The Villainess has Shattered

Scene 1

A lady dragged her calloused feet with her head hung low, causing her dirty, unkempt grey hair to cascade down her face like an unfortunate bridal veil.

Her chains rattled with every step as admonishment after admonishment was hurled her way. The crowd of people chanted venom at her existence. Stones were thrown at her, with some striking her body hard enough to draw blood.

Yet she did not react. Her eyes glossed over, unfazed by her misfortune. She kept walking even as the blisters in her feet popped and leaked their contents.

The woman truly felt nothing at this situation. It wasn't anything special at all. At least to her.

"You witch!"

"We don't want you!"

"Go to hell!"

The masses chanted in canon. However, the admonishment paled in comparison to a specific group of people.

The woman halted her movements and turned her gaze upward to see the glaring faces of aristocrats.

"Odette Sopher! You have exhausted the patience of many. We have given you chance after chance to change your ways, yet you dare to commit such a heinous crime." A booming voice came from an older gentleman sitting on an intricately designed chair.

"You dare to sell this empire out, your birthplace!For what? Attention? Petty satisfaction? No matter what, I can't understand her reasoning, Father!" A man with deep crimson locks exclaimed.

"To think such a thing was once legally my sister! A Sopher! Frankly, it's laughable. I knew from the beginning you wouldn't be... exceptional, especially in your state. Father was right in not coming to this farce. Such a waste of time for him." Another man, his locks a deep green, spoke as he looked at you as if she were nothing but rotting flesh on the road.

Others chimed as they scorned and whispered about the lady's existence. Each word from them is an insult. Yet not a single reaction flashed on her face.

How utterly boring.

The lady then opened her mouth to speak, causing enough attention to cause the crowd to silence.

"Not a single person on my side... That is to be expected." Her words sounded hollow in her dehydrated voice. Though blunt as she was, she truly hoped for a different outcome this time.
"I'm so tired." She uttered as literal cracks as white as snow appeared around her eye. They soon began to spread.

Ignoring the gasps and confusion of those around, the lady just placed a hand on the left side of her chest. Underneath her clothing began a new epicentre of cracks that ran deeper into her body until it surrounded her heart.

"I hope that in the next rehearsal, I can just sit and sleep." And with those words, the cracks reached her fragile, flimsy heart, and like glass, it shattered.

The corpse fell apart as limbs and tissue detached themselves, leaving the body like a vase full of blood and feather had been knocked over.

The abyssal eyes of the lady rolled along the stone before eventually coming to a halt. It stared at the panicking people before it too shattered like glass.

~~*[Act 1: Rehearsal number 143]*~~

"Within the Empire of Cidelia were four prestigious families that were the pillars of the nation's founding. The Luciel of the East, the Aurum of the West, the Fortifice of the North in and the Sopher of the South.

One day, a beautiful lady with an incredibly talent for magic was born amongst the commoners. Through a miraculous opportunity she was accepted to the Imperial University of Magic. She spent her time there working and caught the attention of the five dashing men in high positions.

Her talent, beauty, and charm caught the ire of several who deemed her not worthy of such a position. So she was harassed by those who held jealousy in their hearts or by those whose avarice controlled their hands.

But worry not. She overcomes her struggles by her own means, along with assistance from others she trusts. Gaining power, wealth, and fame. Everything. Even conquering the sharpest thorn in high society.

That was a [A Garden of Jewels]"

The lady finished speaking as she opened her weary eyes.

"Of course this is what I still remember..." She said her voice traced with slight annoyance but soon went back to its monotone tune.

She looked around the room. It felt too familiar yet so distant. The walls were a light beige, and the floor was birch. It would be quite plain if not for the intricate decoration placed around it.

Though this was the lady's room, it brought no joy to her eyes to see it.

"You're still here, Odette." The lady spoke, yet the room was empty except for her, who just sat on a rocking chair.

Odette turned her gaze to the nearest window to see the same purple-pink sky as the morning halo rose from the east.

She gripped the rocking chair's handle as she tilted her head back while inhaling deeply. After holding her breath for a few moments, she quickly threw her head into her hands while opening her mouth.

No sounds could be heard. Not a whisper or a whimper. Yet the sudden, violent crash of glass splintering resounded like cacophonic wails.

Every window and every mirror in the room shattered, leaving their broken fragments littered around Odette's figure. White spider-web-like cracks emerged from her palms and grew down her arms to her elbows.

Each second, she stomped her feet, causing cracks to form in the floor boards as she sobbed into her blackening palms.

Soon, her soundless shrieks came to a halt. Odette lifted up her head. Her scleras were an abyss as ink like tears flowed down her pale cheeks. Her palms covered in the same tears.

Tilting her head back towards the ceiling, she just sat there, expressionless and unmoving. The only change was her sclera returning to its original white colour.
——
[Within the Sopher Mansion]

"Did you hear that?" A maid asked as she raised her dreary head from the bed.

"Yes. Now go back to sleep!" And another servant snapped back, rolling over onto her pillow.

"It sounded like it came from the lady's room! Shouldn't we go check?" The maid asked.

"So much effort." The maid sighed. "The guards will handle her. And we can just check in later. I want at least 30 more minutes of sleep." And like that, the maid fell back asleep, with the other following soon after.

This was a common thought process by those who woke up.

[Hours later]

Two servants walked up to the largest doors of the west annex, one carrying a water basin and towel and the other pushing a tray with a silver plate cloche.

One maid held up her hand and knocked lightly on the doors a few times. However, no response was given. Repeating the knocks only returned silence once again.

Ignoring etiquette, the maids opened the door only to halt in their tracks, as stepping any closer was dangerous.

The visage before them was that of Odette, sitting facing away from them. Her crack-scarred hands were neatly on her lap, and her calloused feet pointed to the ground as if she were dipping her legs in a lake of fragment shards.