(Author's note: Guyss the earring and the wind scene are important later on ,but if you'd rather jump straight to the main story, you can skip the paragraphs between (***).)
A princess in my dreams. A nobody in reality. That's how my story begins.
"In the body of a poor man, he searched for love within the body of a beautiful woman he had never known… In this case, tell me, who is truly the victim?.."
"..The princess who thought she was in love with a peasant? Or the Death-Bringer, forced to hide his furious nature?"
The old woman's soft yet faintly chilling voice came to a close.
Carefully, she pushed herself up from the floor and crept toward the stairs, socks muffling her steps.
Her head buzzed, cluttered with thoughts, and just before she could unlock her door, the key slipped from her hand.
The sudden clatter echoed like an animal's scream.
My ears rang; panic tangled my arms and legs. What if someone heard? What if someone opened their door, curious?
Worse, what if my downstairs neighbor noticed me? Heart racing, I snatched the key off the ground and rushed inside.
***Once inside, I kicked the door shut behind me, leaning against it as if I could block out the entire world.
My room was a mess ,clothes, papers, half-empty cups scattered everywhere. I barely had space to move.
"If the princess weren't such an idiot, she'd be perfect,"
she muttered to herself.
"Falling for a slave? Sounds like something I'd do."
A sudden gust shoved the curtains inward, ballooning them like something alive.The sound wasn't just wind ,it whispered. It murmured.
I paused. My apartment was sealed tight; no windows open, no cracks big enough for that kind of draft. is it even windy?
"Don't be stupid,"
I told myself.
"It's just the wind. I must have left the window open"
I stepped closer. The air turned colder with each breath.Then I saw it , a shadow perched on the windowsill.
A trembling rat, few grey hair and thin, its single cloudy eye fixed on me.
Before I could react, another burst of wind slammed the window open, sending the creature tumbling inside.
"Eww!"
It hit the floor, squealing, twitching… and then something glinted between its teeth.
My earring.
The one I'd lost weeks ago. its twin still dangling from my ear.
The rat gagged, coughed , and spat it out. For a long second, I could only stare, numb, while my mind tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
A shiver crawled up my spine. I covered my mouth, backing away until my shoulders hit the wall.
The wind howled again, harder this time, rattling the frames, shaking the curtains as if laughing.
My reflection flickered across the window ,pale, wide-eyed, and trembling , but for a moment, it didn't move with me.
she blinked. shook her head.
***"Okay, we're not in a horror movie, and I'm not dumb. Own the house as you wish"
Sooner or later, my landlord would evict me anyway. Debt would drag this place into foreclosure. The sooner I died, the better… so slipping out into the street felt like the best choice.
Forced myself out the door, and crept down the stairs.
That's when I froze.
The old woman's voice drifted again, muffled but clear, through the hallway.
Was she… continuing her story at this hour? How much had I already missed?Anxious or not, my feet betrayed me. By the time I realized it, I was standing at her door once more.
"The young man's eyes had changed as well. But since no one cared to look twice at a slave, the true danger went unnoticed."
My breath caught with sudden realization, and disgust.
"…Alas, the boy's body was collapsing for the second time, consumed by the greedy Death-Bringer. BUT!"
Her voice swelled, trembling with fury.
"When the executed body died, the Death-Bringer would perish too. And knowing this… the Death-Bringer had already accepted every risk."
Oh my god!
"I just dropped my key… on that old rat,"
I blurted out. overthinking got over me again and again even I missed the last part!
Too late..I'd spoken aloud.
Horror swept through me.
For months I had lingered by her always-cracked door, eavesdropping. Maybe the lock was broken. Maybe she was only reading aloud.
Whatever I was doing, it was unsettling. I could have met her. But tonight..
Tonight, convinced of my own impending death, I decided. I would meet her.
Footsteps approached from inside. My chest hammered; crouched legs refused to lift me.
The door creaked open.
Something inside me… snapped, t
Then eased.
My face twisted with confusion as relief drowned my fear.
"A monkey?"
For a moment, I lingered longer than necessary, trying to digest the sight as a zillion thoughts stormed through my head.
Did the old woman actually own a monkey? Or had this monkey invaded her house? Or… was she telling the story to this monkey?
The creature sat at eye level, a wild ball of fur and teeth. It stared back like it understood.
Then, quick as a striking blade, it swung its left arm toward my ear.
Instinct kicked in. My right hand darted out and caught its hot, furred wrist a breath before it could rip my earring out.
Adrenaline flooded me. Fear vanished. I forgot about the old woman, forgot about everything. For a pulse, my body was nothing but raw, stupid courage.
Then its other fist smashed into the outside of my right elbow.
My scream tore out of me , a raw, ugly sound. Pain exploded. My arm bent wrong, a sick twist like bone and joint arguing. Even if it wasn't broken, it had popped out of its socket.
"Shittt!"
Pain burned. I prayed someone would answer the scream. Maybe I was going to die. Maybe not. But I wasn't going down without a fight.
The monkey moved again, fast and furious, all teeth and fury. I tried to dodge , my body wouldn't listen. My muscles lagged behind thought.
"YOU SON OF A BIT-.."
White exploded behind my eyes. My head felt like it would split. I took one last, ragged breath. I couldn't say I'd had a good life, but damn, I wish I'd listened to myself once or two. At least once.
God, I should've gone to the bathroom first...
Silence fell.
The creature crouched over her, panting, satisfaction in its breath. Two fingers pressed against her eyelids. Around them, the room shuddered.
Cause and effect frayed. The laws that held shape unraveled. Objects bent and blurred. The world tasted like melting metal.
This morphing went on and on, an endless pull.
I began to hear sounds again, even to feel my flesh reknitting itself at an alarming pace.
I was walking. No-no, I was being dragged forward! Agony tore through every part of my body. Even if I forced my eyes open,everything remained black.
Panic coiled inside me. WAS I BLIND? At least if I'd died… wait. If there's no death, then is this what it feels like?
I couldn't breathe properly; hot breath kept bouncing back against my face.
When I tuned into the sounds outside, a sharp breath of surprise escaped me. The language was unlike anything I had ever even heard before. Foreign to the bone.
And yet, the dominant voice-a middle-aged man's-filled the space. For a split second, I thought I'd been exiled. Until I realized… I understood them.
"As our honorable king commanded, the guillotine has been installed. The palace residents await the execution in the central hall."
King? Who the hell were they talking about?
"Ouch."
A sudden pain in my arm jolted me forward, forcing me to take a small step just to balance myself, why the hell was I stepping so short? My body felt… not mine.
"Arghh!"
My chest slammed hard into the ground, and that was it, I was convinced something was wrong with me.
My face pressed flat against the floor, darkness still smothering my sight.
Only then did I realize the thing between my face and the ground was fabric. So that's why it was so dark… hopefully.
With one hand I pushed myself up, and with the other, I threw away the cloth from my head.
"Eeeek!"
One of the guards let out a shrill scream the moment he saw her face.
I, just as shocked by the unexpected surroundings, couldn't help but answer with a deep, booming shout.
"AAAAaaaAAA!!"
My voice! It was so deep, like a man's! Instinctively my hand flew to my throat.
My heart pounded furiously. After opening my eyes, the second thing I did was look down at my body.
"I'M A MAN!!"
Where the hell are my boobs?!
Both guards' faces twisted, the first, brows furrowed with a look that leaned more toward rage; the second, brows raised in disbelief, teetering on shock.
"Didn't you look at his cursed face when you bagged his head!?"
"You were the one on guard all night… maybe his beard just fell out from stress?"
"What the hell are you talking about, dumbass? How can someone turn into my aunt in one day!?"
"Didn't you hear him? He said he's a man!"
"Shut it, idiot! What are we supposed to tell the king? We'll be executed too!"
The man trembled, unable to think through the fear, clutching his head with both hands like it would split.
After a few seconds of writhing helplessly, an unreadable expression spread across his face.
"…What if we execute him while his head is still covered?"
He tilted his head toward the other guard, seeking support.
The second man's features smoothed, as if he were being convinced against his better judgment.
My jaw dropped.
"EXECUTION!?"