Chapter 47: Villainess Princess × Slave (10)

A bitter wave of confusion instantly swept over his mind. He grit his teeth, forcing the strange fluttering sensation down into the dark depths of his soul.

No... she is still the enemy, Cassian reminded himself harshly, his eyes flashing with resolve. She is the tyrant’s daughter. She is the wicked princess who kept me in chains. I still despise her.

"Up we go!" Lyra cheered, unaware of his internal turmoil.

She pushed off his shoulder, reaching up with both hands to grab the top stone ledge of the wall. With an ungraceful wiggle, she pulled herself up, swinging her legs over the top boundary.

"I did it!" Lyra giggled softly, looking down at him from the top of the ten-foot wall. "Okay, now your turn!"

Cassian stood up smoothly, dusting the grass off his knees. Without needing a stepping stool, he took two fast strides, leaped up, grabbed the stone ledge with one hand, and effortlessly pulled his heavy, muscular body over the wall, landing silently on the grass beside her inside the palace garden.

Lyra blinked, thoroughly impressed despite herself. Okay, supermodel strength is real...

Before they could even dust off their commoner clothes, a loud voice suddenly boomed from the garden path right behind them!

"PRINCESS LYRA?!"

Lyra jumped three feet into the air, her soul practically leaving her body.

Standing on the cobblestone path was the head etiquette maid, her face red with absolute rage, surrounded by four fully armed imperial palace guards!

"YOU!" the head maid shrieked, pointing her wooden rod at Lyra. "You skipped your royal etiquette class, snuck out of the estate, and changed into filthy peasant rags?! The Emperor has been searching for you for two hours!"

Lyra’s face turned as pale as a ghost. "W-Wait! I can explain!"

"Seize the slave!" the head maid roared at the guards, her eyes flashing with malice. "He was tasked with guarding the Princess, yet he allowed her to leave the grounds! Strip him of his guard rank and drag him back to the subterranean dungeons for fifty lashes!"

The four guards instantly unsheathed their steel swords, stepping forward to surround Cassian!

Cassian’s eyes narrowed into deadly slits. His hands tightened into fists, his broad shoulders locking into a combat stance. He could easily disarm all four guards in five seconds, but doing so would reveal his hidden martial strength to the entire palace.

Ding!

A bright red notification screen popped up right in front of Lyra’s face!

[ EMERGENCY PLOT CHOICE! ]

Option A: Allow Cassian to be dragged to the dungeons (Plot remains on track, Hatred +10%).

Option B: Save Cassian by taking the blame yourself (Plot altered, Hatred -5%, Danger Level Increases!).

TIME REMAINING: 10 SECONDS!

Lyra looked at the four guards approaching Cassian with drawn swords. She looked at Cassian’s pale wrists, still bearing the raw marks of yesterday’s whipping. If he got fifty more lashes in his weak condition, he might actually suffer permanent damage!

"Stop right there!" Lyra screamed at the top of her lungs, stepping directly in front of Cassian and blocking the guards with her open arms!

The guards froze, quickly lowering their swords in shock. The head maid gasped. "P-Princess?!"

"Who gave you permission to touch MYpersonal servant?!" Lyra roared, pulling up every ounce of spoiled royal authority she possessed. Her dark eyes flashed with furious arrogance. "I forced him to come with me! I ordered him to stay silent! If anyone is to be punished, it is me! Touch a single hair on his head, and I will have my father execute every single one of you!"

The garden fell into a dead, stunned silence.

The guards quickly dropped to their knees, bowing their heads in fear. The head maid trembled, her mouth opening and closing like a landed fish. "Y-Your Highness... please forgive us!"

Standing behind Lyra, Cassian stared at her small, trembling back in absolute, frozen shock.

His dark eyes widened as he watched the girl- who was supposed to be a cruel and selfish stand boldly in front of drawn steel blades just to shield him from fifty lashes.

Ding!

[ OPTION B SELECTED! ]

[ CASSIAN DRAVEN’S HATRED METRIC UPDATED! ]

Hatred toward Host: 99.9% ➔ 92%

Deep inside Cassian’s chest, the strange, fluttering spark flared up once again- stronger, warmer, and far harder to ignore.

He stared at the back of her head, his heart thumping heavily.

Lyra stood frozen in the palace garden, staring at the glowing blue system screen floating right in front of her nose.

"Eh? The hatred went down?!" Lyra squeaked frantically in her mind, her eyes widening in pure panic. "System! It dropped from 99.9% to 92%! Will that be a problem?!"

Ding!

The translucent blue screen flickered lightly near her forehead.

[ Don’t worry, Host! ] the System chimed back cheerfully. [ It will naturally go back up with your mandatory villainess missions anyway! Minor fluctuations are completely normal during unexpected plot choices! ]

Lyra tapped her chin, a tiny spark of hopeful curiosity lighting up in her mind. "Wait... can’t I just keep lowering his hatred metric? If I treat him nicely, make him like me, and clear his hatred completely, can’t I just escape my miserable torture-death path altogether?!"

Ding!

[ WARNING: HOST IS ATTEMPTING TO DEVIATE FROM MAIN NARRATIVE DESTINY! ]

[ Absolutely not, Host! ] the System warned in a sharp, serious tone. [ Your core mission is to act as the primary villainess who drives the Male Lead toward his tragic awakening! You MUST die by his hands at the end of the ninety days! If you fail to execute your designated death scene, you will lose all your accumulated world points- just like you did in your last world assignment! ]

Lyra’s face completely fell. "Tsk..." she scoffed, clicking her tongue in utter disappointment.

Then, a sudden memory flashed across her mind. She recalled the dark twisted obsession of Alastair in last world. She dont wanna be locked again!!

A shudder rippled straight down Lyra’s spine. Her physical body practically shook in horror at the mere thought of a dark, possessive obsession.

Nope! Absolute draft-level nightmare! Lyra screamed internally, clutching her arms. I would rather face a clean, quick execution blade than be trapped in an obsessed male lead’s golden cage! It’s definitely better to make him hate me!

Having made up her mind, Lyra whirled around on her slippers to face Cassian.

Cassian was still standing behind her in the garden, his dark eyes watching her with that strange, softened gaze. The subtle warmth from earlier still lingered in his chest after she had shielded him from the guards’ steel blades.

Lyra forced her face into the most hateful sneer she could possibly muster. She stepped right up to him, pointing her finger straight at his nose.

"Don’t you dare look at me like that, you filthy, useless slave!" Lyra spat out harshly, making her voice sound as cold as possible. "Do you actually think I stood up to those guards for your sake?! Don’t flatter yourself!"

Cassian’s dark brows pulled together slightly, his posture going rigid.

"I only stopped them because you are MYproperty!" Lyra scoffed, tossing her head back with obnoxious pride. "If anyone is going to whip you or break your limbs, it will be ME! I won’t allow low-ranking palace guards to ruin my fun or damage my personal toy! You belong to me, so remember your place, slave!"

Ding!

[ HATRED VALUE METRIC UPDATED! ]

Cassian Draven’s Hatred toward Host: 92% ➔ 96%

The temporary warmth that had bloomed inside Cassian’s chest instantly shattered like fragile glass.

A bitter chill swept back into his soul. His pitch-black eyes turned completely dark, dull, and void of any emotion as he stared down at her cruel expression.

Heh... Cassian let out a dark, silent sneer in his mind, his jaw tightening until the muscles was visible. What was I thinking? For a single, foolish second, I actually thought she had changed. She is still the exact same spoiled, vicious tyrant she has always been. She doesn’t view me as a human being- just a pathetic toy she wants to torture with her own hands.

His heart grew completely cold once more, locking itself behind impenetrable walls of hatred.

"As you wish... Princess," Cassian replied, his raspy voice dropping into a flat whisper as he bowed his head in mock submission.

Satisfied that her hatred metric was back on the rise, Lyra let out a dramatic Hmph! and turned on her heel, marching toward the main imperial hall under the guard escort.

An hour later, Lyra stood in the center of the vast, echoing Emperor’s throne room.

The Emperor sat high atop his golden seat, his severe, ruthless face darkened with immense displeasure. The heavy pressure in the hall was suffocating.

"You snuck out of the estate, skipped your mandatory lessons, and wandered the commoner market dressed in peasant rags?" the Emperor’s deep, booming voice echoed harshly. "You have disgraced your royal bloodline today, Lyra."

Lyra kept her head bowed, her body trembling slightly under the lingering physical terror of the original owner’s instincts. "Imperial Father... I merely wanted to inspect the city..."

"Silence!" the Emperor commanded, slamming his hand onto the armrest. "Since you lack the discipline required of a princess, you shall learn it tonight! Guards! Escort Her Highness to the cold ancestral hall!"

The Emperor glared down at her with cold eyes. "You will kneel on the bare stone floor of the ancestral hall for the ENTIRE night without food, water, or extra robes! You will reflect on your arrogance until sunrise!"

Lyra’s breath hitched, but she knew better than to argue with the tyrant ruler. She bowed low, her voice quiet. "I obey... Imperial Father."