OBAN KINGDOM
Ize slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze scanned the unfamiliar surroundings, wondering where she was.
She was certain she wasn't in the hospital. Given how perfectly Cytilate made her cause of death sound, no one would have saved her. Everyone would have laughed at her and called her an attention seeker.
Or perhaps, that was what she was. Her whole life had been centered on the spotlight, fame, and perfection.
"Milady, are you just waking up?"
"Who the hell are you? And why the heck am I here?" Ize almost screamed upon feeling the foreign touch on her skin.
Her eyes widened as she scanned the surroundings with full attention. The roof was nothing like what she was familiar with, and oh, the dress.
How come she was just realizing it? She was wearing a royal robe from the olden days?
Nothing was making sense!
"Milady, your parents demanded your presence. I wonder what you were even thinking when you ran to hide in the mountains," the lady in her mid-twenties informed.
"Geez! What is this one even talking about?" Ize's eyes widened, and the next thing she could think of was running away.
Maybe she was kidnapped because she didn't die. She had to escape from here, report Cytilate and Anders. They must pay for hurting her and taking advantage of her kindness!
"Milady, if you keep running in that direction, you will be in trouble. Please come back," the lady from earlier kept screaming, running behind Ize, trying to close the ridiculous gaps between them.
Ize kept running towards the direction she was forbidden, thinking it was the route to escape.
But that was until she bumped into a hard frame, hurting her forehead.
"Who the heck wants to hurt me in broad daylight? Wasn't kidnapping me enough? Geez!" She clicked her tongue before raising her gaze to look at the person she had just bumped into.
Wait, Anders? So he had the guts to show up after conniving with Cytilate to kill her?
Without thinking twice, she slapped the man who looked cold yet bore a striking resemblance to Anders Stilon.
"That is for cheating me!" She pouted, raised her hand to slap him again but was held midway. "Are you mad that I slapped you? Oh, you think I was going to beg you not to kill me again, huh?"
"I will let this go because you came back from the land of the dead," the man spoke coldly. He sounded totally different from the charismatic Anders.
She chuckled at his annoying words, her gaze roaming over him. If looks could kill, the young man in front of her would have been dead by now.
"Your Majesty."
A voice echoed from behind, not giving Ize a chance to talk. She only blinked her eyes, staring at what was happening right in front of her.
Are they shooting a drama? Oh no! Anders Stilon is a businessman, and she is an editor!
"Your Majesty, we searched everywhere for you but couldn't find you. Your attention is needed in the courtroom," a man in his late thirties informed, his gaze lowered just like the guards and maids present.
The man shook his head at the crazy act from the woman he was going to be getting married to a few hours from now before leaving.
Everyone walked behind him, making Ize think hard… What is happening? This is too real to be filming.
No cameraman. No standby. No… the pain from the stab. It was no longer there, not even a scar— she confirmed, not caring if she was outside.
"Milady, what are you doing? You just caused the king trouble!" The lady who she thought conspired with Anders and Cytilate muttered.
Everything suddenly began to make sense to Ize. The surroundings, the plot, everything suddenly pieced together, resulting in one answer. She didn't die but transmigrated into her favorite novel; PUNISHING THE VILLAINESS.
It was her favorite novel, but she had stopped midway because the villain died. The villain who was the queen got murdered even when everything she did wasn't her fault.
Hell, that means she isn't going to survive in this world too?
"Let's go," the lady dragged Ize away, snapping her out of her thoughts.
They got to the special room prepared for the king's in-laws, her parents, and younger brother.
"My lady, Milady slapped the king. It seems like she lost her memory and went crazy overnight," the lady informed.
Ize's parents gasped loudly.
"Ize, how could you? Do you know the weight of your crime? We are all going to be charged with treason and annihilated," her mother, Yiza, expressed her worry.
"Yiza, your daughter won't kill me! She ran away a day before her wedding, and now she—"
"Father, wedding? You mean I am going to marry that king?" Ize asked, registering everything in her brain.
No way! She can't be marrying the man who killed her… oh, the man who had the same face as her killer!
"It's either you marry him to be able to spy on him or allow all of us to be killed!"
Her eyes stung with tears upon hearing her father's threatening words. She wanted to believe he was only trying to gaslight her, but the moment she saw her brother, the young boy who reminded her of her late brother, she gave in. "Fine. I will marry him, but I don't know about that spying part."
"That is settled then. Your wedding before anything else!" Her father muttered. "The makeup attenders which I invited from across the ocean are here. Go get ready. For I want my daughter to be the prettiest bride of the century."
'Prettiest bride? Then they should be ready for the craziest bride of the century,' she muttered inwardly.