Content Warning
This story contains mature themes, including scenes of psychological manipulation, power imbalance, and non-consensual implications that may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
***
I blinked groggily into the darkness, my head heavy like it had been submerged in ice water. Breathing was difficult. My chest heaved as if I had just escaped a nightmare.
Someone… was on top of me.
Their movements were forceful, suffocating. My whole body was pinned down against the mattress, leaving no room to fight back.
The dim light made it impossible to see his face, but I could feel the heat and the fury radiating from him like a wildfire.
Wait… what the hell was going on?
I didn't go to a party. I wasn't drunk. I clearly remembered falling asleep while playing a game.
"S-stop…" I murmured, almost instinctively, reaching out to touch the sweat-slicked shoulder above me. "I… can't breathe…"
He seized my wrist and shoved it into the mattress. Cold. Merciless.
"You wanted this, didn't you? And now you want to run, Your Highness?"
That sentence made my blood run cold.
Your Highness?
What the—?
Just then, a glowing screen blinked into existence in front of me like a hologram.
[Login Successful.]
[Role: Princess Davina Emerson.]
[Main Quest: Survive and become Empress.]
[Reward: Return.]
I froze.
Davina?
No. No way. She's—
A shaft of moonlight slipped through the curtains and illuminated the face of the man restraining me.
Silver hair. Burning amber eyes. A face twisted with rage.
"…Cassian?" I whispered.
His body jerked. His expression flickered with surprise before turning ice-cold again.
Yes. It was him.
Cassian — one of the love interests from the otome game I had just been playing.
Was I dreaming?
Or… had I actually transmigrated into the game?
I hadn't even had time to grasp what was happening when Cassian abruptly covered my mouth, silencing me.
"Don't pretend," he growled, his voice low and feral against my ear. "You forced me into this. Threatened Aurora's life if I refused. And now you want to play the victim?"
The screen lingered for a few seconds, then vanished like mist. But one phrase was already burned into my mind.
Princess Davina.
The villainess of White Lotus in the Mire.
The woman who stole every male lead from the heroine — Aurora — and turned them into her personal toys. Again and again, she sabotaged the heroine's missions, until the final route where Aurora and her allies overthrew her.
And the one who executed Davina in the end?
Was the very man now forcing himself over me.
Dear God… what sin had I committed to deserve this?
Although… maybe it wasn't punishment.
"Wait… Cassian…"
I pushed weakly against his chest, trying to stop him from moving. But he didn't listen. Something inside him had snapped.
Damn it. I remembered now.
This was that scene.
The one where Davina locked Aurora in a dungeon and forced Cassian to sleep with her to spare Aurora's life. Just to be sure, she even drugged him beforehand.
I had been furious when I reached that part of the game. I had cursed Davina's name.
And now… I was her.
Cassian used to be the proud prince of a small western kingdom. Davina saw him at a banquet, grew obsessed, and when he rejected her, she crushed his nation and dragged him back as a personal trophy.
He loathed her.
But with his homeland still under her control, he had no choice but to play the obedient slave in her bed.
God, this was insane.
If I had to transmigrate, why couldn't it be as the heroine? Or at least a maid?
This wasn't like those stories where the villainess reforms and wins everyone's hearts.
This was a nightmare.
In my past life, I had no family.
And in this one… I had no one.
My vision blurred. My body was shutting down, unable to endure any more.
Maybe… I should just let go.
If I survived this, I'd think about what to do next.
But for now, my mind was going numb.
***