The world spun in swirling colors—red, gold, black. I felt the ropes dig into my wrists, cold stone against my knees, and the weight of a hundred stares burning through me. This was the end. Evelyn Verdana, villainess of the kingdom, condemned at sunrise. My heartbeat thundered, echoing the judge's voice ringing in accusation.
"Do you have any last words?"
They expected a sneer, a curse, or pride—something befitting the monster I'd become. Instead, my lips tasted blood and regret. Betrayal from those I'd called family, the throne slipping out of reach. I wanted to scream, to beg. But I chose silence; my darkness belonged to me.
As the sun kissed the horizon, I closed my eyes—and the world went black.
I woke gasping, choking on air. No ropes, no audience, no stone. My bed—embroidered with a gold crest I hadn't seen since I was fifteen. Panic clawed at me. The chandelier overhead, the velvet curtains. Impossible.
A glowing window appeared in the air:
System Message:
Welcome, Player Evelyn. Main Quest: Redeem Your Sin or Perish.
Memory crashed into me, relentless: A second chance. The sword of fate. My downfall… undone?
Not wasting a second, I bolted from my room—the same room I'd set fire to three years ago. Silence, servants still sleeping. I sprinted through grand halls lined with mirrors reflecting a face both familiar and new. My heart hammered with purpose.
Downstairs, movement. Anna—the servant I ruined. She fumbled with a tray, age less and hope in her eyes. In my first life, I destroyed her. Now, her future rested in my hands.
I grabbed the tray before it fell, steadying Anna. She stared, startled.
"You… you're helping me?"
I forced a smile—a real one. "Of course. Today, things change."
Anna's shock lingered, but something else flickered—trust, maybe. I let the system's quest linger in my mind, a warning and a promise.
I would not die the villainess again.