The Hero and the Beauty

"Don't tell me… you…"

Her voice trembled at the impending trouble coming her way, but Lily misunderstood her tone and thought that the Boss was accusing her for doing something excessive.

"Don't worry, Boss." The nimble girl was quick to explain herself, her manner righteous and allowing no doubt to appear.

"I did nothing more than what you have assigned me! To tie up his four limbs, pick out one dark room, strip him of his top, and lock him up to face the cold until he beg for your mercy! I merely did all that and nothing more!"

Lily rambled without exchanging any breath in between, her puffed out cheeks filled with pride as she finished her speech.

You What?!!!

"S-So, you're saying that the one who had ordered his capture… assigned such atrocious arrangements… that abominable pervert… is me?"

Riley simply couldn't believe her ears. For a moment, she found herself unable to react to the sudden change of situation, her voice coming out more like a silent mourning for her anguished hope.

And yet, oblivious of her master's inner conflict, Lily thought for a while before she heartlessly gave out a furious nod.

"That's right!"

"..."

How can that be?

In all honesty, she couldn't recall herself ever doing such an immoral thing as kidnapping some wild man and locking them to make them submit to her.

She may be forceful and willful at times but in the field of man, Riley believed that she could rely on her charm alone to excel.

Thus, this must be a mistake. There must be a misunderstanding somewhere.

Riley was so sure that she could never be such an indecent person and yet, it was exactly at this moment that the broken memories from two days prior popped out of nowhere to piece together, forming the very scene of the drunken night where she had drowned herself in the pleasure of expensive wine, intoxicating music and… beauty?

That night, under the soft, dreamy light of the lone moon, the utterly drunk her met him – the very man of her dreams. It was the first time in her life that her heart had raced for someone of the opposite gender and without her noticing, her mouth moved by itself.

"That man," the then half-conscious Riley said whilst hiccuping nonstop. "I want him. B-Bring him to me."

Her pointing finger swaggered left and right and never precisely landed at the said man-of-her-dreams however, all it took was one single glance for the ever meticulously attentive Lily to determine who her master had exactly meant.

"Yes Boss," was all Riley remembered before losing her consciousness entirely and now, here she was – utterly lost, oblivious, and flabbergasted by the sudden surge of information in her mind.

"..."

No wonder.

No wonder the second male lead hated her so much that he ordered for her execution with such a strong enmity in his eyes.

No wonder he had snatched all her wealth, broke her four limbs, destroyed her everything, and dumped whatever's remaining of her into the sea to feed the fishes.

After such humiliation, anyone would do just the same. She could understand, of course… Baah!

In one instant, all feelings of resignedness disappeared without any traces, entirely washed away by the strong overwhelming torrent of unwillingness rising from the depth of her heart.

How unreasonable! How dominating! How so full of himself!

Riley exploded.

Even if she were to commit such a huge and irreversible mistake, was it necessary to take her life as a punishment?

That's simply too much!

Humans are flawless by default. Everyone makes mistakes every now and then but that doesn't make them deserving of death as punishment, right?

Riley believed that just like anyone else in this imperfect world, she deserved a second chance as well.

The second male lead, no matter how villainous he was supposed to be according to the book, would understand. Or else-

[Warning! The system has detected a malicious and dangerous intent from the host. The system warns the host to dispel the thought before a penalty is issued.] 

Fine, he better should. Riley was quick to compromise.

Moreover, to minimize the damage caused by this accidental blunder of hers, she had a brilliant idea in her mind.

"Since the second male lead was destined to be set free either way, giving him the chance to exact his revenge, why can't I be the hero who'll save the beauty instead?"

Replacing the female lead and becoming the second male lead's – who'll later be revealed to be the hidden villainous final boss of the story – benefactor, that didn't sound bad at all.

And thus, with newfound confidence, Riley motioned for Lily to lead the way. And to the cold, dark, cramped and gloomy corridor they went, her blood turning colder and colder the more she came closer to her destination, the punishment room where she had kept the second male lead captive.

This… Riley looked to her left and to her right, then up and down and gulped.

Would the villainous second male lead believe her if she insisted that she had absolutely nothing to do with this arrangement?