Nina was still shaking by the time she got back to her chambers.
I almost died. I almost died. I almost died.
[But you didn't die. That was close, hostie~]
Nina ignored the system.
"Are you okay, your highness?"
Ah, she had almost forgotten she had a companion.
She turned to face him. At first glance she recognized him from the book, Noctis, Princess Orchids bat beast husband. He didn't make much of an appearance, just once to deliver a letter to the Princess.
Which meant Nina didn't know much about him either.
"Hi," she whispered breathily, her voice still trembling. "Thank you for back there. You saved my life."
Noctis felt like he'd been thrown into bright daylight buck naked. Did she just thank him? This proud Princess?
Again, he listened for her heart. 146bmp.
Poor thing was scared. Anyone would be, after seeing Lev half mad with corruption and drawing a sword on them. It was a miracle she hadn't fainted yet. Or worse, soiled herself.
Nina sat on her bed, staring into space, which was actually Noctis' legs.
"Why does he even hate her so much?" She mumbled out loud.
Noctis raised a brow.
Did she hit her head or something? Was there anyone in the palace that didn't know what Princess Orchid did to Lev seven years ago? Was it that easy to forget?
A beat of suspicion came into Noctis' heart.
He listened again. Elevated heartbeats. Clear signs of stress and…fear. The flower is scared. Her hands are trembling. Her spore production, 9%, critically low by all previous records.
An anomaly. A deviation from the norm. Something was very wrong with this flower.
"You should get ready for your meeting, your highness." Noctis said, filing away the strange information for later diagnosis.
Nina looked up at him. "How. Did you know that?"
Another anomaly. She forgot her Tuesday's meetings with the councilors?
Noctis favored her a small smile. "I accompany you to them, your highness. Every Tuesday."
"Why?"
Noctis stilled. His list of anomalies were getting long.
"To listen for lies and deceptions, your highness."
Nina blinked, her fear momentarily forgotten. "What do you mean by that? How can one hear lies? It's impossible."
[hostie, you really should have read the book.]
Noctis' eyes narrowed, searching for a hint of anything. Feigned ignorance, a lie, anything at all.
He found none.
The flower's big, pretty eyes stared back at him with curiosity and intrigue.
She genuinely didn't know.
Interesting.
Noctis' smile widened. "In that case, it's better for me to demonstrate, your highness."
Nina had no idea what he was talking about. But she smiled. And Noctis felt like he had been slapped in the face.
The Flower had such a beautiful smile, he thought. Such a shame she decided to hide it under scowls and petty hatred.
He bowed, then said "I'll be outside, your highness."
"You can call me Ni– I mean, you can call me Orchid."
"I'd rather not."
Nina's face flamed. Right! How did she forget. Orchid was a monster to everyone, Noctis included. Even though Nina didn't know the full details, it was obvious in the detached but polite way Noctis addressed her.
No one would guess they were married.
Nina sighed. This woman's relationships need a lot of work.
***
Thirty minutes later, Nina sat in a conference room.
She had been ina. Lot of corporate situations before, forced to make a living for herself at a very young age could do that. Nina wasn't new to meetings like this.
But this was something else!
First, the people. They were six in total. Nina, Noctis, two other women and one man, and another beastperson whom Nina couldn't tell their gender.
All of them had stern poker faces.
The air cracked with cold tension, but Nina felt sweat trickling down her back. This was not a meeting! It was a war room!
"Princess," one of the women spoke. She was slender, a pale beauty with snake scales on her arms and necks. Her eyes glowed green, like that of a mountain mamba.
Nina leaned closer to Noctis who was seated on her right. "Who is that? I hit my head when I fell from the tree, and it's been hurting a bit."
A bold lie, but it worked.
Noctis drew out an ornamental metal fan with sharp golden tips, and flipped it open, covering his mouth as he spoke. "That is Thalia, your best friend."
Nina's eyes widened! Best friend?! Thalia had the beauty of a model but one could easily see the malice in her eyes!
Birds of a feather did indeed flock together.
Nina cleared her throat, straightened her back and put on a false air of confidence. "Thalia, be a dear and remind us of today's meeting agenda. I have quite the line up to attend to later."
Thalias eyes narrowed. "Of course," she said, drawing out the 's' "You promised to send some miners to the southern ruins. A trace of modified Uranium was found there."
"The southern ruins are crawling with Mirrors." One of the men, who had massive ox horns from the side of his head said. He turned to Nina. "Your highness, I kindly ask that you reconsider. Countless lives could be lost."
Mirrors? What was that? How harmful could a mirror be?
"That is Brenan. He is not your best friend." Noctis whispered. "And he is lying. He doesn't care about the lives that will be lost. He's onto trying to appear noble."
"How can you tell he's lying?" Nina whispered back, watching Brenan and Thalia go back and forth about lives and what nots.
"I can hear it," Noctis replied.
Nina's hands grabbed her chest. Does this mean he can also hear that she's lying?
Well not like I lied or anything. It's not like anyone has asked if I'm the real Orchid and I said yes.
"Princess, your heartbeat is elevated. Please calm down."
"O-of course!" Nina yelled, drawing all eyes to her. "I mean, right. Thalia is right!"
"Exactly!" The snake woman said, beaming.
Nina realized what she had just agreed to and balked. "Hold on. What do we need this uranium for?"
Murmurs rose from the small party. The androgynous beastperson spoke. "Princess, is everything okay? You've been acting quite strange." From their voice, Nina was able to glimpse that they were a woman.
"I'm fine," Nina cleared her throat.
"That is Celice, she's okay. No comments."
Nina rose to her feet. "I'm not feeling well. I fell and hit my head. This meeting will be held at a later time, one that will be communicated promptly. Good day."
[dayum hostie~ you're killing the villainess aura!~]
Nina smiled, I just spoke like how manager park would. He's a corporate demon!
She never thought a day would come when she'd be saved by manager Park of all people!
Her words had a startling effect on the party. Everyone had looks of surprise on their faces, murmuring and whispering. Only Thalia remained quiet, her eyes narrowing on Nina.
Acting oblivious, she rose to her feet and turned to leave.
"I'll be taking my leave now," Noctis said.
Nina noticed he looked tired. "Are you okay?"
He looked around the conference room. "People are too noisy." Was all he said, then he left.
She chose not to worry about that and left too. Outside she looked calm, but inside she was panicking.
The knowledge gap was clear as day. And it wouldn't be long before everyone began to truly notice the difference. Nina sensed that Thalia already got suspicious.
Who wouldn't be?
"Princess," a familiar voice called as Nina was down the hall.
Nina bristled. Of course it was Thalia.
She turned, keeping her face frosty. "Yes?" She had a feeling that 'best friend' didn't mean the cute and cuddly kind that had sleepovers and exchanged boy stories.
"I brought some new tea imported from the North, it should help with your head. Join me?"
"I don't like tea." Nina was more of a coffee fiend, consuming eight to fifteen cups of coffee per day. No wonder my heart gave up.
Thalia's thin brows lifted. "Since when? You always loved tea. You had the chefs dedicate an entire section of the royal kitchen to your tea."
Nina almost blushed. Fuck!
"You're right. I don't remember much. Hit my head, remember?"
Thalia nodded slowly. Then she gestured with sweep of a graceful arm. "Shall we?"
Thalia led her to a part of the gardens that had a lovely greenhouse. Nina started to admire the beauty of the flowers, then felt Thalia's sharp eyes on her. She quickly wiped her smile off and pretended to be disgusted. Only then did Thalia smile, pleased.
This is hard work!
They were seated. Then a tall beastman with a white lizard tail came in to serve tea. Nina noticed, of course, how handsome he was. He had white hair and pale purple eyes, she guessed he was an albino. He was shirtless, and there was a thin black collar with a glowing red center around his neck.
"This tea is cold!" Thalia gasped as she took a sip of her tea. She threw it at him, the teacup landed on his forehead and shattered.
Nina gasped. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
"My apologies, mistress." He replied, his voice calm as if nothing happened.
But something happened.
The stone started to glow. The man screamed, his knees bucked and he fell to the ground, clawing at the collar as if he wants to rip it off.
Thalia laughed, a chilling , heartless sound. "When will you ever learn, Cael? You can't take it off! You can't defy me either! Quit your stubborn act and be an obedient husband!"
Husband?!
That was her husband?!
Nina's face paled as she stared at Cael. He looked like he was suffering, blood seeping from where the broken teacup had cut him, the collar tightening around his neck, the stone glowing a furious red.
"That's enough!" Nina yelled, turning to Thalia. "How can you do such a thing?! Remove that collar! It's hurting him."
Thalia blinked in shock. "That's enough? Oh my princess, how pretentious you are! You're talking? Like you haven't done worse to your own husbands?"
What? Nina heart started to race.
She did worse? But it wasn't her, it was the original body! What am I saying?! They don't know that!
Thalia laughed. She got to her feet, pulling Cael up with her. "Hurry up and get your head fixed. I don't like this mousy version of you." She scoffed, her eyes blazing. "This collar? You act so surprised like you weren't the one who created them. I'll remove it the day you remove it from all your husbands."
Nina's heart vanished and a black hole took its place. All my husbands? All?
She stared at Thalia. Then at Cael who looked ready to die.
Nina's stomach heaved. Bile rose to her throat. Before she could push it down, she rushed to the side and vomitted behind a rose bush.
Behind her, Thalia scoffed with disgust. "You're growing soft. Pathetic." She hissed, then left dragging Cael with her, her heels clicking on the marble floors till Nina could hear them no more.
Once she was gone, Nina collapsed on the floor. She didn't care who saw her this way. She turned over the information she'd gotten, over and over again.
This body put a collar on her husbands.
Husbands implying there was more than Lev and Noctis.
How many?
Just how many lives did this woman make hellish?
"System?"
[yes~]
"How many husbands does this woman have?"
[five~why do you ask, hostie~]
Nina vomitted again. She felt lightheaded, drained, and still very sick. "Can I remove the collars?"
[Princess Orchid engineered them. Princess Orchid can remove them.]
"So you're saying I have to unlock her memories somehow?"
[yes~]
For the first time in a while, Nina felt despair. And that was saying a lot because even though her life on earth was bad, the only time she'd felt this kind of soul crushing despair was when she was four and woke up to the news of her parents' death.
"Can you change my goal? I don't want to be the villainess."
[you want to fix what she destroyed?]
Hope bloomed in Nina's heart. "Yes! Is there a way?! Please tell me, I'll do it! I'll do anything to change this goal!"
The system was silent for a whole sixty seconds.
[there is a way to apply for a goal change. But it comes at a heavy cost. You must first obtain half of your current goal. Then you make an application for a new goal.]
It was still horrible. But to Nina it was a lifeline. A shining ray of hope at the end of the dark tunnel that was her second chance at life.
She got to her feet. "I'll do it."
[you know what's this means, do you?]
"Yes. I'll be evil. I'll be the villainess. But for a little while. 2.5 million points should be easy to get."
[that's not the worst thing to happen, host.]
I know. I fucking know it, you convoluted, heartless AI! You don't have to spell it out!
Nina grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "I am Nina Williams. I survived a cutthroat company that literally landed people in the hospital. I have survived everything life threw at me. I can survive this beast world."
The system went quiet. Too quiet. Then,
[calculating…]
[recalibration in progress. 1%…9%…15%…]
[New goal established. Obtain 2.5 Million Villain Points, apply for a change of goal. Estimated time to current goal completion…]
Nina waited, her breath caught in her throat, her hands trembling in the skirt of her gown.
[five years, seven months and twenty four days.]