Chapter 2: The Reader(2)

There was once the villainess who yearned for her family's love.

When she was young, she only had two sets of clothes even though she was the first daughter of a noble family. One set is for the 364 days locked up in her room, and the other one is for her special day.

"Brother, this is my birthday. I'm really, really happy to be out here and meet you."

Her birthday was the only day she could get outside. The first person she ran to with her skinny legs was her big brother.

The little girl's small hand held to his black shirt. She let out a genuine and sincere smile to her brother with expectation in mind. She always expected her brother to treat her differently from last year.

But the villainess learned a tough life lesson at a young age, "Expectation always leads to disappointment."

Marinette always thought about her childhood and asked herself, "Will her big brother be happy if she was never born?"

Because of the birth of Marinette, her big brother lost his beloved mother. His mother chose Marinette over him. That was why he never forgave Marinette. He had nothing for Marinette except hatred and the feeling of abandonment in his heart.

The day of Marinette's birthday was the death anniversary of his mother.

Her big brother turned back and glared at her funeral outfit. He pushed her onto the ground without any hesitation and yelled at her, "You didn't need to wear that!!!! You are her murderer!!!"

His choice of words didn't push Marinette off a cliff, but the way he changed his tone pushed Marinette to her death.

The memories that resided in the locked room in Marinette's mind were when she saw her brother's back going farther and farther away. He stopped when he saw another little girl around Marinette's age.

"Brother, I want to play."

"We'll play after I do my duty, okay? Wait for a bit, Diana."

Unfortunately for the little girl, she never got to grow up with such a sweet and caring tone from her brother. Her emotions faded slowly and slowly as time went by.

From being hurt a few times, she decided to give up on her big brother. She envied Diana from time to time, but she felt wrong every time she did because Diana never did anything wrong.

The last family member she got was her father, the man who locked her inside the basement the moment she was born.

The little girl grew up with the nanny by her side during the first five years in the basement. But that nanny went insane after living inside the darkness for so long.

Marinette started to survive alone in that dark room by herself because it was already what she defined the world.

Her world was the four corner room with no glimpse of light. She could only see the sun on her birthday because that was the only day she was allowed to go out.

But on her seventh birthday, the sun didn't show up. It hid behind the cloud and let out it tears through the cloud when it witnessed a daughter begging her father to let her out of the basement.

Despite her pleading by hugging his legs, she sat on the ground and begged with all her mind just to get a rejection from him.

"It is for your own good," he said. Before the nanny died, she told Marinette of how much her father loved her.

He put her in the basement because he wanted to protect her. He never fed her any edible food because he wanted the best for her. And he never made an effort to try to talk to her because he used the word 'love' to her.

But the father's love soon became one-sided, because Marinette never got to feel the love from her father.

She gave up her father on her seventh birthday, two years after her brother.

Marinette never got out of the basement on her birthday from then on. Her father, the duke would send a guard to check on her every month just to make sure she was alive.

+++

"Did I die?"

"Where am I?"

Was this hell supposed to be? A complete void of darkness?

I looked around in a silent room. The floor I sat on was cold. While trying to move around, my hand stumbled upon something.

I had to squint my eyes to know that it was a book. I opened to the last page of the book.

"I shouldn't be born..."

That phrase brought back the memory of how I lived the past decades. There was always a what-if question stuck at the back of my mind.

Would my father be happy with my mother if I was never born?

But at the end, it was only a question. I hoped that he got to enjoy his life now that I died.

No...

I don't want that.

I wanted him to mourn for me, I wanted him to regret what he had done to me. I wanted him to keep blaming himself for my death for the rest of his life.

But deep down, I knew it was too much to ask for from that heartless man. In my next life, I hoped I would never get a father like him.

"Lady Marinette, it's time."

The light blinded my eyes. Many people came through the door in front of me. Thanks to their shadow, I managed to get a full view of the book-filled room.

Was I dreaming? It couldn't be a dream because I could feel the silky texture of the dress against my skin.

The heavy necklace embedded with ruby and diamond, and the long hair down to my waist, I could feel it all.

I put my hand on the right side of my face just to make sure. My scar was still there. But after living with the scar for eighteen years, I knew that it wasn't my scar.

"Servant, is this the day of my first meeting?"

"Indeed, my lady."

So it was one month after Marinette left the basement. Seeing how I ended up in the basement, that meant Marinette wasn't used to sleeping in her bedroom upstair yet.

My heart pounded as I walked upstair following the light from the lamp that the servants held.

A smile formed. The fire in the lamp lit up in my eyes giving me back the sparkle to my life.

God had a way of surprising me every time. Even after I stopped believing in them, they still had their way to make my wish come true.

My dream to go to a normal college died in the flame, but another dream rose from the flame that killed me.

I became the villainess of the novel.

Memory Magic: Contract and Fulfilment

[Contract ended in 143 days.]

"It's a lovely morning to live, isn't it?"

To be continued...!