Bang!
The loud crack of a wooden gavel echoed, striking the marble desk at the front of the hall.
"Stephanie Vane! For the attempted murder of your own half-sister, you are officially stripped of your position as the Crown Princess candidate!"
Stephanie's head throbbed violently. The pain felt like someone was drilling into her skull alive.
She blinked, trying to sharpen her vision. Her sight was blurry, but she could see herself kneeling on the ice-cold stone floor. In front of her sat a row of old men in luxurious robes, glaring at her with absolute disgust.
Foreign memories suddenly flooded her brain.
Ah, she thought. Transmigration. A few minutes ago, she was the CEO of Asia's largest logistics company, dying suddenly from heart failure at her desk. Now? She was inside the body of a foolish villainess who had just been framed by her half-sister.
"Sister... sob... how could you poison my tea?"
That fake sobbing caught Stephanie's attention. Beside the judge's desk stood a girl in a pure white dress. Lysandra Vane. Crocodile tears streamed down her cheeks.
Beside Lysandra stood Prince Valerius—this body's former fiancé. The man held Lysandra's waist protectively.
"Stop acting, Stephanie!" Valerius snapped, his jaw tightening. "All the witnesses have spoken. It's a good thing the maid spilled that poisoned tea before Lysandra could drink it. From this moment on, our engagement is annulled!"
Stephanie stared at them in silence.
There was no hysterical crying. No desperate begging for mercy like everyone in the courtroom expected.
Inside her head, the instincts of a CEO immediately went to work evaluating the situation.
The half-sister's crying act is too forced. It looks like a scam startup's pitch for funding, Stephanie thought cynically. And that teacup evidence? They didn't even check for fingerprints. Back in my company, a document forger this sloppy would've been fired without severance.
However, Stephanie also saw the figure of Duke Malakor Vane, her biological father, sitting quietly in the corner of the room. He looked away, clearly having no intention of defending her whatsoever.
The judge was bribed. Her father washed his hands of her. This engagement was rigged to be broken from the start. This wasn't a trial; this was a highly inelegant hostile takeover.
"Therefore," the Chief Justice spoke again, stroking his white beard. "As a punishment substituting execution, thanks to Duke Vane's mercy, you are banished to Winterhaven, the northern edge of this continent. Your noble title is hereby stripped!"
The room fell silent. They were waiting for Stephanie to explode in anger. Winterhaven was a land of death. Being banished there was the same as a delayed death sentence.
Stephanie slowly stood up. She casually dusted off the dirt from the knees of her dress.
"Alright," Stephanie said calmly. Her voice didn't tremble the slightest bit.
Valerius frowned. "What did you say?"
"I said, alright. I accept the verdict," Stephanie repeated. She looked directly into Valerius's eyes, making the arrogant prince inexplicably shiver.
"You want to break off the engagement, right? Go ahead. Just consider my shares in this kingdom withdrawn. Besides, investing in a blind man who can't tell the difference between real poison and stale sugar water is a terrible business move."
Valerius's face flushed bright red. "You dare insult me?!"
Stephanie ignored him. She turned to her father, Duke Malakor, and gave a faint, extremely cold smile. "Thank you for the 'severance pay', Duke. I will manage Winterhaven my own way."
Without waiting for the judge's gavel to strike again, Stephanie turned around. She walked out of the courtroom with firm steps, her chin held high, leaving the row of nobles gaping in absolute confusion.
To Stephanie, Winterhaven wasn't a wasteland.
It was a brand new monopoly market, untouched by competitors.
Three weeks later.
The northern wind howled like a starving wolf. The old carriage carrying Stephanie came to a halt with a hard jerk that made her teeth rattle.
"M-My Lady... we have arrived," a trembling voice squeaked.
Vespera, the only personal maid foolish enough—or loyal enough—to follow her into exile, stared out the window with blue lips.
Stephanie opened the carriage door. The extreme cold slapped her face instantly. Thick snow covered everything up to her calves.
In front of them stood Winterhaven Castle.
Or rather, the massive pile of rubble that used to be a castle. Half of the roof had collapsed. The windows were gaping holes without glass, allowing the blizzard to freely enter its dark hallways.
"My Lady, we are going to freeze to death here..." Vespera began to sob softly, hugging her own body clad only in a thin coat.
Stephanie stared intently at the dilapidated castle. The territory's treasury was reported to be at a deficit of 500 gold coins. There was no food, no heating, and no guards. This was the worst bankruptcy she had ever faced.
Stephanie's lips slowly curved into a smirk.
"Freeze to death? We won't, Vespera," Stephanie muttered. "We are going to turn this junkyard into the center of the world. Let's go in; we need to audit what assets are still left."
Just as her foot stepped past the rusted iron gates of the castle, the air in front of Stephanie's face suddenly rippled.
A semi-transparent, bright blue screen suddenly popped up in front of her eyes.
Stephanie gasped. Reflexively, she stepped back until she bumped into Vespera, making the poor maid yelp in surprise.
A hologram? Augmented Reality technology? In the middle of nowhere? Stephanie's eyes widened. She tried to touch the screen, but her fingers only phased through the freezing empty air.
"M-My Lady? What's wrong?" Vespera asked in confusion, staring at her mistress who seemed to be grasping at thin air. It was clear the maid didn't see any screen.
Realizing she was the only one who could see the panel, Stephanie closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. As the former boss of a tech giant, she was used to adapting to anomalies instantly. If soul transmigration was real, treating this weird screen as a 'built-in feature' of her new world wasn't impossible.
She quickly suppressed her shock, letting her analytical instincts take over again. Her eyes narrowed sharply, reading the glowing lines of text one by one.
[Ding! Ultimate Tycoon System Successfully Activated.]
[Scanning Host... Complete.]
[Current Balance: -500 Gold Coins (Warning: Bankrupt!)]
Stephanie frowned at the negative balance, then the screen blinked, bringing up new text.
[Emergency Quest Triggered: Survive the First Night!]
[Warning: Temperature will drop to -20°C in two hours. Predicted mortality rate from hypothermia: 99%.]
[Asset Detector Active: An SSS-Class Asset detected in the castle basement. Asset body temperature: Extremely Hot.]
[Objective: Descend to the basement and tame the Cursed Prince to use as a free space heater!]
[Failure Penalty: Freeze to death and get eaten by Frost Wolves.]
Stephanie read that last line twice. A Cursed Prince? An SSS Asset? A free space heater?
"Huah," Stephanie sighed, adjusting her coat against the howling storm. "It seems this company's audit needs to start from the basement."
[Nymphaearoot the Author]: Hope you enjoy reading! If you like it, please add it to your library and let me know your favorite moments in the comments