Chapter 1: Prologue

Everything was supposed to be a breeze when you transmigrated into a world where every luxury was laid right at your feet!

Wealthy noble family? Check.

Blessed genetics and a handsome face? Check.

Full knowledge of the plot from a hit anime? Double-check.

Neo had woken up in this world with the kind of perks most reincarnators would kill to have. He was the eldest son of Duke Draven, the future head of one of the strongest dukedoms in the empire. He was born into a life of silver sheets and golden chandeliers.

In the original anime, Neo was nothing more than a stepping stone. He was a third-rate villain who got in the Hero’s way, sneered once or twice, and died pathetically in the very first arc. A sacrificial lamb. A plot device forgotten by episode four.

But this Neo refused to go down like that. If the plot wanted him dead, it would have to try much harder.

That was what supposed to happen. But unfortunately for him, he forgot one crucial, life-saving rule.

Never, ever mess with the Villainess.

In the original story, Nora Valentina, the Violet-Haired Reaper, was a distant, terrifying existence. She was a genius mage with eyes colder than winter frost, standing alone at the very top, feared by all. In the final arc, she was supposed to burn the kingdom to ashes before the Hero defeated her in a dramatic showdown. She was a cold, untouchable beauty.

But life just doesn’t follow the script when you start poking at it.

...

The sweet scent of crushed lilies and incense hung in the air, thick and suffocating. The atmosphere was calm and silent. Unnervingly so.

Neo’s head throbbed like a war drum beating against his skull. He tried to lift his arm, but his limbs completely refused to move, as if someone had hit him with a high-grade paralysis spell.

A soft rustle of fabric and quiet footsteps broke the heavy silence. A girl entered the room. Without saying a word, she closed the distance between them. Then, a curtain of violet hair fell over his face, bringing with it that chilling fragrance of lilies.

Neo’s breath hitched.

’Oh no...’

Hovering above him was the most beautiful face in the empire, and without a doubt, the most terrifying one. Nora’s eyes were no longer calm. Instead of the cold, deadpan gaze of her childhood, they held an intense fire that bordered on obsession.

Her hands wrapped around his throat. It wasn’t tight enough to kill him, but it was firm enough to remind him exactly who held the power here.

"Neo," she whispered, her voice terrifyingly gentle despite their position. "Did you really think the borders of the Dukedom were far enough?"

His pulse spiked.

"Nora... listen—"

His voice cracked as her grip tightened slightly. Not enough to choke him, but just enough to hurt.

"I gave you everything," she murmured, tilting her head so a few strands of hair brushed against his cheek. "I cleared your path. I removed every annoyance. Every obstacle." Her thumb traced his jaw slowly, possessively. "And in return? You tried to sacrifice yourself, running away from me?!"

He forced a breath.

"I wasn’t running. I was trying to stop the war. If I died, the Empire would—"

"Shh..."

Her thumb pressed gently against his lips, silencing him. The room suddenly felt much smaller, the air freezing around them.

"You shouldn’t have dared to leave me, Neo," she whispered, her voice breaking for just a fraction of a second. "Not after you made me love you."

Love.

The word didn’t sound sweet at all. Coming from her, it sounded like an absolute curse.

Neo’s heart pounded wildly against his ribs. This wasn’t how the story went. He wasn’t the protagonist. He wasn’t the Hero. He was supposed to be the prize.

Nora leaned closer until their foreheads were almost touching. Her violet eyes glistened, not with tears, but with a desperate, unhinged devotion.

"You saved me. You stood in front of the whole world for me. Do you know what that does to someone who has never been chosen?" Her fingers tightened around his throat.

"Don’t look at me like that. You’re mine, Neo. The world can burn. The Empire can fall. I don’t care."

The sharp sound of a dagger sliding from its sheath echoed in the quiet room. Its blade gleamed under the flickering candlelight.

Neo’s eyes widened.

"Nora... you don’t have to—"

Her smile was fragile, yet completely unhinged.

"Rather than sacrificing yourself for a world that would abandon you..."

She leaned down, her breath brushing against his lips.

"Let’s die. Together."

The dagger swung down, and darkness swallowed everything.