GWENNY
The last thing I remember was darkness.
I had still been sitting at my desk at two in the morning, typing a report whose deadline had already passed. I ignored my exhaustion, pushed aside my hunger, and tried to stay awake just to finish my work. But then, a sudden attack triggered a severe headache, the muscles in my neck tensed painfully, locking my body in place for a moment. The pain spread through every nerve in my body, creating a kind of agony I had never experienced before. A moment later, my vision went dark, and I fell from my chair.
I thought it was death.
But when I opened my eyes, the stench of blood and rusted metal immediately filled my lungs, not the white light that welcomed me like in the movies.
“Your Highness, are you looking for something?”
The voice made me turn around. A bearded man greeted me with a wide smile and bright, gleaming eyes. Then, for the first time, I truly looked around me.
Rows of large cages filled the place, chains clinking inside them. Injured beastmen—each locked alone in their own cage with their furred ears pinned back in defeat, while neatly dressed merchants paced around, offering them like ordinary goods for sale.
“This one is still fresh, wasn’t captured long ago—”
“If you prefer someone sturdier, I have a few who are already used to being beaten—”
My eyes darted around, taking in the scene. The voices of other merchants rumbled through the market as they shouted out their wares. Their faces were filled with greed and cunning, thinking of nothing but profit.
When I looked down, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. The puddle beneath me reflected the face of an unfamiliar woman, but when I moved, the woman in the water moved with me.
Her skin was paler. Her fingers were slimmer, adorned with rings I had never owned. I raised that hand to my face, and the hair falling over my eyes was golden—not black like mine.
I realized I wasn't myself. I was in someone else's body.
My neck tensed, and a cold breeze crawled down the back of my neck, but before I could scream or do anything, something else began moving inside my head. Random fragments of scenes came together, filling every empty corner of my mind. They weren't my memories, but someone else's.
Gwenny Calloway. The third daughter of the Duskmoore Galaxy.
The name appeared out of nowhere, and with it came an entire life that wasn't mine. Memories of a spoiled childhood at the heart of the Duskmoore Galaxy—where the Calloway Family reigned supreme, holding absolute dominion over Planet Hallowmere as their primary seat of power.
The fragmented images showed Grayson Calloway, a galaxy-ruling father who indulged her every whim; Adalyn Voss, a patient mother of noble blood; and her two older brothers—Roan Calloway, a high-ranking military commander, and Callum Calloway, her second brother who covered up her messes. But then came one final name from the memory pulse, turning my stomach upside down: Isadora Calloway, the high-tier true heiress fated to return and reclaim what was hers two years from now.
I understand now. I know this story.
I had read it before, a novel about the true heir named Isadora, who disappeared as a baby and would be found two years from now—returning to the Duskmoore Galaxy to reclaim what was rightfully hers, while the girl who had occupied her place all this time—the girl whose body I now inhabited—would be cast out. Hated by everyone who had once loved her. In the end, she would die of starvation alone somewhere no one cared about.
“Your Highness?” The merchant was still waiting for me, smiling patiently even though his eyes were beginning to narrow suspiciously. “Are you all right?”
I took a deep breath.
Two years, before everything fell apart. Why not start now?
“I'm looking for something,” I said. For the first time, it felt strange hearing my own voice. “Show me the weakest one you have.”
The merchant blinked rapidly. “The weakest?”
“Yes.” I stepped forward, trying to sound as confident as possible despite my pounding heart. “The one nobody wants. Show him to me.”
The look in his eyes seemed to say; I must be crazy, but a profit is still a profit. A second later, the confusion on his face transformed into a cheerful smile.
“Then, please, follow me.”
We walked farther toward the back of the market. The farther we went, the dimmer the lighting became. The stench of blood grew stronger, and groans could be heard more often from behind the black cloth covering the cages. I recalled the details stored in Gwenny's memories.
Kellan Ashford.
A fallen beastman from the destroyed Ashgrove System. In the original novel, he wouldn't be found and bought by Isadora until after four years of being tortured in the slave market, and from the moment Isadora tended to his wounds, an unquestionable loyalty would be born. Making him the strongest and most loyal guard.
But I came earlier.
The moment of ‘rescue’ by Isadora hadn't happened yet. If I did it now, becoming the first person to pull him out of this place, wouldn't that debt of gratitude belong to me? Not Isadora, who hadn't even set foot in Duskmoore yet?
I almost smiled. For the first time since opening my eyes in this foreign world, I felt like I had control over something.
“This one,” the merchant said, stopping in front of one of the cages tucked away in the darkest corner. Then he lifted the cloth covering it. “He hasn't been fully tamed yet. But if Your Highness wants someone weak—”
I didn't listen to the rest. My eyes were fixed on someone inside, a man curled up in the corner of the cold iron cage with his head lowered. Matted chestnut-brown hair fell around his sharp jawline, making him look wild and untamed.
Tucked into his dark locks were a pair of brown wolf ears, flattened against his head as they twitched weakly in pain. Chains wrapped around his wrists and neck, his breathing was heavy, and several wounds along his arms still hadn't fully healed.
He didn't even raise his head when the covering was lifted. He didn't react at all, but the tension in his body made it clear that he was still alert, wary of anyone who dared to come closer.
“I'll take this one.”