Content Warning
This story contains mature themes, including scenes of psychological manipulation, power imbalance, and non-consensual implications that may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
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My eyes fluttered open to a dim, shadowy room. My mind was foggy, slow to register the ache searing through my lower body.
Pain radiated from deep within my body, dull and aching, as if I'd been trampled underfoot. My breath caught in my throat. Something heavy pinned me down — a weight, a presence, a pressure I couldn't fight off.
Shadows cloaked the man above me. I couldn't see his face, only feel the chill of his breath against my skin and the tremble of my own limbs beneath him.
Where the hell was I?
Who the hell was this?
The last thing I remembered was lazing in bed, playing an otome game until I dozed off.
Now I was… here. Weak. Powerless. And someone was holding me down like I belonged to him.
I struggled, panicked, trying to push him off, but he gripped my throat and slammed me back into the mattress.
"You wanted this, didn't you? Now you want to run, Your Highness?"
The venom in his voice slithered through my skin like ice, every word slicing through the fog in my mind. My vision swam, body trembling with confusion.
This body, it wasn't mine. It felt foreign. Fragile like never lifted a thing heavier than a teacup.
Suddenly, a glowing screen blinked into existence before my eyes.
[Login Successful.]
[Role: Princess Davina Emerson.]
[Main Quest: Survive and become Empress.
Reward: Return.]
What…?
"What the fu—ah!"
A scream tore from my lips, but it caught in my throat. My nails dug into unfamiliar skin. My voice—hoarse and helpless—broke through the dark.
"Wait—"
He didn't listen. Or maybe he didn't care. His grip tightened.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, casting just enough light to illuminate his face.
Silver hair. Amber eyes. Fury burning in every line of his expression. There was no trace of affection in the way he moved, only hatred.
My heart thudded to a stop.
That face…
"Cassian…?"
His body jerked as if I'd slapped him, surprise flashing across his face before it hardened again.
I looked closer through a haze of pain and disbelief. Yes. That was him.
Cassian — the western prince. One of the male leads in the otome game I had just been playing.
No. No, no, no.
Before I could process the insanity, he flipped me onto my stomach and shoved my face into the mattress, silencing me.
"Shut up. Don't taint my name with your filthy mouth."
Even smothered against the bed, the screen remained bright in my vision.
Princess Davina.
The villainess in White Lotus in the Mire.
The one who stole every male lead from the game's original heroine — Aurora, kept them as personal playthings. The woman everyone hated. Again and again, she sabotaged Aurora's missions until, in the final route, the heroine and her allies overthrew her.
And Cassian?
He was the one who beheaded Davina in the end.
Now, that same man was…
God.
What sin had I committed to deserve this?
If this kept up, I was going to die. Literally.
"Cassian… please…"
I reached back weakly, hoping for mercy.
Of course, there was none.
Cassian had once been a proud prince. Davina destroyed his kingdom, enslaved his people, and dragged him back as a trophy. Though he obeyed her in public, his hatred simmered just beneath the surface.
He grabbed my wrists and twisted them behind my back, driving in even harder.
"Don't pretend," he hissed in my ear. "You made me do this, threatened to kill Aurora if I refused. Now you want to play the victim?"
Oh God.
This was that scene.
The one where Davina locked Aurora in a dungeon and forced Cassian to sleep with her in exchange for the heroine's life.
I remembered being pissed when I reached this part of the game. I'd cursed Davina's name.
And now… I was her.
The cruel, twisted princess with a death sentence carved into her future.
Why couldn't I be the heroine? Or even a background extra?
This wasn't some fluffy transmigration fantasy. This was hell.
I had no family in my last life. Now, I had no allies in this one.
My strength faded. My body stopped resisting.
But even as darkness closed in, the glowing words pulsed brighter in my vision.
Main Quest: Survive.
Reward: Return.
And deep in my soul, something cold and furious stirred.
I wasn't going to die like this.
If I'm to die, then I'll die with dignity and pride, not in this wretched humiliation.
Not by his hand.
Not as Davina.
***