Wallflower Villainess

Chapter 1

"..."

A girl woke up with a yell that caught in her throat before it could truly escape her. She shot up in her luxurious bed, dusty brown hair tossing alongside her panicked movements. Her gray eyes were wide with panic as her chest heaved, her breaths shallow and raspy.

The once familiar surroundings of her bedroom-the translucent golden curtains, the ornate furniture, the soft sunlight streaming through the windows-did little to calm her.

She clutched at her chest, finding only the silky material of a nightgown rather than sticky blood from a gushing wound. She glanced down, hands trembling. There was nothing there. Her head spun as she kept pawing at her chest as if the wound would reappear if she stopped.

Celine was supposed to be dead.

She stared at her unstained palms for a long moment before she seemed to calm. Once the trembling abated, she looked around properly. This room, this bedroom, was familiar. And yet, different.

Celine recalled a time in which this was once her home.

She glanced around. The chairs she saw around her were ones she'd replaced with better models the day she turned eighteen. The mirror she saw had also been replaced with a bigger one when she was twenty-two. Her magic powered lamp was also missing. Celine processed this information very carefully.

A mirror...

Celine hastily scrambled out of bed to check her reflection. Her suspicions were confirmed. It was not the 24-year-old Celine who stared back at her, with lackluster eyes, filled with sleep deprivation and emptiness. It was a younger, teenage Celine, with hair that stopped midway through her upper arm rather than falling down her back. She stared deeply into her reflection, trying to come to terms with the surreal sight before her.

Before she could get lost in a sea of confusion and panic once again, a knock resounded from the door.

"Lady Celine, it's time to wake up!"

The door opened before she could collect herself, and a maid hurried into the room, pausing as she saw Celine at the mirror.

Not just any maid. It was Miriam, who had raised her and tended to her until the day Celine was taken away.

"You're already awake, my lady? What's wrong? Why are you so pale?" Miriam said, concern in her voice. It had only taken one look from Miriam for her to realize Celine's state of mind.

Celine froze, gazing at her former maid with the eyes of an animal frozen in fear. She cleared her throat oddly as if she hadn't spoken in quite some time.

"Miriam... what's today's date??" The sentence came out akin to a groan.

"Why, miss, it's the twenty-second day of the third month, year 672 on the Coprian calendar! Have you forgotten?" Miriam stepped closer, putting a palm on Celine's forehead.

"Your temperature seems to be fine... are you alright? It's not like you to wake up before I come. Did something happen?"

Celine shook her head, mentally reeling. Her appearance, her surroundings, it all made sense now. She was sixteen. Celine smiled. Her life must be flashing before her eyes, that's all.

"It's alright, Miriam. I just had a nightmare, that is all. Don't worry." Celine placed a hand on her forehead, calming herself.

"Then, shall you come down for breakfast, Miss? I let you sleep in today because you worked hard yesterday, but it's time for brunch." Miriam had always been strict about her meals. The familiarity was comforting, though this Miriam was eight years younger.