The return of villainess

Lisa woke up surrounded by warm furs. It had been a long time since she felt anything like that, so she rolled over and snuggled in, enjoying the moment.

"Are you enjoying it?" a male voice asked her.

Lisa opened her eyes. In front of her was the bat beast-man, Cyrion. She jumped, growling and baring her teeth at him threateningly. He just laughed.

Lisa was surrounded by warm furs on his bed. She had probably fallen asleep after he applied ointment to her yesterday. Looking around, nothing had changed. The room was still dimly lit by a faint glow coming from the next room. The reddish tone of the red crystal offered little light, and the place was dark. Lisa no longer knew whether it was night or day.

Her skin burned, her body ached. She felt so sore it was like she'd been in a boxing match with an especially brutal fighter. Every part of her throbbed in agony.

Still in her cat form, she hissed at Cyrion menacingly, but the male just stared at her, fascinated.

He was lying right next to her, not looking the least bit threatened by her false bravado.

He's a four-stripe beast-man, Lisa had to remind herself.

Cyrion leaned toward her, his face resting on his hand. His black hair spilled down his back, and his irisless eyes stared intently. His waist was wrapped in furs, which Lisa supposed was better than the previous nudity, but the perfect abs ending in a V that disappeared beneath a blanket practically begged for a glance. He was beautiful like a painting brought to life, the kind of perfection that only existed because it wasn't real.

"It's a new day. I thought I'd take you somewhere" he said sleepily.

Lisa ignored him, circling the bed while thinking of the best way to get out of there. In her feline form, communication was even harder. Maybe she should switch back to her human form.

The sudden thought filled her with fear. How did she turn back?

The male kept talking, oblivious to her internal panic.

"I was thinking of taking you somewhere with light..."

Lisa focused on changing forms. She thought of herself, with two legs, twenty-five years old, long blonde hair.

Nothing. She couldn't shift.

She panicked. Growling and snarling.

The male, who had been lying beside her, sat up alert.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to."

Maybe she was doing it wrong. She stopped, swished her tail, and visualized herself, not how she used to be, but the way she looked now, Lisa the villain.

She pictured herself with green eyes and a round face, short, poorly cut hair. Soon, Lisa began to change. It was a strange sensation now that she was paying attention. She didn't know how she'd turned into a cat, but now, fully conscious and aware of the shift, Lisa just felt a tingling across her body.

Soon she was in her human form. Completely naked.

Lisa screamed, grabbing one of the fur sheets from the bed. She didn't know if Cyrion could see with those strange eyes, but she wasn't going to take the chance.

Unfortunately for Lisa, in her haste she ended up pulling the blanket covering his waist.

The male looked surprised and made no effort to cover himself or grab the blanket back.

Completely red, she turned her gaze away.

Only silence greeted her in response. She felt uneasy. What was he thinking?

"You're beautiful" Lisa heard a voice say behind her.

She turned slowly. Cyrion was staring at her, or at least seemed to be. She wrapped herself tighter in the furs. In the books, every few pages described the beauty of the villainess and the heroine. They were stunning, and that made several males fall for them throughout the story. As the title itself suggested, everything in this beast world seemed to revolve around two things: beauty and power.

Beautiful females were more loved and sought after, and males—the more powerful they were, the more admired, and the better their chances with females. Not only would they be chosen, but they'd have a better chance of being their partner's favorite among the others.

But remembering all that only made Lisa feel worse. That wasn't her. It wasn't her body, her skin, her hair, or her eyes. Lisa the villain wasn't the same Lisa who lived in the modern world, studying and fighting for the life of her dreams. In this world that wasn't hers, in someone else's body, all she wanted was to survive.

She pointed toward the cave's exit, suddenly no longer embarrassed about being naked, after all, this body wasn't hers.

She wanted her body back.

Cyrion looked in the direction she pointed.

"What? You want to go there?"

Lisa nodded.

He frowned.

"Why don't you speak?"

Lisa sighed, tired of that question. She approached him and stuck out her mutilated tongue. It still hurt, but now, her whole body seemed to hurt too.

Cyrion narrowed his eyes.

"Who did this to you?"

Lisa looked away. It's not like she could answer.

Cyrion stepped closer and leaned down, touching his forehead to hers, and suddenly Lisa could hear a voice in her mind.

"Who did this to you?"

She stepped back, shocked. What was that? It was like speaking in her animal form, but it didn't make sense, both of them were in their human forms!

"So?" he asked, waiting.

And Lisa found herself answering the same way she did in her feline form.

"How are you doing this?"

The male smiled.

"I have four stripes. I have many skills."

He stepped closer to her again.

"So tell me, little female, who did this to you?"