The Reincarnated Villainess

Chapter Three: This is Society

A lot has happened in the span of two months in the Kingdom of Throndsen. Marquis Yohan, the son of Duke of Evren sent out a letter to Marquis Ceshire, inviting him out for a drink. Soleri assumed that the duke had already made a proposal to his father to become business partners in his future bar, which would be established at the end of the year, as what the Marquis Yohan stated in his letter.

In the other hand, the emperor successfully conquered the neighboring country that his eyes were set upon ever since he first sat on the throne. Vutish Empire tried to annihilate the country at the time when the current emperor’s father was still ruling Throndsen. Soleri also recalled how His Majesty, King Aldric, declared war on the Vutish Kingdom, resulting in massive anarchy in the southern part of the country as a result of the neighboring kingdom fighting back.

Of course, no one would dare to tell the king how his decision to start a war in order to subjugate the Vutish Empire killed thousands of his people. The villagers who cried for help were left unheard by the nobles who were living their life with ease at the capital, this fact is how Soleri judges His Majesty. A hungry emperor who will never be satisfied with power and would always want more of it. No one can stop him, despite the fact that he has committed several atrocities that may result in his deposition from the kingdom. Then, why is he still the king?

Because Eloise Cosainne is his trusted ally. A commoner from the east who moved into the capital to present herself to the emperor as one of the descendants of the empire’s holy saintess, the Saintess Ymir, the goddess who blessed the empire with magic and manas million of decades ago. It is known around the capital that the greedy king searches for the missing descendants of the saintess for them to be used by the emperor himself. However, this peculiar girl, Eloise, came to King Aldric herself and offered him a deal.

Be her ally and give her power as much as needed, and she shall help him conquer the bordering kingdoms. Eloise presented her skills as a descendant of the Saintess Ymir, truly powerful than the other descendants that he has captured before. King Aldric agreed right away, and that is how the treacherous duo, both hungry for power and cries of the people, started.

And Soleri has yet to discover it.

“Let us depart, Meredith. Have you brought everything?” Soleri turned to her maid. Meredith nodded her head and replied, “Yes, My Lady!”

They were about to go down the stairs when a maid came from the hallway, running towards them. “My Lady! My Lady! Please!” Soleri stopped and faced the panting maid.

“Is there a problem?”

“Pardon me, My Lady, for keeping you from going to the ball however Lord Solideo is looking for you! He stated he shall not sleep, not until you visit him in his bedroom,” the maid said with a troubled look in her face.

Soleri’s face softened at the thought of her younger brother, she slightly smiled and patted the maid’s shoulder. “Well then, I do not have a choice but to visit my brother before I depart.”

The lady, together with the two maids, arrived in front of the young lord’s bedroom which was located in the end of the second-floor hallway. Soleri motioned the two to wait for her outside as she entered her brother’s room. The smell of hot cocoa is evident as soon as she steps inside, she looked around, searching for the black-haired kid.

“Sister? Is that you?” Soleri turned his head towards the right, where the bed was covered with curtains is. She walked towards there and moved the curtain.

“Yes, it is me,” the lady replied. As soon as the boy who was sitting on his bed with a teddy bear in his arms heard his older sister’s voice, his face lit up with excitement. With pure happiness, he opened his arms, inviting Soleri for a hug. The lady gladly accepted it and went into his small fragile arms.

“I heard you’re giving your maid a hard time.”

“It is because sister has not visited me anymore, I often wait every day!” Her brother pouted, staring at nothing. Solideo was not looking at her, so she grasped his younger brother's face and made him face her.

Solideo Ceshire is Soleri’s only sibling that is hidden away from society because of his disability to see. Knowing how harsh the nobles can be for someone young and blind, the marquess ordered everyone to keep Solideo in the mansion at all times. That is why no one knew that Soleri is not actually the only child of Marquis Ceshire.

The lady frequently visits her brother as she loves him very dearly, Solideo is actually the only person that she smiles at. And every so often, it makes Soleri downhearted knowing that her brother will never see how lovingly she smiles and stares at him.

“I apologize, Soli. I have been very busy these past few days, that is why I failed to visit you. However tomorrow, I promise you, sister will take you out to the garden and we can go on a picnic together,” Solideo’s face immediately brightened as soon as he heard the word picnic. Soleri knows how much he loves to go outside, and better yet, going on a picnic. It has been a long time since the two went outside to bond.

“I shall be expecting that, sister!” Solideo beamed at his sister, yet his eyes were not focused on hers. The lady gave the young lord a peck on his forehead before tucking him into bed.

She spent another ten minutes inside the bedroom before she got out. The two maids were still waiting outside so Soleri gave them a sign to be quiet since Solideo has finally went to sleep. Lady Soleri carefully walked away from the room and straight to the mansion’s main door, wherein a carriage was waiting for her.

Tonight’s ball is a celebration held by the imperial family for bringing home the victory against the Vutish Empire. All nobles from the lower to the higher rank are invited, no wonder the venue is a little more crowded than the banquet Soleri has attended before. Although she made it not obvious, the lady is slightly anxious knowing the fact that half of the people in the capital are here.

“They wouldn’t plan something in this rare occasion, wouldn’t they?” Soleri thought as she sipped on her wine glass. She heaved a sigh and decided to walk around the venue more when she noticed that the nobles around her were now staring- no, glaring at her.

“Lady Soleri! I’m glad to see you here,” she was stopped by a lady dressed in an obtrusive ball gown. Soleri stared at her, she was wrapped with obviously expensive jewelries and her hair was... “Interesting...” as what Soleri thought.

“Good evening, Lady Tatiana,” Soleri greeted her in a calming manner, her face stayed emotionless that made the other ladies who were watching them, be annoyed.

“Ah yes, I really thought you wouldn’t be here since you caused quite a big scandal at the banquet before,” Soleri can hear the other ladies stifled their laughs. “If I were you, I would have taken a vacation away from the capital since what you did was... Daring,” Tatiana added.

Soleri was about to ignore her remarks and walk away from the scene when another lady chimed in, “I didn’t know the lady was audacious. My, I couldn't do that to the sweet countess.”

The people slowly noticed the ladies crowding around Soleri, this made the lady uneasy. Although no one dared to intervene since the image of Soleri as a lady with the most heinous features is still in their minds, the woman is still scared of being scolded, especially because the imperial family is also there. She was about to answer Lady Tatiana to finish the discussion and bid goodbye before the crowd gets bigger when a loud boom echoed the venue, making all the people inside whip their heads towards the main door where the sound came from.

Soleri spotted a maid running, fear is evident in her eyes as she scanned the whole ballroom. The maid’s eyes stopped unto Soleri, she automatically ran towards the lady in a disheveled manner.

“My Lady! My Lady, I beg you! Please! Please, save me!” The servant begged on her knees in front of the confused lady, Soleri thought the maid had mistaken her for someone else when the royal knights entered the place and the maid desperately called her name to save her.

“Lady Soleri!” The maid was cut off by the two knights, they intrusively grabbed both of the crying servant’s arms and pulled her away from the lady. Soleri was overwhelmed with the situation. A random maid came crying in front of her, begging to save her from the royal knights.

“... I do not know you, Miss,” Soleri stated. The maid stopped, stared at her in shock, “My Lady... It is me, the one who you asked to poison the 2nd prince!”

All the people who witnessed the scene gasped in shock. Soleri stopped breathing for a minute, trying to process what the maid had said. She herself knew that she wouldn’t do that to any person, much worse, a member of the imperial family!

Soleri’s eyes automatically went to Eloise, who was found watching alongside everyone. Her hands covered her mouth as if she was also shocked by the sudden news. As soon as Eloise caught Soleri’s eyes, she gave her a slight smirk. This only made Soleri mad.

“How dare they set me up, like this...” the lady thought. Her hand tightened around her folded fan as she tried to calm herself and assess the situation.

No matter how she defends herself, no one would believe her, so she decided to make the maid calm down first and let them talk in private as handling this kind of situation in public would only make it worse. She must confirm if Eloise is behind this set-up, and for her to do that, she must ask the maid.

“Why don’t we-”

“What is happening here!?” Soleri almost flinched at the loud voice of His Majesty, King Aldric. All eyes are now on the emperor who appeared on the scene. Next to him are two beautiful ladies and the empress is standing behind them. Soleri bowed before the king, “I greet your-”

“Lady Soleri, the daughter of Marquis Ceshire, am I correct?” Soleri paused for a while, taken aback by the sudden cut off.

Soleri later replied to His Majesty, “A lady prominent for doing quite... Valiant things,” the king stated as she stared at Soleri from head to toe, the lady tried to hide her feeling of uneasiness.

King Aldric faced the maid who was still on her knees, “Tell me, what happened?”

“Lady Soleri ordered me to poison the 2nd prince by giving him a fake medicine for His Highness’ fever. I-I cannot do anything but to accept, Your Majesty! The lady threatened me and my family. She stated that the poison will not kill the 2nd prince however, this will weaken and harm His Highness’s body!”

“How evil!”

“Harming a member of the imperial family... Oh my.”

“That wench have gone too far!”

“She even pretended not to recognize the maid.”

Soleri was now fuming, she could confirm to herself that everything was set up by Eloise. This is not like the other plans of Eloise before, harming a prince is a serious crime and may lead to execution.

She wanted Soleri dead.

“How dare you!?” The king shouted in anger, pointing at Soleri. The two ladies both grabbed the emperor’s arms to calm him down but the king was too blinded by anger.

The king strides towards Soleri, “I have been very forgiving to you as me and your father came a long way back. But this! I cannot let this go any further!”

The king aggressively pushed Soleri towards the royal knights. Glaring down at the lady, he commanded, “Arrest her.”