''Y-You agree?"
''Yes, your highness.'' Amina nodded calmly. Her gaze took in the sight of the crown prince's wide eyes, wondering why he reacted this much.
Was she not meant to agree? Amina was a bit lost. However, some of the Crown Prince's words had caught her attention asides his unexpected reaction.
He's right.
She ignored his love tales about the female lead and focused on his other words.
The Empire needed a strong Empress; to be precise, a Beastmaster as an Empress. A strong Beastmaster.
The female lead was that strong Beastmaster, unlike the villainess.
I must find a way to protect myself. Amina mentally noted to add 'protect myself' to her list of tasks.
This new world was completely different from her previous life. Animyth was the name of the new world.
While she had been trying to return to her previous life through sleep, Anima had done some research on the side through BeastNet; the largest web platform in Animyth, similar to the internet of her world.
Currently, she was residing in one of the four empires in Animyth.
The Western Beast Empire.
According to BeastNet, Animyth had once been Earth many years ago. That also meant she had crossed over to Earth's far future with advanced technology and Beasts.
That's right. Beasts.
Animyth was a world ruled by Beasts, not humans alone.
Humans and Beasts coexisted with one another and formed a unique bond between them. Those who could control and partner with Beasts became known as Beastmasters.
Amina Blackthorne was not a Beastmaster in the novel. Amina recalled a detail about the villainess in 'The Sweet life of Rosaline.'
In Animyth, Beastmasters were the definition of power. The stronger and rarer a beast, the greater the status and authority of the Beastmaster. Anyone without a Beast was simply an outcast, tossed to the bottom of society.
The Crown Prince's perspective of Amina Blackthorne was quite understandable. No one would respect a future Empress, who was not a Beastmaster.
''Is there anything else you need, your highness?'' Amina asked, wondering when the Crown Prince would leave since she had agreed to break their engagement.
''N-No…'' The Crown Prince blinked, momentarily speechless at the sudden turn of the conversation. He had imagined the Young miss Blackthorne using her malicious schemes to avoid breaking their engagement. He had imagined her, pleading with him not to break their engagement. He had imagined her trying everything to stay by his side.
However, he hadn't predicted that she would easily accept breaking their engagement.
''Then, I wish Your highness and Young miss Oaken a happy life.''
''Y-Yes…'' The Crown Prince's mouth suddenly became dry. He wasn't sure how to respond to her unexpected words. Normally, he would have expressed how pleased he was to finally have Rosaline as his future crown princess. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to receive those words happily from the Young miss Blackthorne, especially not with the blank tone and vacant look in her eyes that she had used, as if their engagement hadn't mattered to her at all.
The Crown Prince didn't notice how she saw him off until the doors slid shut behind him after she thanked him and the imperial family for the gifts.
''Your highness…'' His aide hesitantly called out from the side. ''Did Young miss Blackthorne agree to break the engagement?''
Or else, why did the Crown Prince appear so lost?
''…She agreed.'' The Crown Prince muttered in a daze.
''Congratulations, Your highness. You and the Young miss Oaken can finally proceed with an engagement!'' The aide immediately flattered the Crown Prince, who has long desired to marry the Young miss Oaken as his crown princess.
Although he was confused why the Crown Prince did not appear delighted.
Who didn't know the Crown Prince was not pleased about his engagement with the Young miss from the Blackthorne family?
His highness must be thinking about his majesty.
The aide thought, knowing the Emperor wouldn't be too pleased about the Crown Prince's broken engagement with the Young miss from the Blackthorne family.
''Yes…Rosaline will be happy.'' Hearing his aide's words, the Crown Prince nodded to himself with a murmur.
He had finally gotten rid of the Young miss Blackthorne as his marital partner, and Rosaline was waiting for him. There's no time for him to bothered about his now ex-fiancée.
The Crown Prince immediately snapped out of his daze and berated himself for making his beautiful Rosaline wait. The Young miss Blackthorne had surely acted that way to evoke some sort of pity. Indeed! This must be another one of her malicious tricks! Unfortunately for her, he had seen all sorts of tricks from other Young misses vying for his attention.
''To the palace!''
The Young miss Blackthorne may have agreed to break their engagement, but who knows if she might suddenly change her mind, and say something to his father. He should hurry to the imperial palace to both convince his father, and share the good news with his beautiful Rosaline.
The Crown Prince left the Blackthorne family Mansion with a light heart.
Meanwhile, the so-called malicious Young miss Blackthorne had gone to her bedroom and was currently focused on the tasks that she must achieve in her new life.
She had successfully achieved one of them.
Now that she had agreed to break the engagement, she had nothing to do with the female lead and the Crown Prince.
Amina tossed the pair of lovers to the back of her mind, and focused on listing her remaining her tasks.
Thanks to the Crown Prince, she knew she had to find a way to protect herself. The Blackthorne family couldn't always be there to protect her, and Amina wasn't one to fully depend on others. There must be ways she could guard herself without having a Beast in Animyth. She just had to find them.
With that mind, Amina scribbled 'protect myself' on her list of tasks. She also didn't forget to add 'visit the temple' as the fifth task.
Though she still hadn't concluded if Amina Blackthorne was alive or dead, Amina felt the need to have a small funeral. She had seen people conduct funerals for the deceased. They spoke to the departed and said their goodbyes.
She could do the same for Amina Blackthorne as well.
''This should be all.'' Amina read through her tasks and tried to think of any other task that could missing from her list.
Attending the Academy can be achieved under these three.
Amina suddenly thought of something and starred the money, protection and countryside tasks.
Earlier, Orion had notified her about the delivery of her uniform. Unlike her in her thirties, Amina Blackthorne was sixteen years old, the age meant for attending school. However, the concept of school in Animyth was nothing like the ordinary education system in her previous life.
In Animyth, schools existed only for a purpose; to cultivate Beastmasters. After all, Beasts were everything in Animyth and human life was entirely built around them.
That also meant that she has to attend a school for Beastmasters.
The Western Beast Academy.
Though Amina Blackthorne was not a Beastmaster, her family name was more than enough to get a spot without attending the entrance examination.
The Academy is a good starting point for these tasks.
Amina recalled the scene where the Crown Prince had praised Academy's prestige to the female lead, who was a new student like the villainess. The Western Beast Academy was renowned for its long history in the Western Beast Empire. She could definitely achieve at least one of her tasks as a student.
Let's start from the Academy. Amina decided in her thoughts.