——

'Wàngfêi? Who? Me?' I almost pointed at myself and asked Qiuyue not to make a joke. It made me nervous more than the sword that was on my neck.

"This woman must die."

"Lady Chu."

"Because of you, His Highness.. You harmed him. If I came too late, he'll.."

"Lady Chu, don't scare our wàngfêi. Put down your weapon."

Suddenly, someone tried to attack Chu Wanwan. Her reflex action was to dodged quickly. When the female lead was distracted, Qiuyue immediately pulled me and put me behind the royal guards, shielding me from our mad goddess.

"Jin'er?"

'What is she doing here?'

Jin'er tried to attack the female lead with a dagger but Chu Wanwan was fast to dodged and countered with a heavy punch on the abdomen of her attacker.

"Jin'er!"

The female lead waved her sword in the air. Now, she was determined to charge towards my personal maid.

"Stop! Stop her." I scolded the royal guards.

"Yes."

The conflict that was happening infront of me reminded me of a fighting scene of a wuxia drama called Princess Agents. 'They're flying again.'

"Jin'er." I tended to my lovely maid that was on the ground. Chu Wanwan was busy fighting with the guards. "Are you hurt?"

Notwithstanding her pain, Jin'er smiled and shook her head. Like I said, in the original story, after Jin'er attacked the female lead, she was sent by the male lead to Red District with a sever tongue and limbs.

My heart dropped.

I reached for my personal maid's face and wiped the blood on her lips. 'The plot..'

'I am not willing. I will never allow neither them nor the plot to hurt Jin'er again.'

I held my head up in my hand. A sudden severe headache accompanied by a stiff neck hit me like a ton of bricks but even so I tried to endure the pain. 'If something happens to Jin'er again, I would never forgive myself.'

"M-my lady." Qiuyue's voice seems so far away. "What's wrong my lady? M-my lady?"

"Hurry. Call the physician. Jin'er is h-hurt."

A small smile worked across into my face when I saw Jin'er clutching my sleeves. This habit of hers, she have to change it after I leave.

Nausea and dizziness made me gasped. Qiuyue was shouting but I can't hear her. I felt like there's a cotton stuffed on my ears. My body felt so far away. My vision went fuzzy and everything around me swayed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

'Wait.. This place..'

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I whispered repeatedly.

'This is the prison. Why am I dreaming this right now?'

"What do you mean you're sorry? Lady Bai, please don't apologize. Don't blame yourself."

'Li Rui?' I touched the same prison bars that was between us, separating us. 'He.. died.' I sat there and cried on my knees.

'Why am I dreaming about him?'

When the assassination attempt to kill his father failed, the emperor was furious and immediately ordered the death penalty to the crown prince.

"This is not your fault. It is mine. I am not capable. I failed. I'm useless. I can't protect you now."

Li Rui took my hand and kissed it. I bowed my head, hiding my tears from his sight. I felt him moved. The crown prince put his hand over my hair; rubbing it gently.

My heart hurts.

"My lady.. Suxin.."

The scenes playing infront of me happened a month ago on the night before Li Rui's execution.

"I know you were raised to become empress. If I don't become the emperor— I will lose you. Suxin, I don't want you to marry someone else."

I tried so hard not to attach myself to all the characters here in the novel. I tried to be heartless. Just ignore them. Be emotionless. Not to pity them. Not to feel bad for them. Because this was their destiny. They're destined to die even how much they struggle, resist and deny their fate.

The fight for the throne means spilling the blood of your own family. And those who fails shall die or banish.

"Your Highness, in our next life, let's live as ordinary citizens okay?"

Li Rui beamed. "Alright."

"Suxin, in our next life, let's meet again." It killed me when I saw him smiling like this.

Was there something I could've done? Was there something I could've said? Anything? Just to make him feel less sad, less desperate.

'Is this my fault?'

I can't change the plot or else I might cause more tragedies. More innocent people might die like Mingle and her mother.

I'm afraid Li Rui might become another Bai Meili.

Or is it because I'm selfish? It's because I don't want to forget my real identity. The me in the real world. I have my goal and that is to return back home.

I never wanted to be here. I didn't wish to become Bai Suxin. I'm scared to get trap in this unfair novel world.

The worst feeling is.. knowing the bad ending of the people close to me but I can't even do anything about it. I mustn't!

Like the crown prince; this villainess is also going to die. "Li Rui, wait for me." I burst more into tears. "I promise, I will come to you."

I shrieked. A person suddenly lifted me up from the ground, my body was firmly attached to his chest.

"Li Han! What are you doing?!" Li Rui shouted. He stood up, gripping the jail bars so hard.

'Li Han! You dog! Why can't I even cut you in my dreams?'

I shivered when I felt the male lead's body that was absolutely brimming with hostility. What made Li Han so angry? "I swear to God, she's not going anywhere with you, brother. Even in her next life, she can't escape me."

"Li Han, let her go!"

When the male lead's blazing eyes shifted to me, he smirked like an approaching predator.

"Never."