Indeed, this is not some romance novel; that devil will dismember me like a pig!
I stood there, savoring the moment, a thought struck me: just how long could I keep faking it before the emperor's suspicions caught up to me?
Yet, did it really matter?
Tonight, I would escape this prison and never set foot in this hell again!
The thrill of possibility ignited within me, and the plan began to form—a chance for freedom was worth every risk.
---
As the night deepened and the palace corridors grew eerily silent, I sat on my oversized bed, tapping my foot anxiously against the stone floor.
The velvet canopy above me, which should have radiated luxury, now felt more like a mockery of my predicament.
The soft flickering of the lanterns on the walls, casting dancing shadows, did nothing to calm my nerves.
If anything, the dim light only fed the whirlwind of thoughts spiraling in my mind.
Living here, before leaving this hell, I started to recall the familiarity I felt from this place.
Indeed, on the first day, I realized this world was so familiar, and after living here for a month, I reached several conclusions.
From those conclusions, I derived: I am screwed.
"I can't believe this... What kind of rotten luck is this?" I muttered, clutching the edge of the bedspread so tightly I thought it might tear.
"This world… it's definitely that game! Of all things!" I threw my head back in frustration, staring at the ceiling and biting my nails between sentences.
"Why? Why did it have to be this world? A romance game! And the worst part? I sucked at it!"
Navigating the routes back when I played had been a nightmare.
How many times had I made all the wrong choices and ended up in dead ends?
Too many to count.
Landing a male lead? Forget about it.
I usually messed up so badly that I was left alone, the ultimate endgame.
Groaning, I stood up and began pacing the room, biting my lip in frustration.
"And now I'm stuck in it! But not as the protagonist—oh no—that would've been too easy!"
I tugged at my hair, my pacing growing frantic.
"No, I'm Deventhia Aurelia, the woman whose destiny is a gruesome undead fate!" I stomped to the other side of the room and back again, gnawing on my thumbnail as if it might yield some brilliant escape plan.
It didn't.
That psychotic emperor, sitting on his bloody throne, had killed all twelve of his brothers and seven sisters to seize power.
But of course, he wasn't done yet.
His last remaining sister hadn't been spared.
She had been forced to choose between her life and her child's.
Of course, as a mother, she chose the life of her child.
And what did he do afterward?
Turned her into an energy crystal!
A freaking energy crystal for his twisted experiments!!!
"But wait, there's more," I muttered sarcastically, my pacing quickening.
"He promised to take care of her child, didn't he?"
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
Sure, he did.
He sold the poor thing off to a slave market faster than I can say 'tyrant.'
And of course, he conveniently blamed some colleague for running off with the child.
Classic.
I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly got stuck in my head. "Ugh...my eyes?!"
But in this twisted tale, that child wasn't just anyone.
Yeah, right.
The male lead—the one destined to overthrow this monstrous emperor—was that very same child.
And he was going to come back, all grown up and ready for revenge, to carve his way through this kingdom, avenging his mother.
Good for him.
Really, I was rooting for the kid.
Too bad that had nothing to do with my current problem.
Because while the male lead would be off having his dramatic, vengeful showdown, I—Deventhia Aurelia—would be getting my head chopped off.
And not even in a noble or heroic way.
Hehe, after my execution, my corpse would have turned into one of the emperor's creepy undead soldiers, sent to fight on some battlefield for eternity.
"As if dying once wasn't bad enough," I muttered, pulling at my hair again, "they'd drag my corpse around for years too until the male lead cut off my head."
Yeah, I got my head cut off two times in a single story by both the villain and the male lead.
I stopped pacing for a moment, staring blankly ahead as the full weight of my predicament hit me again.
"I'm doomed," I whispered, feeling a fresh wave of panic rise in my chest.
I could almost hear the emperor's cold voice in my head, plotting what to do with me next.
He wasn't stupid.
The emperor was a psychopath, sure, but not a fool.
I'd been faking this pregnancy for a whole month, and soon, he was going to start asking questions.
Really uncomfortable questions.
Like whether the child I claimed to be carrying was actually his—or if I was just a spy sent by someone else.
He'd probably use that imaginary child as leverage against me.
"And if I don't deliver? Energy crystal time!"
I groaned, pulling at my hair again, the nerves getting the better of me after all, like hell I wanted to be turned into an energy crystal!
I paced back and forth, back and forth, the night growing darker and darker.
The guards would change shifts soon, but the emperor wouldn't.
He was sharp.
Always watching.
Always waiting.
And I had no idea how much longer I could keep up the charade.
Worse still, if my executions timeline was accurate, I was supposed to die in a couple of years, maybe even sooner if the emperor caught wind of my lies.
"What kind of sick game is this?" I whispered, biting my nails again, my heart pounding in my chest.
I stopped by the window, staring at the moonlit palace grounds.
The guards patrolled the area, their armor gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
I squinted, watching their movements, hoping to see some flaw, some pattern that could give me a chance to escape.
Because I had to run.
There was no other choice.
I couldn't wait for the male lead to show up twenty years from now, hell-bent on his revenge.
What if that psycho thought of creating a pregnant undead?!