My aunt and uncle practically threw me into my room, bolting the lock from the outside—as if I was the danger, not the family of sociopaths on the other side.
The room was... well, "horrible" was a kind word. It was a tiny, cold attic space with a sloping roof I couldn't even stand up straight in. The bed was a lumpy cot, the blanket was a rag, and the decor was dust, dust, and more dust.
I sat on the cot, my dress still damp and reeking of "mutt-stink," and finally let my brain process.
Okay. I am Primrose Thistle. I am twenty years old. I am in the Hard Mode of an Otome game. My family wants me gone, and my Bad End is marriage to the human-sized-toad, Marquis Grieve.
My "I'll get them first" bravado from downstairs suddenly felt... thin. How?
I'd been a chef, not a black-ops agent. I couldn't exactly sauté my cousins into submission.
I paced the tiny room. Think like a gamer. What are the 'Hard Mode' mechanics?
In Beastly B.A.D.s, the Easy Mode Lioness FL had a skill called Alpha's Allure, which made all the MLs go dumb for her. The Normal Mode heroine had Noble Charisma.
The Hard Mode heroine (who was now me, a Fox-kin) had... nothing.
Wait. It was worse than nothing. I remembered reading the fan-wikis. In this world, "allure" wasn't just about looks; it was about pheromones. A powerful beast-kin's heat or rut was a powerful, scent-based, fated-mate kind of magic.
And as a failed, tail-less fox... I was a social blank. I had no pheromones. I was aromatically neutered.
I couldn't attract a beast, even if I was a perfect 10/10.
I collapsed back on the cot. So I can't attract a husband. That's the whole point of the game. It's literally unwinnable.
...or is it?
My gamer brain flickered. The game's title wasn't "Seduce a Bachelor." It was Beastly B.A.D.s(Bachelors, Aristocrats & Dads). And what did those B.A.D.s have in common?
They're all single dads. Or guardians.
My mind, my "meta-knowledge," suddenly lit up like a quest log.
[Target: Marquis Rurik Jaeger (Wolf)]
Status: Grumpy Widower.
Problem: Son, Vali Jaeger. A "Demon Cub" who only eats raw meat and bites everyone.
[Target: King Caspian de Maris (Merman)]
Status: Desperate Widower.
Problem: Son, Prince Orion. A "Frail Cub" who refuses all food and is wasting away.
[Target: Duke Lucien Crepusci (Panther)]
Status: Tragic Widower ("It's Complicated").
Problem: Son, Silas Crepusci. A "Silent Cub" who just stares and might be a tiny, traumatized sociopath.
[Target: General Rajah Khanda (Tiger)]
Status: Honorable, Overwhelmed Widower.
Problem: Son, Arjun Khanda. A "Hyperactive Cub" who thinks he's a tiny soldier and trains by destroying furniture
[Target: Archduke Cassian Argentis (Snake)]
Status: Scheming... Bachelor? (Guardian)
Problem: Younger brother, Jasper Argentis. A "Delicate" cold-blooded child who is always cold and needs highly specialized food.
I stared at the dusty wall. The game wasn't about "pheromones."
The entire game is a childcare nightmare.
The cubs. It's all about the cubs. Vali is aggressive because his diet is terrible. Orion is "frail" because he's malnourished. Silas is traumatized and needs comfort food. Arjun is hangry. Jasper is cold.
I... I can fix all of them.
I'm not a failed fox-kin. I'm a Top Chef.
I've made five-course meals for Michelin judges. I've plated 300 perfect appetizers in an hour. I can absolutely handle a few "problem" cubs.
A way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
That's the old saying. But I've just found a better one.
The way to a B.A.D.'s heart... is through his cub's stomach.
I stood up. I had a plan. I wasn't going to be sold off. I was going to leave. But I needed startup capital.
I unbolted the door—they hadn't even locked it properly—and marched back down the crumbling stairs.
They were all still in the parlor, probably dividing up my (non-existent) dowry. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Barnaby, Lupin, and Cassia all looked up in surprise.
"What are you doing out of your room?" Aunt Petunia shrieked.
I ignored her and walked straight up to my uncle.
"You want me gone?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady. "You want to be 'free' of the 'failed' Primrose?"
Uncle Barnaby blustered. "Now, Prim... it's not... we're just... it's for your own good..."
"Save it," I said, cutting him off. I turned to Lupin. "You want me to disappear. I want to disappear. So let's make a deal."
Lupin's amber eyes narrowed. "A... deal?"
"You're terrified of the scandal, right? Terrified that Lord Jaeger will find out you're a poacher-by-proxy? Terrified that I'll run my mouth to Marquis Grieve and ruin your own marriage prospects?"
I had them. Their pale faces were all the confirmation I needed.
"I'm not marrying the Marquis," I stated, as if it was a simple fact. "I'm leaving. Today. I'm going to the capital to start my own business."
"With what?" Cassia scoffed. "You don't have a single coin!"
"That's where you come in," I said, smiling sweetly at my aunt and uncle. "You're not going to 'sell' me to the Marquis. You're going to invest in my freedom. Give me a small severance—just enough cash to rent a small shop and get started. Just a fraction of what you'd save by not having to pay my dowry or bribe the Marquis."
"And if we don't?" Lupin sneered, trying to get his confidence back.
"Then I'm going to walk right back to the Jaeger hunting grounds," I said, my smile never wavering. "And this time? I'm going to make damn sure Lord Rurik Jaeger finds me. And I'm going to tell him exactly who sent me."
The room was silent.
Aunt Petunia looked at Uncle Barnaby. Uncle Barnaby looked at Lupin.
Lupin was the first to break, his handsome face twisting. "You? Go to the capital? You think it's that easy?" he scoffed. "You're a tail-less nobody. You think you can just survive in the capital with a few coins? You'll be—"
"Lupin, hush!" Aunt Petunia snapped, her voice surprisingly sharp.
She turned to me, her mousy features tight with calculation. A new, ugly kind of hope was dawning in her eyes. "A severance. You want... a 'severance' to leave?"
"Just enough to rent a small shop and buy ingredients," I said, keeping my voice cool. "And in return, you never see me again. I'm no longer your problem. I'm just a... distant relative who moved away."
"Petunia, are you mad?" Uncle Barnaby started, but she shot him a look that shut him up.
"Fine," Aunt Petunia said, a slow, thin smile spreading across her face. "Fine. You want to go to the capital? Be our guest."
I almost sighed in relief, but I caught her expression. She was accepting way too fast.
Oh, I see.
I knew exactly what Lupin was implying, and I knew exactly why my aunt just agreed. They didn't think I was going to the capital to succeed.
They thought I was going there to die.
To them, this was the perfect solution. A failed twenty-year-old fox-kin with no tail, no pheromones, and no protection, alone in the cutthroat capital? She was past her debut, practically a spinster. She'd be chewed up and spat out before the first snow.
They'd be free of me, and they wouldn't even have to dirty their own hands. Marquis Grieve, Lord Jaeger, or a capital city alleyway... as long as I disappeared, they didn't care which one claimed me.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Auntie," I said, my smile turning genuine for the first time.
They thought they were sending me to my Bad End. But they were wrong.