Everything was supposed to be easy. That was the unspoken promise of the so-called Transmigration Starter Pack, wasn't it?
'Wealthy noble family?' Check.
'Blessed genetics and a handsome face?' Check.
'Full knowledge of the plot from the hit anime Shattered Crown?' Double-check.
Neo Draven had woken up in this world with the kind of advantages most reincarnators would kill for. He was the eldest son of Duke Draven, the future head of one of the strongest dukedoms in the empire, born into a life of silk sheets and golden chandeliers.
In the original anime, Neo Draven 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 be a statistic. If the plot wanted him dead, it would have to try much harder.
He actively avoided the Hero's circle and neutralized shady nobles before they could even think of betraying him. He maneuvered through high-society politics like a chess master who already knew his opponent's next ten moves. When people whispered that Duke Draven's eldest son was unusually sharp for his age, Neo only smiled. Of course he was. He had already watched this world burn once before—through a screen.
He thought he was winning. He thought he had outsmarted destiny and rewritten his own fate.
Unfortunately, he forgot one crucial rule.
Never, ever mess with the Final Villainess.
In the original story, Nora Valentina—the Silver-Haired Reaper—was a distant, terrifying existence. She was a genius mage with violet eyes colder than winter frost, standing alone at the 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. Cold. Untouchable. Doomed.
But life doesn't follow scripts when you start poking at them.
The sweet scent of crushed lilies and expensive incense hung in the air, thick and suffocating.
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. High-level paralysis magic—clean, precise, and entirely merciless.
A soft rustle of fabric and a whisper of silk broke the heavy silence. Then, a curtain of shimmering silver hair fell over his face, cool and fragrant like winter snow.
Neo's breath hitched.
Hovering above him was the most beautiful face in the empire, and without a doubt, the most terrifying. Nora's violet eyes were no longer calm. Instead of the cold, deadpan gaze of her childhood, they swirled with the chaotic, monstrous mana of a storm about to break.
Her hands wrapped around his throat. It wasn't tight enough to kill, but it was firm enough to remind him exactly who held the power.
"Neo," she whispered, her voice terrifyingly gentle. "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, but just enough to hurt.
"I gave you everything," she murmured, tilting her head so her silver strands 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."
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. 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, metallic hiss 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.