The slavers hurried to crowd around Ella Morgan, their faces glowing with eager flattery.
Everyone knew that Ella, the third Princess, despite being only a C-level female with weak spiritual power, always spent money lavishly without hesitation.
In their eyes, there was only one reason she would appear in a small and filthy slave market like this.
She had obviously come to choose a few male slaves for her personal amusement.
Their constant chatter made Ella's head pound.
It had been three days since she transmigrated into this werecreature universe.
In her previous life, she had been an ordinary office worker, squeezed dry by endless overtime until she worked herself to death at her desk. When she first woke up and realized she had become a princess, she nearly wanted to celebrate with champagne.
Unfortunately, that excitement disappeared the moment she absorbed the memories of this body.
She realized she had transmigrated into a novel.
She had read this novel before. The story centered around the true princess of the Central Empire, an S-level female who had been separated from her family and raised elsewhere. After finally returning home, she was treasured by her parents, adored by her two older brothers, and became deeply involved with more than a dozen exceptional males before ending up with all of them by her side.
Back then, Ella had enjoyed reading it quite a lot. Watching so many outstanding males grow jealous and compete for the heroine's affection had been undeniably entertaining.
But the problem was that she had not become the heroine.
She had become the fake princess, Ella.
Even while reading the novel before, Ella had disliked this character who shared the same name as her.
It wasn't even because the character was especially evil. Compared to typical villainesses who poisoned people, framed others, or hired assassins, the character had never committed any unforgivable crimes. She was merely obsessed with handsome males, spoiled by her status, and burdened with weak spiritual power.
Even so, the author of the novel seemed determined to pour every ounce of malice onto her.
The moment the true princess returned, the parents who had once spoiled Ella immediately viewed her as a fraud who had stolen their daughter's place. Her two older brothers, who had once protected her so fiercely, began to resent her for taking everything that rightfully belonged to their real sister. The males Ella had once admired turned against her with cruel words, while the nobles who had once flattered her openly ridiculed her.
Later in the story, even after the character Ella experienced a dramatic rise in spiritual power and became a rare S-level female, she still lost completely to the heroine's overwhelming plot armor.
In the end, everything was taken from her, and she was exiled to the Barren Star, where she eventually starved to death.
Meanwhile, the heroine was living a sweet and carefree life with all of her males.
Back when Ella read that ending, it had infuriated her. She had never expected that one day, she would have to face that fate herself.
After transmigrating, she spent a long time thinking things through and came to one conclusion.
The story had only just begun. She still had a chance to change her future.
There were still two full years before the real princess returned.
And Ella's spiritual power had not gone through its second awakening yet. She was still only at C-level.
What she needed to do now was secure enough resources to protect herself before the real princess came back.
Money?
Because of her weak spiritual power, the old Ella had developed a habit of spending recklessly to hide her insecurity. Even with an enormous monthly allowance, almost nothing remained in her account.
Power?
Although the old Ella was a female, who had a high social status in this universe, her spiritual power was painfully weak. On top of that, she had been spoiled as a princess and refused to take on any responsibilities, leaving her without any real authority in the empire.
Ella spent the entire night thinking before finally setting her sights on the males.
She planned to compete with the real princess for them.
Naturally, she had no intention of fighting over the male leads who were completely devoted to the heroine. The males she wanted were the important characters who didn't end up with the heroine.
To put it simply, she planned to win over the males the heroine had overlooked.
For example, Kyson Howe, the heroine's most loyal guard later in the story.
Kyson came from the family of a convicted traitor. Two years ago, his family collapsed. Some relatives were executed, while the rest were exiled. As for him, he was reduced to a slave and eventually sold into the slave market.
In the original novel, by the time the heroine found him, he had already endured four years of torture in that living hell and was barely clinging to life. After the heroine bought him and treated his injuries, Kyson became deeply devoted to her.
Now, Ella was here two years before the heroine would arrive. Getting Kyson to pledge that loyalty to her sounded like a great idea.
With that thought, Ella continued walking deeper into the slave market.
In the novel, Kyson was described as a member of the wolf pack with a "criminal slave" tattoo branded across his face.
Ella searched for nearly ten minutes but still could not find anyone matching that description.
The slaver beside her continued rambling through his sales pitch. Ella interrupted him coldly.
"Do you have any criminal slaves? Preferably a werewolf."
The slaver paused for a moment at her words.
Most females who came here looking for criminal slaves wanted someone they could freely abuse.
It seemed Ella truly had come to find someone to vent her frustrations on.
At that moment, another slaver nearby, who had failed to squeeze through the crowd earlier, suddenly brightened.
"Your Highness, I have exactly the one you're looking for!"
Ella lifted a brow and tipped her chin slightly. "Lead the way."
The slaver instantly bent over with eager politeness and hurried to guide her farther into the market.
The deeper they went, the stronger the smell of blood in the air became.
At last, they stopped in front of a cage.
It was cramped and draped with a thick black cloth, resembling an oversized kennel.
With a flattering smile, the slaver yanked the cloth away.
"This one hasn't been fully broken yet, but he is tough and can endure plenty of punishment. He's still young, too, so he heals quickly. You can keep using him for a very long time..."
Inside the cage, Kyson listened quietly as the slaver listed his so-called "merits."
He lowered his eyes toward the shackles binding his hands and feet and clenched the gag tightly between his teeth.
He wondered who had come for him this time.
Whoever it was, he only hoped they would kill him quickly instead of dragging out the torture any longer.
Suddenly, light poured into the cage, so bright that he instinctively narrowed his eyes.
Through his blurred vision, he could barely make out a slender figure standing outside.
A sweet, clean scent drifted through the heavy smell of blood and rushed into his nose.
Kyson forced himself to lift his head, trying to see the female more clearly.
Under the glare of the light, all he could distinguish was a pair of eyes that suddenly seemed to shine brightly.
Then, he heard her clear voice.
"I'll take him!"