Reincarnated as the Villainess’s Unlucky Bodyguard

Legs crossed, coffee cup in hand, Liria leaned back in her chair at the castle's massive breakfast table, savoring the calm. For once, her life wasn't a rolling disaster. At least, not yet.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Pass the jam," Enara said sharply, not bothering to look up from her plate as she smeared butter onto a piece of toast with the precision of a surgeon.

"Say 'please,' you little gremlin," Liria shot back, tossing the jar across the table.

Enara caught it with a huff, her midnight eyes narrowing. "You're supposed to set an example for me."

"Yeah, and that example is called survival. Welcome to the real world, princess."

Across the table, Queen Verida, her regal demeanor intact despite the casual breakfast setting, suppressed a smile. Her golden eyes flicked to Ananara, who perched uninvited on a fruit bowl. The sentient pineapple sniffed disdainfully, as if offended by the very concept of breakfast.

"I fail to understand why I must endure these morning rituals," Ananara sniffed, his tiny arms crossed over her spiny chest. "Do you simpletons not realize I don't eat mortal food?"

"Then why are you here?" Liria muttered, eyeing the pineapple with barely concealed irritation.

"I am supervising," Ananara said, puffing out his chest. "Someone has to maintain standards."

"Of what? Being insufferable?"

Before Ananara could deliver another cutting retort, the massive double doors at the end of the dining hall creaked open. Liria turned her head, expecting a servant or perhaps another demon noble coming to bother her. What she didn't expect was the pair of absolute disasters who staggered inside.

Daena and Nyssara looked like they'd crawled out of the deepest pit in the Underworld and then rolled through several miles of filth for good measure.

Daena's obsidian skin was smudged with dirt, her once-glorious horns chipped at the tips. Her usually gleaming violet eyes were dull, and her wings drooped with exhaustion. She wore what could only be described as rags, and even those looked like they were losing the will to live.

Nyssara wasn't much better. The starry midnight-blue gown she usually wore was in tatters, her silvery hair tangled and streaked with mud. Her spiral horns, once pristine, were scuffed and cracked, and her lilac eyes held a weariness that made her look a thousand years older.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

"By all the stars," Verida said finally, her voice a mixture of disbelief and judgment. "What in the hells happened to you two?"

Daena groaned, staggering to a chair and collapsing into it like a sack of bricks. "You don't want to know."

"You reek," Enara said, her nose wrinkling as she leaned back in her chair. "Like a swamp. And maybe something dead."

"Charming," Nyssara muttered, dropping into the seat beside Daena. She reached for the coffee pot with shaking hands, ignoring the way her tattered sleeve flopped uselessly. "We've had… a long few weeks."

"Oh, really?" Liria said, her tone dry. She crossed her arms, leaning forward with a smirk. "Do tell. Did you two get lost on the way to a bathhouse, or is this some kind of avant-garde fashion statement?"

"Careful, child," Daena growled, though it lacked her usual bite. "I'm not above grounding you, even now."

"Ground me? From what?" Liria gestured around the room. "Sitting here and eating toast while you and Nyssara play 'Who Looks More Homeless'?"

Nyssara gave her a flat look, but Daena let out a bark of laughter.

"I see your mouth still hasn't learned restraint," Nyssara said, lifting her cup to her lips.

"And I see you still haven't learned basic hygiene," Liria shot back, grinning.

"Liria," Verida said sharply, though there was a flicker of amusement in her golden eyes.

"What?" Liria threw up her hands. "I'm just saying what we're all thinking!"

"You're not wrong," Enara muttered, stabbing her fork into a piece of sausage with the type of disdain usually reserved for traitorous courtiers or poorly staged plays.

Verida cleared her throat, a sharp sound that drew everyone's attention like a general rallying their troops. She set her goblet down with a deliberate clink and leveled a piercing golden gaze at the two disheveled figures.

"Care to explain why you both look like you lost a fistfight with a dragon and then went swimming in a cesspool?"

Daena groaned, dragging a clawed hand down her face. "We didn't lose, for one thing. And secondly, why haven't you answered our calls, Verida?"

Nyssara, who had been attempting to sip her coffee like an exhausted ghost of elegance, perked up at Daena's question. "Yes, let's address that. We sent messages. Plural. And not one response."

Verida's expression didn't waver, though Liria noticed a subtle tightening of her jaw. She leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled under her chin. "And why exactly should I have answered? The two of you seemed perfectly capable of handling… whatever it was you were doing."

"Handling it?" Nyssara sputtered, placing her cup down hard enough to send a ripple through the dark liquid. "We spent two weeks trekking through infernal marshes, dodging death at every corner, only to return looking like this!" She gestured at herself and Daena with an air of theatrical indignation. "Do you have any idea what it's like trying to fend off a pack of infernal shades with nothing but—"

"Nyssara," Daena interrupted, her tone sharp. "That's enough."

Liria smirked behind her coffee cup. If she didn't know better, she'd think Daena and Nyssara were hiding something. The kind of something that involved infernal shades, mysterious two-week disappearances, and now, apparently, a mild beef with Verida.

"Don't tell me what's enough," Nyssara snapped, her weariness forgotten for a moment as she turned on Daena.

"Enough of your bickering, both of you," Verida cut in, her voice calm but carrying the unmistakable weight of command. She folded her arms, leaning forward with a predatory grace that made even the scruffy queens pause. "If you think I'm going to entertain vague excuses and half-answers, think again."

Liria's grin widened. She loved when Verida got serious—mostly because it meant she didn't have to be.

"Let's not turn breakfast into an interrogation," Nyssara said, though her tone carried the clipped frustration of someone accustomed to ruling, not explaining herself.

"Why not?" Liria interjected, her voice thick with mockery. "Interrogations are fun. Plus, it's not every day we get such fine entertainment." She gestured at Daena's ragged appearance. "Seriously, you could sell tickets."

Daena shot her a glare that could have melted stone. "Don't push me, child."

"Oh, please," Liria shot back, rolling her eyes. "If you could move faster than a sloth right now, I might actually be worried."

"You're testing my patience," Daena growled.

"Join the club," Enara muttered around another bite of sausage, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Verida shot her a sharp look. "That reminds me. You two have a schedule to keep. Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"

Enara groaned, pushing her plate away with a look of exaggerated despair. "You're really going to ruin breakfast like this?"

"Yes," Verida said curtly. "Now go. I won't have you late again."

Liria, who had been smirking at Enara's misery, opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by Verida's raised hand. "That includes you, Liria. Don't even think about it."

"Fine, fine," Liria said, standing with a theatrical stretch. "But if I get detention, I'm blaming you."

"You'd deserve it," Verida replied, her voice as cold as her golden eyes.

Liria nudged Enara, who had yet to move, and gestured toward the door. "C'mon, Princess. Let's go endure another day of mediocrity."

"Don't remind me," Enara grumbled, dragging herself out of her chair.

As the two girls shuffled out of the room, Ananara decided to chime in. "Don't embarrass yourselves too much," he called after them, his smug tone carrying through the hall.

"Shut up, fruit," Liria shot back without turning around.

When the door finally closed behind them, Verida sighed and looked at Daena and Nyssara, her commanding presence filling the room. "Now, you two. Follow me."

The three queens left the dining hall and entered a private chamber adorned with dark wood, deep red drapery, and a roaring fireplace. Verida shut the door behind them, locking it with a flick of her wrist before turning to face her disheveled companions.

"All right," Verida said, crossing her arms. "Start talking. What exactly happened out there?"

Daena sank into one of the armchairs, wincing as she moved. Her usual regal posture was replaced with the slouch of someone thoroughly defeated. "We found her."

Verida's sharp golden eyes narrowed. "The Dark Sovereign?"

Nyssara nodded, her expression grim. "Yes. Or, more accurately, she found us."

Verida didn't move, but the tension in the room thickened like a storm brewing over a battlefield. "And?"

"And," Daena said, her voice bitter, "she annihilated us." Discover hidden stories at empire

Nyssara flinched at the memory. "It wasn't even a fight, Verida. We didn't stand a chance."

"What happened?" Verida demanded.

Daena leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "We confronted her. We were prepared or at least, we thought we were. But she's… stronger than we imagined. Faster, too. It was like trying to fight a force of nature."

Nyssara rubbed her temples, exhaustion clear in her lilac eyes. "She toyed with us, Verida. Mocked us. And when she'd had enough, she threw us into some godforsaken desert. No food, no water. Just sand and misery."

"We barely made it back," Daena admitted, her voice low.

Verida's expression remained unreadable, but her silence was deafening. Finally, she spoke. "And did she say anything? Anything about her plans?"

Nyssara hesitated, glancing at Daena before answering. "Not exactly. But she did say something… strange."

"What?" Verida pressed.

"She claimed that Liria is her child," Daena said bluntly, her violet eyes locking with Verida's.

Verida's composure faltered for the briefest moment, a flicker of shock crossing her face before she quickly masked it. "Her child?"

"That's what she said," Nyssara confirmed. "But we don't know if it's true."

"It would explain a lot," Daena muttered, her tone dark.

Verida paced the room, her mind clearly racing. "If it is true… then this complicates everything."

"Complicates?" Nyssara snorted, her exhaustion giving way to anger. "It's a disaster, Verida. If the Dark Sovereign is claiming Liria as her child, then what does that mean for us? For her?"

"It means," Verida said, stopping to face them, "that we need to tread very carefully."

Daena leaned back in her chair, her expression grim. "Careful or not, we're running out of time. The Dark Sovereign is more powerful than ever, and she's made it clear she's not staying in the shadows anymore."