Life After Reborn as Twisted Heroine

Shilien's chamber had a suffocatingly uneasy feeling, perhaps more than when I had previously visited this room with Ren the last time.

As I got closer, I took in my surroundings. The furniture was overturned, and jewelry and makeup were spilled all over the floor... Then a shattered vanity mirror projected splintered shards of light on the wall.

The bedroom was chaos... And the disarray mirrored the state of its occupant, who sat hunched in a chair by the window.

Shilien turned to face me, her eyes still cold as usual yet eerily hollow. The once proud glint in them now was replaced by a haunted vacancy. Her face was still swollen in some places from the bee stings, but that wasn't all… It was mottled with scratches, remnants of the humiliation she had suffered.

This woman… She was clearly not in a good state. Yet for some reason, I couldn't quite grasp it as an inexplicable tightness coiled in my chest at the sight of her.

"What are you staring at, you little brat?" she snapped, her voice sharp and brittle.

A brat? I'd come here out of pure curiosity—no, perhaps something more akin to duty—to check on her. And this was the thanks I got?

"You must be enjoying seeing me like this, huh?" Shilien's lips curled into a sour smile as she looked down at a jar of face cream lying on the floor. "I don't know how you managed to pull it off… but I never thought you would stab me in the back this way."

"Mother… I…" My voice stammered, unsure whether I was addressing her out of habit or something deeper.

"Are you going to tell me it wasn't you?" Her bitter chuckle grated against my ears. "There's no proof, of course. But in this palace… who else would do it if not you?"

I frowned.

Seriously? How can she accuse me so quickly? When half the palace despises her!

"Is humiliating me by making me bark like a dog not enough for you?" she spat. "Now you've disgraced me in front of His Majesty and the nobles as well?"

My jaw tightened as her words sank in.

What? So you're trying to play the victim and gaslight me now, huh? Alright, let's see then... Who's gonna mess with who, Bitch!

"Oh, my bad. I'm so sorry, Mother," I chuckled, my voice dripping with sarcasm as my sharp gaze locked onto hers. "Yeah, it's true. I'm the one who orchestrated the chaos at your tea party. But tell me, Mother, do you think you didn't deserve it? Perhaps you should look in a mirror…" I glanced pointedly at the broken mirror with a smirk. "Oh, but you can't, can you? It's shattered like your vanity."

"You insolent child!" Shilien rose from her chair, raising her hand as if to slap me. But I didn't flinch.

"Go ahead," I said evenly, my voice as cold as the marble floors beneath us. "If it makes you feel better. But remember this… an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Her hand froze midair, just inches from my cheek.

"If you strike me once, I might not retaliate immediately." My small hand reached up, gripping her thin wrist.

I surged my fiery mana from my palm into her skin, radiating a searing heat. Shilien hissed in pain, jerking her arm back instinctively.

"But I will make sure you feel the pain I endure a hundredfold. Enough to ensure you'll never try it again. Mark my words. Or… Do you really want to try it, Mother?"

Shilien's eyes widened in a mixture of pain and fear as I released her wrist with icy disdain.

"What… What have I done wrong?" Shilien's voice cracked as tears welled up in her eyes. She sank to the floor slowly as her sobs were muffled by her trembling hands.

For a moment, I felt… pity. For the first time, this woman, usually so cold and so calculated, now seemed small and fragile, even human. She didn't seem as strong or terrifying as she was portrayed in Twilight's Chronicle. But in an instant, all my sympathy for him vanished as I recalled what she had done to me.

"Oh, a lot, Mother…" I whispered with a playful grin while crouched, lifting her chin so she couldn't look away from me, enjoying her tear-streaked face which was a pale shadow of its former grandeur.

"Do you think you could manipulate me and turn me into a pawn for your dirty games? You're gravely mistaken. I'm no longer the weak child who would obey your every word," I said in a soft but razor-sharp voice.

Shilien's lips quivered as I kept pressing on and releasing words I had buried deep within my heart like a viper spilling forth its venom.

"What's with that looks? Are you wondering what went wrong?" I scoffed. "Perhaps you should have thought harder about how you raised me, Mother. You thought with your methods I would help you get everything you desired…? Wealth, status, power? Nah, I don't want any of it." I chuckled and leaned closer, dropping my tone to a whisper. "I'm not some desperate harlot who's willing to become a concubine to His Majesty just to grasp at those things, like you, Mother."

Shilien froze. With hitched breath, she stared at me in disbelief, as though she couldn't comprehend that I was capable of speaking such harsh words to her.

"You're a duke's daughter. Even without stooping to such vile actions, you could have lived comfortably. But no…" I towered over her and smiled mockingly. "Look at you... Despite your underqualified and limited capabilities you want to be a Queen? What a ridiculous joke! Even if you lived a thousand lifetimes, you'd never win His Majesty's heart, you utterly pathetic!"

For a moment, silence hung heavy between us, broken only by the sound of her ragged breathing.

"Actually… If you had treated me kindly, maybe… I might have returned the favor. But it's far too late for that now." I grinned, my voice cold.

"You insolent brat!" she shrieked suddenly, surging to her feet. Her hands glowed with dark mana as she thrust them toward me, a jagged wave of energy erupting from her palms.

Startled, I instinctively raised my left hand and deflected her attack with my own mana. The collision burst and sent a shockwave through the room, shattering the window glass and forcing me back a step.

For a brief moment, the air thickened as her magic seeped into me. A sharp pain lanced through my chest, and my vision blurred.

Then, she screamed in agony.

"Aaaahhh!! Aaarghhh!!"

Shilien writhed on the ground, clutching her arms as dark tendrils of energy snaked across her body.

The doors burst open, and guards poured in, their faces pale with alarm. Behind them strode Ixius, his commanding presence silencing the commotion.

"What's happened here?!" the old mage demanded, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene; the trembling Shilien, the ruined room, and me, standing amidst the chaos.

Before I could respond, his gaze fell on my left hand. His expression shifted from anger to shock.

"That is… DARK EMBLEM?!" His voice trembled with disbelief.

I looked down at my left palm. A strange symbol, like a black tattoo, had burned itself into my skin. Its intricate lines pulsed faintly with black mana and a sinister warmth radiated from it.

Ixius's gaze darted between me and Shilien before he barked at the guards, "Take the Princess to her chambers immediately! And summon the royal physician at once!"

Half-dazed, I let the guards escort me away. My body ached, and my vision remained unfocused. Yet, as I stared at the mark on my hand, one thought burned in my mind.

My second EMBLEM… It had awakened.

This was no mere accident. Deep within, I knew this darkness had been lying dormant, waiting for its moment to surface.

Perhaps it had been there all along… A proof of what I truly was as Luna D'Emeralia, the villainess of Twilight's Chronicle.