The Villainess' Daughter

Prologue: The wedding of the century

Under the scorcing sun the smiles of the people are radiant and an atmosphere of joy spreads is almost visible in the air

The men in the inns drink briskly, the women stroll the streets telling each other the latest gossip and the children play in the alleys chasing each other.

Festoons hang on the windows of the houses, Vendors pop out from all over the streets selling the weirdest things from clocks to sweets to weird wooden toys.

 The younger girls wear flower crowns, handmade by their mothers, and the young ones try to get their attention

They are all different people but they all share one thing: the coronation of the new queen.

The kingdom had fallen into a sorry state in recent years. Corruption and banditry were throwing the kingdom into chaos.

Shops were robbed and vandalized, men killed in the streets, women and children kidnapped and sold.

The situation was critical, the citizens almost never left their homes if it wasn't for work. The guards patrolled the kingdom every day but the situation did not change

The breaking point was a few months earlier. 50 guards patrolling the city were found dead in the city center. Their bodies piled up near a fountain. The smell of blood and rotting bodies was so strong it lingered for days.

People were going crazy, even the nobles usually impassive and above all showing some agitation.

A collective idea was becoming more and more present in the higher-end houses: the incompetence of the royal family was becoming more and more evident.

The nobles have always been the piece that could overthrow the system, if unhappy with the sovereign, nothing could stop them to find a better leader who would have satisfied them more.

The new king is very young, only 24 and has become the successor of his father just 5 years ago.

The critical situation, combined with the young king's young age, aggravated the situation more

And in this situation where the breaking point was being reached, it was incredibly resolved.

The king, initially believed to be docile and incompetent, investigated the situation and managed to capture the culprit.

Since then the situation appears to have returned to normal. The people who have found their savior feel blind devotion to the sovereign. After a hellish situation like that, even normality seems almost like heaven

it has been decided that the culprit and his whole family will be executed for their own on the day of the coronation of the new queen, as to start a new era.

The culprit was surprisingly a close member of the royal family, the emperor's father-in-law: the Duke De Duval

The duke wanted to induce a rebellion and he and his whole family were obviously imprisoned even the queen herself: Queen Vivian.

It's nearly three in the afternoon The celebration is about to begin. The guards stand on the sides of the streets to stop the rowdy people waiting for the carriage to arrive.

The sound of the trumpets!

The marriage has been consecrated everyone turns their heads to the castle. knights in dazzling armor parade before the king. The audience is in a quiver, shouts can be heard from everywhere. After the knights comes the parade.

A boy in the front row leads the parade followed by trumpets and trombones playing cheerful and lively music, perfectly in tune with the situation 

In the distance a shadow is vaguely seen and the sound of wooden wheels on the stone is clearly heard.

What everyone has been waiting for is finally here:

In an ivory color with sparkling gold details stands the royal carriage. The interior is filled with white camellias of the same color as the four horses pulling the carriage that almost seem to go to the rhythm of the music

Inside are seated a man and a woman, the king and the one who will be the queen of the nation.

He has hair close to gold, which in the sun seems shining almost to dazzle more than the gold of which the carriage is made, a tall nose, thick and serious eyebrows and a perfectly proportioned mouth.The defined jaw is highlighted from by his hair pulled back but what stands out the most are his incredible golden eyes, symbol of the royal family. Around his neck he has a red cloak that contrasts beautifully with the white uniform he is wearing.

The whole person is magnificent and imposing, almost comparable to a god.

The woman next to him has brown hair and two clear blue eyes. Her eyes are large and full of innocence, almost comparable to a child's. She is not as magnificent as the man beside her but the purity and kindness she emanates, augmented by the white dress and the veil resting on her head does not make her seem unsuitable.

"Long live to the queen" cheers the crowd as the carriage passes by.

The new queen greets her with her hand, her innocent smile is dazzling.

The new queen is a girl of the lower nobility, a baron not by birth but who bought the noble title.

Since the queen is not noble by birth, she made her feel much closer to the people. All women could dream of being able to be in her place and that the fact that she was proclaimed queen was an incredible fortune.

There have been rumors that the new queen was previously the king's lover, but no one seemed to remember it or at least it was purposely forgotten, after all a rumor remains only a rumor.

While outside the people celebrated, in another part: in the basement of the castle there is another air

The floor is wet with perennial humidity and despite being in the summer a chill shiver passed through the prisoners contained within it.

All those inside the basement are those who sooner or later will be condemned to the gallows and today, marriage of the royal family, the execution of the duke and his whole family will take place.

The Duchess in a cell embraces her two children, crying bitter tears and barking at her for the pain of what is to happen.

The duke is sitting in another cell in the corner with his hand on his forehead. His hair that has always been raven black is now white.

Cousin Sebastian, who has always had a heart condition, died in his cell for lack of medicines, the aunt is thrown on his body praying and crying at the same time, singing an ecclesiastical chant crippled by tears, so that the soul of the son can find peace.

The uncle yells attached to the bars with his eyes wide open and almost crazy trying to threaten the guards who instead remain impassive in front of everything

Uncles, cousins ​​and relatives up to the second degree of the duchy are locked up here. There are those who cry, those who scream with pain and those with anger.

Everyone has is experiencing a different emotion but extraordinarily a person seems to feel nothing.

she is sitting in her in the shabby and shabby bed and is wearing prisoners' clothes: horrible white dressing gowns that cover her body up to her knees

Her back is straight and her long, raven black hair is spread across the bed.

Two eyes as black as coal with a slightly upturned shape that bestow her a seductive air and that can bewitch any man. A straight nose and full lips and a skin paler than snow. A magnificent, almost diabolical beauty that perfectly resembles the succubus demons that are said to enter the dreams of men.

She remains there, still impassive, elegant as if she were not inside the prison but in the royal palace to take tea.

This woman is exactly the former Queen Vivian.

There are a few hours before she will be put to the gallows along with her whole family but no one can deduce her thoughts.