Chapter 1: Be Careful What You Wish For
The fluorescent lights of the accounting firm flickered, hummed, and died.
Lin Xia stared at the glowing blue light of her monitor, the only thing illuminating her cramped cubicle. It was 2:14 AM. Her dinner was a cold cup of noodles, and her "reward" for finishing a three-month audit was a stack of even more ledgers from her boss.
To top it off, she had just seen her boyfriend's Instagram story. He was at a beach resort with a girl who looked like she'd never worked a day in her life. The caption read: Finally found someone who isn't "too busy" for me.
Lin Xia's eyes burned. She slammed her forehead onto her desk, right on top of a pile of tax forms.
"I'm done." she whispered into the mahogany veneer. "I work like a dog, I'm treated like trash, and my boyfriend is a bottom-feeder. In my next life... I don't want to be a 'strong, independent woman.' I want to be a spoiled consort. I want a husband who is so obsessed with me he'll dote on me and kiss my feet while I do absolutely nothing!"
With that bitter, exhausted prayer to whoever was listening, Lin Xia's eyes drifted shut.
...
"Wake up, you cursed thing! Get out of the litter!"
A sharp jab to her shoulder made Lin Xia bolt upright. Her first thought was that her boss had finally resorted to physical violence. Her second thought was: Why am I wearing jewelry that weighs more than my laptop?
She wasn't in her cubicle. She was sitting on a plush, silk-lined carriage. She looked down at herself and gasped. She was wearing a blood-red bedlah—a shimmering bra-top and harem pants adorned with gold coins that rattled with every movement. Her skin was ivory, but her hair… it was long, thick, and white as a mountain peak.
Why was she wearing a bedlah and where did heck the carriage come from?
Has she finally lost her mind and gone mad?
"Move!" a man in silver armor barked. She had no idea who he was but through his face, she could see the cold disdain it held when he looked at her.
As she stepped out of the carriage onto the scorching sand of a massive palace courtyard, at first, she thought she was in some sort of movie set then a dizzying surge of memories hit her like a physical blow.
Raisa. The "illiterate deadbeat" of the Snow Leopard clan. A girl so loathed by her own family that they used her as a human tax payment to settle their debts with the Black Panther Sultan.
'They sold me?' Lin Xia's blood began to boil. 'They sent me here as a tribute to a man with a hundred concubines just to save their own hides?'
Suddenly, a playful, chime-like sound rang in her head.
[Ding! Target detected! The 'Heart-Snatcher' System is officially online!]
'Heart-Snatcher? Who is that? Who's talking?'
[Hello, Host! I am 'Talo,' your dedicated Romance Assistant! You wished for a husband who would kiss your feet, right? Well, you're in luck! Your current mission: Capture the heart of Sultan Zhakhan and become the only flower in his desert!]
-_-
'Talo? A romance system?' Lin Xia, now Raisa, clutched her head. 'I wanted to be spoiled, not to be part of a harem! Besides why am I even here? Is this some sort of game show?'
[Current Status: Unseen Tribute. The Sultan is currently watching from the high balcony, but he thinks you're just another boring gift. Change his mind, or you'll be sent to the dusty back-chambers! And to answer you second question, you Lin Xia has died and your soul has been transmigrated into this body.]
-_-
It was a pity she had to die this way.
Raisa looked up. High above, on a marble balcony, a man sat draped in shadows. She couldn't see his face, but his golden eyes were fixed on the courtyard with bored indifference.
But her path was blocked.
A group of the Sultan's current concubines had gathered near the entrance, led by a woman in emerald silk who looked at Raisa's white hair and scoffed.
"So this is the 'rat' from the North?" the woman sneered, stepping forward to snatch the red veil from Raisa's hand. "She's nothing but a pale ghost. Look at her, she's so terrified she can't even speak. Back to the servant's quarters with this one!"
The other women laughed, and one reached out to shove Raisa's shoulder.
In her past life, Lin Xia would have taken the hit and apologized to keep the peace. But that Lin Xia was dead.
In this new world, she would abuse every bit of power she got.
She will never grovel to anyone.
Raisa's eyes flashed with a predatory silver light. Before the woman's hand could touch her, Raisa grabbed her wrist, twisted it, and delivered a sharp, echoing slap that sent the concubine sprawling into the sand.
"Who are you calling a ghost?" Raisa's voice was like ice. She stepped over the fallen woman, her red silks fluttering, and looked the others dead in the eye. "I am a daughter of the North. If you want to play 'palace games,' I'll show you how a real beast handles a b*tch."
High on the balcony, the shadow moved.
Zhakhan, the Sultan who hadn't looked at a woman with interest in three years, suddenly leaned forward. His tail flicked with intrigue as he watched the white-haired girl in red standing over his favorites like a vengeful goddess.
"Who," Zhakhan purred, his deep voice vibrating with sudden hunger, "is the one in red?"
[Ding! Sultan Zhakhan's interest: +10%! Mochi is impressed! You've caught his eye, Host!]
Raisa smiled, as she sent a smirk to the woman still in the sand.
This was just the beginning.
She had no interest being part of a harem.
She will chase them all away, she needed the Sultan's attention to be on her alone and no one else.
"Talo, what's the fastest way to get the Sultan's love? I want to become his wife as soon as possible."