Book excerpt: After losing her parents at a young age to a monster attack on their village, Alicia is sent to an orphanage, where she spends three miserable years being mistreated—and doing her best to smile through it all. After finally reaching her limit and running away, Alicia is attacked by a strange woman who wants to take the young girl’s place as the protagonist of something called an otome game. During the struggle, Alicia accidentally absorbs part of the woman’s memories and knowledge, transforming her from a scared child to a calculated young woman with a mission: to write her own destiny. Now adrift in an unforgiving world, Alicia vows to grow stronger by any means necessary. She’ll need all the might she can muster if she has any hope of changing her fate and fighting for survival.