THIS IS HOW I BECAME A VILLAINESS

chapter 6

The purer the heart, the easier it is to corrupt.

Her sister knew this well. She also knew that the crown prince was searching for the girl he had once called his dearest friend. The girl who was always locked away in the attic whenever he visited.

Her family had planned everything meticulously. They spread rumors, whispering lies into the ears of the influential and the common folk alike. The youngest daughter, they said, was a wretched creature—jealous, bitter, and cursed with an ugly heart to match her face.

But that wasn't the truth.

Cecile had loved her elder sister, even as she endured years of torment at the hands of her stepmother and step-siblings. They twisted her love into something monstrous, weaving a story of jealousy and evil that eventually gained the sympathy of the people and, more importantly, the trust of the crown prince.

The plan had a cruel brilliance. The family swapped names—Celeste, the elder sister, took on Cecile's name and identity, while Cecile became the forgotten youngest. To the world, Cecile was the jealous villainess locked away in the attic. And no one would ever know the truth.

The deception deepened when a new maid appeared, one who seemed kind and attentive to Cecile's needs. Day by day, the maid wormed her way into Cecile's fragile heart, becoming her only source of comfort. What Cecile didn't know was that this maid was an accomplice, working with Celeste to destroy her completely.

The maid introduced Cecile to forbidden knowledge—black magic. At first, Cecile resisted, but the maid played on her loneliness and yearning, planting seeds of ambition and greed. Slowly, the magic changed her, warping her once-innocent dreams into a desperate hunger for power and revenge.

Her once-kind heart, bruised and battered from years of abuse, became an easy target. She trusted the maid, believed in her promises, and walked straight into the trap laid for her. Without realizing it, she was being shaped into the villain her family needed her to be—a foolish pawn in their game.

Then, everything changed.

Her family began treating her like a cherished member of the household. They fed her lavish meals, bought her beautiful clothes, and showered her with kindness she had never known. For the first time in years, Cecile felt wanted. Loved.

But it was all a cruel illusion.

The newfound affection ignited a greed within her. If she could have all this, why couldn't she have more? Why couldn't she reclaim the one person who had once brought light into her life?

She wanted her childhood friend back—the crown prince. She wanted him to smile at her like he used to, to call her by her name, her real name.

And so, she made her move.

But it wasn't the innocent reunion she had once dreamed of. Cecile, driven by desperation and dark magic, did the unthinkable. She didn't just try to win him back—she destroyed everything in her path to do it.

Cecile, the girl who had only ever wanted love, became the villain her family had created. And in her pursuit of happiness, she unknowingly walked further into the darkness, leaving behind the last fragments of the kind and innocent girl she once was.