[Remember your new goal, hostie~ if you continue in this manner, it will take 30 years to achieve it~]
"You mean I have to do things like that? Be cruel and heartless?"
[…]
[Define 'villainess']
Anna sighed. This is hopeless.
Pushing the unpleasant thoughts aside, she followed Ray out. The spot he led her to was lovely, an open roof gazebo surrounded by flowers and…
Anna's face paled as she spotted the long, thick pole right in the center. It didn't take a genius to guess what that was for. She knew it wasn't for pole dancing, judging by the blood crusted ropes wound around it.
Her stomach churned.
She cleared her throat and forced on a smile.
Ray didn't return it.
Silently, they placed the soaked books in the sun.
"I'm sorry for locking you up here," Anna said, hoping to strike up a conversation with the silent man. He found a small shade and sat there. He looked out of place in his blacks and silver, surrounded by soft flowers.
But it was a pretty sight.
He's really pretty. Like a K-pop idol. And his ears look soft…
"It's fine." Ray said. "It was my fault."
Anna waited for the System to ding and warn her about being nice. But it was silent.
Of course, she knew a simple 'sorry' wouldn't be enough to erase all she…Princess Orchid had done. But it was a start. Perhaps if she started laying the foundation for her new goal then she'd make amends and—
[One thing at a time, hostie~] the system finally dinged.
Anna stared at the books, her mind traveling far and wide.
From her time in the library, she had understood a little bit more about this world.
5000 years ago, there was a catastrophe. Technology advanced at a rapid pace and humans thought it was a good idea to merge AI code and human DNA.
Instead of the utopia they imagined, the world became hell.
The AI code corrupted human DNA, leading to the emergence of the first AI beasts.
Humans came from the entire world together to fix it, as they were rapidly being killed and hunted by these beasts. Women were hunted more, and the population declined fast.
Finally, they created the beastmen, a splice of human and specific animal DNA, producing stronger, faster, and larger humans.
The war raged on. But this time humans started to win.
Anna looked at her hands, tracing her orchid marks and watching her spores flare softly. This world is truly hardcore but impressive. She thought.
Not only did humans create beastmen, they took it even further and created the beastblooms, beastwomen with plant DNA. Beastblooms were a rare success, and their creation gave mankind the push far away from the cliff of extinction.
Beastblooms boosted fertility, had immunity to Nanites, and their spores could calm Corruption in other beastmen.
The orchid beastbloom was the rarest of all beastblooms. The last orchid lived 3500 years ago. The current Princess Orchid was a miracle the Eastern Empire wasn't prepared for.
Anna sighed, propping her chin on her palms and resting forward on her elbow. I guess being a miracle beastbloom gave her freedom to be a total bitch.
Now it's 5000 years later. Pure humans have long gone extinct, only beastmen remain. The female population is still low, and that has given rise to polyandry. It was especially encouraged among Beastblooms, as they could soothe multiple beastmen at once.
Anna's eyes moved to Ray. He held a plucked rose in his hand, stroking the petals with long, nimble fingers.
"Ray?"
He looked up and met her eyes.
"Where are you from?"
"The West."
Anna nodded.
West.
Now the world was divided into four major empires, East, West, North and South. Princess Orchid was from the East, and it was where the story took place.
Anna hadn't read much in the library about the empires. She made a mental note to revisit it this evening.
"What's the West like?" she asked Ray.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps cut through the peaceful air.
"Your highness!" A servant rushed up to Anna and went down on a full bow, forehead to the floor. "It's about your husband, Kai! He has broken free again!"
Anna frowned. Kai? Another husband? Broken free?
"What does that—"
"Cutie~" a cloying voice called.
The servant screamed and jumped behind a bush. Ray rose to his feet, bowed and vanished.
Anna looked around, wondering what the hell had just happened when a pair of strong, wet arms wrapped around her middle and a head of slick blue hair rested against her chest.
"Hey Cutie~ I missed you soooooo much~"
Anna's cheeks turned red. "H-hey!"
Woah. Is he one of my husbands? He's so handsome!
Kai had long, wet blue hair which, slick with water as if he had been swimming. His face was delicate, caught between masculine sharpness and feminine softness. He had long blue eyelashes, and his eyes were a soft greenish blue. He smiled, and his mouth was full of sharp jagged teeth.
Anna gasped.
A shark!
She had a shark beast husband! One that looked like a mermaid prince.
His arms tightened around her waist and he pushed his jaw between her breasts. His liquid eyes blinked up at her slowly.
"Did you miss me? I brought something for you!" He pulled back and showed her his open palm. In the center of his palm laid white sharp objects.
On closer look, Anna realized they were teeth. Jagged. With faint pink ends.
His teeth.
Her blood ran cold.
Kai laughed. He sounded like a kid at Christmas. "You like it! I timed how long it took each individual tooth to grow back and it was exactly 25.7 seconds on average!"
Anna gasped, her breath stuck in her throat. Her heart raced and a cold feeling washed over her skin.
He pulled out his teeth for me.
He pulled out his teeth for Princess Orchid!