Anna remained in a terrified daze for the rest of the briefing.

The first day of General Games was simple, the briefing and then the candidates grouped and numbered, their information presented to the judges. The first elimination was based on their information.

Laid out in front of Anna were all their names, photographs, specie type, and medical information.

She couldn’t focus.

The words kept blurring into one another. Her mind drifted between Tristan, and Leon, and back to Tristan.

Why the fuck am I scared right now?! I’m the Princess Orchid, it’s not like anyone can harm me.

Right on cue, the scars on her shoulders burned.

Subconsciously, her hands went to them. A subtle reminder than someone did in fact try to hurt her, even though she was The Princess.

For a split second, Anna wondered if she should take more drastic action against Leon. She wondered if offering to soothe his corruption will only backfire on her in the future. What if he killed her before the 80% mark like in the original plot?

Did I do the right thing?

There was unfortunately no way to tell.

A light wind picked up, ruffling the papers in front of her. Some of them drifted to the ground, and the one that remained on the table instantly caught Anna’s eyes.

Tristan Noksvich.

He’s Russian? No, that can’t be. There are no old countries here. Everything is either East or West or North or Fucking South!

Oh my goodness! I’m losing my mind!

Inhaling, Anna steadied her troubled spirit.

She went over his information.

His health was perfect, every test came back negative when it was expected to be, and a hundred when it was needed. Traces of corruption were under double digits, a phenomenal record for a member of the army. The lowest number of corruption she had seen was 45. Tristan had 7. The only dent on his record was his beast type.

Goldfish.

Anna tapped her chin, deep in thought.

She recalled the memory of Princess Orchid, the man who had brought Kai to her. Aquatic beastmen were rare. And back when humans existed were in the process of creating beastmen, they wanted beastmen who were strong and could fight against the AI beasts.

On land.

Who on earth would create a goldfish?!

Maybe as a pet?

Anna lifted her head to the disparaging crowd. She easily spotted Tristan talking to some of his colleagues. As if he knew she was looking at him, he looked up and waved.

I won’t be surprised if he was created as a pet.

"Your highness," someone called behind Anna. She turned to see a servant holding up the fallen pieces of paper. "May I take these to your office?" The servant gestured to the reports.

Anna rose to her feet. "Yes."

The servant worked quickly, gathering the papers up and racing ahead.

Meanwhile Anna was glad to finally leave this place. The mere thought that she’d have to face this again for the next six days made her want to curl up into a ball and sink into the soil.

Looking around, she spotted Leon and Councilor Valor talking to some of the candidates. Deciding she didn’t want to face either of them for the rest of the day, Anna turned away and walked back to the palace.

The moment she stepped foot on palace grounds, Bella jumped out from where she was hiding and went down on her knees.

"Your highness! Pardon me! But the royal seamstress is here and she needs to get your measurements for a gown!"

"Get up, Bella. I can hear you without going on your knees. And tell me, why do I need a gown when I have hundreds of them?"

Bella rose to her feet, her eyes remaining on the ground. "For...for your friend, Lady Thalia’s birthday ball."

"Fuck!" Anna slammed her palm over her forehead. "I forgot."

"You..." Bella lifted her head an inch, "you forgot, Your highness?"

"That’s not important now. Let’s go. I have things to do."

On her way to meet the seamstress, Anna bumped into Azul.

Azul bowed, going down on one knee as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Your highness," he greeted.

Anna did her best not to swoon, however hard it was. Having such a large and handsome man on his knees for her was a welcome sight. Any day and any time.

Clearing her throat, she quickly snapped out of her fangirling. "Lord Azul, I was hoping to see you today. At the arena, perhaps."

He rose to his feet, and Anna took a small step back. She feared that no matter how many times she saw him, she would always be intimidated by his sheer size.

"The General Games?"

"Yes. Have you no interest in them? I think you’ll make a fine General."

He shook his head. For a second, his eyes grew vacant. "Unfortunately, I’m not interested in being a General of the East."

"Why?" Anna asked, taking a step forward. "Can you tell me?"

"If it pleases you. I’m from the North, it’s predominantly cold. The East is much warmer and at times...the heat gets to me."

Anna nodded, filing away the information. She realized she hadn’t done much research on the empires yet.

"I understand. That must be why you’re often away from the palace too."

He didn’t reply. She got the feeling there was much he wanted to say but wouldn’t.

Why would Princess Orchid marry him if he doesn’t even do well in her empire? He’s a polar bear. They like ice. Does it even snow in the East?

"That wicked woman."

"Pardon?"

"Ah! Nothing at all. About the Games?"

"If you command it, then I’ll have no choice but to join."

Anna considered his words. And the way he said them, she knew he didn’t want to join the Games.

Technically, if she commanded him to participate, he would. And he’d win by a landslide.

Anna knew that.

But after what she’d just learned about him...

"If you don’t want to do it, then don’t. I won’t force you." She said.

He looked at her, his icy eyes cutting across her face like he was peeling her skin back and looking into her soul.

"That’s unlike you, Your highness." He said in a quiet tone.

Anna blinked rapidly. "I..."

Before she could gather her words, he bowed again. "I shall take my leave now." He said, and walked away.

Anna watched his back till he vanished down a corner.

That’s unlike you.

What did he mean by those words?

Anna expected to hear such from anyone else, but Azul?

[Hostie, you need to be more careful. The gap between you and the real Princess is starting to show a lot. Remember that no one must know who you are.]

Anna sighed, before replying in her head. "You’re saying the real Princess would have commanded him to join the Games anyway?"

[Yes.]

Anna scoffed, carding her fingers through her hair. "Why don’t you give me a long ass list of ’how to be a fucking villainess’?! Or even better, maybe wipe all my memories and transplant her memories into my empty brain!"

[Memory wiping doesn’t work that way, hostie.]

"Bullshit! This is a science fiction novel isn’t it? Any thing can happen and get labeled under ’advanced fucking science, don’t ask’!"

[You curse a lot, hostie. It’s crass for a Princess.]

"Fuck you!"

"Your highness? Is everything alright?" Bella’s timid voice broke through the anger in Anna’s head.

Anna sighed. I must have looked stupid. Glaring at the air like that. "I’m fine. Cancel the appointment with the seamstress. If she asks why, tell her to bring her grievances to my face."

Bella shivered. "Y-yes your highness! Is there anything—"

"Send a message to the Queen. I want to have tea with her."

"The Queen?" Bella squeaked.

Anna glared at her. "Did I speak with water in my mouth?"

"N-n-not at a-all your highness! I’ll send the message right away!"

Bella ran off, tripped over her foot thrice, and never looked back.

Once she was gone, Anna exhaled, leaning on the wall and hugging herself. "This is hard..." she whispered to the air. "This is so fucking hard."

[I’m truly sorry you feel this way, hostie. But you must be familiar with this already; nothing good comes easy.]

Hearing that triggered something Anna had buried deep inside her.

All her life, right from when she was a child who had no business knowing of the world. She had heard it.

Nothing good comes easy.

When her shitty aunt maltreated her, that was the woman’s justification.

Nothing good comes easy, you little cunt! Quit your whining and deal with it!

When she went through school, bullied and made into a punching bag, that was what her bullies said.

Dont worry Anna sweetie, we’ll make you super popular. Just hold still eh? Don’t dodge my fists again, okay?

When Manager Park made her go through hell, dangling the promise of a promotion in front of her like carrot to a bunny, that was his justification.

You think you can climb the ranks without me?! You think it’s that easy?! You delusional bitch!

Anna had grown to accept that life was never easy, never fair, and never good.

But until when?

When are things going to look up for me too? I’m a literal Princess in this life, and everything is still just like it was.

[Don’t say that, hostie. You have the villainess in you. You just have to let her out.]

"I don’t

[Yes you do. Everyone that wronged you, you remember them. You can easily choose to see them instead of all these side characters. You can take your vengeance now.]

"You’re lying..." her heart began to race. "No...don’t talk to me. You’re lying..."

[No, hostie. You are lying. You lie to yourself. Day after day. You’ve lied to yourself for 26 years and even after death and literal transmigration, you still lie to yourself. And you’re only making your goal change harder to achieve. You want a manual on how to be a villainess? Bitch please. You have the manual in your heart.]

"I don’t!" Anna screamed out loud. "I don’t have any manual! I’m not her! I’ll never be her! You’re wrong! And you’re a fucking evil, terrible person! Oh right, you’re not even a person! You’re fucking AI!"

[You want to know the one thing AI is better at than humans?]

Anna remained silent. Her chest rose and fell four times in one second. Her nails sliced through her palm, and her spores gradually turned purple.

[Pattern recognition, hostie. And believe me, the patterns I’ve recognized in you? They terrify me.]