You pathetic little worm, I'll rip you to pieces once I get the chance! I cursed to myself as I looked down onto the smug little prince parading past my window with the saintess wrapped in his arms. It was obvious that he was trying to provoke me, feeling pleasure from hurting Daphne's feelings. But little to his knowledge, Daphne was no more. In her stead, I, Anna Karnova from the streets of Russia's capital, Moscow, took her place.
Having grown up poor with no family to support me, you could say I have somewhat of a thick skin. So obviously after waking up in the body of the crown princess, suddenly being surrounded in the finest luxuries I could have never dreamed of seemed like I had come to heaven. The little pranks here and there the maids played on me, and the hateful eyes being thrown at me seemed nothing more than childsplay. Rather, I found it kind of cute.
However, the more my soul settled in with this body, the more memories of her suffering flowed into me. In fact, Daphne was no simple girl. She had experienced many lives, all of which ended the same, death.
Over and over, she would be reborn as Daphne Rosalia, the duke's only daughter and fiancé of the future King of Dorminia. She would be labelled the villainess of the story, having to endure her beloved fiancé betraying her for a so called saintess. Daphne had tried everything, from watching quietly, to running away, to being executed, and more. But in not a single one of her thousands of lives did Daphne bring harm to those who killed her.
Because even when she was mulled, tortured, cut and beaten, even when she looked deep into the eyes of the man she loved as he pushed a sword through her chest, she felt love towards those people. Because Daphne was the real saintess. No, rather Daphne was a goddess that had come down from heaven and was trapped in this cycle of abuse.
The more we linked our memories, the more I could feel it, her power. The secret that Daphne had kept for most of her lives revealed itself to me. The strength of the magic pumping through every crevice of her being was so immeasurably powerful, I was convinced she could destroy this world in a matter of seconds. And yet she chose to hide it, letting herself being pushed around and controlled by the royal family, her father, brother, and lover.
For many sleepless nights I had pondered why she would let herself be tormented like this. It felt like my head would explode at any second the more I thought about it. However, after having spent a month in isolation, I came to a revelation. The last pieces of Daphne settled inside of me. Daphne was tired. For a reason she could not explain to herself she loved these people, she craved their attention, affection, and approval. No matter how many times she tried to cut them off, she was unable to.
That is why she came to me, someone that had given up on running after the people whose love I once craved. More than anything in this world she desired to be happy. She wanted me to live through her life and give her that happy ending, even if it meant cutting off those people for her, because she was too weak to do it herself. Only then would she be able to escape this cycle. The strongest creature in this world, turned out to also be the weakest one.
Although, I at first despised her for her cowardliness, I grew to love and accept her. She saved my life and gave me hers. She became the most precious person to me, and so I accepted her request to find happiness for us.
However, that is where I faced my biggest problem. How do you even become happy? I sighed, flexing my arm muscles in the mirror.
Daphne definitely didn't lack in the beauty department. Her build was slim, yet curvy and fit. Her hair was smooth like silk and sparkled white like ice crystals. Not even Snow White would be able to compete with her rosy cheeks and red pursy lips. But what really struck me were her sharp breathtakingly beautiful blue eyes that exuded elegance and mystery.
I twirled around in front of the mirror, striking a few poses in my pink heart pyjamas. I had decided. Today would be the day. Today, we will start our journey to our happy ending. I glided towards the bedroom doors and raised my arms dramatically into the air, flicking my fingers.
A gust of wind immediately burst open the doors, smashing them into the walls. The doors and walls seemed to have melted into one another from the pressure. Huge cracks formed all around the entrance. A bunch of servants stood frozen in the hallway, eyes almost popping out of their heads.
"Milady!" a maid that had fallen to her feet from the impact screamed at me, as I stepped out of my room.
"From now on you shall address me as princess. I will no longer accept such disrespect." I announced. I stuck my nose high into the air as I turned and marched down the hallway, leaving the stunned servants behind.