"Princess," a familiar voice called as Anna was down the hall.
Anna 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."
Anna 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 royal chefs dedicate an entire section of the royal kitchen to your tea."
Anna almost blushed. Fuck!
"You're right. I don't remember much. I made it known that I hit my head. Do I need to repeat myself?"
"Not at all, your highness." 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.
Anna started to admire the beauty of the strange looking flowers, then felt Thalia's sharp eyes on her. She quickly wiped her smile off and pretended to be disgusted. Only then did Thalia flash a pleased smile.
Being a villainess is hard work!
They seated.
Then a tall beastman with a white lizard tail came in to serve tea.
Anna noticed, of course, how handsome he was. With white hair and pale purple eyes, she guessed he was an albino. His upper body and feet were bare, a thin collar with a glowing red center around his neck.
"This tea is cold!" Thalia hissed after taking a sip of the tea. She hurled the tea, cup and all, at his head. It shattered on impact, shards of ceramic stuck in his skin.
Anna gasped. "Hey! What are you doing?!"
"My apologies, mistress." He said to Thalia, his voice calm as if nothing happened.
But something happened.
The stone started to glow. The man screamed, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, clawing at the collar as if he wanted 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?!
Anna's face paled as she stared at Cael. His jaw clenched, his eyes dark with anger. Blood seeped from where the broken teacup had cut him, the collar tightening around his neck, the stone glowing a furious red.
"That's enough!" Anna yelled, turning to Thalia. "How can you do such a thing to your husband?! Remove that collar! It's hurting him."
Thalia blinked in shock. "That's enough? Oh, my dear Princess, how pretentious you are! You're talking about how I treat my husband? Like you haven't done worse to your own husbands?"
What? Anna heart raced.
She did worse? But it wasn't her, it was the original body! What am I saying?! They don't know that I'm not the real Anna!
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."
Anna's heart vanished and a black hole took its place. All my husbands? All?
She stared at Thalia. Then at Cael who avoided her eyes.
Anna's stomach heaved. Bile rose to her throat. Before she could push it down, she rushed to the side and vomited behind a rose bush.
Behind her, Thalia scowled with disgust. "You're growing soft. Pathetic." She hissed, then left dragging Cael with her, her heels clicking on the marble floors till Anna could hear them no more.
Once she was gone, Anna 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 Leon and Ray.
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~]
Anna vomited 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, Anna 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 Anna'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 Anna 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!
Anna grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "I am Anna Carson. 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 Route established. Current Goal: Obtain 2.5 Million Villain Points, apply for a change of goal. Estimated time to current goal completion…]
Anna waited, her breath caught in her throat, her hands trembling in the skirt of her gown.
[Five years, seven months and twenty-four days. Should I count down the minutes and seconds too?]