Chapter 1

"Your Highness, what about this one? He's strong enough to take a beating!"

"Please look at this one, Your Highness. He might be a bit scrawny, but he's very sensitive. You'll get a kick out of hearing how he screams from just a single lash."

"Do consider this one, too! He never fights back. Hit him hard enough, and he'll start sobbing for mercy. He's perfect if you enjoy breaking someone…"

It was nighttime, and out here in the slave market, greed and the most twisted of desires were on full display.

The slave traders rushed forward with eager excitement in their eyes. They'd all heard stories about Evelina Vellmore, the third princess of Centoria, before. While she was a C-class female with pitifully weak mind force, she threw money around like nobody's business.

Why else would she have come over to a backwater slave market such as this in person, if not because she was in the market for a few male slaves to torment for fun?

Meanwhile, Evelina felt the corner of her eye twitch. It had been three days since she'd transmigrated into this interstellar beast universe.

In her previous life, she'd been nothing more than an overworked corporate drone who'd dropped dead at her desk. Therefore, when she woke up and found out that she'd transmigrated into the body of a princess, she had to stop herself from setting off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate.

But that came to a crashing halt once she received all the original owner's memories.

What the heck?

She'd transmigrated into a book she'd previously read.

It was about the long-lost true princess of Centoria, an S-class female who was finally reunited with her family. Once she returned, her parents and her two older brothers doted on her to no end. At the same time, she became romantically involved with over a dozen exceptional males and lived happily ever after with all of them.

Evelina had enjoyed reading the book. She had to admit it was rather satisfying to see all those outstanding males getting jealous and fighting over the heroine.

But she didn't become the heroine, no. She became the heroine's foil—the fake princess, Evelina Vellmore.

Even when she was reading the novel, this character that shared her exact name had gotten on her nerves.

It wasn't to say that the original Evelina was a mean or vicious person, necessarily. Compared to the run-of-the-mill villainesses who drugged people, framed their rivals, or hired assassins, the original Evelina hadn't actually done anything unforgivable. She was just lustful, male-crazy, spoiled, and had a weak mind force.

Nevertheless, the author of the book seemed to have devoted all of their malice to this character.

The moment the true princess returned, the parents who had once adored Evelina immediately branded her a fraud who had stolen someone else's place. The two brothers who had protected her came to despise her, convinced she'd robbed their real sister of everything. The males she'd admired turned on her, saying the cruelest things to her, and the nobles who had once flocked around her all switched sides and mocked her.

Later in the story, Evelina underwent a second awakening. Her mind force skyrocketed, making her one of Centoria's rare S-class females. But even then, she was still crushed beneath the power of the heroine's overwhelming plot armor.

In the end, she was stripped of everything and exiled to a barren planet, where she starved to death. And while that was happening, the heroine was busy flirting with her court of suitors.

And while Evelina had been pretty pissed about that, she never thought she would one day transmigrate into that very novel. Thus, after learning of the situation she was in, she furiously racked her brains and soon realized something important—it was still pretty early on in the plot, which meant she could still save herself from the eventual outcome that befell the original Evelina.

The real princess was set to return after two more years.

Evelina hadn't undergone the second awakening yet, so her mind force was still stuck at C-class. Therefore, the only thing she could do was build up resources of her own before the real princess came back.

Money?

The original Evelina had always been insecure about her weak mind force, so she'd developed the habit of masking it through reckless spending. Even though she received a generous monthly allowance, one look at her account showed she somehow managed to spend every last bit of it every time.

Power?

Despite being a female, her mind force was so weak it was practically laughable. And as a princess, she'd been spoiled rotten, so she refused to do any actual work. She held no official position in Centoria and merely served as a token member of the royal family.

After spending an entire night mulling things over, Evelina realized her only option was to focus on people. She decided to try to steal the heroine's future posse.

But of course, she wasn't setting her sights on the heroine's loyal court of suitors. She was after the fairly important supporting characters that never caught the heroine's eye in the original story.

In other words, these were the spares that the heroine kept on the edge of her orbit. And one such example was Jasper Lunereth, who would eventually become the heroine's most loyal bodyguard.

Jasper was the son of a condemned official. Two years ago, his family had fallen. Some of them were executed, even more of them were exiled, and he himself was stripped of everything, branded a slave, and sold into the slave market.

By the time the heroine found him, he'd already spent four years being tortured in this hellhole, barely clinging to life. She bought him, treated his injuries, and earned the unwavering loyalty of a male willing to die for her.

But now that Evelina had shown up two years in advance, wouldn't it be great if he pledged his loyalty to someone else instead?

Lost in thought, Evelina continued making her way deeper into the market. According to the novel, Jasper was a wolfkin with the initials P.S. tattooed on his face to signify his identity as a penal slave. However, she'd searched the place for nearly ten minutes without finding anyone matching that description.

The slave traders were still touting their various offerings when she cut them off curtly, asking, "Does anyone have any penal slaves? Preferably a wolfkin."

The slave traders froze. Nine out of ten females who bought penal slaves did so to vent their anger. They would haul these slaves back to whip and torture at will. They became even more certain now that Evelina had come looking for a tool to vent with.

One of the slave traders who didn't manage to squeeze his way to the front lit up at once. "I do! I have one just like that, Your Highness!"

Evelina arched a brow and jerked her chin at him. "Lead the way."

The slave trader quickly nodded and led her deeper into the slave market. The farther they went, the thicker the stench of blood became.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a cage. It was cramped and covered with a heavy black cloth, resembling an oversized dog crate.

The slave trader had a sycophantic smile as he pulled the cloth off. "We haven't fully broken him in yet, but he's tough and young. He heals fast, too, so you'll get to have your fun with him for a long time…"

Inside the cage, Jasper listened quietly as the slave trader listed his "best qualities". He glanced down at the iron shackles binding his wrists and ankles, then bit down on the gag that had been stuffed into his mouth.

Who was the buyer?

Well, whoever it was, he only hoped they would give him a quick end. He didn't want to be tortured any longer.

Light flooded into the cage, forcing him to shut his eyes for a moment. His vision remained hazy as he made out the slender silhouette of the person standing outside. A faint, pleasant scent sliced through the awful stench of blood and decay and filled his lungs.

Narrowing his eyes, he struggled to lift his head, trying to make out the figure.

The figure stood against the light. All he could make out was a pair of startlingly bright eyes. Then he heard a crisp, melodious voice declaring, "I'll take him!"