Right before her consciousness slipped away, Ines thought she heard a voice—soft yet unmistakable—rising from the hands that had reached for her.
"Let's try not to die again this time."
The words struck her like an echo of something long forgotten. So familiar, it felt like a piece of her own soul was speaking back to her.
Hssssss.
A sharp breath tore through the stillness.
Ines jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat, her chest heaving. Her heart pounded like war drums, and that strange voice still echoed in her ears. Her body was filled with pain like she had been beaten with a sledgehammer.
"This pain is seriously no joke!" she spoke, voice shaky. She lifted a trembling hand to wipe her forehead, then pushed herself up—
—and froze.
"Huh?"
The bed beneath her was enormous, covered in soft purple silk embroidered with golden patterns that shimmered faintly under the dim lighting. The four tall ivory posts that framed it stretched toward the ceiling, draped in rich velvet curtains, making the entire bed feel like a throne.
Above her, a floating chandelier of glowing crystals hovered in midair, slowly rotating in an elegant dance, casting a soft, golden glow across the room. The ceiling was high, painted with an unfamiliar starlit sky, its constellations pulsing faintly as if they were alive and watching.
The walls were made of smooth, enchanted wood, with golden carvings of strange symbols woven between delicate floral designs that seemed to shift and breathe when she wasn't looking directly at them.
Ines's eyes widened until they nearly popped out of her skull.
Wow, wow, wow… Where in the hell was she?!
Her head turned left, then right, jaw slack as she took in the surreal surroundings. No way this was Earth. It was too advanced. Ines looked down at herself.
These weren't her hands.
They weren't her anything.
She had been blown apart—obliterated—by a bomb. Her entire body had been vaporized. This couldn't be the same one.
It didn't take long to realize: she wasn't just somewhere else. She was someone else.
Just where did this Nyxiris guy send her?
Her gaze landed on a tall, full-length mirror standing off to the left of the bed. Its surface gleamed like silver water. The frame was laced with violet gemstones, each reflecting the chandelier's light like starlight caught in crystal. Gold and silver designs curled across the frame, impossibly delicate.
Cautiously, Ines stood and made her way to it. Ignoring the pain in her body.
In the mirror stared a girl—sixteen, at most. Beautiful in a way that didn't feel fair. Her face was the kind of artistry that whispered chaos and seduction, carved by hands that knew both madness and mastery. Not a gentle beauty. A dangerous one.
Her eyes were the most striking feature: a deep violet, with slitted pupils like a serpent's. Yet they sparkled, brilliant and unholy, like starlight woven through shadows. They didn't just catch attention—they captured it. You didn't look into those eyes. You fell into them.
This wasn't human beauty. It was too beautiful beyond human comprehension. She wore a simple white nightgown, long-sleeved and tied at the chest with thin ribbons. It draped loosely over her slender frame. Her hair was long, black, and unbound, flowing smoothly down her back.
Ines let out a low whistle. "Not bad… not bad at all."
The reflection blinked back at her.
Okay, sure, she'd been pretty in her last life. Pretty enough to cause some minor fender benders. But this? This was the kind of beauty that got you worshipped, locked in a tower, or burned at the stake—depending on the century.
She broke into a cackle. "That lunatic who blew me up—if only they could see me now! Killed me, only to send me to paradise! I oughta thank them—sincerely—from the bottom of my heart! Hahaha!"
Her laughter echoed through the room… until suddenly, wham.
A rush of memories hit her like a truck. Five minutes went by as these foreign memories came rushing back inside her brain.
She blinked.
Her grin twitched.
"…Damn it all!!! You wretched heathen! Don't you dare let this miss come back or I swear I'll—!!!"
Paradise?
HA. She'd walked straight into hell with a prettier face.
What kind of sick joke was this?!
Face grim, Ines dropped to her knees and bowed. Pushing the pain in her body down once more.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"O Great Heaven! I offer my most sincere apology! Please—please send me back to the void! I promise I'll live like a good-for-nothing shut-in next time!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
She kept the rhythm going like a tragic little drum solo. Heaven, unsurprisingly, ignored her.
She let out a hysterical laugh and leapt to her feet. "To hell with it! If you won't take me back—I'll force my way there!"
With zero hesitation, she rolled up her sleeves and locked eyes with a marble column near the bed. Her forehead was locked and loaded.
Just as she sprinted toward it like a human battering ram—
Rattle.
The doorknob turned.
Ines froze mid-charge, eyes bugging out, her head just inches from impact.
And then—whoosh—she bolted for the bed at full speed, diving under the covers with all the grace of a startled raccoon.