**My name is Karen**

I am 22 years old, Colombian. I am an independent girl. With a somewhat difficult past, yet as time has passed, I have moved forward, and of course, I love all kinds of mangas and novels, whether they are hetero, BL, or any other type of reading.

*But let's continue with this story*

It was a day like any other, I left my studies and headed to my apartment. Since it wasn't too far, I decided to walk. On my journey, I entered a store for a soda, but little did I know it would be the last thing I would do in my short life. While I was waiting to return, a man entered—he seemed a bit nervous—but I didn't pay much attention until I heard a loud noise, and something hit my body. I fell to the floor feeling my body go numb as a red liquid came out of me, but I was still conscious because I heard and understood what happened to me.

The whole thing was because of the man who had walked into the store; some suspicious men were following him on a motorcycle. He entered the store supposedly to throw them off, but it didn't work, as those men parked their motorcycle right at the entrance and started shooting. It seemed I entered at the wrong moment because two bullets struck my body. The last thing I was able to hear was a woman screaming,

*Why doesn't the damned**** ambulance*** arrive quickly?

Suddenly, I felt I couldn't hold on any longer. I stopped breathing, my heart ceased to beat, and my body could no longer hold on—apparently, the bullets had hit vital parts causing me to sleep forever. Sadly, that's how I lost my beautiful life or so I thought?

Hello, my little Jensi, I'm your mom, welcome to your home. Suddenly I opened my eyes. What the hell is going on? Who is this woman? I was supposed to be dead; how is it that someone is speaking to me? I wanted to say something but couldn't. After attempting it for quite a while, I noticed my little hands; that's when I realized I was a baby. I didn't understand anything but was going to figure it out.

As I was still small I couldn't gather much information, but as time passed, I started to realize that I was in a novel I had read in my previous life called

"The Cold Heart of the Prince."

It turns out that in the world of the novel there were many empires, but only four were the most powerful, among them:

The Dark Empire is the most powerful; it is said that its young emperor has demonic blood and they dominate dark magic and are greatly feared by all the other empires in battle—they are the most bloodthirsty.

The Crystal Empire, their magic is ice. They can destroy entire armies with it.

The Green Empire. Its name is peculiar; they are known for having little magical energy but are very dangerous because they are experts in poisons, and their armies are greatly feared.

And lastly, the Empire of the Saint is so-called because of an ancient empress who obtained the gift of healing and destruction at the same time. Her empire came to be the most feared during her reign. Just as she healed entire villages, she could bring down entire armies. She was not only an empress but also a general of her great army. She was known for having no mercy against those who wanted to harm her people.

Her gift and army were passed down from generation to generation, only granted to the empress, to balance the power so she would not be considered less than the emperor. Of course, each empress mother had to ensure that the current empress was suitable and would not use it for malicious purposes.

The narrative unfolds in the realm of the divine empire, where the Emperor demands that the Empress Mother hand over the mystical gift and control of the army to him as the sole heir. However, she refuses, as only an Empress is entitled to wield such power. Faced with this refusal, the Emperor concocts a scheme to seize absolute command.

He marries a commoner - a woman ailing with sickness - and soon after crowns her as Empress. Five months into her reign, the Empress Mother performs the ceremony of power transfer, filling the Emperor with joy as his master plan seems flawless. However, the Empress has a hidden agenda; aware of her own terminal illness, she has consulted with the Empress Mother to bequeath the sacred power instead to her unborn child, a revelation made by a physician who confirmed her four-month pregnancy.

Blessed with the holy gift of foresight, the Empress Mother discerns that the child within the Queen carries the spirit of a girl, and thus she bestows upon the yet-to-be-born infant the exalted gift. The two matriarchs choose secrecy, fully aware that divulging such a decision to the power-hungry Emperor would only invite disaster.

Five months advance, and the Empress enters labor, attended only by the Empress Mother, the attending physician, and her personal handmaidens. Since the power transfer ceremony, the Emperor had neglected her, instead taking a new wife who he honored as his imperial concubine, anticipating impatiently the Empress's demise so he could attain ultimate authority. Even knowing of her pregnancy, he dismissed any concern for the child, planning to rid himself of them later.

A year after the birth of Princess Jensi, the Empress passes away. The Emperor finds himself devoid of any supernatural endowments or the seal of military leadership. His rage, now uncontainable, is unleashed upon the princess, confining her with only her nanny in a desolate palace, cut off from the world outside.

Days later, the imperial concubine is proclaimed the new Empress, and her 8-month-old daughter, Princess Carla, is introduced, overshadowing the rightful firstborn princess.

The story progresses with Carla betrothed to the Crystal Empire's Crown Prince. In a fit of petulance, she convinces her father to leverage his influence for an arranged engagement. Little does she know, Prince Edward of Crystal harbors love for another, a love thwarted by the arrangement, leading to his deep-seated resentment towards Carla. Whenever she visits his empire and faces rejection, her return home is marked by tantrums and cruelty towards her half-sister, whom she punishes with both verbal abuses and the whip.

Upon learning of Prince Edward's intent to dissolve their betrothal to wed his commoner beloved, Carla’s pride is deeply wounded, resulting in an explosive outburst of fury directed at her elder sister. She orders Jensi to be taken to the torture chambers, where brutality unfolds in chains and lashes, and Jensi succumbs to the onslaught.

Jensi, a mere extra in this tale, served as the punching bag for her vile sister without ever raising a voice or a hand in defiance. Even upon learning of the power bestowed upon her by the Empress Mother, she chose not to harness it, meeting a tragic demise despite her inherent might.

Following Jensi's death, Carla promptly disposes of her body by fire, reducing her very existence to ash. The official severance of Carla’s engagement to Prince Edward is followed by his joyous proclamation of love for Roxi. Enraged, Carla resorts to hiring assassins to eliminate her usurper—a plan that backfires, leading to her own condemnation and execution by guillotine.

Meanwhile, Princess Roxi finds herself captive at the hands of the nefarious Dark Emperor, yet love prevails, allowing the protagonists, Roxi, and Prince Edward to defeat their adversary and reunite, culminating in their long-coveted happily ever after.

What a foolish notion—it was assumed that they were among the mightiest and most feared empires due to their demonic bloodline, yet they’ve lost everything for a so-called love. Laughable, truly, what a fool.

It infuriates me, but what incenses me even more is that, of all the characters in this novel, I had to be reborn as the minor character who dies in the most horrendous way imaginable—now that is just cruel.

But don't think for a second that I will stay idle, never. I will do whatever it takes to survive; they've taken my life once, but a second time does not count, absolutely not. They will see. From today forward, I am Jennsy Agastya, daughter of Empress Clariza Agastya from the Holy Empire.

Four years have passed since my mother's death; now I live in a forgotten section of the palace.

Secretly, my nanny has been teaching me manners, martial arts, and with the knowledge from my previous life, I have trained in self-defense so I can fight hand-to-hand if caught by surprise. And I have honed my magic skills—I must be ready.

I’ve also been taking extra accounting classes because I plan to be a very, very wealthy woman. I still have nine years to prepare, for when I turn thirteen, that’s when my beloved sister begins to use me as her punching bag. I need to find a way out before then, as there's no way I’m letting that conniving bitch lay a finger on my beautiful body, definitely not.

Five years later...

I am now ten. Over this time, I've become an associate of various famous dress shops because my knowledge of modern times has allowed me to design dresses that are both more contemporary and elegant. I even started an underwear line that has gained considerable fame. At first, it was a little challenging since the women of this era are quite reserved, but it took just a few to start buying them and then they sold like hotcakes. I also own a bakery that is at the forefront of trends in the empire.

And how do I manage all this while confined, you ask? Easy, my dear father isn't good at hiding his money, so I took care of my own sustenance, ha! In truth, my nanny is in charge; she is my right hand, and I work from the shadows. And it's not like I've stayed locked up all these ten years—I often sneak out quite regularly.

Oh, by the way, I already know how I will escape this prison. Soon my beloved father will host a banquet in honor of something I don't care about. What's certain is that envoys from many empires will attend, including those from the Dark Empire. A little bird told me that there's friction between the two. My ambitious father covets this empire and despises the emperor because he considers him an abomination with his demonic blood. But inviting him was necessary, as failing to do so would be an egregious discourtesy, and provoking a war with him at this point is inadvisable since the emperor is known as a bloodthirsty man who mercilessly slaughters anyone in his way. Therefore, he had to invite him to this empire for the banquet.