Chapter 4 - The villainess

Rosalia Del Aviv Fontaine, the antagonist of Love you, love me.

A child brought to the duke's house after the tragic death of her father, the grand duke's son and his lover, her mother. Her father was killed in a carriage accident and his mother, in disbelief over her fiance's death, ran out of the house to go see his body, only to slip and hit her head on a rock. She fell into a coma and followed her lover a few days later. Little Rosalia was left all alone. A gardener who had been working on their house for a short period of time, saw it fit to take the child to its father's family, the house of Fontaine.

Now, the Fontaine dukedom took great pride in maintaining their lineage and bloodline, and their partners were carefully selected from established families with whose lineages were known. So a child born out of wedlock who had unknown lowborn blood was heavily scorned from the word go.

Rosalia grew up in the shabby room that was her only room, far away from the rest of the family. A child without a mother or father, it was normal for her to want her family's love. She had first met her family in the garden when she had escaped from her room to find something to eat. Instead of sympathizing with the severely underweight person begging for their help, they only turned her away. She thought it was because of her low birth that she was treated this way and vowed to work hard so as to make her family love her. Despite not having even a tutor or a reliable maid, she worked herself to the core with what she could find so as to become smart. By the time she was twelve, she knew everything, from accounting and business to the proper etiquette.

None of that melted her family's icy feeling towards her. She was never acknowledged in all her feats and was never given the family name Fontaine. Yet, she continued to bow to them. She believed that so long as she proved her worth, then maybe, maybe they would accept her. She was willing to live like that all her life, but her hopes crumbled when the female lead was brought to the dukedom.

Bellatrix Fontain, the female lead of the novel, and the supposed 'real' daughter. A child born out of wedlock just like Rosalia, only that her mother, Lady Adarell, was the fiancee of Trumter. He had refused to marry her and left with Rosalia's mother, leaving her pregnant and alone. She had hidden this pregnancy and trusted her personal maid to raise this child, far away from the capital. Her father, the Marquis of Hyslop, came to find out about her existence after her maid came back with the child. The marquis immediately brought her to the duchy and demanded they take responsibility.

Bella was what one would call 'a gentle lily in the breeze'. She had a round pretty face, ginger-blonde hair that fell in waves, freckles that complemented her face, and beautiful purple eyes, the proof of her affiliation with the family. Her kindness and gentleness towards everyone made her warm the hearts of everyone in the duchy, from the workers to even the family. She was greatly loved and treated like a princess, and Tristev Fontaine, her uncle, adopted her as her daughter and earned the family's name, thus declaring her officially a member of the family. This was a joy to everyone…

Everyone but Rosalia.

She watched from the sidelines with her fists clenched at how everyone, the same people who looked down on her and criticized her for simply being illegitimate, genuinely care and love the girl who was also like her; illegitimate, born out of wedlock. Her arrival, her sudden declaration of her also being the daughter of her father and how she had been treated like a long-lost member of the family terrified her.

She, who had been there since infancy, never even got a glance from them. She was filled with anger and jealousy at the mere thought of her 'sister' and developed an insatiable desire to have what she was getting.

Since the marquis openly stated that she was the true daughter of the Grand Duke's second son and not the common-blood-infested Rosalia, many people began doubting her.

"Come to think of it, is she really a child of this house?"

"Be careful of what you say!"

"I'm just saying. Lady Bellatrix is more like the deceased master every single day. The lowborn doesn't even look like him."

"True. She could be an imposter."

"Lady Bella is nicer and treated well by His Grace the moment she came here. That 'thing' has been here since her childhood and was hated immensely."

"You're right. The duke must have known she wasn't the real child but showed mercy by letting the imposter live."

"But now there's no reason to keep her here. She'll be reduced to a maid or even told to leave the duke's palace."

"Good riddance. She was always acting high and mighty as if she were noble. Turns out she's just like us."

Rosalia, who took all the maids' words to heart, vowed to herself that she will chase the imposter out of her home. She was the only daughter, she told herself, the other one is the imposter. Whenever Bella approached her, she would get angry at the sight of her and shout at her to get lost.

"You! Stay away from me, you filthy imposter!"

"Sister! I only wish to be friends with you-Ah!" Bella screamed as Rosalia pushed her to the ground, the plate filled with snacks falling and breaking, cutting Bella's hand in the process.

"Lady!" Bellatrix's nanny, Marion, who had taken care of her since birth, ran to her aid. "How dare you! I will inform the duke about this!" she screamed as she helped Bellatrix up.

"No. Don't inform the grand duke," Bella said, "It was an accident."

"But my lady-"

"I'm ok," she said, smiling, "It's just a scratch."

"You- I don't need your pity. Just go away!" Rosalia screamed and left, leaving them both there.

The grand duke, their grandfather, eventually found out about the incident as soon as he saw Bellatrix's arm wrapped in bandages. In a fit of rage, he ordered her to be locked in a closet to 'reflect' on her actions.

"DO not let her out until I say so." He warned sternly, "Anyone who dares to open this without my permission will have their limbs cut off."

"Grandfather! Grandfather please!" Rosalia wailed, desperately knocking on the closet door. "Please let me out! I-I'm scared of small spaces!"

"You will stay there until you learn your lesson," he said, "If you do not wish to accept you were in the wrong, then be prepared to make this closet your home."

She was left in there for three months, screaming and banging the door for her to be let out. She only received one meal a day, and only got released when she weakly admitted she was wrong. After being let out, her uncle told her to never go near Bellatrix again.

Thanks to that ordeal, she hated Bellatrix even more and tried the best she could underneath the shadows to get rid of her. Her obsession to kill Bellatrix and claim her rightful place as the only daughter of the deceased young duke drove her insane, and in the end, was sentenced to death after attempting to poison Bellatrix and her fiance, the crown prince of the empire using demon magic.

And by the order of the crown prince, he had her name completely wiped off the empire's history books, and declared that no one should mention her name ever again.

And I have unfortunately become the destined villainess of this story.