1.1

Jolting up, the girl's eyes fluttered open to the world. It was vibrant, colorful, and most importantly: real.

Her gaze turned to a pond with lily pads floating in it. The sun's orange light, tinged with purples and yellows, rolled off the clouds, reflecting onto the pool in vibrant saturation of warm colors.

Am I dreaming?

"Lady Marzinal!" A voice rang out, approaching her mistress. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I?" the girl responds, looking at the servant as the memories floated back.

She was Liliana Marzinal, daughter of Viscount Vincent and Felicity Marzinal. Liliana was raised to be an esteemed figure of society, yet, her mother's miscarriage when the original body was five led for them to spoil her rotten. Because of this, it led Liliana to become a horrible, selfish being, who put herself over others.

She was to be engaged to the fourth prince in the Kingdom, but he had a great disdain for her due to her whiny nature; yet, he couldn't break off the marriage since she kept preventing him from doing so. One night, at a masquerade ball, Liliana had no idea how to recognize her prince with a mask on, and ended up dancing with someone else. Relieved, the prince slipped out into the night, and ended up meeting the main character. The main character, with her wonderful charm, coaxed the prince into falling in love with her.

However, Liliana found out about all of this, and had attempted to murder the main character by suffocating her in bed. She hadn't suspected that the prince was laying next to her...

As the heroine was unconscious, the Prince repeatedly stabbed Liliana to death, and ended her life. After this, since the Prince had been engaged to Liliana, he instead married the heroine, and the two lived happily ever after.

'System? Where am I?' Liliana thinks, feeling a tingling at the back of her brain.

'In a world, obviously, in a different universe and timeline than your origin. This is your first world.'

'But... why am I the villain?'

'Because you are apart of the Villain Implementation System, V.I for short.'

The maid nodded frantically, looking nervous. "I can't believe the horse bucked you off into the water, she's usually so-well behaved! I apologize!" she bows her head deeply.

"No need to worry," Liliana shakes her head. "You didn't make the horse buck me off. Sometimes, things happen." The maid rose her head in confusion.

"Why aren't you going to punish me?"

"Because that'd be ridiculous!" Liliana laughs, looking around and not seeing the horse. "Did the horse run off?"

"Yes, I'm terribly sorry I didn't catch it! Please, punish me, I deserve it."

"Raise your head." She looks up at me, and flinches as Liliana steps forward, giving the maid a big hug. She tightens at Liliana's hold, until her mistress releases her, a lopsided grin on her face.

"There, you're all wet now, just as I am. This will be your only, and last, punishment." The maid looked confused, but gave a smile regardless. "Thank you for being such a generous master!"

Liliana  smiles. "Alright. Shall you escort me back home, please?"

"O-Of course my lady! We can get a physician to attend to you right away," she comments. "To check for any injuries, of course."

Liliana supposes her personality will be slightly 'off' compared to the original soul of this body, but no way in hell would she be able to tolerate herself if she had to act like a spoiled brat.

Based off her memories, she was currently 18 years old, 19 in a few weeks. The Prince had been engaged to her last summer, much to his dissatisfaction, and the ceremony was to be sometime in the coming year.

The two walk back to the manor, Liliana quiet and taking in the world around her. As the two neared the manor, Liliana was amazed at the beauty of the structure before her. She was quickly escorted in and given a hot bath by the servants, alongside a new night gown that cost more than her rent in Seattle.

The moment she's dressed and in bed, Liliana's mother bursts into the room. With stern, sharp grey eyes, high cheekbones and pulled black hair, she was the epitome of a fairy-tale evil mother.

"Do you fare well?" She asks, and Liliana nods sullenly. "It was just a small fall, mother, do not fret. I knew how to swim perfectly fine, it was just the cloths that weighed me down."

"I see..." she trailed off. "Do you still wish for me to call the physician?"

"I am perfectly normal, I just need some rest," Liliana yawns to emphasize the point.

"Good. You need to be in perfect health for the ball in a fortnight, after all."

Liliana's eyes widened at this, but she did not notice as she gave her daughter a curt look. "Good night, my dear." With that, she closed the door to the room. The moment she was gone, Liliana rose from bed, feet padding over soft carpet to look into the mirror

Long, ebony black hair fell straight to my chest, framing a thin, yet sharply featured, face. Electric, almond blue eyes stood out from thick lashes, making the face seem angular and hard. It was certainly beautiful, yet, very villainous at the same time...

This...this was so strange. Finally being able to see the world around me, yet, it wasn't my world to see in the first place.

'System, what's the goal?' Liliana finally asks, wondering what the point of being here even is.

'To marry into the Royal Family'  they reply as Liliana shudders. The images of the original's death at the end of their life was truly horrible.

Liliana wanders back over to bed, quickly falling asleep.  Liliana learned that although the villainess was spoiled rotten, she had a hard schedule.

From learning proper etiquette, saddle-side riding (with a different horse), and other worthless activities, it took up most of the day. She soon found herself almost feeling bad for the original body, yet, she chose to almost murder someone, so not too bad.

The ball soon arrived, and Liliana was thrust into a satin maroon dress with a cat mask adorning her features. No matter how beautiful the garment, Liliana still felt displaced in this world.

Extending her hand to the coachman, he helped Liliana get out of the carriage. Liliana looked at the castle before her, mouth slightly ajar at its splendor. The carriage behind her rode away, wheels clunking on the stone paved road, and Liliana looked back to the beautiful hedge work of dark greens and reds. Gulping, she turned back to the front and walked up the ivory steps to the main doors.

She followed the other ladies and gentlemen entering it, heading towards a lavish ballroom. Painted in ivory, the ceiling was garnished with the hues of the heavens, gold lining each pillar delicately.

"Amazing," Liliana mutters under her breath. "Truly, truly amazing..."

"Is this your first time viewing the ballroom?" A voice calls from behind Liliana, and she turns to face a tall figure. His blonde hair was neatly slicked back, yet some golden baby hairs fell over a mask that was shaped like a deer, only showing his round blue eyes. A small smile was quipped upon thin, lopsided lips.

Flashes of memories pass through Liliana's head, recognizing the blue eyes and meeting the Fifth Prince in this very room before. A year ago, the soul within this body was reckless and acted like a brat.

I have to change his impression of me!

"No," Liliana admits, "it's just becomes even more beautiful every time I come." She bows her head lightly, dipping into a curtsy. "Thank you for hosting this, Your Highness. "

"It is of no worry, my lady," he chuckles as Liliana raises her head. "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to pick me out from the crowd," he admits.

The previous me did, but I won't make that same mistake.

Liliana smirks lightly, "You dare doubt my skill as your fiancee, Your Highness?"

His smile falters for a second, but it goes right up again. Yet, his fiancee could notice that little difference, and knew he was not at ease with the topic. "I would never," he slyly responds, causing her to smile.

"That is good, Your Highness...may I please admit something, before we continue our night? This has been bearing upon me for a while now, and I must let it out, before it overcomes me."

"Of course, my lady, what is it?" He asks, as the two walk slightly away from the dense crowd. His hand was extended to Liliana's, so she lightly set her hand on top of his. Liliana averts his gaze, lowering her black lashes to her feet.

"I...I am quite sorry for my behavior before," she looks up at him, cheeks flushing lightly. "I was immature before, and have recently realized the fault in my ways."

"Oh?" he asks, arching a golden brow. "What ever do you mean?"

She laughs lightly, "You do not have to pretend, Your Highness. It was clear what you, and others, have seen about my actions; and for a while, I was blind to it. But now that I'm aware of my actions, I hope I can change."

Turning to him, she wrap hers fingers around his hand lightly. "I hope you will be able to forgive me," she asks, looking deep into his crystalline eyes. "If you cannot..." Liliana looks down at her feet once more, lessening her hold on his hand, "I can understand, my actions were horrible, and you have all the reason to hate me..."

"Lady Marzinal," he breathes out softly, taking a finger and lightly pulling her chin up to meet his gaze. He tightened his hold on her hand, squeezing lightly. "I could never hate a fiancee as lovely as you."

Liliana blushes lightly, gazing aside. "You're...you're too kind, Your Highness..."

"Please, call me Reginald," he asks. Liliana nods, "O-of course, Your....Reginald," she corrects, and he smiles. "Good."

He lets go of her hand, smiling sadly. "I must attend to other guests, so I'm afraid our time is cut short..."

"Do not worry, I'm glad I could speak to you on that impending matter," Liliana curtsies once more as he bows.

"Well, I'll be off-"

"Wait!"  Liliana asks, and he turns to her. "Yes, Lady Marzinal?"

"I was thinking," Liliana blushes, clenching her dress tightly. "If I were to call you 'Reginald,' it'd only be fair if you called me Liliana..."

He laughed lightly, tinkling like a bell. "I'd like that very much." With that, he walked away. Blushing still, Liliana turns from him, the smile falling flat off her face.

That performance was so deplorable on my part...

All Liliana had to do was act just like a Mary Sue. Back in the real world, she'd listen to free eBooks to pass the time, and since they were free, most of the time they didn't have the best of characters.

For another hour or so, Liliana ditzed around the ballroom. She talked eloquently, danced with the few who offered their hand; yet, it was all quite boring. The beautiful dresses and surroundings didn't match the ugly personalities everyone held in here. All only talked about land, wealth, or the greatness of the King.

She could care less.

Laughing lightly at a joke from behind her hand, Liliana looked out from the corner of my eye, seeing an open glass door on the balcony. Excusing herself, she walks out, eager to get out of the hot ball room and into the cool of night.

Fully stepping through it, Liliana exits the overbearing golden glow of the ballroom, now basking in the pale moonlight. Noticing a staircase, curiosity overcame her as she descended it, seeing a path split at a bird fountain. Crinkling her brows, Liliana debated if she should go, before finally heading to the right. No one would miss her presence in the ballroom, after all.

The path started off clean, but eventually was overgrown with roots and twigs. The hedges weren't as neatly trimmed in this area, lightly tickling against the satin of her dress. Her lips twitched in annoyance, so she bent down to take the shoes off of her feet. She held her shoes in one hand, the bunched-up skirts in the other.

Liliana didn't want to stop at all, now.

Continuing down it, she finally realized how the hedges have grown taller, and she was now in an untrimmed maze.

Great. Seemed like the gardeners only wanted to put on the front of a lovely garden.

Walking around, she quickened her pace, turning trying to find anything of interest in here. After a while, it was clear there was only walls of green in here, and it all looked pretty similar after a while.

Sighing, she turned left, noticing a stone bench. At least she can have somewhere to sit...

She sits down, putting her shoes down. What if she never finds a way out? She's going to starve and die in this tight dress, and when the gardeners finally trim this area, they're going to find her skeleton...

Closing her eyes, Liliana breathes in deeply.

I'll be fine, I've been through worse and lived...for the most part.

Exhaling, she feel her senses tune into the world around her.

The crickets chirping, the distant orchestra playing in the ballroom, the faint humming of a song, the rustling of the hedges' leaves...

Wait, humming? Her brows furrow behind the mask, attempting to discern where the sound came from. It sounds as if it was...coming from behind her...

Opening her eyes, she slowly turn her head, noticing that a wall of ivy vines was directly behind her. It slightly rustled, revealing a small gap. If one peered in, they could see the center of the maze where a gazebo was, with small ponds of water in a hexagonal formation, each floating with lily pads under full bloom. A figure sat in the center on a bench, their back turned to the viewer, as they stroked a large bird near them.

Swinging her legs fully over the bench, Liliana leaned forward more, listening to the entrancing tune. The feeling it evoked was so familiar, yet the tune was alien...

The humming stopped, and the figure straightened, fully alert now.

"Come forward," he demands, and Liliana blinks, snapped from her stupor. What?

The sound of a sword sliding out of its sheath was slow compared to its fast withdrawal, almost as if the speed of sound was no match for this man. The silver of the sword glinted under the moonlight as he now stood at full height, sword positioned in Liliana's direction. The bird behind him took off, soaring over the hedges.

"Come forward, the one who dare spy upon me."

Me?

"I'm sorry to disturb,"Liliana shouts out. "I'll leave-"

She stands up, satin skirt brushing the cold stone of the bench and the leaves of the hedges. Lowering her gaze to the skirts, she bundle it up in one hand, grabbing her shoes with the other once more. She turns her back to the hedge and beginning to move away when a cold hand grasps her arm, yanking her backwards through the ivy.

Liliana teeters back, slamming into a hardened chest. She was about to crane her neck to look up at the figure when a sword was pressed to her throat.