Anh Thư carried herself with lightning speed as each megasteps she took, the faster her body moved forward, completely outrunning her predators. However, it won’t be long til she reaches a dead end.

Why do I keep having to run away from something? Her teeths were tightly gritted together, flashbacks clouding her dark eyes.

The younger girl muttered under her breath with heavy pants overflowing her sense of hearing , “Never again.” The soldiers behind her are slowly keeping up and Thư was just about to give up til something caught her vision.

“ Hey, over here! “, a high pitched voice called out to her. The thing waving its hand to signal her was a strange, tiny creature, it’s body lightly floating amidst the air.

With no time to look back or hesitate, the brunette quickly scrambles towards the voice and immediately a force pulls her into the pitch black cave. Thư let out a “oof” before turning her head over to see the open cave was closed by some heavy rocks. The entrance was quickly off access. Voices could be heard on the other side.

“ Fuck, we lost her. “

“ Let’s take a route around the cave and see if we can get in.”

She let out a sigh of relief and leaned herself against the hard wall, needing a few minutes to catch her breath before the same voice spoke up again. This time it was heard right next to her ears. Having to suffer the midget's attack;Thư jumped in surprise and hit her head, the impact left her groaning in pain.

“ Damn, you okay there? Sorry, that wasn’t my intention “, it’s tone was laced with guilt and concern.

Anh Thư rubbed the spot to ease the pain before reaching over and patting the creature’s head. It was dark so she couldn’t tell if that was even it’s head but she patted out of comfort.

Her gentle and soothing voice echoes across the dark cave, “ I’m okay! Just a small surprise, that’s no biggie.”, her brown locks fell over her shoulder as she leaned over.

“ Say, let’s find some light so I can see you clearly. “

“ Oh, no worries. I got this “

“ ?...”

The small orb of light was planted above their heads, taking the chance, Thư gazes focused on the small being. A small gasp almost escaped her rosy lips. It wasn’t because the thing was incredibly hideous, it was a valid reaction after witnessing such a strange species.

Floating beside her was a lovable face carefully crafted with blue fish fin. It’s long hair was painted with the sun’s color, golden undertones wrapped around locks, similar to hers--if not natural. Thư's hair was a light brown from the constant permings in her old life.

This creature, however, the upper half of its body clearly belonged to a mortal boy, but the under half was a tail. A light blue fishtail with kaleidoscope patterns emitting from it’s scales. The tips of his fin trails behind like ribbons, he wore a big smile on his small face. She watched as his mouth parted to speak again.

“ Welcome to our worldly realm, saintess! My name is Vỏ Dương and I’m your guide from now on. “, Dương placed a hand on his chest and bowed before his master.

Her eyes widened in both amazements and confusion.

“ Wait, Saintess? “

“ Yes! Saintess. <3 “

From looking at her expression switching colors from blue to white, Dương quickly lands on her shoulder and gently touches her cheeks, “ Please don’t panic. I’ll explain, “

The tiny merman cleared his throat.

“ This title may sound very familiar to you, saintess; ‘ The Path to Eternal Prosperity ‘ “, he winked at her as if it was anything impressive.

A minute has passed.

Then another.

Dương blinked at his frozen master, he floated over and waved his tiny hands in front of her eyes. Repeating the word “saintess”, the creature has no idea how much the title is air punching the female to her dreamland. He booped her nose lightly with his finger. This small, feathery touch seemed to have woken her senses up. Thư covered her face, her body trembling in what seemed like shock and disbelief.

Seeing her as pitiful, her little guide softly ruffled her hair. “ It must have been a big shock to yo-”

“ Oh my god it finally came true “

“ Eh? “, the fish creature was just as confused as her earlier, if not a lot more, this time he was also concerned. “ What came true? “

At lightning speed, she lifted her face. “ I’ve finally reincarnated into a fantasy world and it’s a novel I used to read. Isn’t that awesome? “, the girl exclaimed excitedly.

“ Well, I’m glad you’re happy but that reaction was not what I expecte- “, Dương was cut off again by his master.

“ This is amazing. Woah, holy shit. “.

The creature crossed his arms together on his chest and watched her frantically gushing over what’s happening. Thư's eyes sparkles brighter than any other diamonds out there. His mouth parted a bit as if he wanted to say something but it was closed again.

The book titled: The Path To Prosperity was a popular work.

The tale starts with our beautiful and pitiful female lead: Linh Đa, she was the daughter of a rich merchant, who successfully cultivated a land and became wealthy. It was a story of virtues and light which was shown in the protagonist, she was taught to endure and never seek revenge even if someone did her wrong. The female lead spreads kindness and prosperity wherever she may travel. Linh was loved by the town people. We witnessed the two love interests pried at her lovely petal: Ngô Vàng and Lý Kim.

The male love interests were actually the two famous princes of The Vinh Quang kingdom. Powerful, blessed with good looks, intelligent, and talented in Vovinam (a Vietnamese martial art).Nonetheless it was hard for the people to choose a perfect heir for the throne, however, the Emperor was biased and spiteful of his second child, Lý Kim.

It would be popular for emperors or empresses favouring a child over another simply because the child’s blood wasn’t fully noble. The empress died giving birth to her second child, in her final moments, she held her offspring tightly against her chest, savouring her last breath. The heartbroken Emperor resented the second prince, believing that things would have turned out better if Kim was never borned.

The town people made a demand, they deemed Linh as a suitable future empress and that she would take care of the people, under her rule, there will be happiness and peace. It was quickly announced between the two princes, whoever won the angel incarnation’s heart, will be the heir to the throne.

I wouldn’t have any desire to change the story if the ending turned out different. Anh Thư furrowed her eyebrows.

From the very beginning, the second prince was set up to fail anyways. Despite his unconditional love for Linh and courageous acts, she decided to pick his brother over him. For god fucking sake, he almost died drinking poison contaminated water in place of the protagonist, saving her from the villainess. Kim was also the one who sealed the villainess to her place but in the end, all he got was a broken heart.

Thư remembered crying over the ending with her male best friend, Jess.

I resented the author so much! It was clearly unfair?!!! At least give him a good ending, you damn author!

Back to the present, Dương waited and waited til he couldn’t wait any longer. “ Saintess, are you done now? “, he sighed and plopped down her lap as if mentally exhausted. The poor thing was helpless at his master’s excitement, watching her choking over her own words, shaking him gently to ask questions. It was something he had never expected! No one told him about this! No one told him he would have an unstable master with a desire to escape reality! NO ONE.

“ Okay, I’m done. “, Thư quickly collected herself back and stared at her guide, her face bright with joy and determination.

He would be lying if he wasn’t taken back by her enthusiastic attitude, she had the purest reaction, it was full of innocence and clear intentions. It’s been awhile ever since Dương had a chance to encounter someone like that. “ What is your purpose in this world, saintess? “, he softly asked.

Her answer sparked a light in the creature’s eyes, he gazed at her in astonishment.

“ If it takes me two lives to be free out of my chain and settle in a place I’ve never thought could ever exist. Then, I’ll explore this world to it’s nook and cranny. Who knows, I'll help Lý Kim find his happy ending too. “, she smiled brightly and tilted her head. “ I’ll be in your care from now on, little buddy. “

He chose the right person after all.