Cannon Fodder To Villainess

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Amber watched as Regina stood up and her feet loudly thumped across the ash wooden floors. It was as if her large feet managed to find every crack and creak that existed in the floor that had at one time been pristine. The many years of neglect and poverty that the Baron's household had faced had made a once lovely manor fall to neglect and ruin. It was a wonder that the walls stayed where they should and the roof remained above their heads, save for the minor bits that leaked whenever there was a particularly strong rain.

Strangely enough, the most structurally sound abode in the manor was the old maid's building where Amber currently lived. The new homes for Regina and her children weren't quite built yet and they were currently living with Ethan. Celine had been booted from her own home and it had been taken over by Regina and her three children temporarily until their new dwellings could by built. Regina could have easily waited to move in until after their dwelling had been built or she could have moved into Ethan's old home temporarily, but she told Baron Frost that Ethan's home wasn't up to her standards and that she would take over the abode of the lady of the house. Celine didn't enter Regina's eyes, she had zero respect or consideration for her.

Amber studied Regina's manner, her odd lumbering way of walking, and the way she favored her left leg ever so slightly when she walked. It was obvious that she had injured herself at one point or another. It was also obvious that she hadn't been raised with the best education. Amber would have been inclined to feel sorry for her plight and feel somewhat of a connection between the two of them, given that Amber clearly remembered her life as a modern woman. However, there was a perpetual haughty and proud look on this flashy woman's face. One that clearly said that she thought she was better than everyone else around her, even though all of her gestures screamed ill mannered commoner who thought too highly of herself. There was no desire to improve, just an ill founded overconfidence. She was a cheap and overly flashy woman who'd shoved her way in here and Amber wanted nothing more than to wipe that proud smirk off her face.

With every loud creaking step, Regina glittered in the dim light of the lamps in the study. Although it was not quite noon and they hadn't anywhere to go, Regina was currently wearing a low cut sage green dress that barely covered her nipples and was weighed down by large emerald jewelry from her neck, ears, and arms. Resting on her head, was a matching tiara on her long flaming red hair, set in the intricate up-do style of the proper wife in a noble household.

Amber continued to sit as Regina approached her seat. Her sage eyes met Amber's eyes. As their eyes locked onto each others, Amber allowed slightly more of her aura to leak free, causing goosebumps to appear on her skin and Regina to feel a slight sensation of panic and anxiety to spike within her. The confident smirk plastered on her lips slipped ever so slightly while she took in a startled breath and then clenched her jaw in determination.

"I understand that it can be hard for children to accept changes in their life, but you'll get used to me being the lady of this household shortly. Your dad has already promised me that he will make me his proper legal wife and make your mom his concubine. You are just the child of a woman who had lost the backing of her family. My family can actually help the Baron. Although you're just a child, it's a crime to fake letters from the royal family. Everyone knows that you and the First Prince have a horrible relationship. Don't even think to try and fool us and don't think that you're some kind of royalty. If anyone in this household is going to marry the First Prince, it's going to be my daughter, Ruby. She was meant to be royalty," said Regina.

Celine Frost's face became frighteningly white upon hearing these words and she swayed as she abruptly stood up and hurried out of the room. In the distance Amber could just make out the faint sound of muffled crying that was quickly becoming further away. Part of her felt an odd urge to chase after her mother, but she resisted that urge. She sat in her chair with a bored look remaining on her face, as if she weren't perturbed in the least.

Amber glanced over to the overstuffed chairs where the two girls weren't even pretending to look at their books anymore. As Amber's eyes met those of the slate gray haired girl, she quickly averted her eyes and slouched down lower into her seat. Although it was obvious that Regina was referring to the younger daughter of the two, it was clear that the gray haired girl was mortified. Her face turned nearly the same color as her mother's hair that matched her younger sister's flaming red hair. The red haired girl sat up straighter and a proud grin spread across her face after hearing her mother's highly inappropriate words.

Amber looked over at her father with a raised eyebrow. Although she didn't bother to say anything out-loud, it was clear what she meant without having to utter a word. Why had he brought someone home who was so ridiculously ill mannered? Was she serious? What absurdity was she spouting? Although Amber had very little opinion of the Baron, he at least knew that some things just couldn't be said.

The Baron's face flushed and he cleared his throat while averting his gaze away from Amber and focusing on Regina. "My dear, it's clear to me that before we can have Nicolla's debut into society and I can introduce you and the rest of my expanded household, you all will need to take etiquette classes. It's not your fault, just an oversight on my part due to my excitement over you finally coming to live with me."

Although the Baron tried to smooth things over in the nicest way possible, it's simply impossible to remove the bite from certain things. Regina's face became pail and then bright red as her eyes glittered in rage. He might as well have slapped her as her eyes widened and her fists clenched. Then her head abruptly swiveled towards her two daughters and her eyes glared. Then without a word, she stormed out of the room. Her daughter's eyes widened and they both abruptly stood up and followed after her. Ruby's little nose was proudly tilted up in the hair after she let out an insulted sounding huff, but Nicolla's eyes were averted to her feet and her shoulders were drooped as if she was hoping that the floor would swallow her up.

Amber sighed while thinking of all the new nonsense that was headed her way. She rubbed her temples while a headache started to come on. The room was strangely quiet and awkward with just the two of them in the room. Although Amber had memories of this man and was starting to see him as her father, part of her insisted that he was also a stranger to her. It was hard to resist the memories that flooded her with feelings of longing and regret, but she was a very logical person by nature. Feelings had always been a difficult thing for her to deal with at the best of times. If something wasn't useful to her, she wouldn't bother with it. Why would she? That just didn't make any sense.

However, since coming into her new life, she found herself more and more caring about things and opening up in ways that she never would have imagined previously. Sure, she had wanted her family to accept and love her, from her previous life, but this man wasn't her father; was he? She wasn't even sure what her existence was in her new life, since she had discovered that Arabella was still in this body with her. Was she Arabella Amber if she's possessing the body and has her memories? Amber wasn't even sure who she was anymore.

As she looked at this trashy man sitting in front of her, she felt a painful tug on her heart, telling her that she longed for him to love her. She felt disgust with herself and the situation in general as memories from this body's childhood flooded her mind. He was a garbage father and garbage husband. He deserved to be tossed aside and abandoned by the family that he had abused and neglected for so many years. Anger bubbled up in Amber as another wave of longing racked through her. It reminded her of her feelings towards her parents in her previous life and rage filled her. She would not repeat the pathetic cycle of chasing after parents who didn't want her in her second life, she refused to.

"Is this letter genuine?" Baron Frost said, startling Amber and breaking the thick silence in the room.

"To my knowledge," said Amber curtly.

Baron Frost frowned while looking down at the letter resting on the table. Then he cleared his throat and abruptly stood up and walked over to the fireplace. He silently looked down at the flames while the shadows around him flickered strangely. A cold chill inexplicably blew through the room and an odd feeling of fear traveled up Amber's spine. Something felt wrong, like walking along a dark street in the middle of night all alone. The sound in the rood echoed strangely with each crackle and pop from the fire. Amber had an eerie feeling of being watched, but she couldn't tell if it was paranoia or where it could be coming from.

At what felt like hours, Baron Frost broke the silence once again. "You may leave for now, but leave the letter on the table. I'll have a servant return it to you later tonight."

Amber quickly stood up while glancing around the room. Although she didn't see anything, but shadows and light dancing along the walls, she felt a strong desire to run. She had no desire to linger there any longer or take the letter which felt like it could somehow curse her if she held it for too long. She didn't say a word as she turned around and quickly walked out. There was something very wrong there. Although she couldn't tell what it was yet, she knew that she wanted to get far away from whatever it was.