Lady in the Colds

"I hereby dissolve our prior engagement agreement!"

The crown prince's voice rang out across the grand hall, every syllable crisp and deliberate. He stood tall, his lover-the supposed female lead-clinging to his arm like a fragile flower in bloom. All eyes were on me, the villainess.

Did I feel angry? No. Humiliated? Not a bit. Affected by the judgmental stares of the gathered nobles? Not really.

Why, you ask? Because this was the moment I had been waiting for.

My role in this twisted fairytale as the villainess was complete. The script dictated that I should meet a gruesome end-execution, public shame, the works. It didn't matter. I had played my part, and with the prince's declaration, I was supposed to finally escape this world and return to my original one.

But fate had other plans.

Instead of a dramatic, bloody end as the story foretold, I was unceremoniously banished to the North, stripped of my title and wealth, and granted a new one: the Lady in the Colds.