she doesn’t speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She waits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She always waits—like I’m something that might spook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I set the brush down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn’t mean to run,\" I say softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s a pause. I can feel her eyes burning into the side of my face, like she’s trying to read thoughts I haven’t even admitted to myself yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sigh, brush my hands on my apron, and step away from the easel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These damn dresses make everything harder. Moving, breathing, thinking. Especially when she’s this close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turn to face her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking into her eyes is always a mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So,\" she says, voice soft but unforgiving, \"why’d you kiss me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You kissed me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her expression doesn’t change. Not even a flicker of guilt. If anything, she looks... amused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or maybe hurt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t tell anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I kissed you first,\" she says, \"but you didn’t exactly push me away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My jaw clenches. \"Is that what you want to hear? That I wanted it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you?\" she asks, quiet, direct, no judgment—just truth-seeking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hate her for asking. I hate myself for not being able to lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My hands curl into fists at my sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t answer her question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, I whisper the only thing that feels safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was a mistake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There. Easy. Clean.But she doesn’t flinch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Didn’t feel like a mistake,\" she says coolly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gods. I’m half-tempted to jump out the window and pray for a neck-snapping fall that will free me from this entire conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You can’t do that, Host.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system’s mechanical voice slides into my mind like an unwanted breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it speaks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[System integrity would drop 48%. Please do not attempt. Also... that window isn’t high enough.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Convenient timing, coward.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system wisely shuts up again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evelyne steps closer. Too close. Close enough that her perfume, her breath, the heat of her skin—all of it wraps around me like a noose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She taps lightly on my chest, right over my heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So you loved her,\" she says softly. \"But surely, you can make space for another in here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hand lingers. I hate how my chest aches beneath it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not asking you to forget her,\" she continues. \"Just give me a chance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I take a step back. My heart doesn’t follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Duchess... look at us.\" My voice cracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She blinks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look at our social positions. There’s no hope for us. We’d have to live in hiding. Secrets. Shadows. Even if you don’t mind that—\" I pause, breathing shallow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you okay being second best? Because that’s what you’d be. Not her. Not...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I bite my lip. It’s trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not my beloved.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t look at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t do that to you,\" I whisper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I do care about you. I like you. But I don’t think I could ever give my heart to another again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I finally look up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And her expression...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s like I just punched the wind out of her lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stands still, proud as ever—but her eyes are glassy, her mouth slightly parted, like she can’t breathe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hate this.But it had to be said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Film Empress will always be my world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I’ll never see her again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if she’s gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’ll live this world and the one after that, and the one after that, the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grieving. Loyal.Alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well,\" she says at last, voice quiet—but composed. A sad smile tugs at her lips as she straightens her spine into perfect, noble posture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The duchess. Regal even in heartbreak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ve had everything handed to me since I was a child. My life has been... graceful. Predictable. Controlled.\" She laughs, but there’s no humor in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So it makes sense, I suppose, that the one thing I truly want in life could never be mine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes flick up to meet mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So I’ll settle for leftovers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words sting more than I expect them to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Evelyne—\" I start, my voice breaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she cuts me off, and when she speaks again, she’s not the duchess anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No. You don’t get it.\" Her voice shakes, and her hands clench at her sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When I’m around you, my heart flutters like it never has before. It’s like my life before you was devoid of color—muted, hollow, expected. And then you came.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She steps closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And suddenly, everything had color. Light. Sound. Music.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tears prick the edges of her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Around you, I feel alive. Free....Happy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She swallows, voice dropping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please... don’t make me go back to that life.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s trembling now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s like I’m racing toward a cliff on horseback,\" she whispers. \"And I know I’ll fall. I know it’ll end horribly. But those few seconds before—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes meet mine, wide and raw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those seconds feel worth it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t know how to breathe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much for my big talk about being alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay,\" I say, and my voice sounds far away. Too light. Too quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She blinks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like she didn’t believe I’d say it. Like she thought I’d keep pushing her away forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And maybe I thought I would, too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the second she looked at me with that face—the face I’ve loved across lifetimes—I knew it was a losing battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>> [HOST!!!! Did you not learn your lesson from the previous world—]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Goodbye, System 404. Not today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Evelyne takes a few steps closer, cautious, like I’m something wild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Can I ask for one thing?\" she says.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I nod.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can’t help looking like her,\" she whispers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But can you try—just try—to see me as me? And not always be searching for her in my eyes?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hurts. Because it’s fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she deserves that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I bite the inside of my cheek, then nod again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not a promise. But it’s the most honest answer I can give.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She exhales. Not with relief, exactly—but with something closer to hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something about a horse racing toward a cliff...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I get it now.\u003C\u002Fp>",1259,"2026-06-09T07:29:29.584Z",1,"novelbin.me","310bf0ac998789dc353edcef9e404322f856fde67345339eabb2e2b51cb0af5f","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-84","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-82",399,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fqt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-cover.jpg"]