Villainess Reborn: SEASON ONE

55

Emma squeezed the water out of the towel and gently patted it on her highness's face.

Tatiana's face was pale, and she was running on high fever. A bandage was placed on her wound, on the right side of her forehead. It was cleaned and sanitized before to prevent it from scarring, because a princess, let alone a future queen should not have a single scar on her body.

The room was silent and only the dripping of water and Tatiana's soft snores were heard. It is still morning and yet a lot of things have already happened, mostly, unfortunate things.

"She shouldn't be here in the first place," Bjorn said. His voice was low and traces of anger are still evident in his voice. He was standing near the window, watching the capital from where they are now, observing them as they are going on with their day.

Bjorn believes that what happened to Tatiana today is a sign that she should not move forward with the plan. Not only did she get hurt, but the nobles will surely rise and complain to the king. They will not want a woman like her to rise to the throne even if it is just in name.

A woman like Tatiana is a threat to them. She is a threat to their power and status. And nobles will come together and do anything to get her dethroned.

Emma sighed and placed the back of her hand on Tatiana's forehead to check her temperature. The fever is still high so she needs more rest.

"If I may say so, kind sir," said Emma, "I sometimes think that the princess is a totally different person like somebody else possessed her body. But I know that it is crazy of me to think that way. What else could explain everything that she's doing, her actions, the way she speaks and thinks."

"That, or people never truly knew who she is behind the evil façade that she used to put up. Humans, just like animals, tend to bare their fangs to those who are a threat to them or when they feel like they are in danger. And knowing what the princess has gone through and how unstable her status is, she only did what she can as a young girl to protect herself." She added.

Emma lifted the basin in her arms and walked towards the door. She paused for a while and glanced over at Bjorn. The captain of the knights did not seem to budge or even listen to her, he was just out staring at the window without a sound. People never know what others are truly thinking, but deep inside her, she knows that even the captain has fallen for the princess's charms.

The room lingered with the smell of the scented candle. A calming scent that makes the body relax and rest. However, it was a scent that Tatiana was familiar with, and it brought back memories that came in the form of a dream.

In a large dark house made only out of oakwood. The lights flickered in the hallway, and most of the bulbs are not even working anymore. Basins and buckets were placed in different parts of the wet hallway, and the sound of water dripping was heard through the water-damaged ceiling.

The house was in its worst shape. No one ever tried to maintain it, the caretaker said that they don't have enough money to fix the house because there were no more funds, no more donations, but somehow, she would always see people going to the caretaker's office and hand a stash of green-colored cash.

But it was forbidden to ask questions. Children who lived there should never question what the caretaker is doing or else they are punished. The rules in the house were simple but the little girl would never understand why the rules were like that.

The first rule was to never ask questions, no matter how trivial they may be. The second rule was that no one will go outside their room after five in the afternoon.

If a child goes against these rules, they are beaten as punishment. But it was better than the other punishments. Sometimes, if the caretaker was mad, the punishment was that there would be no food and water for three days, and on some occasions, if the caretaker was in a really, really bad mood, it does not stop at that. A kid would be punished, trapped inside a cabinet in the dark basement where it was cold and wet.