"What?" Anna whispered, her voice conveying her shock. She was so shocked that she said it out loud.

The Queen frowned, her tea cup freezing halfway to her lips. "What is the matter, darling?" she asked, lowering the cup with a low clink.

[04:54...04:53...04:52...04:51...]

The glowing screen of numbers appeared in front of anna’s face, big and glowing and menacing.

Anna thought it had to be a joke. A clever and not so smart joke from the System. Asking her to poison Lotus was her basically seeking death!

"You’re joking...right?"

[You have less than five minutes left, hostie.]

Anna jumped to her feet, seeing that the system wasn’t joking. The Queen jerked, startled by her sudden movements. Anna turned to her, and her heart filled with cold water.

She’s never going to forgive me...

Tears burned the back of Anna’s eyes. "Excuse me, your majesty, I need to leave now. I just remembered I have something to do." Anna said with a hasty bow. Before the queen could ask what was happening, anna sprinted out of the garden.

Her heart thrashed wildly in her chest as she ran down the hallways, gathering her gown in her hands, cold sweat dotting her brow. She tried to rationalize, find a blind spot in the system’s tasks as she’d done in the past. However she thought about it, it remained the same.

Poison Lotus and hold the attack for thirty seconds. With her black spores, the same black spores that could kill any AI beast.

But if she didn’t do it either...the mere thought of having to start from the beginning, or worse, being a villainess forever, was enough to make anna want to jump off a cliff screaming her head off.

I’m fucked!

Anna wiped her eyes as she ran.

[03:45...03:44...03:43...] the System continued to countdown.

Anna didn’t want to do it.

Poisoning Lotus was way different from killing a Dream Weaver.

This was her sister. Surely there must have been some lines that even Princess Orchid in all her evil didn’t cross. Family was one of that.

"You’re making me the villain!" anna sobbed angrily into the air.

[That was always the point, hostie. You have two minutes left.]

"Damn it!" Anna screamed. Why did the Queen’s quarters have to be so far away?!

She arrived at Lotus’ enclosure with one minute left. Heaving, panting heavily with sweat dripping down her face, Anna composed herself, nodded to the guards and the doors opened. Anna walked in, instantly hit in the face with the soft, fragrant white lotus spores floating in the air like tiny, warm snowflakes,.

She walked up to Lotus’s side and her heart shattered. Lotus looked so at peace, so radiant and glowing, that Anna felt like the blackest soul in this world.

"Fuck..." anna whispered, her voice trembling. "System...isn’t there another way to do this? Please?"

[You have less than one minute left, hostie.]

She bit her lip till she tasted blood. "Will she die?"

[You have exactly fifty seconds, hostie.]

A string of colorful curses boiled on the tip of anna’s tongue.

I have to do this...I’ll make it up with her somehow. I promise.

Anna raised her shaky hands over Princess Lotus’ comatose form. "I’m sorry, Lotus. I’m so fucking sorry," she choked outs tears spilling down her face as her spores turned purple first, then black.

In an instant, the soft white spores of lotus were snuffed out, replaced by thick, black orchid spores. They rooted out of every pore in Anna’s body, forming a thick and toxic cloud.

The system’s count down monitor violently flashed to life in her vision.

[00:30... 00:29... 00:28...]

Anna squeezed her eyes shut, sweat pouring down the back of her neck as she forced her body to keep the spores steady.

The system continued to count down.

The entire enlcosure was choked full of deadly black spores.

Lotus stirred. Small, pained moans came from her lips as she writhed in the bed. Yet she didn’t wake up. Anna could see past the cloud of blackness.

Lotus was crying.

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry..."

[00:15... 00:14... 00:13...]

Coughing exploded from outside the door. The guards, made alert by the spores seeping out from under the door, began yelling for reinforcements.

Anna burst out sobbing.

The countdown continued.

[00:03... 00:02... 00:01... 00:00]

[Ding! Final Task Complete. 2,500,000 Points Awarded! Congratulations hostie, you killed it!]

Anna crumbled to the floor, breathing hard and sobbing, her hands shaking violently.

I did it...I–

BANG!

The heavy double doors of the enclosure were violently slammed open, the wood flying off its hinges.

Big mistake.

The trapped black spores whooshed out, slamming into the faces of the guards.

Screams filled the air.

Anna turned, slowly, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the guards clutching their chests and howling in pain.

I’m sorry

I’m so so sorry

A figure walked out from behind the guards, unfazed by the black spores.

Drax.

He walked in, his eyes calmly sweeping across the room before resting on Anna.

They eyes met. And the stare held. The seconds ticked by. Drax was breathing fine, but unharmed by the spores. He stared at Anna with a look caught between surprise and disgust.

And in that moment, Anna knew.

He knows I’m not the real Princess. Even she wouldn’t stoop this low.

"Get up." Drax said coldly. "If you’re going to wear her face, act like her."

I knew it.

But Anna had no desire in her to get up. She turned away, her shoulder slumping with defeat. "It’s over."she whispered.

Chaotic footsteps thundered down the hallway and into the room.

"In here! Protect the Princess!"

When Anna turned again, Drax was gone.

A dozen Royal guards burst into the room, swords drawn and their arms covering their mouths and noses. The guards from earlier laid on the floor, passed out cold.

The guards stood frozen in the doorway. None of them dared step in. Or apprehend Anna.

Anna didn’t even try to defend herself.

She got to her feet and walked past. She didn’t look at Lotus, or even the unconscious guards. Her mind was blank, and her eyes even more vacant as she walked out of the enclosure.

On autopilot, she went back to her bedroom.

The moment she slammed the doors shut and slid down it, she collapsed on the floor, her head buried in her palms.

She tried to cry but no tears would come out. She tried to scream but upon opening her mouth, her voice was locked in her chest.

[Ding! Ding! Ding!]

[Hostie, that was magnificent!] the System chimed, its mechanical voice practically bouncing with an excited, sadistic glee [The public is already rioting outside the gates! The council is calling for your head! Truly peak villainess behavior!]

Anna clamped her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the sound. All of it.

But no matter how hard she tried, she still heard Lotus’ quiet sobs echoing in her head.

****

Meanwhile, deep within the structured stone walls of the military barracks, the heavy iron doors of the war room were thrown open.

General Leon didn’t even look up from the maps laid across his mahogany desk as a breathless soldier scrambled inside.

"General! Emergency in the royal wing!" the soldier panted, gripping his knees, sweat dripping down his face and arms. "Princess Orchid... she just unleashed a massive black spore attack inside Princess Lotus’s enclosure! Multiple guards are heavily poisoned, and the council is convening an emergency session!"

Leon’s fingers froze against the edge of the map.

For a second, the room was entirely still. The soldier swallowed hard, waiting for the General’s legendary, terrifying temper to erupt. He expected Leon to burn the room down in a fit of rage over the attack on the kingdom’s beloved Princess, and his lover none the least.

But the explosion never came.

Instead, Leon slowly straightened his spine, his expression darkening into a mask of pure irritation.

"Is that so?" He mused.

Leon wasn’t angry. Not even in the slightest. Deep down he knew that something was wrong and he should definitely be more pissed.

But when he thought of Lotus, he didn’t feel much for her.

If anything he was deeply annoyed at Anna’s foolishness. By doing this brazen act, there was no way the kingdom could protect her any longer. For goodness sake, didn’t she know that the people were already against her? Now she’s goes ahead and hurts Lotus of all people.

He rubbed his temples, sighing to himself. Now all his plans were ruined. What was she even thinking?

"General?" The soldier called, worried.

"Leave." Leon commanded. The soldier bowed and ran out without a question.

Leon made his way to Anna’s bedroom. After banging on the door for ten straight minutes, he received no answer. He knew she was in there. He could hear her shaky breathing and quiet sobs.

Frustration twisted in his gut.

What is wrong with this woman? Why does she reject him at every turn?

He became restless and angry. Fine. If she won’t look at him, he’ll find a version of her that will.

He returned to his private quarters, down to the basement where he had the Empath imprisoned. Leon didn’t care that it was day time or not. He needed Anna. And he needed her on her knees for him. Looking at him like he was her whole world. Begging him to save her from the kingdom’s wrath.

But when Leon finally got down there, he had another idea.

"Sit up," he commanded, his voice rumbling with barely restrained rage. "Your kind can take the form of whoever they choose."

Tristan’s eyes widened with horror. "No...no I can’t—"