Where does a life go when it ends?
Sevine opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the ceiling, predominantly white with golden accents. The room around her was filled with lavish, classic furniture, all matching in hue. It looked like something straight out of a princess's bedroom in the fairy tales of her childhood.
Is this the afterlife? she wondered. The image of the afterlife she'd always imagined was far different from what she was witnessing now.
She shook her head. This couldn't be the afterlife. She couldn't possibly be dead from that night. Cecilia must have only put her into a coma and sent her far away, to some foreign land.
Sevine began to sit up, noticing her legs, which looked unnervingly pale—whiter than usual. Since when did her skin turn this porcelain-like? Not just her legs, but her hands, too.
A sudden unease settled within her. She slowly made her way to the vanity mirror, not far from the bed.Sevine froze. "WHOSE FACE IS THIS?!" she screamed, horrified.
The woman in the mirror was not her. Sevine wasn't the girl with long brown hair, a sharp nose, and thin lips. This face was entirely foreign.
Sevine stood frozen, staring at her reflection, until a few middle-aged women dressed as maids hurried into her room.
"My lady, what's wrong? Why are you screaming?" one of them asked, sweat dripping down her temple. She seemed afraid of Sevine.
"Who are you?" Sevine asked, her voice shaky.
The maids exchanged glances, as though Sevine's question were absurd.
"Of course, we are your servants"
"My servants? What do you mean? Who am I to be served?"
"You are Yelena Darconer, the eldest daughter of the Darconer family"
Sevine felt her head begin to spin. Cecilia wouldn't be this kind to give her servants, let alone maids. Was this some kind of costume party? And Yelena? Who on earth was Yelena?.
"You're mistaken. I'm not your lady. I'm not Yelena"
"Of course you are"
Sevine pressed her fingers to her temples. What kind of scenario was Cecilia planning now?
"Wait, did you just say Darconer?"
A fleeting memory surfaced, unexpectedly. She didn't want to believe the absurdity of it.
"Is my father Lucas Darconer?"
The maids nodded in unison.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Sevine shouted, so stunned she collapsed back onto the bed. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't funny in the slightest!
She stared at the maids in their uniforms, her head pounding with excruciating pain. Her vision blurred, and she felt herself losing balance.
The maids rushed toward her in panic.
"MY LADY!?" they cried.
"Get the doctor, quickly!" one of them shouted.
●○●○●○●○
In Sevine's subconscious, everything became clear to her—not just how she had died, but so many other things.She remembered the final moments of her life before that jerk Daniel mourned her death. She had prayed to God for a second chance at life.
"Hahaha," Sevine laughed hysterically. She hugged her knees as reality crashed down on her relentlessly.
Sevine had desperately wanted to live, but this wasn't what she had imagined—being trapped as the villainess in some web novel she'd read. This was far worse than death.
She should have truly died rather than endure this tragic fate. She was now stuck in the body of a character bound for a tragic end—the female antagonist who would be beheaded at the end of the story.
Yelena Darconer. How could Sevine not recognize the history of the body her soul now inhabited?
This girl, Yelena, was the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess Darconer, one of the three noble families serving King Errick Baterville-VII like loyal hounds in the tale of The Crown Prince Demands Fake Marriage. Yelena was also the official fiancée of Prince Reinhardt Baterville, the crown prince of the Baterville kingdom.
Yelena, who had been pampered by her parents like a princess, had grown up to be a cruel woman. She took pleasure in tormenting lower-ranking nobles, destroying them without mercy. No one dared defy her because she was the daughter of a duke.
Yelena loved Reinhardt deeply, but alas, her love was unrequited. Though Reinhardt despised her, he couldn't break off their engagement. The Darconer family had served the kingdom for too long, and the marriage was also a political necessity to secure the throne.
In search of a way to annul the engagement, Reinhardt traveled the kingdom to find a legendary sorceress said to be capable of creating long-lasting illusions.
During his journey, he met Rosse Torte, the illegitimate daughter of Baron Torte and a prostitute. The girl had been hitching a ride on Reinhardt's horse, desperate to find her missing mother. Sympathetic to her longing, Reinhardt agreed to help her.
At the climax of the story, Reinhardt found the sorceress. With her help, they devised a plan to annul his engagement to Yelena.
The sorceress would create an illusion that Rosse was pregnant with Reinhardt's child, forcing him to marry her. Only Reinhardt, Rosse, and the sorceress would know the truth. The rest of the world would see Rosse as pregnant.
As a token of gratitude for helping to find her mother, Rosse agreed to pretend to marry Reinhardt. The two agreed on a contract marriage that would only last until Reinhardt ascended the throne.
The people initially rejected the idea, condemning Rosse for her lowly status. They mocked her as a disgrace, a bastard child daring to sleep with the crown prince. But, due to Rosse's gentle nature, the people's opinion slowly shifted in her favor.
When King Errick saw how loved Rosse was by the people, as well as her supposed pregnancy, he decided to annul Reinhardt's engagement to Yelena.
The Darconer family accepted the king's decision, but Yelena did not. She was maddened by her love for Reinhardt, and this drove her to commit unspeakable acts.
On the night of Reinhardt and Rosse's wedding, Yelena hired assassins to kill Rosse. However, the assassins were defeated by Reinhardt and the royal guard, and one of the surviving assassins was interrogated.
Yelena was soon arrested for orchestrating the attack on the crown princess. Her family could not save her. In tears, they watched as she was dragged to the execution block.
After Yelena's death, love blossomed between Reinhardt and Rosse. The fake marriage had brought them together. They lived happily ever after and were blessed with a son and a daughter.
The story ended with the hero and heroine living contentedly until the end of their days. Meanwhile, the antagonist? She wept in the depths of hell.
●○●○●○●○
This was the second day that Sevine awoke in this strange, unfamiliar world—the world of the novel she found herself trapped in. The memories of Yelena, the girl whose body she now inhabited, had bombarded her mind relentlessly the day before. Each recollection had come rushing back, overwhelming her with fragments of a life that wasn't her own. She'd fainted from the sheer weight of it all, her head spinning as the flashes of Yelena's memories played in her mind like a tragic, never-ending reel.
As her eyes fluttered open, the first thing she saw was the soft, golden light of morning filtering through the curtains, casting long shadows across the lavish room. The walls were adorned with ornate tapestries, and the intricate furniture gleamed with the soft luster of polished wood. But it was not the grandeur of the room that caught her attention—it was the sight of two people sitting beside her, their faces etched with concern. Yelena's parents, Duchess and Duke Darconer, sat beside the bed, both of them watching her intently, as if waiting for her to wake up from a long, unsettling slumber.
Their faces held a depth of love and worry that was impossible to ignore. In their eyes, Sevine saw a reflection of what she had lost in her own life—parents who cared, who loved their daughter with an intensity that could never be replaced. In her previous life, she had often longed for such affection, but it had always felt out of reach. And now, she was living a reality where that love was being offered to her once again, though it was the love of strangers.
"Darling, you're awake?" Duchess Darconer's voice trembled with relief as she immediately pulled Sevine into a tight embrace. The warmth of the woman's arms felt strangely comforting, like the touch of a mother, a nurturing presence that Sevine had long been deprived of. Duchess's embrace held a tenderness that made Sevine's heart ache.
For a moment, Sevine closed her eyes, letting herself be enveloped in the feeling. It was a sensation she hadn't experienced in a long time—the comforting arms of a mother. She felt as though she could stay there forever, resting in the cocoon of Duchess's warmth. But then, a wave of grief suddenly washed over her, and without warning, tears sprang to her eyes.
The woman holding her—Mathilda—wasn't her mother, and yet, in that fleeting moment, Sevine felt an undeniable connection to her.
The memories of her own mother, from her past life, came flooding back in a rush. Her mother's soft smile, her gentle hands, the way she used to tuck Sevine into bed at night. The love and care that had always been present, even if Sevine hadn't fully appreciated it back then. But now, in this strange world, it was as if she had been given a second chance to experience that love once more.
"I'm sorry, Mother... I'm sorry, Father..." Sevine whispered through her sobs, the words tumbling out in a heart-wrenching confession.
Her heart twisted in pain as she remembered how she had failed them in her past life, how she had let go of all that was good and pure. Now, in this new life, it was as if fate had granted her a rare and precious opportunity to set things right.
Sevine tried to steady her breathing, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. She couldn't let herself fall into despair again. She had made a promise to herself. She had vowed that she would not allow herself to follow the same path as Yelena.
Yelena Darconer had lived a life of privilege, but also one of cruelty and heartache. She had been trapped in the gilded cage of her aristocratic upbringing, manipulating others and causing pain without a second thought. But Sevine, the woman who now inhabited her body, was determined to rewrite the story. She would not become the antagonist in this tale. She would change the fate that had been handed to her.
Her vision blurred as more memories of Yelena's life swirled in her mind—the viciousness, the power, the bitterness. Yelena's ambition had been her downfall, and Sevine refused to let that same darkness consume her. This was her chance, her second chance, to live the life she had always wanted but had never been able to have.
"I won't be like her," Sevine whispered to herself, her voice steadying with newfound resolve. "I will live a life worth living. I will change my fate, no matter the cost."
Mathilda pulled away slightly, her face soft with concern. "My dear, are you feeling alright? You've been through so much. You don't need to apologize." She gently brushed Sevine's hair away from her forehead.
"I'm fine," Sevine said, her voice shaky but determined. "I'm just... overwhelmed."
The Duchess smiled warmly, though her eyes still carried the worry that only a mother could feel. "You've been through a lot, my dear. It's only natural that you'd feel this way."
Sevine nodded silently. Her mind raced, thinking of the path ahead. If she wanted to survive this world, to change the course of this story, she would have to be clever. She would have to be strategic.
She would live a long life—one filled with purpose, love, and change. She would fight for the people who cared for her. She would fight for the second chance she had been given. No longer would she be just a pawn in a cruel, tragic tale. She would be the one to rewrite the ending.
"I won't waste this," Sevine vowed to herself, the fire in her heart rekindled. "I will make the most of this life."
And with that, Sevine began the journey to reshape her destiny, to live a life that was truly her own, and to protect those who had given her this second chance.