Heena glanced at him in the mirror, still washing. "Speak up. Why are you holding your breath so much?"
The system hesitated, then finally spoke quietly. "You... didn't use your usual methods. You don't normally do this—this much, this fast. You take time, break them psychologically first, then physically. But today..." He paused, glancing back at the closed door. "Even Damien. You tortured him beyond belief. I don't understand why."
Heena paused mid-scrub. Water dripped from her hands back into the basin. She reached for a towel, drying slowly, then turned to face the system directly.
"Do you know that the previous Empress was a really good ruler?"
System 427 blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
Heena looked at him steadily. "I was reading those reports earlier. Found something interesting. The Empress gave ninety percent of her salary to orphanages and the poor. Not ten percent. Not half. Ninety." She folded the towel carefully. "And not only that—she worked harder than anyone else. Relief efforts, disaster zones, infrastructure projects. Last year when that massive drought hit the western provinces? The one who donated all the emergency grain supplies, who organized the water distribution, who personally visited affected villages? The Empress."
She paused, expression hardening. "But whose name got the credit? The so-called saintly heroine Seraphina. And you want to know who the mastermind behind that was?"
System 427's ears flattened. "Who?"
"The so-called master spy Damien and his four companions currently tied up in there." Heena's voice turned cold. "Apparently, the heroine 'saved' Damien when he was a child or something. So he decided to use the Empress as his personal scapegoat. Every good deed she did? Credited to Seraphina. Every difficult decision she made? Painted as villainy."
System 427 stared, processing this. "What?"
Heena nodded sharply. "System, do you remember why I mostly take villainous roles?"
The lion lowered his head, voice small. "I... don't know. Am I supposed to?"
Heena smiled—sad, knowing—and patted his head gently. "You know. It's not shameful to say it."
She turned back to the mirror, looking at her reflection—the original Empress Celeste's face. "It's because of women like this. Who lost everything because some plot heroine wanted to become the protagonist of their world. Because that heroine decided the villainess should die without ever considering what she'd actually done for the people, for the empire, for anyone."
System 427 listened silently.
"When I took over this body, I didn't just get the memories you gave me. I got *her* memories too. The original Celeste." Heena's reflection looked haunted. "And I found some painful things."
She sat on the edge of the small bed, suddenly tired in a way that had nothing to do with physical exhaustion.
"The original Empress was a normal child once. Loving father, loving mother, happy palace life. Everything was fine until an accident happened—her parents were assassinated. By her own uncle." Heena's voice went flat, reciting facts. "The uncle tried to usurp the throne. At that time, Celeste was just an eight-year-old girl. All the court factions leaned toward the uncle. They thought a child couldn't rule."
System 427's eyes widened. "She was eight?"
"Eight years old. Alone. Surrounded by enemies." Heena nodded. "But Celeste survived. She fought, schemed, endured assassination attempts, navigated deadly court politics. And when she turned sixteen, she killed her uncle and took the throne. *Her* throne. The one that rightfully belonged to her as crown princess."
She looked at System 427 directly. "People call her villainous for that. A kinslayer. A murderer. But nobody remembers that this empire originally belonged to her. That her uncle stole it. That she was just taking back what was hers."
"And those five men?" System 427 asked quietly.
"She didn't marry them because she fell in love." Heena laughed bitterly. "She married them because she knew their wretched pasts. Knew they were powerful but damaged. Knew they could help stabilize the empire if properly positioned. It was a political move born from genuine empathy—she understood pain and wanted to give them purpose."
"And they repaid her with poison," System 427 murmured.
"In the original book? They succeeded. Killed her. Crowned Seraphina as the new Empress." Heena's hands clenched. "And what happened then? The heroine played at being a saint. Held charity balls. Donated to some orphanages. Smiled prettily. That's it."
"She never actually governed. Never reviewed budgets or managed crises or made hard decisions. Within two years, the empire fell into chaos—economic collapse, provincial rebellions, trade wars, famine." Heena's voice dripped contempt. "And what did the historians say? 'It's because the previous Empress was corrupt. Seraphina inherited a broken empire.'"
"To hell with that," she finished quietly.
Silence filled the small room. Through the door, they could faintly hear Damien's continued suffering—the electrical crackling, the weights swinging.
"So that's why," System 427 said softly. "Why you went so hard on them. Especially Damien."
"Damien orchestrated her downfall. Painted every good deed as tyranny. Turned her husbands against her. Stole her legacy and gave it to some transmigrated heroine who didn't earn it, didn't deserve it, and couldn't handle it." Heena stood, walking back to the door. She pressed her hand against it, feeling the vibrations of their suffering. "The original Celeste died alone, hated, thinking she'd failed everyone."
"But she didn't fail," System 427 said.
"No. She didn't. She saved countless lives. Built a stable empire. Tried to do right by broken men who saw her as an obstacle instead of an ally." Heena's expression hardened. "And they destroyed her for it. So yes, I went hard on them. Especially Damien. Because he deserves worse than what I gave him."
She turned back to face the system, eyes blazing. "I take villainous roles because someone needs to defend these women. Someone needs to show that the 'villainess' wasn't evil—she was just in the heroine's way. Someone needs to break the narrative that says pretty, kind-seeming girls are automatically good and powerful, complicated women are automatically bad."
The system looked at Heena thoughtfully. "But you know, right? That we can't keep them confined here forever. Because even though—"
"Yeah, because they're five major powers," Heena interrupted, continuing to dry her hands. "And even though their people can't enter the Empress Palace without permission, if they don't hear from their lords for three or four days, they'll definitely start becoming restless. High chance they'd even consider war. After all, these idiots have extremely loyal servants."
System 427 nodded, ears drooping slightly. "That's why you need to do whatever you want to do as fast as possible. Finish breaking them completely before anyone realizes they're missing."
Heena looked at the system and smiled—a strange, knowing smile. "But what do you mean by 'do whatever I want to do'? I'm just gonna make them... you know, compromise. Blackmail them, something like that."
The system paused mid-float. "What? You're not gonna break them?"
Heena turned to face him fully, expression patient. "Look at those five men. Really look at them. All five are different types—warriors who survived brutal wars, politicians who navigated deadly court intrigue, spies who've endured torture training. Do you honestly think breaking them completely would be this easy? In just three days?"
System 427's tail twitched uncertainly.
"I'm just gonna torture them to the point they beg for mercy," Heena continued calmly. "But I know they won't actually break. Not really. Because of their so-called pride and their precious love for the heroine."