Chapter 2

Pandora curled up onto her bed, although not the most comfortable, it was certainly better than the prison cells. Her eyes were dull, deprived of emotion, numb. The bitter ache of betrayal still lingered on her heart. Could it even be called betrayal? They never cared for her in the first place did they? She was a conventional tool they could simply get rid of. Pandora scoffed in a mocking tone, she knew they were using her yet she still let her self be controlled. Like a damned doll, she was just as useful to them as a puppet. Something they could easily manipulate.

Pandora pulled her small body off the stiff bed, her hands were long calloused from chores originally meant for servants. It couldn't be helped, afterall she was the 'villainess'. Pandora tried to recall why her father, the emperor had thrown her into the now dilapidated cold palace*.

'Ah, I remember now.'

A blurry face came to Pandora's mind. The fragmented memory served as the last trace of warmth in her frozen over heart. Her mother, the former empress, had died of excess blood loss when giving birth to Pandora. The Emperor decided for her to be thrown in the Lunar Palace with no servants, ignored for the rest of her life in the abandoned building as repentance for killing his beloved. The palace had already been lonesome before with the Emperor taking in no concubines, but with the years of neglect that came with the only princess? It could hardly be called a palace anymore.

"Haha, what a coward." Yes, that's what he was. It was what he had always been. Agustus was too afraid to move on from the death of the empress and too afraid to face the only remaining fragment of her rooted in Pandora. Pandora had never seen her mother, but she had been told she looked just like the late empress in her last life. The cruel words still echoed in her ears, Pandora didn't think she would ever forget them.

"To think the kind Empress could give birth to such a daughter..."

"To take the face of the Empress yet have a heart full of malice!"

"She's the miscreant that dare to commit such deed with the face of the late Empress! Death is deserved!"

Thankfully although the Emperor seemed to despise Pandora, he still provided her the necessary funds for food. Most of it was plundered before it could get to Pandora, but she still was somehow able to get enough nutrient to survive. Pandora still had eight years before the vixen comes in to ruin her already in shambles life.

"Haaa~" Pandora breathed out a sigh. Although it was eight years, there would only be three before she was forced to help her 'lovely' brother: the crown prince. While Pandora had the same face as her mother, her brother was a exact copy of their father with blazing crimson hair and golden eyes. Their mother didn't have the silver hair of Pandora nor the red eyes, both her hair and eyes were golden. A direct sign of someone who had obtained the favor of the highest degree pertaining the Godess of Light. People with small blessings like emperors would have golden eyes while those with a direct blessing would have golden hair, by that you could see how important the late empress had been in the eyes of the Light Godess. She placed higher than Pandora's father and even the soon to be priestess Lilith.

Pandora however, had neither traits nor the ability to channel her mana. Something that even commoners would be able to do, magic was an innate ability afterall. She would need to find some miracle plant this life to fix her body, otherwise it would be impossible for her to exact her revenge unless....The demon race.

"Don't even think about it."

Pandora jumped, the sudden voice alarmed her. It sounded like a male youth. "Who!?"

Her courtyard may be abandoned, but it was still within the royal palace. Pandora wasn't aware of anyone who would willing visit her. She scanned her room and grabbed her pillow as a form of self-defense before noting a black fog. The voice came from within the fog, "Child, you're supposed to prevent the demons from taking over the continent not help them in their conquest!"

The cloud of fog spoke, moving in a rather animated way as if to emphasize it's rage at Pandora's absurd idea. Pandora's silver lashes fluttered as she blinked at the black fog. The strange lighting in the dilapidated room only farther highlighted her delicate yet child-like features. "What?"

The black cloud bobbed in anger, "How dare you forget already after I saved you!"

Pandora blanked, she did remember hearing a voice after she died. "You saved me...why and how?"

The cloud stopped moving, staying afloat in place. "That...Priestess, She's fake. Lilith isn't from this world, she's a transmigrator. You are also....A character in a book, well you were supposed to be. That book was made into a world by us gods for fun and that lady was someone who traveled here by accident. To put it simply, she wouldn't have been able to stop the demons and they would've reached other worlds and perhaps even the realm of the gods."

Pandora smiled and somehow the 'cloud' felt frightened by it. "So you're saying I was made to suffer because some shits couldn't live their life in peace and wanted entertainment?"

The cloud gulped, if looks could kill he was certain all the gods would've been dead by now. "W-wait! I can explain, it wasn't meant to happen. You would've been a god yourself if not for the girl, it wasn't.....Anyway! I'm here to help you!"

The silver haired girl scoffed, "It doesn't matter right now, explain why you are here!"

The 'cloud' gulped, what a strange sight. The puff of smoke shrunk in on itself before morphing into a humanoid figure. Pandora almost chocked in suprise at the shota that appeared infront of her. Large almond shape eyes with crystal blue iris, black hair as dark as the night, and pale skin flushed red with embarrassment and panic. His facial features were rather feminine, but it only added on to the cuteness of the child.

"I'm the God of Death, Thanatos." The childish voice rang out.

Pandora's own phoenix shaped eyes narrowed.

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cold palace: generally a term for where concubines out of favor reside