Ascension Of The Villainess (Preview)

Chapter 4

Eunna gasped when she heard a sudden clicking noise. It's as if someone threw a small stone somewhere on the ground, or did something fell? She failed to notice it. She was so drowned in the book that she almost forgot what's happening around her. The history of Aegelian Empire was so intense that it took all of her attention, and for some reason... there's this unfamiliar feeling that she's feeling whenever she's seeing that man's name that she kept on disregarding because it doesn't make any sense... why does her heart feels so tight every time she's reading Liou's name? Is it because she's so drowned in the story? Maybe... maybe.

She let out a huge sigh and decided to close the book when a small piece of paper fell down from the book.

"This life is a gift, do not forget the purpose... save that person from falling in the depths of hell..."

That was the message written on the paper. Her eyebrows crossed when she noticed something on the paper, it's not just a normal paper. It's a bit thick like a cardboard paper. She flipped the paper and her eyes rounded when she saw a small portrait of herself at the back of the paper. But something's different.

Her flaming ginger hair on the portrait is long and it has big volumes of waves, it even reaches down to her waist compared to her current straight hair that's short and only goes long down to her neck, and the clothes she's wearing on the portrait doesn't look like something she will wear in this lifetime. It looks like some of the dresses from the Victorian era...

She stared intently at the small piece of paper. She's extremely confused of how she can look so much like the lady in this photo when they have so many differences at the same time, specially the look on the lady's face... her eyes looked menacing and the tiny smile on her lips expresses some hidden contempt...

This is a face... that only a Villainess can make.

Her eyes traveled in every corner of the portrait, inspecting it's every detail when a name below the portrait catches her attention.

"Marianne Cervantes..."

The lady in the portrait is Marianne Cervantes! The lady who helped Prince Skyrux from his evil plan upon betraying their own kingdom! She is indeed a villainess!

'But why do I look like her?' She frowned by that thought. 'I mean, she's extremely beautiful than me but she's still a villainess!'

While she was busy pondering about the portrait, there was a sudden movement from the ground which became violently strong which caused the books to fall from the bookshelves, even some of the bookshelves fell on the ground. There is no question, a strong intensity of earthquake is happening! She has to move quickly and find somewhere she can use as her cover!

She saw a sturdy table and ran her way through it but a tall bookshelf fell in front of her and blocked her way. Even before she can make her move, a huge block from the ceiling cracked which caught her eyes and she saw it falling on her right in front of her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat. Is this her end? Is this how she'll die...?

"This life is a gift, do not forget the purpose... save that person from falling in the depths of hell..."

She heard a woman's voice echoing those words before she blacked out.

~

"It's nice to see you again Duke Augustin Lavaliere, I didn't expect to meet you here on the palace grounds."

"It's been a while Marquess Cervantes. I just returned from our expedition in the east two days ago, and it's nice to see you again as well, please let's drop the title, it's making me uncomfortable."

The Marquess chuckled, "You're humble as always my friend. By the way, I heard that you adopted a boy from the east, is it him...?"

'Ugh... it's so noisy... who are these men... what are they talking about?' Eunna spoke inside her head. Did she fell asleep? What happened? Why is everything black?

Slowly, a ray of light flashed on her sight but she's not able to see things clearly. It's as if her vision is from the reflection of water, it's waving... blurry and wait... where is she? Who are these people that she's seeing? Is she dead? Are her memories flashing before her eyes just like the saying when someone is dying? But why can't she see herself? This little girl in front of her is like somewhere between 7-8 years old and she has long flaming ginger hair that has huge volume of curls...

'Marianne...? Why am I... Oh... no... Don't tell me... I'm inside Marianne Cervante's memories...!?"

"Yes, this is the boy. Let me introduce you to my son, Liou Deuz Lavaliere... Liou, this is my friend Marquess Solomon Cervantes." The man with ash hair smiled widely as if he's introducing a son whom he's very proud of. Her vision is getting a little clearer, they are in a huge open area that's designed with beautiful hedgerows and behind them... is a huge palace.

She can see the child version of Marianne hiding behind the other man's back, while they are facing the man with an ash hair and beside him is a teenage boy with a hair that's black as the night sky.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Marquess Cervates. I've heard a lot of stories about you from my father back in the east." She's surprised when Liou started speaking habang nakikipag kamay sa lalaking tinatawag na Marquess Cervantes whom she's suspecting as Marianne's father because of the surname and similarity of the hair color. Also, she's surprised that a young boy like him is able to speak with adults in the same tone level as if there are three adult men speaking in front of her.

"The pleasure is mine, although I hope that the stories you heard about me were all good stories." The Marquess replied with a friendly chuckle.

"Don't worry, though we know that the Duke is pretty bad at storytelling, I managed to pick up the good ones about you." Liou replied that made the Marquess laugh.

"Now I can see where your smug smile is coming from Augustin." Said the Marquess who gave a meaningful look to the duke. It's obvious that he's proud to have a smart son like Liou in his family.

"He's about to turn thirteen next month, we will hold a celebration in Lavaliere manor. Be sure to be there." Augustin's eyes landed at Marianne who's been hiding at the back of her father. "Speaking of which, I would love to see the lovely Lady Cervantes at the celebration as well." He said and smiled brightly to the child.

"Marianne my darling, why are you hiding there? Where are your manners, why don't you greet the Duke and his son?" Marquess scolded softly.

Marianne looked a bit hesitant at first, but she greeted them in a lady manner while holding the sides of her dress and kneeling a little bit as she acknowledged the presence of the Duke.

"I offer my greetings to Duke Lavaliere and to the son of the Duke... It's a pleasure to meet you." She said in a small voice.

For the first time, Marianne's golden eyes and Liou's blood red eyes met.

He smiled at her.

Her young heart throbbed in her confusion.

But Eunna is more confused, why is it that she can feel Marianne's feelings as well? And why is she seeing these memories in the villainess's perspective?