[BACK TO ORIGINAL POV]
The encounter ended disastrously.
Agrona's slap left a stinging crimson mark on the girl's cheek.
It made no logical sense. How was she labeled the pervert when she wasn't the one whose blood had been drawn?
Regardless, from that day forward, the treatment she received, not just from Agrona, but from everyone on the estate, improved, if only slightly. It was already a miracle that Cressida, the stereotypical minor villainess, had survived the very chapter she was originally meant to die in.
For one, her circumstances had improved.
Her wrists were no longer chained to the bed, granting her the freedom to sit at the small dresser and comb her hair.
A sharp voice sliced the quiet. "Hey, blood slave."
Cressida slowly turned.
It was Genevieve, whose expression clearly showed her fury at having to serve this girl better.
To Genevieve, Cressida was likely the same annoying hanger-on, only now somehow magically imbued with braincells.
"What do you want?" the girl huffed, rolling her eyes as she faced the mirror again, continuing to brush her black, luscious hair.
Genevieve threw a garment toward her. It landed squarely in Cressida's lap. "Wear this dress."
How polite.
"Her Imperial Highness, Agrona, wants you to wear it like the proper blood slave you are. She'll need you once she's done dealing with the divorce papers."
Ah, the divorce arc.
Agrona might be the pure embodiment of evil, but the novel's heroine was just as mentally twisted as everyone else.
The difference was that the heroine's trauma seemed to justify her cruelty. She wasn't the typical lead; she was selfish, calculated, and entirely without empathy.
It was, perhaps, understandable. Since nothing in this world was real to the heroine, a world she knew was fiction, it was likely as significant as stepping on ants.
But to Cressida, everything felt real.
Every sting of pain, every flash of sorrow, every emotion was terrifyingly authentic because this was her life now.
"Question."
"Spill it."
"Can I go outside now?"
"..." Genevieve stayed silent for a moment before sighing. "Well, since you are to be the wife of her Imperial Highness, you are to be given freedom so you may."
║[SYSTEM ALERT]║
║Multiple Scheduled Events Detected║
║Scheduled Event #1: "The Imperial Divorce"║
║Time: Ongoing║
║Classification: High-Risk Political Drama║
║Summary: Agrona Aurelian and Daimon are finalizing the dissolution of their empire and marriage. Emotional volatility is reaching lethal levels.║
║Scheduled Event #2: "The Heroine's Lost Route"║
║Time: Unknown║
║Classification: Narrative Anomaly║
║Summary: The designated heroine has deviated from her scripted destiny. Current whereabouts and intentions remain unlogged.║
║NOTICE: Both events will intersect soon. Choices made in one may influence the other.║
║[Intervene in Event #1] — Meddle with Agrona's personal affairs. Gain potential Emotional or Negative EXP.║
║[Investigate Event #2] — Track the missing heroine. Gain potential Storyline EXP or uncover hidden mechanics.║
║[Ignore Both] — Allow fate to proceed.║
║Warning: Once a path is chosen, all parallel routes will advance without your interference.║
Soon, at an upcoming social event, Agrona would formally demand the split.
She'd win, naturally, because Daimon, the Emperor, was a pathetic coward.
Despite his desperate pleas for her to stay, he'd be stunned and shocked that his loyal wife of years was abandoning him.
The reason, of course, was one only an idiot could miss.
Meanwhile, Lilithia, the heroine, being the classic reverse harem protagonist, would start building her roster.
She'd sneak out of the kingdom, travel to the city, and deliberately go to the library where she was destined to meet the Second Male Lead.
'I'm not planning to be in this marriage for long. I have to go meet the heroine.'