Chapter 1 [Volume 1]: The Princess Starts Off Imprisoned

A deathly pale moonlight spilled through the thin clouds, washing over the Imperial Capital.

This should have been the hour when the city’s lamps were lit, yet the entire city was abnormally still.

Not a single human voice could be heard; it was just like a city of the dead.

The evening wind blew through the empty streets, creating a whimpering tremolo before finally dissipating in front of a woman in a white robe.

She brushed away non-existent dust from her white robe and reached out to push open the door before her.

“Creaaak—”

The rusty, decaying door hinges let out a grating, unpleasant sound, accompanied by a foul, fishy stench.

The girl, bound by iron chains in the deepest part of the room, trembled as she slowly regained consciousness.

Her slight movement naturally did not escape the woman’s eyes.

She strode forward, looking down from her superior height at the prisoner-like girl.

“Oh? Her Highness, the Imperial Princess, is awake?”

As she spoke, the woman’s hand emerged from her robe and mercilessly grabbed the girl’s hair, forcing her to look up and meet her gaze.

The candlelight flickered, its faint glow illuminating the girl’s face.

The very face that countless people had cursed and hated to the bone.

—The Imperial Princess, Violet.

The woman looked at Violet’s somewhat dazed eyes, a shadow of gloom flashing through her own as the grip on her hair tightened considerably.

“Since you’re awake, shouldn’t we have a conclusion to what we discussed earlier?”

The pain caused Violet’s body to jolt instinctively, and a flicker of life returned to her dull eyes.

Her lips, pale from dehydration, moved slightly, and a hoarse voice squeezed from her throat:

“Yes… I’ll agree to your terms…”

“Don’t you think that… eh?”

The woman’s words halted awkwardly mid-sentence.

She had never expected Violet to answer this way.

Just a day ago, the girl had been stubbornly screaming insults like “small fry.”

To think that after only one night, her attitude would change so drastically.

The woman suddenly felt as if she had kicked a ball of cotton.

Her desire for catharsis went unfulfilled, making her tone even more impatient than before.

“…You’ve done well!”

Violet blinked, her rose-red pupils filled with confusion.

‘Who changed my ‘Surrender’ button to ‘Taunt’?’

Seeing her innocent expression, the woman’s chest heaved.

She forcefully suppressed the nameless fire rising in her heart and said in a muffled voice:

“Since you’ve made your preparations… then enjoy your final moments.”

With that, she took out a metal box the size of a human head, threw it on the ground, and turned to leave.

Violet was finally released.

She subconsciously scanned her surroundings, piecing together what information she could.

The decor of the room, and the appearance of the woman from before, all perfectly matched a game she had played in her past life.

It was a massively multiplayer online role-playing adventure game, and she had been a streamer who made a living playing it.

Just an hour ago, she had finally defeated the game’s final hidden boss—Violet—by forgoing food and sleep to exploit a bug.

And she had even obtained a world-unique item: [The Imperial Princess’s Diary].

Unfortunately, before she could even check the item’s effects, her entire computer screen went black!

She didn’t even have time to let out a choice curse before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, as if she had been struck hard with a club.

When she woke up again, she was here, without having inherited any of Violet’s memories.

Fortunately, her ID in her past life wasn’t for nothing.

As ‘Violet’s Dog’, she could be considered the player who understood the empire’s last princess the most in the entire game.

But it was precisely because she knew Violet inside and out that she couldn’t be happy.

Because her enemies were truly numerous.

Perhaps it was because great trees attract the wind, or perhaps it was due to the developers’ malice towards beautiful girl characters.

Any NPC a player encountered in the game could potentially have a grudge against Violet.

Even a dog on the side of the road might have been slapped by Violet.

And as the final boss, nearly all the main story characters wanted to kill her.

If it were only that, Violet might still have a chance.

After all, as the final villain, she still had quite a few loyal lackeys under her command.

For example, the Empire’s current number one powerhouse, the all-element mage, Syks.

Who was also the damn woman who had just been pulling her hair.

“…”

The air fell silent for a moment.

Violet blinked, a beat late to the realization.

‘Isn’t this plot a little off?’

‘Shouldn’t I be using my game knowledge to carefully navigate every step, save the collapsing empire from the brink, and ultimately live a comfortable life as the Imperial Princess?’

“Clang!”

The faint sound of shaking chains brought Violet back to her senses.

She weakly turned her head, using the moonlight filtering through the dilapidated window frame to get a good look at her own body.

She had been so focused on surveying her surroundings that she had subconsciously ignored herself.

Now, upon closer inspection, she discovered with some horror the abnormality of this body.

A head of long, black hair cascaded down, spread messily on the floor.

Beneath the thin dress was a petite and delicate frame.

Her limbs were smudged with dirt, which, by contrast, made her skin seem even fairer.

She was like a porcelain doll that would shatter at a touch.

She seemed to have been here for quite some time, to the point that the chains on her wrists and ankles had chafed her skin, leaving glaring red marks.

“Isn’t this… a bit too young?”

If the Violet in the story was a young lady, then she was now a loli.

And a loli who was so weak she could pass out at any moment.

It was no exaggeration to say that if you put a chicken in here right now, Violet wouldn’t be able to win against it.

Her physical weakness was the least of her current problems.

Violet didn’t believe for a second that Syks would let her off so easily.

The reason for the other woman’s betrayal seemed to be a desire to form some sort of “cooperation” with her?

‘What kind of cooperation requires tying someone up in a place like this? And even restricting my movements, not letting me leave? Don’t tell me it’s a political marriage…’

Violet’s eyes suddenly widened in horror.

‘Is she insane? I’m pretty sure I’m still a minor right now!’

‘No, absolutely not! I have to escape quickly…’

The more Violet thought, the more panicked she became.

Her body instinctively scooted back, seeking something to lean on to support her laughable sense of security.

“Shh shh~”

A faint, strange noise suddenly broke the silence of the room, like something being dragged across the floor.

Already on edge, Violet hastily turned her head, only to see a metal box the size of a human head lying quietly on the ground, as if the sound just now had been a hallucination.

But she was certain she hadn’t misheard.

In this environment, not a single sound could escape her ears.

“Shh shh~”

The strange noise started again, but this time it was no longer in the same spot, but had moved to a position less than two meters to her side.

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.

Violet held her breath in fear, feeling a chill crawl up her spine.

The next moment, a sticky, cold sensation came from her ankle, as if a venomous snake had coiled itself around her.

Violet’s body stiffened.

She didn’t dare to move a muscle, afraid that any action would bring about her own demise.

The atmosphere fell into a strange stalemate.

Just as Violet felt she couldn’t hold on any longer, the room was bathed in a bright red light.

A magic circle covering the entire floor lit up with a crimson glow, carved with ominous patterns.

Just one look at it made Violet feel as if she had been struck by lightning, her whole body feeling as wretched as if she were drunk.

But with the light from the magic circle, Violet was able to see clearly the creature wrapped around her ankle.

It looked like an octopus, but with far more writhing tentacles.

Even more terrifying, this tentacled monster had only one eye.

That eye was amber-colored, and it rolled around as if it were full of human-like intelligence.

In that instant, Violet met its gaze.

And then, she felt a sticky sensation slowly crawling up her leg.

“Eek… N-No! Don’t!”