The Troublemaker Princess

"This is so unfair!"

"Why does Dad get to go to brothels, but I don't?!"

Cassidy Sterling knelt in the Serenity Wing, chin up and stubborn. From head to toe, she radiated, I'm not backing down.

"How dare you! You think you're in the right?" The Empress Dowager slapped the armrest, fury snapping through her voice.

"But I didn't do anything wrong," Cassidy muttered, genuinely hurt, as if common sense were on her side.

"Do you even know what a brothel is? Should a princess be seen there? If that gets out, what do you think people will say about the Imperial Family?"

"Plenty of court officials go," Cassidy shot back. "My father's a prince. He goes all the time. And it's not like I didn't pay."

Watching Cassidy dig in and play the victim, the Empress Dowager's chest rose and fell sharply.

She jabbed a shaking finger toward the doors. "Steward Payne! Go drag in that rebellious son of mine, Prince Ashworth. If I can't get through to her, he can see exactly what kind of daughter he's raised!"

Steward Payne bowed. "At once, Your Majesty."

When he hurried out, the Empress Dowager looked back at Cassidy, her expression a mix of bafflement and grief.

Two weeks ago, a donkey had kicked the girl in the head. She'd been out for three days, and the royal physician called it amnesia when she finally woke. Worse, her temperament had flipped. Before, she did little more than trail after Heir Vance, people called her simple and left it at that. Now she acted just like her wastrel father.

In half a month, the child had shredded her own reputation.

The longer the Empress Dowager thought about it, the hotter her anger ran. "Someone, fetch Physician Miller! Have him check the Princess's head again. I want to know what's wrong with her brain."

Physician Miller arrived at a half-trot, bag in hand. Cassidy didn't dare push back in front of the Empress Dowager. She stuck out her wrist, sulking.

He took her pulse, fingers light and steady, then tipped back her eyelids for a practiced look. "Your Majesty, I've finished. The Princess's pulse is even. Physically, she's fine."

"Then why is she so reckless?"

"Your Majesty, please don't upset yourself," he said quickly. "The Princess suffered a serious head injury. Amnesia is common. Recovering her memory takes time. It can't be forced."

"That's not what I asked," the Empress Dowager snapped. "I'm asking why a girl who used to be merely simple is now this wild."

Physician Miller hesitated. Like father, like daughter, hovered on his tongue. He did not say it.

He chose his words with care. "With her memory gone, the Princess is...a blank slate."

"Since waking, she's spent the most time at Ashworth Manor. Right now, the only masters of that house are Prince Ashworth and the Princess. What she sees, what she hears, primarily her father's behavior."

"As they say, we're shaped by what surrounds us. The Princess's change likely comes from Prince Ashworth's influence."

Silence fell, heavy and sharp.

The Empress Dowager stared at him, then her face darkened further. She slapped the table. "Fine. A fine 'like father, like daughter.' When that rebellious son gets here, I'll teach him a lesson."

Right on cue, Steward Payne returned with two young attendants practically hauling in a disheveled, dead-drunk Prince Ashworth.

One look at him, Miller's explanation still ringing in her ears, and the Empress Dowager's temper blew. She didn't spare either of them a glance. "Guards!"

The guards posted outside rushed in, heads low.

"Throw Prince Ashworth into the Imperial Clan Court."

"Without my explicit order, he does not take one step out."

No one hesitated. They grabbed the still-muttering prince and hauled him away.

The Empress Dowager's gaze dropped to Cassidy, still kneeling, still oblivious. Her anger surged again. "And you."

"From today, Nanny Cole will move to Ashworth Manor and teach you some manners herself. You're grounded until every bad habit is gone."

She added, cold as iron, "If I hear you're following your scoundrel of a father again, reckless, ruining your name, I'll send you straight to the Imperial Clan Court to keep him company."

She flicked her hand. "Get them out of here."

Cassidy, freshly "gifted" a governess, sat there stunned.

Wait. Where exactly was the justice in this? Who was reckless? Who was ruining whose reputation?

She opened her mouth, "Grandmother, ", and the maids were already dragging her out.

They shoved her into the carriage. Maids and old nursemaids watched her like hawks all the way back to Ashworth Manor. She hadn't even had time to grieve her lost freedom before a chirpy voice popped up in her head.

Congratulations, Host! You have fifteen days left to live!

In fifteen days, your life will end by drowning in a latrine!

The System sounded downright pleased with itself.

Cassidy sighed. "Isn't there a more dignified way to die?"

No, Host. This is already the most dignified way to die.

Fantastic. Other people who crossed into new worlds got cheat powers. She got a ticking clock.

Worse, her System was low on energy and couldn't even remember what kind of System it was. It fed her missions in scraps, a single word, a place, a name, an item, and she had to guess the rest if she wanted to keep breathing.

Luckily, she wasn't an idiot. After two weeks of frantic trial and error and clawing back a few extra days here and there, she'd more or less decided she was probably, maybe, bound to the Villain System.

Host, the task has been refreshed.

That aggravating voice again. A name flashed on the light screen: Lydia Sutton.

"Sounds familiar. A girl's name." Was she supposed to take her out?

Host, the top courtesan is named Lydia Sutton.

"I have to go to Spring Breeze Tower."

Cassidy yanked open her door and found a wall of maids and older servants on guard. Nanny Cole stood front and center, ruler in hand, glare sharp enough to cut.

"Has the Princess finished copying A Lady's Guide to Virtue?"

Cassidy slid her foot back inside and closed the door.

"See? It's not that I don't want to do the task. Nanny won't let me out."

How about the Host takes her out?

"Are you insane? She's been with the Empress Dowager since she was a kid."

The next second, her palm sagged with unexpected weight. She looked down.

A sniper rifle.

Host, don't be afraid. We have a sniper rifle.

Cassidy ground out each word. "Have you been rummaging through my storage again?"

Silence.

Oh no, I've been caught. Abort mission!

The rifle vanished as the System sheepishly dumped it back where it came from.

Trusting that useless thing for strategy was a joke.

So, after dropping from "grand plan" to bickering and hair-pulling, girl and System stayed put at Ashworth Manor and endured Nanny Cole's etiquette boot camp for two full days.

But with her lifespan ticking down, Cassidy couldn't sit still.

On a dark, windy night, she climbed the wall and ran.