'Okay, Shin Yuna, you can do this. You once survived being a trainee! You can survive this kid!'
I encouraged myself, before bursting through the cold oak door with forced excitement.
"Young Master!" I said with the sweetest voice I could muster.
Thwack!
I nearly fell backwards as a worn-out pillow hit my face.
"I told you to stop coming here! Go away!"
The haggard-looking boy screamed in anger.
"C-come on!"
I almost got hit again by another flying pillow.
"GET OUT!"
Before I knew it, I was once again in the hallway.
I sighed, exhausted. It was going to be difficult getting on that kid's good side.
"But still," I mumbled, my hands shaking with excitement, "To see my favorite lead in person…"
I couldn't help l but let out a squeal in the damp hallway.
***
The story ended with Claudette's betrayal.
There in the throne room, she drove her sword into the chest of the love of her life, Alcestè Delacroix.
She, too, felt his pain as he fell to the ground and his blood stained the floor.
The moment she realised what she had done, she ran to his dying body and embraced it.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
The wounded man, whose face was filled with hurt from the betrayal rather than the gaping wound on his chest, but with a deep sense of understanding the reason behind it, could only raise his hand and tuck a strand of her hair.
Even as he was dying, he could not bring himself to hate her.
"As always, you never cease to amaze me." They were his last words before he closed his eyes to the cruel world that bore him.
The throne room echoed her cries, calling out to her dead lover. Nothing then could hold a candle to her grief and guilt of betrayal of the only man she had truly loved.
She had to do it, she told herself, forcing herself to believe it. She had to free the country.
After all, Alcestè Delacroix was the villain.
He was broken, too broken, and the heavens knew she had tried to fix him. She had realised it was all in vain too late, and made the heartbreaking decision to end his life.
The door swung open, and in came Alcestè's half-brother Gregory. He was shabby and dressed like a rogue, with a tattered cloak on his back. His dark hair was long and unkempt, and fell over his lime green eyes. He saw his brother's unmoving body and deemed the deed done. The second male lead's heart went out to Claudette as she sobbed. He and Alcestè Delacroix may have never met eye to eye, but he had been everything to Claudette.
The fact that she had to kill him with her own hands must have been too painful to bear.
"Claudia," he called her affectionately by her pet name, "The people await their new empress."
Claudette remained unmoving for a while. She sniffled and wiped her tear-stricken face with her sleeves. Gently, she pushed back Alcestè's snow-white hair and gently kissed his temple.
It was a sign of goodbye.
"I love you."
She placed him ever so gently on the cold marble floor and stood up. Gregory gave out his hand, and she took it. As they walked out together, a silent vow was made between them.
Their hands would never let go of each other.
The bittersweet story of the villain lead ended with his death.
'Bitter Blues', a story that moved me to tears.
Oh, how I loved that novel.
In between my busy schedules as a K-pop idol, I read this tragic novel.
I read it over and over until I memorised the entire storyline.
The story of my favourite broken villain, Alcestè Delacroix, always brought tears to my eyes.
It was quite a new breeze; a novel based on the perspective of the villain, with him as the lead for the heroine.
I remember hoping for his redemption, but instead, he died at the hands of his lover.
As much as I tried to understand the need to kill my favorite character, I still did not like it.
I kept complaining about it every time I finished the novel.
But never in my life did I ever wish to become a part of it!
I, Shin Yuna, a K-pop idol who has been in the industry for only two years, faced my untimely death in a car accident. I thought I was dead; instead, I possessed a five-year-old body named Cäcilia in a novelty world set in ancient Europe.
To make it worse, I was a maid at a Duke's residence.
An unusual maid, to be exact. See, in most of the novels and illustrations I have read and seen, the style of the maids was basic. Typical black/brown hair, brown eyes, and if you are fortunate enough to be a part of the main cast, you get the pretty hair colors like blonde, red, white, etc.
I, or rather, this body, had beautiful golden hair and the most beautiful purple eyes I had ever seen. In addition to that, I was cute! Like the model type cute, despite looking so haggard.
And the weirdest factor about all this was that I had a wooden ring on my index finger, one that no one but me could remove. And when I removed it, I would become blind.
I only found out on my first week in this new body when I removed the ring. I had been in complete shock and accidentally dropped it, causing me to scramble all over the floor to look for it. When I finally found it, I never removed it again. '…Such a complex character.'
There was only one reason why I was possessing this weird yet adorable body.
'I must have become the female lead of some novel. Yay me!'
That's what I thought; I had to be right. After all, it was the only logical explanation in this illogical scenario. For the next five years, I had deluded myself with that very thought. I accepted my work dutifully, accepted the scorn of my fellow adult maids, the threats and the abuse from the head maid, and never complained.
All in the hopes that I, the 'female lead' will get my character points and meet my handsome hero.
Despite my positive outlook, the harsh reality of this horrid world sent me on an inward rampage, hitting the poor mop as I wondered when I would get saved.
The scolding, the scornful eyes, the bullying, even the beatings were horrid; gosh, I hated that small stick!
For some reason, I was the only child maid in the residence. I thought nothing of it and assumed it was just the plot.
How easy it is to delude yourself.
I had never met the masters of the residence, and nobody ever mentioned their names.
Everyone always called them Masters, and the lord as 'His Grace'. Since that title is only used in duchies, it was only fair that l assumed I was in a duchy.
I only got to hear it by chance when the butler came unexpectedly to the kitchen.
"The Grand Duke Delacroix has returned! Quickly, prepare a feast!"
I dropped the bellows in shock.
'D-D-Delacroix!!!'