Villainess Reborn

I stared outside the window and looked at the orange sky, the sun setting down was something I'd never get tired of watching. The colors infused with the clouds are like a mixture of both cold and warm colors. I smiled a little to myself, I never thought of something so beautiful in this chaotic life of mine.

"Seriously Bjorn is hot!" my classmate said in excitement.

"Agatha seriously has it all, imagine being loved by every single male lead," another answered.

"Gosh I wish I was her." Another girl wished.

"Good thing Tatiana dies in the end, she deserves it for everything she's done." The first one replied.

"Trashtiana." The last one commented.

The girls behind me giggled. There was this novel rising into popularity lately, everyone was talking about it at school. I only heard about it since I didn't have the time nor the money to read it. I can barely even feed myself, what would I do with a book.

I stood up when the bell rang. I gathered my things to put inside my bag when something sticky was dripping out of it. When I looked inside, several eggs were cracked and my thing was covered in egg whites and yolks. The smell didn't help either, everything smelled awful.

I looked at the girls behind me. They snickered and laughed while they looked at the mess they made. They always do things like this to me, ever since that incident. I felt someone staring when I turned my head, a girl with huge glasses covering half of her face looked at me in horror and ran away from the classroom.

I bit my lip. No matter how frustrated I am, there is nothing I can do. As if I can stop them as if the teachers will take my side when I tell them what happened. The system sucks, people suck.

I immediately left and when to the bathroom to clean my things. Some of the yolks seeped through the textbooks I borrowed from the library, just thinking about paying for the destruction fee makes my head hurt.

My phone started to vibrate from my pocket. I stared at the half-broken screen and tried to turn it off but the screen froze and I had to click it multiple times before the alarm turned off. This phone of mine is really old, I bought it from a second-hand shop back in 8th grade.

I immediately gathered my things and started to run. People stared as I ran past them, why would a high school student-run so fast when school is done for the day. Other high school students talked and laughed with their friends during their walk home, some stopped by a newly opened café and others go to karaoke and hang out.

I never had time or money or friends to do that with. The only friend I made turned her back at me. The cold air hit my face as I was running, my bag still wet from the water I used to wash it. By the time I arrived at the store the owner was waiting angrily outside the door.

"I-I'm sorry, I had a situation. I ran here as fast as I could-" I told her.

"Don't bother," she said and stared at me from head to toe, "today will be the last day for you. I've had enough consideration."

My eyes widened and shook my head. I took her hand and begged.

"Please, I have nowhere else to go. I need money for food, rent, and my school. I promise this will never happen again," I begged.

She stared down at me with disgust and covered her nose.

"What is this awful smell?!" she scowled and pulled her hand away. "Never mind working today, just go home!" she said angrily. She handed me a small envelope and went inside her eatery, I tried to follow her and beg but she closed the door in front of my face.

I bit my lip and stared at the envelope that she gave me, a week's worth of pay. I sighed and combed through my hair in frustration. What am I going to do now?

This is not right. I'll start looking for a new part-time job tomorrow, being a student assistant will not cover all my expenses. I'm going to go home for now.

I walked up to the stairs of the cramped apartment. Rats and other bugs were running around and the whole place smelled of alcohol, pee, and cigarette. I could look for a better home but this is all I could afford. When you leave the orphanage, there isn't any financial assistance, you're all on your own now.

I entered my cramped room where there is only a little wriggle room. The paint is peeling off and at one corner is a bucket since it leaks during the rain. The bathroom isn't any better also. Most of the time, there is no water running and the toilet does not work sometimes.

I cleaned my things thoroughly and took a bath. Just when I got outside the bathroom, someone knocked on my door. I went to peep in the hole but no one was there. When I opened the door there was no one but a tiny rectangular object wrapped in newspaper. I picked it up and went inside the room.

I took a seat at my bed since there was no other chair. I observed the box-like thing and decided to unwrap it. It was a stack of textbooks from school and there was a little note above it.

You never should've helped me, there is nothing I can do for you. I'm scared.

I sighed. I guess she still has the conscience to at least help me replace the destroyed textbooks. I browsed through the books and saw something different, a black-colored book with character designs as a cover.

To be loved.

This is familiar. Was this the book that everyone was talking about? Everywhere I go everyone talked about the story and the characters of the book, and apparently, the author is also good-looking and the same age as me. This is the first time I have had something that's not related to survival. This is the first leisurely thing I have had ever since leaving the orphanage last year.

Ever since I left the orphanage, all I thought about was surviving. There was no financial assistance from the government or the foundation that ran the orphanage for orphans like me. I even barely got into high school because of my grades and the student assistance program.

I started to browse the book and looked at the clock. It is currently 8 pm and I finished all my schoolwork. Maybe reading it a little bit won't hurt.

There was a kingdom called Aragon which was led by an Emperor and an Empress. The main character here is named Agatha Grace from the house Grace, a wealthy and successful family. This all changed and they went into poverty. The once brilliant house was now forgotten. She worked her head off just to support her family, her father, and two younger siblings. Her father was not of any help either, he became a drunkard and would abuse her in front of her siblings.

One day, on her eighteenth birthday, she was working late at a restaurant when some injured knight went in and asked for help. The owner was not there and Agatha badly wanted to help him. She treated him and cared for him all night. The next day he disappeared and Agatha was fired. The knight looked for her and pretended to be a commoner, he hid the fact that he is the son of the Military General of their kingdom.

The story rotated around her journey and where she met many people including the male leads that loved her. A knight, a prince, a mage, and even the personal guard of the villainess. Everyone loved her because she was kind, gentle, and loving. She had charms that anyone would love and protect. She built herself a family and people she cared for. But things were not easy, the villain of the story was someone powerful and someone she could not go up against.

Tatiana Loriel, the princess of their kingdom. The person who will be the next empress.

I paused reading and looked at the clock. My eyes widened when I realized that it was already 3 am. I have been reading for seven hours! The story was just so good I couldn't stop reading, the plot was great and the characters were likable too. It was well written for someone my age.

I laughed and cried throughout the story and I got angry at the people who tried to sabotage her happiness. It was the first time I rooted for someone to have the happy ending they deserved. Everyone had a story to tell and the way they acted was justifiable.

I stared at the book, there are only a few pages left. Should I just read it? I should wake up early tomorrow to find a part-time job or I'll starve.

I looked at the book again.

Reading a few pages left won't hurt me.

This is the best story I've read so far, not that I've read other novels. But this was certainly better than the old novels we had at the orphanage.

I decided to continue reading, I was hooked on the story.

The villainess in the story caught my attention. She was straight out crazy. She was extremely violent and harmed her servants and nobody wanted to serve her. She had no friends and even her family, the emperor gave up on how crazy she was.

Throughout the story, she was the stepping stone for the characters to develop. Agatha learned to defend herself from her, the male lead realized his feelings for Agatha because of her, the others protected Agatha from her and even her little brother learned to go against her.

Everyone hated her including the readers. Now I realize why they call Tatiana "Trashtiana". She would often frame Agatha, harm her when she became her servant, and always yelled.

She hated Agatha from the start because she thinks Agatha was taking everything away from her, but the male lead told her that she had nothing to be stolen from since the beginning.

In the end, Agatha died from murder while being exiled far away from the kingdom, where she cannot harm anyone anymore. She died alone and scared and that bothered me.

It bothered me how she became the villain. In the story, she was a childhood friend of most of the male leads but there are no other details on why she changed and what caused her to become so crazy, why she caused all that trouble.

It's like the story needed a villain for the characters to develop and for the readers to hate. Nobody knew why she became like that in the first place.

She had everything, or so I thought.

I looked at my bloody hands, I was at an unfamiliar place. It was dark and there was a large poster bed beside me and I found myself lying on the floor.

I coughed as I stared at the ceiling, blood gushing out of my mouth. I placed my hand in my stomach. It hurt, it was painful, but soon I felt my body becoming numb.

A black figure that looked like a man stood beside me. I couldn't take a proper look at his face since everything was blurry.

"You should've just listened to me, you belong to me and no one else. This is the ending befitting of a villain like you. Dying in a stone-cold floor, all alone."

I gasped for air. I started to shake and scanned my ssurroundings My hand automatically flew into my stomach and I breathed of relief when I saw no blood. I breathed heavily and my heart was beating fast.

What was that? It felt so real. I felt like I actually died. I looked at the book beside me,. MaybeI was just dreaming, a dream that felt real.

I combed my hair aand felt ullets of sweat on my face, I tried to calm myself down. I looked at the clock and it was already nine am. I immediately got up and prepared. I had no time for getting emotional over a dream. I need to find myself a job.

Several hours ppassed,and I have not yet found a single store that accepts part-timers. It was already afternoon and I still did not eat breakfast or lunch. My feet also hurt from all the walking.

I decided to sit down at a nearby fountain to rest. It was a SSaturday,so the place was packed with people-families and friends. I stared at a family happily eating during their picni. Friendss were taking pictures ad lovers were having a warm conversation.

The grass was bright ggreen,and the soft air passed through the tall trees of the park. Bubbles and kites were floating around and kids were running here and there.

"Ah, other people have such happy lives, why can't I have something like that?" I whispered to myself unconsciously.

I didn't exactly have fun memories at the orphanage. I never made friends and the people who were supposed to take care of us were not that nice. I would starve three days in a row because of them. And when I finally left the orphanage, I was given more challenges and suffering that never seemed to end.

I felt my phone vibrate again, so I checked to see who called. It was an unknown number, maybe it's from one of the places I applied to. I answered the phone just to hear laughs and whispering.

"Airin," the voice called. It sounded pleading and in pain, the laughing was still audible in the background.

"I'm sorry," she cried.

"Eli," I whispered. She started to whimper.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Her crying grew louder.

"Where are you?" I asked her abruptly. I stood up and prepared my things.

"I-" she couldn't finish her sentence and it seems the phone was snatched away from her.

"Airin." A familiar high-pitched voice said. "Your little friend here wants to have fun,. Wantto join us?"

I breathed heavily and messed up my hair as I walked back and forth.

"You know the place you little shit," she said and hang up.

I stared at my phone and tried to call the number again but it was out of reach. I was nervous and was sweating profusely. Should I go? If I went there again, I might be arrested this time. Last time I tried to interfere with their fight, I got a warning from the police. The girl I was talking to was the daughter of a person with power. She can twist any story if she wants to.

I've suffered enough because of her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She repeatedly said. I remembered her words.

But I couldn't let them harm her. My conscience won't let me. I packed my bag and decided to go to that place. I've had a shitty life, what more can I lose.

After several minutes I managed to arrive at the school gate. I ran towards the rooftop where I would usually eat lunch alone, it was my secret hiding place not until I was involved with her.

I ran up the stairs and opened the door. My eyes widened when I saw a girl with large glasses crying while she was standing at the edge of the railings of the school. We were on the fifth floor if she slipped. I took my phone from my pocket and turned on the voice recorder.

I shook the thought off and saw a bunch of girls and their good-for-nothing boyfriends filming the girl.

"Walk more! Show us something interesting!" a guy in a mohawk cut shouted.

"Oh! Do a Somersault!" another suspicious-looking guy added.

I bit my lip and walked towards them. The leader saw me and grinned.

"You came! Good thing you didn't try to call the police like the last time!" She joyfully said but her expression darkened after. "My dad scolded me that time because of you."

"Scolded?" I asked her, "You should be jailed."

She snickered and rolled her eyes.

"If you just stayed quiet like you used to, If you just stayed silent and hid at the back of the classroom, you wouldn't be here right now." She warned.

She was right if I just stayed silent, If I just ignored the fact that someone was being bullied, If I just stayed away. I sighed and smiled bitterly.

"Ignoring someone getting hurt," I told them, "wouldn't make me any different from monsters like you"

Her grin disappeared and she nodded at the people behind her back. They nodded back and two boys walked towards me. They both grabbed my arms and dragged me towards the railings.

"Climb." She demanded.

I glared at him but followed. I went up the railing just as they instructed. I looked at the girl sobbing and fear visible in her face. I looked down and closed my eyes. I'm going to die if I fell from here.

"I-I'm sorry," she croaked. I stared at her clothes which were dirtied, her hair was a mess and one of the lenses of her glasses broke.

"This isn't really a time for you to be apologizing," I told her. She continued to sob. I looked back at the group of friends.

"Why are you doing this to us? Why would you force us to stand in the railings?" I asked loudly, making sure I record everything they say as evidence.

The teachers won't listen to us because it's just a waste of their time. They see it as kids fighting even though someone has already attempted to end themselves. Even the police were no good, nobody believed an orphan trying to ask for help.

But where do you run to when even the officials don't help? Where should a child like me ask for help?

Nobody can help us now, nobody but ourselves. I'm tired of being bullied and working day by day just to survive. If I remove them, at least I won't have to come to school scared of what they'll do next.

"Because you annoy me," she said in a matter-of-fact tone "your whole existence makes my head hurt. I'm annoyed by the both of you-"

"You act like some kind of queen at school because you're not even treated like a human at home," I said.

Her arrogant smile turned into a scowl.

"Listen here, you worthless orphan. Nobody loves you, you have no family and no one to protect you. Who do you think you are? Acting like someone important?" she said angrily as she walks towards us.

I ignored her question as best as I could even when I wanted to kick her right in the face.

"You are a bully who loves to hurt other people. Your father is someone with power so you use that to cover up your mistakes. You should pay for the crimes you did." I told her.

She looked so angry and ran towards me, her friends shouted at her but it was too late. I took my phone out, gave it to the girl, and pushed her to the ground before the other girl pushed me off the railings. The impact of her push made me fall backward.

I stared at the railings as I started to fall. The people ran towards the railings to look at me and cursed, after that, they ran away. The girl with glasses-Ahh I don't even know her name.

Well, she shouted at me, my phone in her hands. She looked so scared and she cried aloud. The other already ran away.

Go and use that recording as evidence, use social media to your advantage. Nobody will dare ignore you again. You'll be safe from now on.

It's as if time slowed down and all I could feel was my body falling slowly. I'm going to die as soon as I left the orphanage, I didn't even get to buy the strawberry Ice cream I wanted to taste for a long time now. What did I even do with my life?

Tears started to well in my eyes. Did I just waste my life for someone whose name I don't even know? Did I do the right thing to provoke someone to push me into my death? I started to have regrets. My life was hard ever since I learned how to walk. I was abandoned at an orphanage and now I'm going to die at a young age all alone.

I wanted to travel the world, I wanted to build a family, I wanted to earn and be financially stable. I did not need anything grand, I just wanted to have a nice life. Why is it so hard for me to have a nice life?

I sobbed.

I really wanted the strawberry ice cream at least. It was only 50 coins and yet I couldn't even afford that.

I looked at the sky as I sobbed, slowly realizing I was about to hit the ground. I slowly closed my eyes.

The sky looked so beautiful today as well.

--

END

"You will be loved."

"you are very beautiful! You have the same face as the queen!"

"Such a brilliant girl."

"The next queen of Aragon."

"Why would I love someone like you?"

"You are evil and cruel; how could anyone love you?"

"Just disappear while I'm being nice."

"I love another woman. Just get out of my sight."

"You are truly wicked, sister."

"If your mother could see what a monster you've become, she will be very disappointed."

"You disappointed me, I shall punish you accordingly."

"You should've just listened to me, you belong to me and no one else. This is the ending befitting of a villain like you. Dying in a stone-cold floor, all alone."

I slowly opened my eyes. Everything is blurry at first and my head hurts like it's about to crack.

"Your highness!" someone shouted.

Somebody grabbed my arm abruptly, I felt a sharp pain and pushed the person away. When I got a clear sight of my surroundings, someone was lying on the floor and others went to help her get up. She wore a simple Victorian-styled dress as well as the other girls that were surrounding her.

"Her majesty just woke up and chose violence."

"She pushed the lady in waiting on the floor."

I hissed at the pain and looked at my arm, it was covered in a bandage. I looked at the woman I supposedly pushed away and she sobbed while being comforted by the other girls. I don't know if I was just hallucinating or if I just saw her smirk.

You've got to be kidding me.

I looked at the room I'm in, trying to grasp the situation. I was sitting in the middle of a large poster bed, which was even bigger than my previous apartment room. The was a large window beside it adorned by intricate carvings. Beside it was a large vanity table and a closet. At my right, there were chairs and a table, like a little living room. There were four ladies in front of me, looking at me in horror.

"Excuse me," I politely asked. The girl I made contact with looked shocked and kneeled before me

"I'm sorry your highness! It's because we did not serve you properly! You ended up getting injured during your training!" she said in a fearful voice. My voice furrowed.

"No, no," I told her, "please stand up"

She stood up and was shaking with fear. I couldn't understand what was happening. I don't know where I was. Did I survive the fall? If so, why am I here instead of the hospital?

"Where-where am I? what happened to the girl in glasses? Is she safe? What about the bullies? Did they get caught?" I asked them. They looked as confused as I was.

"Your highness what do you mean? There was no one with glasses with you yesterday," one lady said.

Why are you calling me your highness? Is this some sort of joke?

"The girl at school! She asked me for help! Wait-why am I here? Who are you, people?" I asked them.

The person they call the lady in waiting gasped.

"Don't you remember anything that happened your highness?" she asked. "Quick, call the physician, the highness must have bumped her head during the fall."

The fall? Bumped my head? Dude, I should be in a coma right now and yet I don't feel any pain except my bandaged arm where she grabbed tightly, it's almost as if she did it on purpose.

I started to panic a bit. I don't know what's going on and I remember bits of memories that weren't there before. And yet I still couldn't grasp the situation.

I got up from my bed.

"Your highness! You shouldn't be standing up yet! You are still not well!" one said. I ignored her and quickly went to the mirror.

I stared at my reflection, my breathing stopped. My once dull and straight black hair is not reddish and curled. My eyes are emerald green and my face looks like a permanent scowl. I stared at my cold eyes and tried to move my lips.

I waved my hands in the reflection and jolted back when it moved. I stared at the ladies looking at me weirdly. I pointed at the mirror.

"I-Is this me?" I whispered in shock. They all nodded at once. I covered my mouth in shock, what happened? Is this sudden face surgery? Did my face get destroyed during the fall so they replaced it with another?

I looked down and realized that I was wearing some sort of nightgown dress made of what looks like expensive silk. I looked at my hands and body, I was taller now than I was before.

Wait, surgery cannot change my height.

I started to panic. I quickly stormed out of the room, the ladies gasped and followed me, telling me to calm down or something. But I was starting to really panic, I did not know who I am anymore, I was in a different body. I was in a different place.

When I came out of the double doors, I was greeted by a large hallway with a large red carpet on the floor. There were large candle stands on each side of the hallways and in the middle of the ceiling where large chandeliers every couple of meters.

I started to run, I needed to find the exit. If I look outside, maybe I'll figure out where I am. I turned every corner of this huge castle-like place but I couldn't even find the exit, every turn is just another hallway.

"Your highness! Please you shouldn't run like that!" a maid said in a panic.

I soon found myself another set of double doors. I stared at it and saw the ladies chasing my way, I looked at both the guards guarding the double doors. They nodded to each other and opened it, I was greeted by a room full of books, and a person was seated at the table.

He has black curly locks for hair and his eyes wide as he looked at me. He was holding a rather thick book behind his table. I scanned the room for exits or clues but couldn't find any.

The ladies caught up and were wheezing.

"Your highness please, you shouldn't be running around like that! You are not well yet!" one exclaimed. The other nudged her and pointed towards the person reading the books. They bowed respectfully.

I took the chance to escape and didn't hear what the guy wanted to say.

"Sister where are you going?!" his voice trailing off as I ran away.

I don't have time to talk with people who are like strangers to me. I started running again and saw a glass door where I could see the sky.

I ran towards the open door and I was greeted by a veranda. There was a white marbled floor, plants, and potted flowers. There were chairs and a table in the middle of the veranda. I went close to the railings and what I saw made me stop breathing.

Below the veranda was a large wall but I could see the village or city beyond that. Some hills stretched as far as the horizon, the sky was clear and tiny houses were seen. I wasn't at my home, I wasn't even in the city, I don't even know if I'm in the same country at the same time.

"Your highness!" the maid screamed.

I looked below when I heard someone calling. A bunch of maids was staring at me and my right was a group of knights staring at me too. The one in the middle caught my attention. He was wearing armor with a red cape.

Hair as black as night, eyes as sharp and emotionless, he was the strongest man I know. A knight that came by the restaurant I worked for, an injured knight. I never saw such beauty in my life.

I paused as I looked directly into his eyes. A familiar description, a familiar feeling.

"Sister!" I looked back at the entrance to the veranda. The man I saw from the library looked at me confused. "What are you doing?!"

Curly locks of hair, a clever face. He looked fragile but I know, that he hides intelligence, as strong as the knight with a sword. The brother of the woman that hates me.

Another familiar description popped into my mind. It's like it was automatically saved into my system.

"Don't come near me!" I screamed.

"The highness has lost her mind again!" I heard one lady whisper.

I started to climb the railings of the veranda. What a very familiar sight.

"What is this place? What year is this? Who am I?!" I asked the man in front of me. He looked confused and shocked but I think he started to realize the situation and he composed himself.

People were gasping and whispering. Someone even shouted below me.

"The highness might fall! Prepare yourselves!" he instructed his knights as they formed a circle under me.

"Yes sir!" they agreed.

I bit my lip. What the heck is happening to me?! Why does this feel like the novel I just read! Even the description of both the male leads is right. Am I in a coma right now? Do I just need to wake up from it? Am I just in dreamland? Did I go crazy? There must be some sort of trick here!

The castles, the ladies, the knights, the village. Everything is like in the book! If my hunch is right, if what I'm thinking is right, I might be--

"You are in the kingdom of Aragon! The firstborn daughter of the King and Previous Queen, my sister

Your highness, Tatiana Loriel!" The unfamiliar boy said.

I breathed. I might be crazy, I might be losing my mind already. No matter how desperate I am, I wouldn't be imagining stuff like this right?

The wind blew and my hair scattered while I looked directly into the eyes of what they called my brother. I lifted my uninjured arm and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Your highness, please come down from there! It's dangerous!" the other lady shouted.

I smiled, then laughed. I'm crazy.

I let the wind take me away as I fell on my back, yet again. I can't believe this happened in a single day. I don't even know if it's a single day. I was a book I just read. Maybe if I fall, I'll wake up from this dream. Maybe I was in a coma all along and this was just a dream.

I closed my eyes. Just give me a rest already.

I waited for the impact, instead, I felt like someone caught me from below. I opened my eyes, a pair of cold eyes greeted me back.

"Tatiana," he said. I sighed, I've had enough of this now. I closed my eyes slowly, I heard him calling my name repeatedly.

If I'm right, the man that caught me was supposed to be my one-sided love interest. The one who abandoned and exiled my character in the story.

Bjorn Rocco.

--

END