Chapter 1: Princess Elise Hart

ELISE HART'S POV:

"Have you seen the Princess?!" a soldier frantically asked a servant.

"No. Did she escape again?!" the other replied with hands on her hips.

"Yes. We're totally dead if we don't find her!"

"What?! Just yesterday she threw away the food she was given, and now she's gone?! That Princess is always a pain in the head."

I rolled my eyes. Duh. The food was laced with poison. Like hell I'd just sit there and wait for death to come.

"Just go tell the other maids the news," the first one said.

My brows furrowed at what I heard.

"What a bratty Princess," another chimed in.

I just rolled my eyes again. They kept talking, but I stopped listening and quietly left my hiding spot. Bullshit. They seriously wanted me to die at the hands of that so-called mentor of mine.

"Who's the brat? I'm just doing what’s right. If I didn’t throw that food away, you’d all be at my funeral right now. They didn’t even ask me what happened. Ugh! They really piss me off," I muttered irritably as I headed towards the thick forest. This place calms me down. It's my little stress reliever.

"Ugh! The path is so slippery," I winced. Must be because of the rain?

"Hmn," I stopped for a moment and listened carefully to my surroundings.

"..."

Someone’s here. Aside from me.

"Hup!" I flinched. Shit. An assassin!

"Hnk!" I quickly dodged the shuriken that was about to hit my neck. It embedded itself into the tree in front of me. This bastard...

"Tsk!" I heard him hiss behind me. I grinned wickedly.

"Today’s your lucky day—because you're about to meet death itself." I turned to face him and swiftly threw back the same shuriken, grazing his cheek.

"Shit!" he cursed. I couldn’t see his face because of his mask, but blood dripped from his cheek. I smirked and stepped closer, slowly pulling out the kunai hidden in the back of my dress.

"Chill. Let’s make your death quick and painless, okay?"

"Shit! Shit! I thought this Princess was brainless?!" he tried to run, but I grabbed the hem of his clothes.

"Hey, who's brainless now?" I asked coldly—and slashed his throat clean. He couldn’t even say a word.

"See? That was painless." He slowly dropped to his knees, then collapsed completely—dead.

His blood splattered on my hand. I grimaced.

"Great. Now you ruined my day and my dress!" I snapped.

"Hmph. I need to go! Second period’s about to start. Ugh! That teacher again! That pervert! I seriously need to teach that old man a lesson," I was about to step forward when—

Suddenly, a blade stabbed me in the chest.

"W-What? Ack!" I coughed up blood and dropped to my knees. Shit. I can't breathe! There’s poison in it?!

"Who t-the hell are...you??" I gasped. Damn it. I didn’t sense anything. Shit. He must be a top-tier assassin.

"Would you look at that. How does it feel to be on the edge of death, El?"

I looked up with labored breath. Oh. It’s Giselle—my leech cousin. There was someone else with her too, but I couldn’t see his face. He was fully covered. No doubt, he’s the assassin I couldn’t sense.

"What? You leech. Haha," I sneered. She scowled at me.

"Hey, Viper. Kill her. Now. Make it quick—I don’t care how. Just finish her," she said, turning to me without a smirk or even a grin. I couldn’t read her face. No malice, no anger. Just... blank.

"Don’t take this personally, El." She turned and left.

"Huh? Ack! Hah...!" I was left speechless. What the hell does she mean? Why did I see sorrow in her eyes—even just for a second?

Aren’t we enemies? Competing for the throne? We’ve never stopped fighting. So what the hell is that look?

"I wish you good luck, miss," Viper’s voice snapped me back. Crap! He’s still here!

I tried to stand—but he kicked me hard in the stomach.

"Ugh...?!" I screamed as I fell into a deep pit. I looked up and saw Viper staring down at me. There was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite place. Not rage. Not joy in killing.

"Damn it! Damn it!" I cursed as the darkness swallowed me.

I could feel it now. I was losing consciousness.

"I didn't even... get to see my father one last time," I whispered. I didn’t cry. I didn’t regret much either. Huh. If I had another shot at life, maybe I'd let myself enjoy it more.

"D-Damn. Haha," I laughed one last time.

My consciousness faded.

Until I felt something sharp beneath me, and everything went black.

I guess I really lived one hell of a life, huh?

---

“AHH!” I screamed when I felt cold water pour over my head.

“What?! You’re screaming at me now, huh?!” a hideous woman appeared in front of me.

“Ew, yuck!” I flinched. Her face was way too close. Her breath smelled like rotting food.

“Bitch!” She slapped me hard. My head tilted to the side.

“See?! You shouldn’t talk back to me!” she laughed, holding her chest like she was someone important. Honestly, she just looked like trash.

“That hurt,” I looked up at her, my blood boiling as I took in her whole face. What. She really looks like a walking trash can.

“Oh, really?” I stood up, stretched my arms, and scratched the back of my head. She immediately stepped back, visibly shocked.

I grinned demonically as I slowly walked toward her. Now that I looked around, this seemed like a cubicle.

“A-huh!” My grin widened as another wicked idea popped into my head.

“Hey! Stop! I’ll tell my daddy if you hurt me! I’ll make your school life a living hell!”

I raised an eyebrow. What the hell? That was the cringiest threat I’ve heard in my life. Still, I cornered her.

“Ah!” she screamed when I backed her into the wall. I laughed when I saw the faucet beside her.

“Don’t you dare!” she sat down by the wall, still trying to act tough.

“Yeah? Don’t what again?!” I grabbed her hair and shoved her head into the sink. I turned on the faucet and let it soak her.

“Ahh! Bitch! Let go of me! I will really kill you!” she screamed and thrashed while I kept laughing. As if she could.

“I don’t give a damn,” I said coldly.

I was starting to get bored so I let go of her. She stood up looking like a witch and glared at me with death in her eyes. I just raised an eyebrow. What’s she looking at?

“What? Still not enough? Want me to drown you for real?” I asked icily.

“Bitch! You’ll pay for this! I’ll kill you! Bitch!” she yelled and stormed off, even bumping into my shoulder.

“That's nothing compared to what she looks like right now. She really looks like a witch,” I giggled.

“Uh. Wait a minute. How... the hell am I alive?!” I froze in place when the realization hit me.

Just then, the mirror caught my attention. I frowned.

"This has to be a joke."

“This is insane. Who is this beautiful girl? This is definitely me… but this isn’t my body at all!”

To be continued.

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