The Extra's Rise

Chapter 259: Reika Solienne (2)

Chapter 259: Reika Solienne (2)

The moment the glass door slid open, something in me snapped shut.

The air felt heavier, my body frozen in place as Bishop Vale stepped into the room.

Not Gregor Vale. Not the Guild Master of Redknot.

A Bishop of the Red Chalice Cult.

The truth sat in my mind like a sickness, crawling through the gaps in my memories, threading together the pieces I hadn't even realized were missing. The experiments. The whispers. The feeling of being reshaped into something I had never agreed to be.

I could still hear the voices from my past, fragmented and distorted, buried under layers of time and fear.

"She's adapting."

"Increase the dosage—no, don't stop, she can take it."

"A failure? No. A prototype. A foundation for something greater."

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my skin.

Bishop Vale took another step forward, casual, unhurried. He was savoring this.

"You have no idea what you are, do you?" he murmured. "No matter. It's in you. You are ours. You always have been."

I glared at him, even as my heart pounded, even as every part of me screamed to run, to fight. "I don't belong to you."

His expression didn't change. He just sighed, as if I had disappointed him, as if I was a child throwing a tantrum. Then he lifted his hand and tapped at the sleek device in his grip.

And my world stopped.

A screen blinked to life, displaying crisp, high-resolution images. A small, familiar house. A quiet neighborhood. People I knew.

My family.

Not my real family—I never had one of those. But the people who had taken me in. The ones who had made sure I had food, shelter, a home. The ones who had cared.

They had nothing to do with this. They didn't even know who I really was.

And yet, they were on that screen.

Bishop Vale tilted his head, watching me carefully. "Do I have your attention now?"

My hands shook. I forced them to steady.

He didn't need an answer. He already knew.