Transmigrated as the villainess: I claimed five beast husbands!

Anna stepped into the hallway and the wall slipped shut behind her with a resounding thud.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, whipping around as her heart jammed into her throat. She was on the verge of a full blown panic attack when she spotted a white tile on the side of wall. Upon pushing it, the walls opened, and she came face to face with Kai.

"Don’t worry," he said. "You won’t be stuck in there. I’ll wait here for you, alright?"

Anna nodded, forcing on a smile to hide her quivering heart. "Thank you."

The wall closed again.

Okay, Anna. You can do this. Just...is that water I hear?

Anna strained her ears, and truly, she heard water. Low and rushing, like a stream. Or perhaps–

"A dam?"

She looked overhead at the filament bulbs. So many questions filled her mind, but she filed them all under one small file and took the first step forward.

The hallway was long. And the more she walked, the brighter the bulbs got, and the lower the sound of rushing water got.

Finally, after five minutes of walking, she arrived at a large set of metal doors, like doors leading to a bank safe.

"What the..."

[Ding! Host, what are you doing?]

"Oh, look who decided to show up."

[Turn around now, host.]

"I’m not doing that."

[Host—]

Anna reached for the door. It’s surface was entirely smooth. She ran her palms over the cool surface, shivering as she felt the metal. "I’m tired of being in the dark, System. You knew I didn’t get all her memories. You knew and you just kept quiet."

[Everything happens for a reason, host. Turn around now. Or you’ll regret what you find in there.]

Anna hesitated.

The System sounded serious. And strangely human. Recently she’d gotten used to how it sounded. But this felt different.

"I need to know."

The System didn’t reply.

Anna’s fingers brushed against a small dip in the door. A floating blue stone appeared in the air. Anna pricked her finger and let her blood drip over it.

The heavy doors slid open with a low resounding hiss.

A bright flash of light flooded out. So bright that Anna had to shield her eyes. Slowly, the glow faded. And when Anna’s eyes opened, her knees went weak and she grabbed onto the wall for support.

"What..."

She had thought Princess Orchid’s lab was sophisticated.

This was another level.

She felt like she’d just walked into a highly funded research lab. From the old world.

The lab was brightly lit in Fluorescent lights. The space was huge, massive walls and high ceilings, tables and desks everywhere. Every single tech equipment here, Anna had seen in her past life. And all of them ran on electricity. Bookshelves lined walls that were not covered with equipment. There was no windows, but a cool draft flowed through the air. In here, the slow hum of rushing water came from right under Anna’s feet.

Hydro power.

"How on earth is any of this possible?" Anna whispered to the empty air as she walked in, looking around her with eyes as wide as saucers.

As she walked deeper into the strange lab, something caught her eye.

A large cage.

Frowning, she walked up to the cage. Lying helplessly on the floor was a person. No, a creature.

Anna’s eyes widened. A Dream Weaver. Princess Orchid did have one!

The Dream Weaver looked physically drained. For whatever reason, it had a human body. But its entire form was a pale, watery silver. Anna thought it was dead, till its glassy eyes moved and fell on her.

"No..." the creature croaked, its eyes widening in fear. Real, human fear. It lifted itself up, its arms and legs trembling as it pressed itself into the furthest part of the cage. The bars hissed and spat as it pressed into them, but the creature didn’t care.

It kept saying "no, no, no" over and over again.

Anna stood frozen, unable to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

"Hey," she whispered, taking a step closer to the cage. Only for the creature to let out an ear piercing shriek, and cover its head with both arms.

"I don’t know! I don’t know! I can’t! I can’t!" It cried over and over again.

Anna knelt in front to the cage, her mind racing millions of miles for what to do next.

It looks traumatized...what did Orchid do to it?

"Hey, just listen to me," Anna whispered softly.

She spotted a collar around the Dream Weavers neck with a black stone in its centre.

Anna’s mind went back to the collars Princess Orchid used on her own husbands.

Her heart shattered. Hot tears burned the back of her eyes and she bit down hard on her lip.

"I’m not here to hurt you, I need to ask you a few questions." Anna said, hoping her tone would be as harmless as possible.

"End me already..." the creature sobbed. "Please. It’s been years. Kill me. I’m tired. I’m tired. I’m tired."

Years?

The pieces of Anna’s broken heart sank into her stomach. Even if this was an AI beast that didn’t feel emotions, it was cruel to do this to it.

Anna knew that Princess Orchid was heartless and evil. Even before she got all the memories.

But this? This was inhumane. Plainly.

"I will," she lied through her teeth. "But first, I need to talk to you."

The dream weaver lowered its arms and turned to her. "Death?"

Anna nodded. "Yes. I’ll grant your request."

It blinked. Its eyes showed hesitation as it leaned its head an inch forward, then jerked it back.

"Did you wipe my memories?" She asked.

There was silence. Then she creature nodded. "You made me."

Anna couldn’t even rejoice with relief due to how small and broken it’s voice sounded.

"Can you give them back?"

"You said you never wanted them back."

"I change my mind," Anna moved closer to the cage. Her eyes warily found the collar. "All the memories. Every one of them."

"There’s so many..." the creature moaned pitifully. "I can’t..."

"Please," Anna said, cutting it off. Her voice wobbled and she swallowed the moisture pooling in her mouth. "Please. I need to know. I need to remember."

The Dream Weaver stared at her. She stared back at it. Seconds ticked by.

"Who are you?" The Dream Weaver asked. There was no suspicion in its voice. Just a hollow exhaustion.

"I need to know." Anna replied. Explaining would take too long, precious minutes she didn’t have.

"...okay."

"Thank you," Anna exhaled, relieved.

Without warning, the images hit her.

It wasn’t like getting back Princess Orchid’s original memories from the system. This one was different. Softer. As if someone was showing her a video clip of the lost memories.

Anna watched them, she watched as they all played out.

The first was a simple memory. One of Princess Orchid standing in this very lab, although a less furnished version of it, dressed in a hazmat suit and working frantically. She was perfecting the last steps in her mini pure electricity project. From what Anna had guessed, the lab ran on hydro power. There was an artificial lab in the down levels that powered everything. And to ensure the AI beasts never tracked this place, Princess Orchid created a set of barriers that cloaked the lab from prying eyes.

The next memories shattered Anna.

Anna saw everything.

Princess Orchid’s past.

Her heats started when she was 13. They hit the kingdom hard and because everyone was unprepared, a lot of things happened. The whole kingdom had believed her heats would start at 18, like Princess Lotus’ did.

And Princess Orchid’s heats were harsher. They affected anyone within a hundred mile radius, making them overcome with lust that they jumped on whoever was close by. As a result, Princess Orchid had to be isolated heavily. And worse, her heats had no set time. They were erratic and powerful. They could come twice a month or twice in a year.

The only good thing was that Princess Orchid was a genius. She worked on suppressants and was able to create them for herself.

But when she turned 16, everything changed.

Princess Orchid met Drax.

He was 16 too. The King "got" him for Orchid as a birthday gift. Both of them hit off instantly. Teenage sweethearts. They were inseparable. Princess Orchud didn’t care that he was a slave, he went with her everywhere. It was around this time too that Villis brought Kai to the Princess.

A year later, Princess Orchud decided to stop using her suppressants. Her relationship with Drax had become intimate, and she believed it would help her heats.

For a moment, it did. Drax soothed and handled all her heats with no issues. Slowly, her body regulated and her heats became monthly. The suppressants were forgotten.

When she turned 17, Princess Orchid became pregnant. It was kept private, even from the king and queen. But Orchid and Drax were overjoyed. They chose baby names, settling on "Leila". A nursery was set up. For a couple of months, Princess Orchid was less of a horror, all her attention focused on welcoming their baby.

Five months into her pregnancy, disaster struck.

She got a heat. A very severe one that lasted a whole week.

It wasn’t supposed to happen. There had never been a record of a beastbloom having a heat while pregnant.

The effect was disastrous.

She lost Leila.

Anna watched that memories, tears streaming down her face at the sight of Princess Orchid, once regal and proud, reduced to a bleeding, sobbing heap on the floor. The screams of pure anguish she let out imprinted themselves in Anna’s brain.

Anna didn’t think Orchid was capable of tears. But she saw it. She saw the Princess wailing as her baby poured out of her in rivers of blood. She watched the Princess slip into depression that lasted months.

She saw the Princess vow to never experience a heat ever again.

Princess Orchid locked Drax up. She couldn’t bear losing the last person she loved. And Drax, in his eternal love for her, gladly accepted.

Princess Orchid started her suppressants. Aggressively. Even when the doctors warned it could damage her body permanently. She didn’t care.

A year later, she married the rest of her husbands.

She built this lab and furnished it and hid it.

And as a final act of cruelty to herself, she used a dream weaver to wipe all her memories of the heats. Of Leila. And of her pain.