Averielle's POV
I never expected to die alone. Not like this, not betrayed. Not with the knife that had been my closest companion slipping from my hand while someone I trusted drove their own blade into my chest.
So this was how it ended.
Not in a glorious last mission. Not in some desperate fight for survival. Just a betrayal in the dark, an ending that no one would bother writing about.
My world began to blur at the edges. My legs gave out beneath me and I sank to my knees, the cold ground bit into my skin as my hands braced against the pavement.
In that strange moment between life and death, my thoughts drifted backward through the years I had spent living in shadows.
I had killed with precision, with discipline, and without hesitation.
And now, as my life drained out onto the pavement, the memories felt strangely hollow.
All the sacrifices, every single one of them, suddenly seemed pointless. I had given everything to a cause that I barely understood, to people who had never truly cared about me beyond my usefulness. My loyalty, my skill, even my life itself had been treated like tools that could be discarded the moment they were no longer needed.
The bitter truth settled into my chest heavier than the wound.
I had spent my entire life obeying orders.
But I had never once stopped to ask myself what I actually wanted.
Warmth, freedom.
I could have searched for those things. I could have chosen them, if I had been brave enough to walk away.
Instead, I chose obedience.
And now it was too late.
The betrayal burned hotter than the blade lodged in my chest. I had trusted someone, and that had been my greatest mistake. As an orphan, I had always carried the hope that one day I might belong somewhere, that someone might look at me and see more than a tool meant for killing.
Instead, they discarded me the moment it suited them.
Just another expendable asset.
My final thought before darkness claimed me was bitter in its simplicity.
I died alone.
And no one would come looking for me.
The darkness swallowed everything.
But then...
.
.
.
.
My eyes snapped open as air rushed violently into my lungs. I gasped and jolted upright, clutching at the sheets beneath my hands as my heart pounded wildly inside my chest. For a moment I simply sat there, drawing in deep, desperate breaths as if my body had forgotten how to exist without pain.
Soft gasps sounded around me.
Women in frilled dresses stood frozen beside the bed, their wide eyes fixed on me as though they had just witnessed something that scared them.
One of them clasped her hands over her mouth while another took a cautious step backward, clearly unsure whether to approach me or run.
I ignored them for the moment.
My attention moved slowly around the room, absorbing every detail the way it had been trained to do. The ceiling stretched high above me, decorated with intricate patterns carved into polished wood. Sunlight poured through tall windows draped in heavy curtains, illuminating furniture that looked far too expensive to belong anywhere near someone like me.
The bed beneath me was absurdly soft.
The room itself looked like it belonged inside some historical era.
Something about the entire situation felt deeply wrong.
My gaze eventually landed on the tall mirror standing near the far wall. Without thinking, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, ignoring the nervous murmurs from the women behind me.
My steps felt slightly unfamiliar, though not weak, just different enough to remind me that something about my body had changed.
When I reached the mirror, I stopped.
The girl staring back at me was not...me.
"What the hell...?" I murmured to myself.
Long chestnut hair cascaded over narrow shoulders, framing a pale face with delicate features and wide eyes that seemed far too gentle for someone who had lived the life I remembered. The body was slender, almost fragile, nothing like the hardened form I had trained for years to perfect.
Slowly, I raised one hand.
The reflection did the same.
My stomach tightened as the realization settled into place.
This was not my body.
Before I could process the thought further, a mechanical voice echoed clearly in my mind.
[WIFEY SYSTEM ACTIVATED! HOST, YOU HAVE DIED AND SUCCESSFULLY REINCARNATED AND OCCUPIED SERAPHYNE VAELMONT'S BODY.]
I froze.
The maids behind me shifted nervously.
"Miss Seraphyne…?" one of them whispered.
I ignored them completely as my eyes scanned the room, searching for the source of the voice. There were no speakers. No devices. Nothing that could logically explain what I had just heard.
"Who said that!?" I demanded.
The women exchanged confused looks.
"Miss Seraphyne… we did not say anything…"
Before they could continue, the bedroom doors burst open with a loud bang.
A man in his late fifties strode into the room, his presence immediately commanding attention. His deep frown made it clear that he had already lost his patience long before arriving here.
He crossed the distance between us in only a few steps.
Then his hand moved.
The slap landed across my cheek with a sharp crack that echoed through the room. My head snapped to the side as pain exploded across my face, the sudden impact leaving a burning numbness in its wake.
For a moment the entire world seemed to go quiet.
"Do you truly wish to provoke me, Seraphyne?" the man thundered, his voice carrying authority and anger. "Why is it so difficult for you to obey me? I am your father!"
Father.
The word struck something deep inside my mind.
Without warning, memories that were not my own flooded forward. Images crashed through my thoughts like waves during a storm. A noble estate. Formal dinners filled with cold silence. A mother who rarely spoke to her youngest daughter. Four older sisters whose expressions ranged from indifference to irritation whenever Seraphyne entered the room.
Seraphyne Vaelmont.
The forgotten fifth daughter of the Duke.
The unwanted one.
I steadied myself against the bedpost as the unfamiliar memories settled into place.
So that was it.
I had died.
And somehow, impossibly, I had awakened inside someone else's body.
As if sensing my realization, glowing text appeared in the air before me.
[HOST, YOUR NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN. COMPLETE OBJECTIVES TO SURVIVE.]
I stared at the message without speaking.
[ACTIVATION REASON: HOST, YOU DIED WITH UNFULFILLED REGRETS. YOUR LIFE ENDED WITHOUT EXPERIENCING PERSONAL HAPPINESS OR WARMTH. THE WIFEY SYSTEM WILL GUIDE YOU TOWARD A FULFILLING LIFE IN THIS NEW WORLD.]
A second life.
The idea felt absurd, yet the evidence stood directly in front of me.
[OBJECTIVES: COMPLETE ASSIGNED MISSIONS TO DEVELOP PERSONAL SKILLS, HOUSEHOLD COMPETENCE, AND SOCIAL CONNECTIONS. FAILURE WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT.]
[HOST, COMPLIANCE IS RECOMMENDED. YOU MUST LEARN TO LIVE THIS LIFE FOR YOURSELF.]
[NOTE: SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND MISSIONS. WIFEY TASKS ARE MEANT TO TEACH HOUSEHOLD, SOCIAL, AND PERSONAL SKILLS.]
My brow furrowed slightly.
Household tasks.
Of all the things I expected after death, domestic training had not been one of them.
[HERE IS YOUR FIRST MISSION: MEET WITH ALL THE FAMILY MEMBERS.]
[PROGRESS: 1/6]
Family.
The memories stirred again.
A father.
A mother.
Four sisters.
Six people in total.
I rubbed my temple as the absurdity of the situation settled quietly in my mind.
After surviving assassinations, betrayals, and death itself…
Apparently my first challenge in this new life was meeting with the family.
And judging by the slap I had already received, it wasn't going to be pleasant.