It was a gloomy morning for everyone in the Empire. The people were mourning and still coping with the trauma that had been left to them.
No window could light the four-cornered cell where the lady had been imprisoned. She's a lady with an ethereal beauty and a sweet voice that could hold captive the hearts of men. No one could ever think that she would be the person behind the death of the first prince and the one who tormented the life of a gentle lady of the House Evergreen named Melissa.
Clarish Belfford is her name, the antagonist of the novel Twist of Fate. Today she will face the consequence of her villainy. The knights opened the metallic door and pulled her outside the prison room. Her hands were handicapped with special magic in them so she couldn't escape. They walked the dark alley and the only light was the lamp that the other knight was holding. Then they reached the bloody stadium where every prisoner met their end. Her eyes glistened as she saw the man standing at the center. The knight who had been her escort pushed her and made her kneel in front of the second prince, Prince Warryn. There were audiences but none of them showed a little bit of mercy for her.
"Y-your Highness..." she cried and met his cold gaze. Those eyes that looked like rubies would always shine at Melissa but when it came to her, the sparks would immediately disappear and his eyes would darken. "My beloved prince, please spare me some mercy. I only did those things because I love you. You know I would do anything for your sake. If you'd only loved me instead of that wrench, all of these wouldn't have happened. I just love you so much that I couldn't bear to see you with anyone else."
The prince clenched his fist and his jaw tightened. His eyes were full of anger and pain as he looked down on his fiancé. His beloved Melissa died and his stepbrother transformed into a beast and got killed. It was all because of the lady who was begging for mercy before him. How could he forgive someone that cruel?
"Love? You called that love?" His eyes became sharp as if they were daggers. "Your love terrifies me, Clarish. It was my biggest nightmare. You're desperate and pathetic, that's why that thing you called love will forever remain one-sided. I will never love you even in your second life."
"Please don't kill me...Have mercy...."
"Killing you will never be enough for the troubles and sufferings you inflected in this world. May you suffer in the afterlife too."
As soon as Prince Warryn raised his right hand, the knight raised the sword too as if waiting for him to make his next move. He smiled but his eyes were in agony.
"From the bottom of my heart, I loathe you. May our souls never cross paths again."
Then he dropped his hand freely, the sharp-bladed sword swung flawlessly to her neck. Her body collapsed to the floor, blood scattered everywhere.
"Hah!" Reina opened her eyes, the top of the canopy, and the ray of light from the window that reached her face greeted her 'good morning'.
She rose from the bed and held her chest tightly while panting heavily. She looked around and observed her senses. She's still alive and still grasping for air.
It was a bright Summer morning yet she had a nightmare so dark. The dream she had was the bloody fate of the original Clarish that had been written in the novel.
Six years had passed since she got transmigrated to this world and now she had turned 18, the same age when Clarish was executed in the novel.
No wonder why I had that dream. She let out a sigh of relief. She knew that nightmare would never happen to her. Since she hadn't been given the elemental gift, it was as if she had also lost the thread that connected her to the Imperial family. There were times when the Emperor invited her to visit the Palace but she always had reasons. The Emperor may still favor her but she knows it's already not as strong as before.
However, there was a huge problem that she had been carrying for six years already. Currently, the Imperial Palace was not in a good condition and the noble families were divided into two factions. The warning she gave to the first prince was a failure. Prince Darius had been cursed on the day of his coming of age so the plot of the story proceeded as what was written. At this moment, the cursed prince must be in an abandoned castle in the city of Louvern.
She may have escaped from the path of becoming a villainess but her role as a villainess was only the tip of the iceberg. It was not only Clarish but other buttons also played a huge part in the tragedy. The Curse of the Prince was the major plot that twisted everything. When the prince, who was supposed to be the next in line to the throne, died and the crown had been given to the second prince of House Scarlett. To express their opposition, the House Marqaux and House Evergreen supported the first prince together with the other strong houses and declared war on the Empire.
It was a time of chaos, many had died in the war. The knights of the House Scarlett were defeated and many noble members that supported the fallen house had been executed. The House Belfford which was the major ally of the Scarlett bloodline also met its demise.
If only that arrogant scumbag had listened to me, there shouldn't be a problem now. He's really getting on my nerves! She clenched her fist out of frustration and punched the soft pillow as hard as she could while imagining the face of Prince Darius.
"Now, all you have to do is to stay alive, you jerk," she said to the pillow with a devilish expression as if it was the prince she was talking to. "I'll kill you if you die."
But what if the Emperor dies? Her sudden thought made her stop and stared blankly at the pillow. She landed it back on the bed and was once again thought deeply.
It was the Emperor who maintained the peace between the two opposing houses. To avoid any conflict and to give the title of a crown prince to the right successor, the Sovereign gave them a condition. The curse must be lifted and the first prince must be back to normal before the crowning ceremony. If not, the title would be passed down to Prince Warryn and no noble houses could say a thing about it.
But if the Emperor suddenly dies at a time when the passing of the throne has not been decided, then the most terrifying event will be written in history. It wasn't written in the book that the Emperor died before the war but what if it happened this time? Even if the Emperor was the most powerful man on the continent, he could not go against the law of nature. He's already old and bedridden. What if someone from the noble houses tries to assassinate His Majesty?
Now, everything became complicated just because of the arrogant prince who had not listened to her when she warned him before. She picked the poor pillow once again and massacred it until the cottons inside were pulled out. When she felt a bit of satisfaction, she stood out of bed and went to the bathroom to relax.
The female servants happily entered her room that morning while they chitchatted with her. One servant prepared her dress and the other one groomed her hair.
"There's no other beauty in the continent of Arsleia that exists other than you, Lady Clarish," Sylvia, the one who would always praise her beauty, said after she'd done grooming her hair. The other maids nodded, no signs of disagreement to them.
Their praise and adoration had become a habit and the only thing she could do was to smile sweetly. From a 'young lady,' she had now transformed into a fine and dignified lady of House Belfford. Following the norm of this world, she just debuted as an adult when she turned 16.
But I was already an adult when I came to this world, she thought with a smug in her face.
"It's a mystery to me that no one in this land tried to send an engagement proposal to our lady. Not only Lady Clarish is beautiful, but she's also a perfect woman. She's well-mannered and well-educated. She has everything a lady could have." She chuckled at the bold declaration of the other maid named Jane. She's a newbie but she already grew closer to the other maids.
Even though she never had the chance to enter the Imperial Academy of the Gifted, the Marquis made sure to give her proper tutelage on how to be a decent and respectable noble daughter. She had been taught the subjects of politics and economics, sewing and embroidery, cooking, social manners, and noble etiquettes. She obtained good marks in each class but she scored the highest in household chores. The only thing she was never good at was dancing.
"Well, I don't have the elemental gift," she replied with a smile but only made the new maid pout. "Who would want an empty vessel wife in the first place?"
Not that I care about it. I don't wish to marry anyway.
What matters the most is her peaceful life. The Marquis and the Marchioness didn't kick her out of the house despite being an empty vessel and the servants in the house treated her with great care. Her brother Jefferson who was rude to her before that even attempted to take her life suddenly changed. He became kind and thoughtful. He got promoted from being an elite knight to the aid of Prince Warryn and every time he visited home from his duty to the Imperial Palace, he would bring her new dresses and her favorite pastries. Her little brother Chester who turned eleven became a smart student but remained as cute as ever.
In six years, she had lived a peaceful life that she wanted. She made sure that she had already escaped the route of being a villainess.
"Those noblemen who were only after the elemental gift are stupid," Jane replied which only made her laugh and shrug her shoulders. "There's nothing to be proud of for having a gift when you didn't even work hard for it in the first place. It was naturally given to you, you never earned it."
The new maid's remarks almost made her clap in a standing ovation. If Zenia was here, she would nag at Jane for saying such words in the mansion where the other family members could hear her but her personal maid was off duty today and went to their townhouse to take care of her sick mother.
"Good morning, Lady Clarish," Wynona greeted her with a smile when they met in the corridor. She's a woman in her 30s and the substitute head maid of the house after Cecelia retired. The other maids who were busy doing their chores stopped for a while and greeted her.
"Good morning too, Ma'am Wynona and everyone. Thank you for your hard work," she greeted back with a sweet smile.
Everyone in the room blushed, even the head maid couldn't brace herself from the charm of their lady. The way they reacted was the same way how high school girls reacted when they were noticed by their crushes. Reina giggled at the thought. She then excused herself and went straight to the kitchen where she smelled a very familiar aroma of a dish.
"Good morning everyone," she greeted the three chefs. As soon as they saw their lady entering their fortress, their face lit up and they greeted her back.
"Milady, I tried to cook the dish you suggested me to do but I'm not sure if this tastes right," the lady chef showed her a familiar dish that had been served on a clean white plate.
It was a marinated chicken that she told the chef to make. It was called adobo, a national dish in the country she lived in her past life. She sniffed the smoke coming from it, her eyes made the shape of hearts.
"It smells good, Chef Pauline." She took a fork and grabbed a bite. She chewed carefully, feeling the tenderness of the meat on her tongue, and then swallowed every piece of it. She then put the fork down and smiled awkwardly.
"Does it taste bad, milady?" The male chef asked and darted his gaze to the female chef.
"No, actually it was delicious," she honestly said and scratched the side of her cheek as she tried to find the right words to say. "However, it tasted different from what I imagined. It lacks authentic taste. It tastes like a different dish instead."
The lady chef nodded as if trying to digest in her mind what she said. The old chef who was busy chopping onions quietly glanced at the three. He then smirked and continued what he was doing. He could only guess that the lady would make a strange recipe again like she had always done.
"The truth is, I skipped some of the ingredients from the list. I didn't add sugar or oil because I didn't think they were necessary. I thought they would only make the taste of the dish unpleasant," the chef confessed while glancing at the remaining spices on the table.
Those were the ingredients for the dish that she believed to be rare in the continent. Surprisingly, the maid who made the errands found those in the market. She and the other chefs didn't know things like those existed, only when the lady told them. This was also the first time she cooked such a dish and she didn't know how to slice or prepare the right portion of those spices.
"Cooking is all about experimenting. You'll never know if you won't try," Reina told her with a sparkle in her eyes. She only nodded and made sure to write those words in her small notebook.
Reina curled up the sleeves of her dress after she decided to cook it herself. She wore an apron and tied her hair into a bun. The three chefs only watched their lady do her thing like she always did. They were no longer surprised.