The court function was being held in one of the palace's smaller reception halls—which was still obscenely large and covered in enough gold to fund a small kingdom.
Overcompensating.
Still overcompensating.
Will they EVER stop overcompensating?
I arrived fashionably late—because making an entrance is IMPORTANT—and immediately felt the shift in atmosphere when I walked through the doors.
Everyone's staring.
Everyone's WHISPERING.
They're all talking about what happened at the ball.
Perfect.
Let them talk.
Let them be AFRAID.
I positioned myself near one of the massive windows with Nyx draped across my shoulders, and I began my favorite activity: OBSERVATION.
The room was filled with nobles from various houses—Thornwick, Silvermere, Valorian, Everhart—all dressed in their finest and pretending they weren't terrified of me.
They're doing a terrible job of pretending.
I can see them glancing at me.
I can see them whispering.
I can FEEL their fear.
Delicious.
I caught a fragment of conversation from two nobles standing near the refreshment table:
"—compared him to his SISTER—"
"—in front of the entire court—"
"—what was she THINKING—"
I was thinking that Aldric is a self-righteous prick who needed to be taken down several pegs.
And I was RIGHT.
I scanned the room for Aldric himself and found him near the throne dais, surrounded by his usual group of sycophants.
He looked... composed.
Too composed.
He's not sulking.
He's not visibly angry.
He's just... standing there.
Looking perfectly calm and controlled.
Fuck.
That's WORSE.
That means he's PLANNING something.
Our eyes met across the room, and I saw it—the cold calculation behind his perfect princely facade.
He's going to retaliate.
Mother was right.
He's going to come for me.
And he's going to be SMART about it.
I raised my wine glass in a small, mocking salute.
Bring it on, darling.
Let's see what you've got.
Aldric's expression didn't change, but I saw his jaw tighten slightly.
Good.
Still angry.
Still WOUNDED.
Excellent.
Then the herald's voice rang out across the reception hall:
"His Excellency, Prince Riku of the Valdris Empire!"
The room went SILENT.
Oh.
OH.
This is going to be GOOD.
The crowd parted as the doors opened, and I felt it before I saw him—
Dark magic.
POWERFUL dark magic.
Radiating like a fucking BEACON.
And then he walked in.
Holy FUCK.
Prince Riku of the Valdris Empire was... stunning.
Tall—easily six feet—with dark hair that fell past his shoulders in a way that should have looked feminine but somehow just looked DANGEROUS. Sharp features. Amber eyes that seemed to glow in the candlelight.
And he was dressed in crimson and black silk with gold embroidery that probably cost more than most nobles' estates.
He looks like he walked out of a different genre entirely.
He looks like a VILLAIN.
He looks PERFECT.
But it wasn't his appearance that made my breath catch.
It was the MAGIC.
He was radiating dark magic like it was a fucking FASHION STATEMENT.
Open.
Powerful.
Unapologetic.
He's not HIDING it.
He's not pretending to be something he's not.
He's just... EXISTING.
With all that power on full display.
I think I'm in love.
Oh FUCK YES.
Prince Riku's gaze swept the room, cataloging faces, assessing threats, and then—
Oh no.
Oh NO.
He's looking at ME.
Our eyes met across the reception hall, and I felt something electric shoot down my spine.
Fuck.
FUCK.
Why is my heart racing?
Why am I suddenly WARM?
Why do I feel like I just got hit by another TRUCK?
Prince Riku smiled—slow, deliberate, absolutely WICKED—and started walking toward me.
He's coming over here.
The devastatingly handsome foreign prince who radiates dark magic is walking TOWARD ME.
I'm going to DIE.
Again.
This is how I die the SECOND time.
Not execution or betrayal or any of the game's death routes.
Just... COMBUSTION.
The nobles between us practically THREW themselves out of his path, and I watched him approach with my heart pounding and my brain SHORT-CIRCUITING.
Compose yourself.
You're a VILLAINESS.
You don't get flustered by pretty faces.
Even if they're REALLY pretty.
Even if they're radiating dark magic like it's COLOGNE.
Even if—
FUCK.
I'm blushing.
I can FEEL myself blushing.
This is HUMILIATING.
Prince Riku stopped in front of me and bowed—perfectly formal, but there was something mocking in the gesture.
"Lady Isabel Nyx Raven," he said, and his voice was smooth as silk and dangerous as poison. "I've heard fascinating things about you."
Compose your voice.
Don't sound like a flustered IDIOT.
Be the VILLAINESS.
"Your Excellency," I said, and thank the gods my voice came out steady. "I hope they were all terrible things."
He laughed—genuine, warm, DANGEROUS.
That laugh should be ILLEGAL.
That laugh is a WEAPON.
"The best things," he said. "I heard you compared the Crown Prince of Astervane unfavorably to his fourteen-year-old sister. In front of the entire court."
Oh.
He heard about THAT.
Of course he heard about that.
Everyone heard about that.
"I simply made an observation," I said.
"A devastating observation," Prince Riku said, and his amber eyes were gleaming with amusement. "One that apparently left the prince speechless and humiliated."
He paused.
"You don't seem afraid of anything."
Fear is boring.
Fear is for people who want to survive.
I want to be LEGENDARY.
"Fear is just another word for boring," I said.
Prince Riku's smile widened.
Oh no.
That smile is DANGEROUS.
That smile is going to get me in TROUBLE.
"I like you," he said simply.
He likes me.
The devastatingly handsome foreign prince LIKES me.
I'm going to COMBUST.
His gaze shifted to Nyx, who was coiled around my shoulders watching him with glowing purple eyes.
"A Shadowviper familiar," Prince Riku said. "Impressive. Most nobles in Astervane wouldn't dare keep one."
"Most nobles in Astervane are cowards," I said.
There.
That sounded confident.
That sounded like a VILLAINESS.
Not like someone whose brain is melting.
Prince Riku's expression shifted into something approving.
"In the Valdris Empire," he said, "we don't distinguish between 'acceptable' and 'forbidden' magic. We simply recognize POWER."
And then he did something that made my breath catch.
He let his dark magic flare—just slightly—radiating outward in a wave of pure, unapologetic POWER.
Oh FUCK.
He's showing me his hand.
He's demonstrating that he's POWERFUL.
He's—
Why is this so ATTRACTIVE?
What is WRONG with me?
"True power," Prince Riku continued, his voice dropping slightly, "doesn't apologize for what it is."
He's right.
He's absolutely RIGHT.
And he's looking at me like he SEES me.
Like he understands EXACTLY what I am.
And he's not afraid.
He's INTERESTED.
"Propriety," I said, and my voice came out slightly breathless, "is just another word for fear."
Fuck.
That sounded DEFENSIVE.
That sounded like I'm trying to convince MYSELF.
Get it TOGETHER, Isabel.
Prince Riku's smile became absolutely wicked.
"I think you and I are going to get along very well, Lady Raven."
This is going to be FUN.
And DANGEROUS.
And possibly FATAL.
But mostly FUN.
I was about to say something—something witty or flirtatious or possibly just HONEST—when a familiar voice spoke from behind me:
"Lady Isabel. Might I have a word?"
Sister Celeste.
Thank the GODS.
I need a moment to BREATHE.
I turned to find Celeste standing there in her white priestess robes, her expression perfectly neutral but her eyes GLEAMING with mischief.
She saw EVERYTHING.
She saw me get FLUSTERED.
I'm never going to hear the end of this.
"Of course, Sister," I said, grateful for the interruption.
I turned back to Prince Riku and offered a curtsy.
"Your Excellency. It was... illuminating to meet you."
"The pleasure was mine," Prince Riku said, and he bowed again. "I look forward to our next conversation. I suspect it will be equally... illuminating."
That was DEFINITELY flirting.
That was absolutely, unquestionably FLIRTING.
And I'm BLUSHING AGAIN.
Fuck.
I followed Celeste away from Prince Riku, feeling his gaze on my back the entire way.
That was INTENSE.
That was the most intense conversation I've had since I woke up in this body.
And I'm pretty sure I just made a complete FOOL of myself.
But also—
Also, he was INTERESTED.
He was genuinely INTERESTED in me.
Not in Original Isabel.
In ME.
The reincarnated villainess who destroyed the Crown Prince.
The one who practices dark magic openly.
The one who's building a reputation as someone DANGEROUS.
He saw all that.
And he LIKED it.
This is going to be INTERESTING.