Ting!
My shift was finally over.
"Yuki-chan, heading straight home?" Mina, my co-worker, called from the kitchen.
"Hai, Mina-chan! See you tomorrow~"
I slipped off my chef's uniform and changed into a purple v-neck shirt, long black pants, and white sneakers. Bag in hand, I stepped into the evening streets, scrolling through my phone as I walked.
Two notifications caught my eye instantly:
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OGNews: New and Popular Otome Game "Dark Sky, My Queen" is getting a new season! Limited copies only — available now at XXXX Company or online at xxxx.com. See you soon, Dark Sparkles~
Reminder: Tomorrow is my honey-baby's birthday! Don't forget to buy a gift and bake his favorite cake~
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My heart did a little flip. Dark Sky, My Queen — my latest obsession. A fantasy otome game where the heroine, Vanessa, a baron's daughter with light magic, wins the hearts of powerful capture targets in an empire of magic and intrigue.
Change of plans. Instead of heading home, I went straight to XXXX Company to snag my copy.
The shop clerk — a striking red-haired woman — handed me my package with a strange, lingering smile. Weird… but whatever. I still had to buy a console for my "honey-baby" — my little brother.
I had just finished shopping when my phone rang.
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Honey-Baby
📞 +91-7378-266-83669
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"Hello, baby~ what's up?" I answered with a grin.
"Onee-san~ I love youuuu!"
"Aww, I love you too. Do you want something?"
"Nope~ I just want my onee-san here with me, Otousan, Okasan, and Oni-chan."
"What a sweet little brother I have~ I'll be home soon—"
I never finished the sentence.
A truck — speeding far too fast — came out of nowhere. There was no time to run. The impact crushed me between its grill and a concrete wall.
"ONEE-SAN?!! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
His voice cracked through the phone, but all I could feel was pain, fear, and the warmth of blood running down my head.
"Hehe… cough onee-san is fine… cough oh, and happy early birthday, baby..."
People shouted around me. Someone called an ambulance. I could barely breathe.
"Tell Otousan, Okasan, and Ruru-oniichan… that I love them… and I love you too..."
"WAIT! ONEE—"
His voice faded. My heartbeat slowed. Memories of my family flashed before my eyes — laughter through hardships, warmth through sorrow. Leaving them like this… was cruel.
How unfortunate.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
Then… a voice.
"Do you want to live again?"
"Yes," I whispered without hesitation.
A soft chuckle. "Alright."
Blinding light filled my vision.
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"MY LADY—!"
I opened my eyes to purple silk curtains and a worried young maid in a black-and-white uniform.
"My lady, you're awake! Wait here — I'll fetch the master and mistress!"
Confused, I sat up… and realized my body felt smaller. My reflection in the ornate mirror stole my breath.
Glossy black hair streaked with violet spilled to my hips. Amethyst eyes shimmered above flushed cheeks and perfect lips. She wasn't me — and yet she was.
No… I knew this face.
"I'm… Ellena Mariella?" My voice trembled.
The villainess of Dark Sky, My Queen.
The door burst open. Eight people entered, led by a man with cold black eyes and violet hair — my "older brother" William, one of the game's capture targets.
"Ellena, baby, are you alright?" boomed a tall, handsome man I instantly recognized as Duke Mariella — Ellena's dangerously doting father.
Behind him, her mother, the duchess, gave me a warm yet terrifying smile.
I glanced at the brothers — each one powerful, beautiful, and, in the game, a potential threat. And I remembered… in every route, Ellena dies.
My hands trembled.
"Baby princess, why are you shaking? Don't worry, Papa is here~"
I stared at them all. My mind screamed only one thing:
I don't want to die again.
And the only words that came out were—
"Who… are you people?"