Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1
Remillia’s POV
It’s indeed interesting how fate can screw up your plans, dreams and expectations. I expected to be a successful and rich person with ambitions and basically have it all, but no, some stupid drunk driver decided to ruin it for me, along with his dumb truck.
I am Takumi Terui, from Japan and I was pretty much a genius in my, I guess, past life. No, not in a way ‘talented person’, but an actual person with high intelligence. I was literally the best at everything I did, except arts and sports, BUT that doesn’t matter now because right now I am stuck in one of the worst situations possible.
I woke up in someone else’s body. And worse: in a different world, without electronics, computers, k-dramas and … PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH GOSSIPING BECAUSE THEIR LIVES ARE TOO BORING!
Some context: in my past life I went to one of the most prestigious universities in the country with a scholarship even, until I died. Wait. I DIED! So now I have no idea whose body I’m in, where I am, or how I am going to survive.
Well, I guess I have to at least look in the mirror to get a clue, right?
…
AAHHHHHH!!!
And when I thought it couldn’t get worse, I was wrong. It looks like I was reborn in Remillia Barclay’s body, one of the main antagonists in the romance novel “The beauty within me” I read in my past life.
The plot is simple: The angelic, drop-dead gorgeous, good-hearted female lead – Olivia Claymore – is a just a normal orphan girl in some small village, until she discovers that her father is a pretty much alive and healthy man. She goes on a huge journey in order to find him and when she does, he accepts her the moment he sees her as if he was expecting her (if he isn’t suspicious, I don’t know what he is). In fact, he is a marquess, a power-hungry one and when the opportunity of a daughter comes to him, he uses it. I guess you can say that he would like to marry her off to someone. After she enters through the unwelcoming doors of high society, her dreams of a loving family collapse and she is miserable in this new world. But then they come – the love interests. Starting with the male lead – the Grand duke Asher Hastings, to the Crown prince Oscar Augustin. There are also some other people.
So, there are a few villains, who put Olivia’s safety and well-being at risk. The main one is Catherine Barclay, my now sister. She physically and emotionally torments the female lead, because as the most beautiful woman in the Augustin Empire, she can’t let someone steal her position and reputation from her and let’s be honest, she has a big competition in the face of Olivia.
There comes my problem: Catherine makes Remillia join in the bullying. To put it short, in the end of the novel, their evil deeds are discovered and they both get executed by the monstrous, cruel, (sexy murderer) killing machine crown prince and also my favorite character in the whole novel (rich, super-ultra handsome, would do anything for the one he loves and do I even need more explanation? Yes, he had a good character development). Yes, I wonder why he has to be the second male lead. He did more for Olivia than the Grand duke, but they still did him dirty in the end.
[…]
I AM IN REMILLIA’S BODY! I AM GOING TO DIE! AGAIN!!!
Ok, lets calm down. Maybe I made a mistake unlikely and when I look in the mirror again, I will see someone else… No, I am indeed her. Nobody can ever mistake these pearl-like colored eyes – legacy of the Barclay family’s blood – the long dark with lavender highlights hair and the pale, as if dead person’s skin.
Well, this can’t be helped. I will definitely escape the tragic fate and instead I will live comfortably ‘till the day of my (her) death comes. This is the plan for now!
***
*Knock* Knock*
I hear someone knocking on the door. I am in a historical novel, so it’s either a maid or my parents who sold me to some rich man.
“M’lady, may I enter?” I hear a woman’s voice. It looks like my first guess is correct (as always).
I need a little time to pull myself together from the shock.
“Yes, you may.” I am quite shocked from how calmly I answer, considering my situation. A woman with ginger hair and freckles enters the room. She seems too young for a place like this.
“What is your name?” I ask. It looks like my question took her by surprise.
“W-what do you mean, m’lady? I am Vivien, your maid. Do you not remember me? Your head must have been hit pretty hard. Oh my, this was so inconsiderate of me to say! I-i am truly sorry for my mistake! I b-beg you for your forgiveness!” she says, already kneeling in front of me. I also noted that when she entered the room, she was pretty shaken up. Catherine is evil. It looks like Remillia wasn’t that much of a good either.
“Vivien, please get up for god’s sake!” I say, annoyed by her now weeping and crying to the floor. “Ok, let me rephrase that. Your comment was a little rude, but it isn’t a mistake that makes you beg for your life, right?”.
Judging by her glitter and thankfulness in her eyes, it looks like Remillia was indeed a cruel person.
“Th-thank you so much, m’lady! I will never repeat this mistake! By the way, I came here to inform you that breakfast will be ready soon, so I have to prepare you.” she explains. I swear, I will never understand what’s up with people dressing up for breakfast, but for now I stand still, while she puts the fancy dress of a noble lady on me. I look in the mirror. I still don't understand.
As I am on my way to the dining room, I notice how large this place is. There are like a million doors in the highway, but now let’s talk about the highway itself. It’s kind of dark, but full of shiny and probably very expensive vases and paintings, so it’s giving ‘stupid rich’. I guess that’s just what the Barclays are.
I stop in front of a very specific painting. A family portrait. Of the Barclays. I see Remillia looking emotionless and kind of tired. There are also her and her sister’s parents. Yeah, nothing interesting about them. But looking at their father, I note from which parent they got their looks from, because their mother is absolutely gorgeous. She has the same pearl-like eyes, smooth skin, as if she is still 25 and a beautiful, shiny, white hair, put in a low bun. She also looks emotionless and tired. Her father on the other hand looks like some big, fat joke. Normal black hair, not like Remillia’s, brown eyes, he also has too much wrinkles to be married to the grown woman next to him. Maybe he married her when she was young. Ew.
And then I see her. The most beautiful woman in the Augustin Empire. My sister. I could never imagine such a beautiful person, even in my wildest dreams. Beautiful, shiny, long sunrise-like white hair. The same magnificent white eyes, but even brighter and shinier than my and their mother’s. She has pale shiny white skin, not sicky-pale, but as if it is faerie’s kind of pale. Long pitch-black mysterious eyelashes. Pink plump lips. Her features are just in the right places of her face, which makes her even more beautiful than she already is. The author wasn’t joking when they said that she is like a goddess, sent from heaven.
It takes me a few minutes to get out of this trance I’m in, when I hear the maid calling for me. I take one last look at the painting and then follow her to the dining room.
I enter the room and I immediately feel the unwelcoming atmosphere. Feeling my family’s cold stares, I take my seat on the table. The servants serve me my breakfast and quickly exit the room. Interesting.
“Good morning, father and mother.” I say anyway, out of politeness.
“Good morning.” says the big, fat joke from the painting. I feel like this morning is not going to be very good, at least not for me.
From what I remember from the novel, Remillia didn’t have much of a relationship with her family, but she was still close enough with her sister, enough to die along with her. Her sister…
It looks like Catherine still hasn’t come, but I don’t say anything. I probably won’t get an answer anyway.
I start eating quietly, without bothering anyone, when all of a sudden, my ears catch the words, coming out of my mother’s mouth:
“Are you thinking of a marriage right now?” I choke on my food. Their daughter just got hit in the head, from what I understood, and they ask her if
she is going to marry soon. What the hell is wrong with these people!?! But I still keep my calm and the moment I open my mouth…
Catherine enters the room. She is even more beautiful when I see her with my own eyes. The thing in the hall was just a painting. Here, in front of me she shines like the sun. And then she sits next to me. Huh?
“Mother, I think it is too early to ask her this. After all she still hasn’t had her coming-of-age ceremony yet.” she says calmly, with a smile on her face. My savior. Is she really that bad? “Plus, I don’t think anyone would be brave enough to marry her. With this temper of hers…”. Yeah, she is that bad.
“Right, I guess I came up with the marriage topic too early. But speaking of Remillia’s coming-of-age ceremony, your birthday is soon, right, Rem?” mother asks.
It takes me some time to answer, because in fact, the novel doesn’t say Remillia’s birthday, so I have no idea how to answer. Catherine does it for me.
“Oh, Rem’s birthday is in 2 months. Then she will finally be 21 years old.” Catherine explains. I am surprised from this. I thought she didn’t care about anyone, but herself. I am quite concerned.
Now that I think about it, Remillia will be 21 in 2 months and a half. This means that the main storyline of the novel will start very soon, unless it started already. Olivia and Remillia are born the around the same year and Olivia’s adventures start when she is 19-20. Judging by the factors, the next banquet at the Imperial Palace will be her entrance into high society. Well, there’s nothing to worry about. I probably have at least a few weeks to prepare until then.
“By the way, a banquet will be held in the Imperial Palace in 3 days for the victory of the army in the north. We will have to prepare for it. After all, there will be a lot of powerful families, who have potential to be held business with.” This is the first time I hear father speak. Wait, the party will be held in 3 days? How am I supposed to prepare 3 days? After all, I just got reincarnated into this world. Still, I will come up with something to skip it. Like a fake illness or something. “Oh, and every member of a noble family is obligated to come, no matter what is what the emperor says in the invitation. So, Remillia, this time you will have to attend.”
If I didn’t know it already from the start, I would think that right now I am totally screwed. Damn you, emperor!
It looks like me and Remillia have something in common – we both don’t want to attend balls and banquets. In the novel she didn’t have any friends, compared to Catherine. This was because of her lack of social skills. Huh, we have even more things in common. So, it wouldn’t be hard to live as her, thank God.
I guess now I have to make a plan about how to not embarrass or possibly kill myself at the banquet. With my luck…
I think about this for so long, that I forget that I have finished my plate already.
“I have finished my breakfast. May I excuse myself to go?” I say, copying the things I have read in other historical novels.
“Yes, you may.” Is the only thing my father says. Talking about coldness.
”Then excuse me.” I stand up. Catherine pulls my hand lightly. “Come to my room in 1 hour, please.” Her grip on my hand tightens. This is starting to sound more like an order or a threat than a plea.
I get out of the room and immediately start walking to my room. I am really getting the creeps from my sister. I wonder what she wants. At least I have 1 more hour to think till then.
***
I’m in front of her room. The servants lead me here, otherwise I would probably get lost. So many rooms and doors…
Knocking on the door, waiting for an answer, I’m thinking about how screwed up I am. She is a literal demon, hidden in angel’s body, for God’s sake! The novel says that Catherine found it easy to manipulate people with her face of a goddess and acting of an Oscar-winning actor. But at the end she just takes whatever she wants and doesn’t care about what harm she will do in the process. A truly cruel person. And an admirable woman. Good thing is that I know her true nature.
After a few really long seconds, she lets be come in. I have to say, this place is gorgeous. It’s a big room for sure, she has big windows with probably really expensive violet curtains, one luxurious carpet with different extraordinary but pretty golden ornaments and most importantly – one big, maybe bigger than a king-sized bed, which I would sell my soul for. Remillia’s room isn’t as luxurious as Catherine’s. It’s obvious who the favorite child is. Catherine opens her mouth to speak and I immediately snap back to reality. The servants leave as fast as they can.
“So, dear sister…” she starts. She sounds threatening. The servants left me alone with this monster. “You seem to be too deep in thought after you got hit on the head. You also didn’t react to mother’s words. If it were before the accident, then you would’ve thrown a tantrum the moment she opened her mouth about marriage. So, what is going on? Is there something I should be concerned about?” she says these words with venom in her voice. Thrilling.
“There is nothing you should be worried about, … sister. I think it’s time for me to grow up and accept my fate as a woman in high society. I should get married quickly before all the men my age with good position get married off to someone else.” I say everything that comes to mind. I rely on my high intelligence for this. Catherine seems convinced, but is still suspicious. Thank the powers of the Universe that I am a genius.
“All right then. I am satisfied with this maturation of yours. Oh, one last thing,” I sigh in relieve internally. Maybe there is still hope for me. “Do you know if marquis Claymore has a child, a daughter specifically?” she asks. My fantasy of a happy me, bathing in money shatters. She definitely caught me off guard. Something is not right. She shouldn’t know about Olivia’s existence until her debut. What is happening here?
I realize that I have to answer her question. My face relaxes and I simply say:
“No, I do not. I am afraid I have to go. Please excuse me.” as I go to the door, I can sense her darkening mood. I don’t turn back to look at her, but I am sure that whatever face she has made now, it probably doesn’t suit her beautiful features.
I get back to my room, order the servants to leave and jump on my comfortable bed. I can’t stop thinking about what Catherine asked me. It doesn’t sound like a big thing, but things like this are always the start of some disaster. How does she know about the marquis having a daughter? Does she know that it is Olivia and was just trying to test me? Is the novel’s plot twisting already? Does this put me in danger? And what about the whole story? So many questions and no answers to them.
For now, I will have to observe how things play out. But I will still try to keep up to the original plot. Except my death, of course. Now, I will try to relax and leave the thinking for later. But one thing is for sure – after the banquet, things will only become harder and harder for me.
***
I realize just now that I still have a whole day to spend and what do I do – lock myself in the library, of course. For research purposes *wink*wink*.