Clang!
The screech of metal against bone rang out like the world was tearing in half, her breath hitched, and her body fell to the ground in a splash. Everything felt light, her mind a haze, a blur.
'Why was this happening to me? Do I not deserve a bit of happiness? Where did I go wrong?' Her thoughts echoed through her mind. A mocking reminder of how foolish she had been.
Screams. Spells. Blood—hot and thick and pooling around her fingers as she gasped for air, her vision blurred as she glanced up, his face a blur but his beautiful purple eyes stared down at her, but with nothing but coldness, the usual warmth was nowhere to be seen; it was as though it never existed.
Tears of blood flowed down her cheeks. "Why? Why did you do this? You said you would not let them get to you? Was I... Was it even real?"
He sighed and turned away, his back rigid. "Marrying and loving a villainess would not make me a good emperor."
Her eyes widened before she let out a bitter chuckle, her life force draining from her. Her last memory was a battlefield of broken promises. A sword through her gut. The taste of betrayal on her tongue. A voice—his voice—whispering. "This is the end, villainess."
The voice that used to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, the warm touch that brushed against her skin in their bed during a cold night, the one light in her world of darkness, where everyone condemned her... Was extinguished, just like that, overpowered by the need for position, power, and acceptance.
Death was her only way out from the constant betrayal that the world threw at her, from when she was a baby to now... She always pushed through, always fought back. She was his lover, his ally, his fiancée, and future wife against all odds, but that was only in her mind... In the end, the evil won, and none stung more than the last.
It sucked everything from her the minute the blade met with her body and his cold gaze. Reality came crashing into her like a tidal wave, something she should have seen months ago but failed to, blinded by something called 'love,' and now, it took everything... No, she had nothing.
She was all alone; no one wanted her. Those who did were long gone. Her very will to live was drained when her last breath left her body.
However, despite being dead, the pain ran through her body and everything was eerily quiet.
'Wasn't I supposed to be dead?'
'So why did everything hurt?'
Why was there fabric against her skin, warm air in her lungs, and—
Her eyes snapped open as she looked round her; there was nothing but a dark space, almost looking like the night sky and her brows furrowed.
"Where am I? Am I not dead? Is this some kind of sick dream?" Her voice, a soft whisper, echoed within the area.
She tried to move but winced, and her brows furrowed as she looked down at her injured body, realizing the pain alone was proof that... She was still alive and a jolt of pain shot through her like she had never felt before.
She held herself as she screamed, pain like never before, not from the injury alone, but from a sense of reality hitting; her body felt lighter but much more than what it was.
"Dear God, why... Why is this happening to me? Have I not suffered enough? Please...no more..." She screamed out as tears flowed down her cheek; she felt as though her heart was being squeezed in her chest, its beat echoing through her ears in the otherwise quiet space.
All the memories of betrayal filled her head like a poisonous vine wrapped around her, one that she was unable to escape from even after supposed death, one that she wished she could change.
Just when she thought the pain would never go away, she felt a small gust of wind brush against the tears on her cheeks and looked up to see a man dressed in expensive white and gold, with red silk, long dark hair, and piercing red eyes standing before her.
"Who are you?" She mumbled, and his eyes narrowed before a smirk appeared on his face.
"In all my years, I never thought the day would come when I would see a novel character making its way to my front door, to my ears, a voice nagging, sweet and a pain in the butt even before ending. What should I do with you now? Your end was written, yet here you are like a fish out of water," He said, his voice half mocking and half with genuine curiosity.
She looked up at him confused, but yet beneath her gaze held a world of understanding, and he could see that as clear as day. "This has never been done before, not by me. You will be given another chance to actually live, to make something of your life, but remember this: nothing will be the same. Do not repeat the same mistakes; do not be predictable. If you fail, you die for good; you will be stuck."
"You look like a lifeless doll; that was what you were supposed to be, yet the fire burns beneath those dark eyes, something not typical. You were not supposed to be here, cease of existence, yet the laws of nature have once again left me baffled. A novel character? Gaining soul and life? Some would think a joke, or I just need mental help," He said and her brows furrowed.
"You are talking nonsense," She replied, blunt much to his surprise and he chuckled.
"Is that so? Then, let's see how much of a nonsense it is. Remember what I said, and good luck being alive; you are the first character to take a living form," He said.
Before she could even ask anything or try to understand more, she let out a yelp as her body was sucked into a dark vortex, losing consciousness as she floated through the harsh current.