The Masked Villain Wants to Marry Me

"Kneel in front of me."

Estelle Thaleia Xaviera, Lady Vienna, addressed the crown prince. She was only stalking him a few months ago until she read the contents of the book "The Princess and her Happy Ever After."

She was once known across the kingdom as the Crown Prince's stalker; that was her routine until she read the book that the attractive mysterious man handed her; it seemed weird to get gifts from a stranger on the street.

The book was enjoyable at first, but she soon realized how things had ended out.

The story was almost like a replica of her life, as if someone had written the entire flow of her life from beginning to end.

Of course, the lady was completely taken aback. But it was the part where she had to portray the villain that stumped her the most! She can't help but feel her blood boil as she feels offended. She should've been the female protagonist!

Lady Vienna faces a horrible end in the book, as she is assassinated by the crown prince. She spent her entire life harassing Princess Avelina, stalking the crown prince, and finally attempting to murder the Princess on the eve of their wedding.

She'd read a thousand such stories before. But she never comes across anything remotely resembling being a villain!

Is it good fortune or bad luck that she knows her future? It's bad luck for her, but she'll take advantage of it.

She couldn't help but take advantage of the male lead's vulnerability in front of her at this time. What a 180-degree turn of events. He's completely reliant on her. "Kneel," I said.

Prince Mathias, the Crown Prince, gazed at her as if she had gone insane. "Lady Vienna, I'm a prince, and you're just Duke Xaviera's daughter-"

JUST a daughter?

She laughed madly, as if she was losing her mind, or rather, her sanity because she discovered she was merely a villainess. She doesn't have to think twice about killing him now that he's revealed his real colors. "I am Lady Vienna," she declared firmly, interrupting him.

She may only be the daughter of a duke, but she has far more power than that at the moment. She's well aware of her value, and she's using it against him.

"This is crazy," Prince Mathias chuckled. "Are you truly the lady I knew...Estelle? You used to like me, didn't you?"

Hearing that name come out of his mouth made her cringe. Her tummy used to be churning with butterflies, but not longer.

"Yes, I used to...but what a horrible past that must have been for me..."

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes After all, it doesn't seem like being called a Villainess is such a horrible thing. It's past time for her to take action. Lady Vienna whirled around, casting a venomous gaze at the crown prince. "Get out of here; I don't have time to spend."

She watched him leave her study, clenching his teeth in rage.

She can't get the words of the mystery man who gave her the book out of her head. "You should not burn the book now; it is not the correct time."

She must take advantage of the time limit now that the crown prince and her female lead's marriage is only 10 months away.

Yes, if the events depicted in the story were to occur. But in the last several days, she's broken through that barrier and altered the story's flow.

She seized the book in her hands, smirking. She threw the book on the firewood and smiled as flames enveloped it, consuming it until all that was left were ashes.

Is it worth fighting for if she's going to die anyway? Don't worry, she'll do her best. It's time to make a difference in her life. She'll make her own if she can. Her ideas are working, and all she has to do now is wait for the results.

Duke Raziel Valen Donovan, the villain. According to the book, before the crown prince and her female lead's wedding, the female lead would be killed and the empire would be in chaos, Duke Raziel would initiate a coup d'etat to kill all the nobles, including her.

And that is her problem. She managed to be killed in the hands of the crown prince, how about in the hands of the villain?

She needs to find Dillon. The key to her plans. It's time to test if her plans worked. And any minute now, Duke Raziel would appear.

But hours have passed and he's still not appearing. Is he late?

"Ehem." She heard a clearing of the throat. Speaking of the devil.

Turning around, she didn't see the duke, but instead it was his personal knight, Titus, his bright silver hair and purple eyes gleaming through the sunlight. "Please excuse me, my lady, but a letter just arrived. It has the Duke Donovan's eagle seal." He said.

Handing her the note, she read it.

Dear Lady Vienna 'Estelle' Thaleia Xaviera of the Duchy of Creneia. I, Duke Raziel Valen Donovan, from the Duchy of Xynnar, wish to ask for your hand in marriage.

Details should be discussed within these next few days as I am also waiting for Duke Xaviera's reply.

However, in the meantime, I would like to get to know my lady better. I would like to meet you in the famous coffee shop in the capital city, Moressley. Pardon me for the rush, but I can't wait to meet my future Duchess.

Truly Yours,

Duke Raziel Valen Donovan

Duchy of Xynnar

He had his signature at the end. Lady Vienna reread it again and felt like vomiting in disgust. What the hell is this man spouting some nonsense? Asking for her hand in marriage?

Was it a prank? A game he wants me to participate in? The lady laughed at the thought, feeling like she was losing her mind. She never remembered that the villain would propose to her from the book.

Wasn't he supposed to be killing all the nobles and head over heels for the female lead?

But why is he sending a letter and asking for marriage? She thought to herself.

Then it hit her. Everything is making sense now.

Everything is not going as the book says because her plan is working..it was all her doing. From visiting the Rogue Guild, meeting the female lead, and talking with the crown prince. All her actions changed the flow of the story. And now, Duke Raziel is chasing after her.

"My lady, Duke Raziel is here again." Announced her maid, Roxy.

She rolled her eyes, laying on her bed. "Tell him I'm sick."

Her Knight, Titus appeared with a box in his hands. "My lady, the duke sent you gifts."

She shook her head no, "Throw that away."

Roxy then came running to her, catching her breath. "My lady, the Duke, is by the door."

She stood up at that. What?

Just in time, there was a loud bang on the door and it opened, revealing Duke Raziel.

She stood frozen and glared at her maid for letting him in. "I apologize, my lady, the Duke was demanding to see you." Bowed her maid, clearly scared of what she'll do.

She sighed. How persistent!

Duke Raziel approached her, leaning to her but she pushed him away.

"What are you doing here in my room? An unmarried man is not allowed to be in a lady's room!" She yelled.

She could feel Duke Raziel smirking behind his worn mask. "That's why I came here, Lady Vienna. Once you agree to my proposal, we will be a married couple. I told you, I'll chase you to death. Aren't you too tired to say no to me?"

She wanted to avoid him as much as possible, but how could she when he always appears everywhere?

"You won't get to say no to me, Lady Vienna. Not to me."

Lady Vienna was strong, but before she knew it, she couldn't escape Duke Raziel's grasp. This is only the beginning. An endless beginning of Lady Vienna's fate.

"Make way for the Imperial Knights!" Yelled a man with a grand attire. He was the empire's announcer, carrying a glowing light that let his voice echo throughout the Capital city, Moressley. The light was powered by mana, as the kingdom was blessed with numerous amounts of it that almost everything was run by mana.

Even the people, including the commoners, which are at the lowest level of society, had their own manas in their bodies.

People came rushing towards the central point of the city. The sun was already up and the morning light glistened throughout the sky. This was a typical day for the kingdom of Orthosdem Imperium as they await the arrival of their honored knights. It almost felt like there was a festival, with the loud drums and singing and dancing and a variety of food in the stalls.

Such a special day. Surely, the king would not miss the chance to let people celebrate this day with a feast.

Of course, it was thanks to their remarkable knights. They had returned from the battle with a victory on their hands.

"We could have just waited for sir Knight Titus to arrive at your house, my lady." Said a maid named Roxy to her lady despite the huge crowd's noise. She was a typical bubbly girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Together with her lady, they stayed at the back of the crowd to avoid getting from the mess, waiting by their carriage.

"No, I want to see him...." The lady said. She was the daughter of the Duke and Duchess, Lady Vienna "Estelle" Thaleia Xaviera. Growing up as a spoiled and bratty child, she had always thought that she was the female lead, but when a handsome mysterious man gave her a book a few days ago, she learned her whole life was superficial and her fate was already decided in the book. What's more, she learned that she was a villainess.

And that is why she can't just keep still.

Opening her carriage's curtains, she watched as the knights appeared with their shining armor, waving at the crowd with a big smile on their faces, some were still, taking pride in being called the heroes of the empire.

Lady Vienna Xaviera scanned her surroundings, her red off-shoulder dress, complimenting her red flowy hair and glimmering green eyes.

This won't do.

Opening her carriage door, she grabbed tightly on her dress and ran out. Her maid Roxy screeched in surprise, asking where she was going. She ignored her, continuing on running towards the crowd.

Amidst the crowd, she heard a voice from afar. "Is that my lady?" Looking at the source, she saw from the row of the knights marching towards the palace, there he was, her personal knight.

Liutenant Titus Matthan de Vivar, son of the General of the imperial army.

His bright silver hair shone from the light and his purple eyes stared at her, a big smile on his face. The lady smiled at him. "Titus!" She called out, and the crowd broke apart to make way for the lady.

She embraced her knight despite the huge chatter in the background. She knew it was not allowed to break through the boundary and approach the knights as they have to enter the palace first, but the palace guards did not even reprimand her and just let her do what she wanted.

Of course, she's a noble, a daughter of the duke, and close to the emperor, who would dare harass her?

"How'd you manage to see me?" She asked, quite shocked at her knight's eyesight. There were too many people. Titus's eyesight is remarkable.

Her knight chuckled beside her. "You were the only one standing out with your red hair," Titus replied, his deep voice calming her. "I've missed you, my lady."

There were childhood friends, and once the knight, Titus, trained to be a knight, he swore to serve her lady for the rest of his life, despite the fact on how the emperor himself wanted Titus to serve him.

This is because Titus earned the title of "The Nation's Hero" after he managed to save the army from fall and killed the enemies, and overcame the enemy's territory. He was considered their second strongest warrior after his own father, general of the imperial army. After that, he was thrown into escapades here and there, and from their recent voyage, it was him who led the army to victory.

"But you could have waited for me in the carriage, you could have gotten injured from the crowd!" He said to her, a bit worried. Smiling, he smirked at her. "What's the rush? Were you that excited to see me?"

She then remembered the girl earlier. That girl was lucky, if not, the lady could have ordered to cut her fingers. That's how cruel the lady is when she's mad.

Her eyes then looked around the knights, searching for someone.

"Now, where's the crown prince?" She asked, looking around. It's not like she's still obsessed with the crown prince, well she was once obsessed with him before she received the book, but she's only checking so that she won't have to encounter the crown prince soon.

"Awe, you just saw me, your own knight, and you're looking for him already?" Titus jokes, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "The crown prince was injured, he came earlier than us and he's back at the palace's infirmary."

"Good, How about Princess Avelina?" From their recent battle against the Lumen Empire, she knew that they had captured her as she was offered a treaty for the crown prince to marry. She hadn't seen her, but she could tell she was beautiful from the book.

And according to the book, they were supposed to be married by now. But they haven't met yet. That's strange...

"How did you know of her, my lady?" Asked Titus. "She's already in the palace."

"Oh, I just heard earlier." She lied.

She said goodbye to her knight, glanced at her carriage, and hid amongst the crowd, making sure her maid wouldn't see her escape. Now that the crown prince and female lead's marriage is late, there's a chance that the coup d'etat initiated by the villain, Duke Raziel Valen Donovan would start early.

He would kill all the nobles and once that started, then she would be included too as she is also a noble. She has to prevent that. And in order to prevent that, she has to go to the Sylvian Library, located at the southern border, the hometown of Glenarm. It looks like a normal library filled with books and all. But that was only for the show...

Behind the library, there was a secret information guild named "Rogue" owned by Fedel. But the true head of this is a man named Dillon...and he is the key for everything.

The book did not provide not many details as it only mentioned that Lady Vienna from the book used the guild to kill the female lead.

But she wants to meet him not to ask him to kill the female lead, but for another reason...and that is to ask him to kill the villain.

Plus, she has to find the mysterious man who gave her the book. But that should be shrugged off for now. Finding Dillon should be first.

Hastening her steps towards a dark alley, she saw Stellan, her own horse. She had already prepared her horse in advance so that her maid won't notice she was gone.

Hopping on her horse, she headed on the southern border. She brought with her precious sword and some gold bars for payment.

I have to hurry before my father's guards find me. She thought.

She used a different route and traveled through hometowns. It took her an hour to reach the southern border.

"Welcome to Sylvian Library. How may I help you?" A masked man greeted them once she reached the said library. Another two masked men appeared, standing close to her and intimidating her.

Oh...she forgot. The book said that all the staff here wore a black mask. It was like their shop's customs, their shop's selling point. It looks strange, but people come here for that reason. She stood still. "I need to talk to Dillon."

The masked men froze.

The one she talked to earlier spoke up, "Can I ask who is that miss? We are only a library."

"Dillon. Head of Rogue Guild." She spoke firmly against their lies.

The man stared at her for a minute, reading her face, then nodded, realizing she was a client. He lunged at her, unsheathing his sword as his red eyes burned holes in her. "How did you know of this place? Who sent you?" His tone was calm, but there was killing intent.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I just heard it from the town."

He gritted his teeth, he pointed at her with his finger. "Liar."

She bit his finger.

The masked man, the masked man grimaced in pain. He pushed her away. "What in the...are you even a lady? What kind of lady bites off people's fingers?"

She ignored his question. "Your master. Now." She commanded. "Before I have truly bitten off all your fingers."

He shook his hand to relieve the pain. There were four masked men surrounding her by now. "This is why I don't want to deal with noble ladies."

The lady chuckled. "Of course. I know you want to push me away here, but I would return again if you don't grant my request. That's how persistent I would be." She warned him.

The other masked man sent a signal to the other three and spoke up, "Then how about you guess which one of us is Dillon here?"

Guess? She didn't know that she had to play a guessing game here. "Are you sure about that? What if I managed to guess the right person?"

"Then you can request anything from him."

Smirking, she unsheathed her sword. This is going to be fun. "Shall we add a twist then? Let's use swords."

"Oh, you know how to handle a sword? Would it be unfair if it's you against all four of us?" The man asked.

She shook her head. "Don't worry. I can bring you all down single-handedly." She's not sure who Dillon is since she never met him, but she knows he has a mask...and he's strong. She'll have to test them then...She's confident that she can win.

As they all agreed, Lady Vienna lunged at all of them.

Attacking them one by one, it took her a minute to bring the three of them down. She smirked, now knowing who Dillon is. Or, where he is...

"That's amazing, but you haven't guessed who Dillon is." The last masked man standing said.

"You're Fedel, the owner of the Sylvian Library," She said, looking around. "And Dillon is not here."

The man looked blinked, looked around them, then chuckled. "Wow, as expected of Lady Vienna."

"Oh, you know me. Well, as expected of the Rogue guild." She retorted.

"As promised, you can meet Dillon." The masked man threw a cloth to cover her eyes. "Please bear this for a moment. We cannot let someone see our hideout." He said. She could hear him turning metal and a switch lighting up. The man then guided her towards a door and walked until they stopped. He then removed the cloth from her eyes and disappeared before saying, "Knock three times."

She did as he said and the door in front of her opened. Revealing a tall man with a black mask on. She could not see his face or even the color of his hair as he was covered with the hood of his cloak.

He just stared at her coldly. His red eyes were like fire. All she could do was gaze at his muscular figure. Of course, he had a cloak on, but his body's muscles were visible.

"Hello, Lady Vienna. I was waiting for you." His cold voice said, slicing through the icy thin air.

The room was dark with only the candles dimly lightening up the room. The walls were painted white and plain, and the only furniture she could see was the table by the window and the sofa placed in the center of the room. She saw him sitting by the sofa and she sat in front of him.

"Speak what you want. And give us 5 bars of gold."

"I request that you kill Duke Raziel." She said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"I think you misunderstood our guild. We don't kill people. We only seek information."

"No, I know you can do it."

The man just stared at her, analyzing what she said. He spoke up again "Really? Then I'm afraid I have to test you. I saw how you brought down my men outside."

He stood up and unsheathed his sword from his belt.

"Are you challenging me?" She asked, standing up also. Whenever someone challenges Lady Xaviera into a duel, she never backs down. She takes pride in her skills. She's confident she'll win.

"If you managed to even scrape me, then I agree to your request. If not, then I'm afraid you'll have to go home achieving nothing." The man declared.

"Sounds good to me." With that, the lady launched at him first.

She tried to stab him in his stomach but he was fast. She launched again, and again, trying to test the waters but he could avoid her attacks easily. He was just allowing her to attack him continuously and he'd dodged it. Breathing hard, she paused, analyzing his movements. He was calm and he moved fluidly.

His skill is no joke. That's for sure. She has to take this seriously.

"That's amazing. But I think you have to work harder." It was his turn to attack her, which she also managed to avoid. Her movements were a bit limited as she was wearing her dress, weighing her down.

"You're quite skilled." The lady commented. "But I think my knight is more skilled." With that, the next thing she knew, she launched again and managed to cut his mask in two.

His mask fell down, revealing his face, but his hand was quick enough to cover his face and he turned around to avoid her. "Stay away." He fired.

Lady Vienna smirked, but then realized it. Dillon was always mysterious in the book, his identity was unknown. Could it be...Wait...no, those red eyes and black hair and mask...why was she stupid?

"Duke Raziel?" She asked, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.

Dillon is Duke Raziel! He's the villain!

She laughed hysterically, at her stupidity. She wanted to avoid Duke Raziel, came for Dillon to ask him to kill Duke Raziel, but turns out, they are the same person! How could she miss this fact! The hometown of Glenarm is part of the villain's territory!

What had she done? Now that the damage is here, she won't have a choice.

Dillon was frozen in front of him. Wearing another mask, he turned to face her. "Congratulations, you found it out. "

Lady Vienna could hear the gritting of the teeth of the man in front of him. He was not impressed by this. Dillon spoke up, giving her a pointed look. "No...I didn't mean to."

"Too late for that. Now that you know it, keep this secret all the way to your grave." She felt chills running down her spine by his words. "Leave now. I'll see you soon."

What could he possibly mean by that? They won't meet again! And she doesn't want anything to do with his secret. But deep inside her, he knows something wild is going to unfold soon.