Reincarnated as the Villainess’s Unlucky Bodyguard

The night stretched wide and endless.

A cold wind wove through the trees, rustling their skeletal branches like the murmuring of unseen voices. The castle loomed behind her, its towers black against the indigo sky, but Liria had left its walls far behind.

She needed to breathe.

To get away.

The weight of everything the fight, the loss of control, the knowledge of what lurked inside her now it pressed down on her chest, heavy as stone, suffocating.

So she had slipped away.

The guards wouldn't notice. They were posted at the main entrances, near the grand halls, along the castle walls. But the back courtyards? The gardens that stretched beyond them? No one would expect a princess to wander out alone in the dead of night.

Which was exactly why she did.

Liria walked through the damp grass, her boots sinking slightly into the earth, the scent of wet stone and night-blooming flowers sharp in the cool air.

She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the forest.

From here, she could see the land stretch beyond the demon capital—rolling hills bathed in silver moonlight, distant mountains jagged against the horizon. A world both vast and unknowable.

Much like her own reflection in the waters of the quiet lake before her.

She stared at herself in the surface.

The girl looking back was a stranger.

Black hair. Heterochromatic eyes that gleamed unnaturally in the dim light.

And beneath her skin, something that wasn't hers curled and coiled like a serpent waiting to strike.

Her fingers twitched.

She had felt it when she fought Enara. The thing lurking inside her, the thing that had taken over, used her like a puppet.

And she had liked it.

For a moment.

For a single, horrifying moment, it had felt right.

Liria exhaled sharply, gripping the edges of her cloak tighter.

"I am still me."

The wind whispered through the trees.

And then—

"Are you?"

Liria stiffened.

Her breath hitched.

Because that voice it hadn't come from within her own thoughts.

It had come from behind her.

Slowly, she turned.

And there she was.

A woman stood a few feet away, clad in shadows so thick they seemed to bleed into the air around her.

Her skin shimmered like polished rubies, a deep, blood-dark crimson that caught the moonlight in unnatural ways.

Her horns spiraled upwards in sharp, menacing twists, gleaming obsidian against the night sky.

Her eyes golden and burning pinned Liria in place, sharp as a dagger pressed to her throat.

And her hair a flowing cascade of liquid fire framed her face like a crown of living embers.

Liria had only seen her once before.

In a dream.

In a memory.

Her mother.

The Dark Sovereign.

Liria didn't move.

Didn't blink.

Didn't breathe.

Because she knew—knew this woman wasn't really here.

She was still trapped. Sealed away in whatever abyss held her prisoner.

But that didn't mean she couldn't reach out.

Didn't mean she couldn't watch.

Didn't mean she couldn't whisper.

"You're not real," Liria said at last.

The Dark Sovereign tilted her head. A slow, deliberate movement.

"Does that make me any less dangerous?" she mused.

Liria clenched her jaw. "What do you want?"

The woman smiled.

It was slow, sharp, curling at the edges of her lips like the promise of something inevitable.

"To see my daughter, of course."

Liria didn't believe her.

Not for a second.

The Dark Sovereign took a step closer. Her form flickered, shifting between substance and shadow, like a candle's flame dancing in the wind.

"But more than that," she continued, her voice smooth as silk, "I wanted to see how much you've grown."

Liria's fists tightened.

"You don't know me."

The woman laughed.

Low. Amused.

"Oh, but I do," she murmured, taking another step forward. "I know everything about you, my little ember. You think your soul is your own, but it was forged in my fire. You are mine."

Liria felt something cold coil in her chest.

She took a step back. "No. I'm not."

The Dark Sovereign merely smiled wider.

"You say that now," she said, almost sweetly. "But I wonder… When you lost control when you attacked your little princess—"

Liria flinched.

"Did it feel good?"

A long pause.

Liria's heart pounded in her chest.

Because she didn't want to answer.

Didn't want to think about it.

But the Dark Sovereign took another step closer, golden eyes gleaming. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

"You were stronger than ever, weren't you?" she whispered. "Faster. Sharper. Unstoppable."

Liria gritted her teeth.

The woman's voice coiled around her like smoke.

"Tell me, Liria."

The Dark Sovereign leaned in, close enough that Liria swore she could feel the heat of her presence despite knowing it was just an illusion.

"Would it really be so bad… to embrace what you are?"

Liria's breath caught.

And for a single, terrifying second, she didn't have an answer.

Because part of her a small, awful part of her wondered.

What would it feel like?

To stop fighting?

To let go?

But then—

"No."

The word tore from her throat before she could stop it.

Liria lifted her chin, forcing herself to meet those golden, burning eyes.

"You're wrong." Her voice was steadier now, firmer. "I'm not yours. I never will be."

The Dark Sovereign's expression didn't change.

But something in the air shifted.

Something sharp.

Something dangerous.

And then, just as quickly as she had appeared she was gone.

Liria staggered back, her breath coming fast and uneven, her chest tight.

The forest was silent again.

The wind whispered through the trees.

The illusion was gone.

But the weight of it remained.

And as Liria stood there, staring into the emptiness where her mother had been, a terrible unease settled into her bones.

The night felt heavier now. Colder.

The wind rustled the trees, but it no longer sounded like the murmuring of unseen voices. It sounded like her voice.

"Would it really be so bad… to embrace what you are?"

Liria wrapped her arms around herself, fingers digging into her sleeves as if that alone could steady her.

She knew what she was supposed to think.

The Dark Sovereign was evil a force of destruction, chaos, and bloodshed. She had been sealed away for a reason. Whatever she wanted, whatever she was planning, it couldn't be anything good.

And yet…

Liria pressed her lips together, her heart hammering.

"You were stronger than ever, weren't you?"

She didn't want to admit it.

Didn't want to acknowledge the way her blood had sung during the fight. The way her muscles had moved with terrifying precision, reacting before she could think.

The way power had flooded her veins, pure and undeniable.

She had felt unstoppable.

Liria swallowed hard.

She had nearly killed Enara.

If Enara hadn't fought back hadn't managed to reach her would she have stopped?

Liria didn't know.

That was the worst part.

Her hands clenched into fists.

She wanted to believe that she was in control. That she was the one making her own choices, defining her own path.

But what if she wasn't?

What if her mother was right?

What if the power inside her wasn't something she could deny, but something that was always meant to consume her?

A shiver ran down her spine.

Liria thought back to the Dark Sovereign's golden eyes, burning like embers in the dark.

There had been something almost… gentle about the way she spoke.

Not kind.

Not warm.

But gentle.

Like someone whispering a secret. Like someone offering an answer to a question Liria hadn't dared to ask.

"You think your soul is your own, but it was forged in my fire."

Liria closed her eyes.

If that was true…

If she really wasn't her own person, if she was nothing more than a weapon waiting to be sharpened then what was the point of fighting?

What was the point of pretending she could be anything else?

A sharp, ugly feeling curled in her stomach.

Because for the first time since arriving in this world, she wasn't sure she had an answer.

For the first time, doubt slithered into her thoughts, wrapping around her mind like vines, creeping into the cracks she hadn't noticed before.

And she hated it.

She hated that her mother's words had burrowed into her so easily.

She hated that she was even considering them.

She hated the fear that came with knowing that deep down, some part of her agreed.

Liria inhaled sharply, forcing herself to take a step back, then another.

She needed to leave.

She needed to get away from this place, from these thoughts, before they sank in too deep.

Turning on her heel, she stalked back toward the castle, her cloak billowing behind her, her mind a storm of tangled emotions.

But no matter how far she walked no matter how much distance she put between herself and that empty clearing her mother's voice followed her.

"You are mine."

And for the first time, Liria wasn't sure she could deny it.