The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. That was what they whispered about me. My mother was a dancer who seduced an Emperor to survive. I was the ignored princess who seduced a Prince to steal a throne. I thought I was the heroine of a romance novel. I thought if I smiled enough, schemed enough, and loved him enough, I would get my happily ever after. I was wrong. My sister was the beloved Cinderella. The Crown Prince was her Prince Charming. And I? I was just the wicked stepsister who got in the way. My reward for stealing the male lead was a hellish marriage, a cold bed, and a lonely death. Now, I have returned to the beginning. I'm done chasing fairytales. I'm done trying to be someone I'm not. This time, I won't go to the ball. I won't wear the glass slipper. I will just fade into the background and disappear. Or so I thought. "Careful, Your Highness." On the balcony where I tried to hide from the world, a hand caught me. It wasn't a Prince. It was a Knight I had never noticed before. I wanted to retire from this fairytale, but it seems the story isn't done with me yet

Cynthia wakes up in a world she doesn't recognize as no other than Odette Aldrich, the infamous villainess from a story she'd recently become obsessed with. However, unlike the original Odette, who pined after the Crown Prince and tormented the female lead, Cynthia has no intention of following the script. She couldn't care less about royal politics or the prince's affections. Instead, she sets her sights on the one character she finds far more intriguing and far more attractive: Ezra Pike, the notorious Duke feared across the empire as a demon. Rewriting the story be damned-Cynthia won't rest until Ezra agrees to marry her.

What if instead of locking Khushi in Sheeshmahal, Arnav gives her a chance to prove herself ?