Adeline hastily closed the book, she didn't feel good, the atmosphere in her room was making the hair on her body stand up. But the moment she touched the book to close it she felt dizzy and collapsed.
"Miss!"
So many memories flooded into her brain, that she struggled to breathe. All she could feel was a gentle hand patting her back. She couldn't tell which memories were hers and which were foreign.
"Breathe, Adeline."
A comforting voice cut through the black fog that enveloped her mind.
When she opened her eyes she saw an older man, his gaze was gentle but stern. He held her in his arms and patiently waited for her to calm down.
Adeline could feel that she was much smaller, but she had more important questions on her mind, where was she and who was this person?
"You just had a little fright. You will be fine."
He placed her gently on the bed, but before she could feel any comfort thunder rumbled outside making her flinch. She looked out the window, there was nothing but darkness.
She looked around the room, there was a woman dressed like a maid standing in the corner inconspicuously, she didn't look older than 16. And to the side of her bed were two young boys, they had blond hair just like the man in front of her.
"How is she?" The younger one asked.
"She will be fine, let's give her some space." The man patted the boy's head and led them out.
Adeline finally had time to think, she immediately got down and rushed to the mirror. It frustrated her that she could barely see herself due to her height. The maid who stood inconspicuously to the side finally moved, she helped Adeline into a chair and let her see her reflection.
She took a sharp breath. So her memories were true. She was a child called Adeline, she turned five recently, the only daughter of the Marquess Kendrick.
Looking into the mirror she saw a beautiful young girl, whose hair was pink like cotton candy, she almost wanted to eat it. She had blue eyes like the ocean just like her father.
This was her now? The last thing she remembered happening was her touching the book, the next thing she knew, she was in this world.
Adeline, the villainess who dies at her friends' hands... She gripped her hair like she wanted to pull it out. Just what was happening?!
She couldn't tell which Adeline she was, both memories were deeply ingrained into her mind. She took a deep breath to calm down, it didn't matter which Adeline she was, what she had to do was face the problem at hand. She was destined to die at a very young age!
She tried to remember everything she could about Adeline and the story. The story takes place in the Lunaria Empire, while the royalty had the most influence over the people, the Holy Temple's influence was a force to be reckoned with.
In the story, the temple's sole goal was to help the commoners, but the people in it acted differently, they were greedy and evil. Only the Saintess dared to go against them and won, she rid the temple of its pests, restored it to its original glory and made sure it was set on the right path again.
During this process, she met the four male leads, Cassian the Crown Prince, Benedict the Northern Duke, Edward the Head Priest and finally, Dimitri the Arch Mage.
She didn't care about this useless information regarding the female lead, what she needed to know was how her downfall takes place.
The Empire always had four Dukes identified by their territories situated in the four directions. But, the Western Duke fell and Adeline's family took over the territory. Although they were a Marquess in name, they were no less than the other Dukes.
The Royal Family had one Empress and one Queen, to make sure her son had a secure position, she arranged for him to increase his connections under the guise of a playdate. That was how Adeline and Cassian first met.
Adeline didn't know that Cassian found her annoying and that he only kept up appearances, she thought him to be a true friend. Later they met Benedict and became a well-known trio in society.
The Crown Prince showed her dreams of becoming his princess until he was in a favourable position and pushed her aside the moment he got a much more profitable match, or so she thought. She couldn't dare to admit that the cold profiteer man really fell for someone.
Even Benedict refused to understand her side which drove her to madness. Adeline's brothers and father did everything they could to help her achieve her dreams of being a Crown Princess which included harming the Saintess. The Crown Prince didn't sit still, using this as an opportunity he made the House of Kendrick fall and got rid of Adeline completely.
"F*ck this! I don't accept it!"
Adeline's cussing made the maid attending her jump, she never heard of an aristocrat cursing so commonly.