Safely tucked behind the heavy oak doors of her suite, Emii collapsed onto the silk-covered bed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
"Good Lord," she groaned into the mattress. "The brother of this original soul is far too handsome for a side character. How did the previous Emii manage to ignore a literal Greek god living in her own house? Was she blind, or just remarkably focused on her own stupidity?"
She grabbed a velvet throw pillow and screamed into it—a muffled, passionate venting of her repressed adrenaline.
"That smile!" she whispered fiercely, rolling onto her back to stare at the gilded ceiling. "Reddish-brown waves of hair that look like they were kissed by a personal sunset. And those eyes... they don't just look at you; they plot to melt your resolve. And his physique? Those abs were practically trying to introduce themselves through his shirt. 'Hey girl, you single?' Yes, Mr. Lane, I am. And I'm currently wondering if I can sign a marriage contract before I remember we share a last name."
She sat up abruptly, shaking off the trance with a sharp flick of her hair.
"Focus, Emii. Fangirling doesn't pay the bills. Mission first, millions second, parents third. I'm coming home rich, baby, and I'm bringing the drama with me."
She snatched her phone—or rather, the crystal-encrusted device the original Emii called a phone—and scrolled through the contacts with a predatory grin. She found it: the number of the "Dog Man," the man the original heroine had ruined her life for.
"What screams class and chaos simultaneously?" she mused, her fingers hovering over the screen. After a heartbeat of intense focus, she typed a string of symbols that would make a sailor blush.
No. Not elegant enough.
She deleted it and started again.
[ To the man who believes himself a king: You are not even worthy of the thread on my shoe's sole. Do not bother me again. ]
She hit send with a victorious tap and immediately blocked the number. "Mission One: Ghosting the Moron. Success. If sarcasm were a currency, I'd already have more gold than this entire kingdom."