Almost everyone strives to achieve a specific goal in their lives, wether it's becoming extremely wealthy, living somewhere exotic or starting a family with the one you love.

They work towards that goal, hoping to live a life full of what they could ever have wanted.

You, however, had no such goal. You worked as a full-time office worker, wasting your life away inside of a tiny cubicle.

Sure, you had a couple of hobbies such as baking or maybe even painting but you were just mediocre. You had no passion for anything in particular, nothing could spark interest into your (e/c) eyes.

Except for one thing.

On the outside, you looked like a boring office worker who blended in with the crowd. But you had a secret no one knew.

On the inside, you were a raging fangirl who admired novel and anime characters. You had body pillows hiding under your bed, posters of hot anime guys plastered onto your apartment walls and so many romance novels on your shelves with attractive male leads.

You could spend all night reading a novel and not get tired at all. And that brings you here, laying on your bed with a novel in your hands.

You squealed and rolled around in your bed when you got to a romantic scene. The prince, Elias Miltone, had the female lead, Sabina Campbell, pinned against the wall.

You read the words with rosy cheeks, wishing that you could've been in Sabina's place.

Oh, you would do anything to abandon your boring, mediocre life to live a lavish life with a bunch of love interests. Sabina Campbell really was living your dream.

You sighed softly and carried on reading with interest in your eyes.

Elias softly pushed Sabina against the wall, pinning both of her hands above her head. He used his pale free hand to stroke the side of her face.

"Oh, Sabina, you could never understand how heavy my heart feels when you talk to the other men. I want you to only look my way." He took a strand of her long blonde hair and pressed a kiss to it. "Please, accept my love."

You gasped, your eyes twinkling with amusement. "Woah, I didn't expect him to confess so soon. There's no way she can say no to a total hunk like him!"

Sabina's emerald eyes widened and a fierce blush spread throughout her face. She looked anywhere except the crown prince's eyes.

"E-Elias, I know that it's wrong for a simple peasant like me to say this but... I-"

"Wait!!"

You groaned in frustration, wondering who could've interrupted that wonderful confession scene.

"I am in love with you too, Sabina! Choose me."

A figure walked closer to the pair, making Sabina gasp. It was none other than Asa Lindon, the head knight. His dark red hair and green eyes seemed dazzling under the moonlight.

Sabina was unable to answer before a new person walked onto the scene, his long blonde hair swaying with every step.

"Sabina, surely you know of my feelings for you too."

The blonde haired man, Silas Reed, professed. His light blue eyes stared into Sabina's.

"N-No!! I love you m-more than them!" A new person exclaimed. He seemed to have come from thin air. After noticing his brown hair and bright orange eyes, Sabina instantly knew that it was Fionn Lewis, the shy palace librarian.

"I'm also enraptured by your beauty. Please, choose to stay by my side." Yet another person said, His short, silky white hair seeming to glow under the light of the moon. His black eyes glanced at his rivals before his gaze returned to Sabina. It was Wystan Irvine, the prince of a neighboring kingdom.

You whistled, bringing the novel closer to your face. "Damn, the whole harem's here. I wonder who she'll pick."

Sabina nervously looked at all of the men before her, twiddling with her fingers.

"W-Well, I choose you,-"

TO BE CONTINUED

You groaned, throwing the novel across your room.

Rolling over so you were laying on your back, you stared up at the ceiling. You wondered when the next volume would come out because that cliffhanger really did some damage to your soul.

Perhaps it was a sign though, that you should get to sleep before you pass out from sleep deprivation.

You got under the dark blue covers of your bed and reached over to turn off the bedside lamp.

———

The sound of birds chirping loudly woke you up from your dreamless sleep, making you groan in annoyance.

It was quite weird to hear birds chirping in the middle of the city where your apartment was located but you didn't think anything of it, only wishing that you could sleep for just a few more minutes.

You turned over to get in a more comfortable position, slowly starting to notice something. Your bed felt really uncomfortable.

Furrowing your brows, you opened your eyes and once they adjusted to the sun you froze.

In every direction you looked there was trees and grass. This definitely was not your bed.

You screamed and scrambled to your feet, taking a few steps back. 'What the hell is this place?!'

Frantically looking around, you tried to refrain from screaming out in fear. You knew that if you did that, it could attract dangerous creatures such as bears.

"C-Calm down, (F/n).. be levelheaded." You tried to listen for voices of people that could possibly help you, but you heard nothing except for the sounds of nature.

You followed the sound of water and found yourself in a relatively wide clearing with a pond in the middle of it. Flowers were surrounding the pond and there was two large rocks on one end of it.

This was no time to admire the scenery, though. You kept walking, thankful for the fact that the sun was still up in the sky.

After walking for about three minutes, you assumed that you wouldn't find anything. You sat down on a fallen tree branch and buried your head into your (s/c) hands.

You were scared. You were lost. You were hungry. You missed your anime husbandos. And oh god, you had a project due in your office today. "I am so fired."

You jolted up as you felt something rub against your right leg.

It was a black cat with stunning, bright yellow eyes. Sighing in relief, you bent down to rub the cat's chin.

"You scared me, buddy.." The cat purred under your touch, rubbing it's head into your fingers. Just then, you noticed the dark red collar adorning it's neck with black lettering on it.

"Marlin..." You read aloud, tilting your head to the side. If this cat had a collar on, that meant that it's owner must be nearby.

Marlin seemed to have read your thoughts as he suddenly turned around and started running, almost as if he wanted you to follow him.

You wasted no time as you tried your best to keep up with the black feline.

The cat finally came to a stop. You bent over to put your hands on your knees as you panted heavily. You hadn't ran that much since your high school days in gym. (Which was technically only two years ago, but you didn't want to talk about that.)

Once you caught your breath, you looked up and had to double take.

There stood a cute cottage right before you. It had two floors and the walls were a light beige color. Vines adorned the walls and it overall just gave off a cozy vibe. Despite it being the only building in sight, it somehow seemed to fit in with the scenery.

You only adored the cottage for a few seconds though, before walking up the distinct cobblestone path that led to the dark oak wood door.

You knocked a few times and waited for a minute or two to see if anyone would answer the door. Meanwhile, Marlin was standing next to you and rubbing against your legs.

No one seemed to be home, and although your mother taught you manners and that you shouldn't just open random people's doors, you weren't about to just die in the wild.

You wrapped your hand around the doorknob and pushed the door open. Much to your relief, it was unlocked.

As soon as the door was open, Marlin walked into the house with his tail swaying from side to side. He looked like he was familiar with the place, which made you certain that this was in fact, the owner of the black cat's home.

You hesitantly stepped into the house and closed the dark brown door behind you.

The inside of the house had a comforting vibe to it. There was a small hallway which you walked into when you walked through the front door.

On one side of the hallway, there was an opening in the wall. When you walked through the opening, it led to the living room. There was a maroon sofa which looked pretty worn down. There was a low top table in front of the sofa and it had a vase on top with a few flowers inside.

Nowadays, it was pretty rare to find a house that didn't have a TV in it so you were a little shocked to not see one in sight.

You walked back into the small hallway and right across from the opening to the living room was another opening. Inside was the kitchen with a round, small table with three wooden chairs to match.

You didn't stay in there for long though, after all you still had more of the house to explore.

After walking into the hallway once again, you saw stairs at the very end of the hallway leading to the second floor.

You walked up the stairs, doubting if they were sturdy enough due to them creaking with each step.

When you got to the top, you were met with another hallway. There was three wooden doors.

You entered one and assumed it was the master bedroom because it was fairly large. There was a queen sized bed in the middle of the room against the wall. It had cream colored sheets with a matching comforter.

On the right side of the bed was a nightstand with a small, old looking clock on top. There was also a dresser on the left side of the room.

As you explored the other two rooms, you figured out one was a bathroom and the other was a guest bedroom.

You couldn't help but wonder when the owner of the cottage would get home. You hoped that you would find them while giving yourself a tour of the house but they were no where in sight.

Sighing, you plopped down on the maroon sofa and threw your head back. "Maybe they won't mind if I stay here for just a bit.."

You found yourself slowly dozing in and out of consciousness. Your eyelids became heavy and just before you were about to doze off, the black cat jumped onto your lap and began pawing at your face.

You yelped and grabbed the cat by under his arms and lifted him up. "What are you doing, Marlin?!"

The cat only meowed in response and escaped your grasp, running to the kitchen. You groaned and assumed Marlin wanted you to follow him so you begrudgingly got up from the comfy sofa and made your way to the kitchen.

When you entered, you found him sitting by an empty food and water bowl while meowing loudly.

Your eyebrows furrowed and an unsatisfied noise left your throat. "What kind of a pet owner leaves the house without feeding their pet?!"

You searched around the kitchen to see if there was any cat food that you could give the poor black cat.

Finally, you opened a cabinet that was under the rusty looking sink and found a brown paper bag with the bold letters "CAT FOOD" on it.

Taking out the small bag, you placed it on the countertop and opened it. Sure enough, there was tiny brown pebbles that filled the bag to the brim.

You lifted the bag up and poured some of the content into the cat's food bowl. He meowed gratefully and began eating the food.

You placed the bag back in the cabinet and then filled the other bowl with water from the sink.

Even though you haven't met the person yet, they were starting to tick you off. How could they forget to take care of their pet? It really wasn't that hard to simply pour some food into the bowl and fill another one with water.

While you mentally scolded this unknown person, you didn't fail to hear your stomach growl embarrassingly loud.

You didn't want to steal food so you decided that you could wait for a while for the owner to return and give you permission to eat. Plus, you were used to skipping some of your meals due to saving up money that you earned from the office job.

Deciding that the owner of the house probably wouldn't mind if you rested in the guest bedroom, you made your way up the creaky stairs and entered the room to lay down on the bed.

The sun was just starting to set so you were grateful that you could at least get a few hours of extra sleep.

Unaware of the person you would meet the next day, you fell into a blissful sleep.