[The Opponent is approaching! Careful!!]

  Huh? "Opponent"? What do you mean by that, you useless talky?

  And then, it hits me. I feel her presence before I even see her. The air grows tense, a flicker of possessiveness swirling around her. Oh no, it's her—the main heroine. I can already tell. She's that picture-perfect princess who's always in the spotlight. She's practically glowing with "I'm too good for you" energy, but underneath? I can feel it. The jealousy. The possessiveness. The sheer, burning desire to rip me apart.

  She's a Yandere for sure. Behind that fake smile, I can already hear the words she's really thinking: "If you get any closer to my Prince, I'll make sure you never leave this castle alive."

  "Greetings, Prince Lucian, and... Lady Isolde?"

  Ugh. The way she says my name like she's holding her nose. How charming. She's definitely pretending to be all gracious while secretly planning my demise. I wouldn't be surprised if she planned to strangle me in my sleep or have me thrown into a dungeon the moment she gets the chance.

  "Hi there, Prince—"

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  [Hurry and kiss him! Go! Kyaaa!]

  Before I can even finish my sentence, the useless talky shoves me forward—wait, WHAT?! She can do that? I thought only I could hear her, but she just physically pushed me.

  And BAM!

  Out of nowhere, our lips meet. I didn't even get a chance to react. My nose immediately starts bleeding—just like that. What is this curse?

  The entire world feels like it halts. I swear, I can feel the intensity of the glare coming from the main heroine. Her eyes are practically burning a hole through me. She's pissed. Oh, she's pissed.

  Lucian pulls away, wiping his lips with a look of utter disgust. "What'd you do that for?"

  Oh no. Oh no, no, no. I just kissed him. THE Prince. The one guy who's supposed to hate me. And now, he probably wants to kill me. Why did I even think this was a good idea?

  I quickly step back, already feeling the heat rush to my face and the nosebleed getting worse.

  "Sorry, pardon me," I stammer, trying to salvage what's left of my dignity. "I better go now."

  I hurry back to my room, replaying the scene in my head. Oh my god, what have I done? The princess is going to murder me, isn't she?

  I try to shake it off, but there's one thing left to address—the reward. I did the task. I kissed the Prince. So... where's my prize?

  "Hey, useless talky," I mutter under my breath as I sit on my bed, wiping my nose. "Where's my reward for completing the task? You promised me something!"

  [You have already received your reward.]

  Wait, what? That's it? What kind of reward is that?

  [You received the Prince's first kiss. Hehe.]

  I blink, feeling the sarcasm dripping from the message. Is this a joke? That kiss was more traumatic than rewarding.

  "Are you serious?" I groan. "That's all I get? I'm going to murder you one day, you know that, right?"

  [New Quest! Murder the Main Heroine.]

  I freeze.

  What. The. Actual. Heck?

  Before I can process the sheer absurdity of the situation, there's a knock on my door.

  "Coming in."

  Of course, it's the princess.