After the initial shock waned, Serena started grinning in front of the mirror while her head started to recall details from the novel.
If she recalls correctly, Serena Lilianne Maxwell's character is indeed the villainess in the story. She even remembers that she scolded her granddaughter for using her name but quickly forgave her because of the stats given to said character. Serena is the most beautiful lady in the empire. Not only that, she is the only biological daughter of Duke Simoun Maxwell. The duke and the duchess have always wanted a child, but sadly, for many years they weren't given any. Thus, they opted to adopt one of their distant relative's son when he was just about 3 months old and named him Leonard Alphonse Maxwell to succeed the duchy. However, just 5 months after the adoption, the duchess was found pregnant.
There was suddenly an uproar in the duchy, for if the child born is male, they will have to return Leonard to his family to avoid any succession feud. The duke and duchess both prayed for a baby girl, not only because of consideration for Leonard, but also because they truly wanted a daughter to spoil. It is no exaggeration to say that duke Simoun and duchess Celine are the most beautiful lovebirds in the whole kingdom of Windsor. Imagine how their biological child will look like.
Thus, when the baby was born and turned out to be a girl, the couple cried tears of joy and thanked all the gods in heaven. They know that having another child is next to impossible, given that the couple were already in their late-30's and the difficulty of pregnancy for the duchess. They named her Serena Lilianne Maxwell, Serena, for when she was born she was so tranquil and serene, Lilianne because this daughter of theirs represent everything that is innocent, pure and beautiful in their eyes.
As expected, Serena was treated as the pearl in the palm of their hands. You can only imagine how heavenly her childhood was. With her parents, she only has to look at an object for 3 seconds then it will immediately be given to her. When she started learning, even when her performance was mediocre at best, they will tell her that she is the most talented in the world. And when she smiles, her parents will tell her that their darling baby is the most beautiful child in the whole universe. To put it nicely, she grew up to be innocent in the ways of the world. To put it bluntly, she became a stupid airhead who was quite egocentric.
So how do you expect her to assimilate when she went to the school for nobility at the age of 18? Well, she simply expected things to turn out as they always did. Initially, all her classmates treated her with respect and awe. But further into her schooling, she realized that she does not always get the best score, and although she is the most beautiful, she is not the most liked. 18 is the age of romance for most of the nobility. When she entered school, she expected to have a myriad of admirers, but no one ever approached her. She thought that the reason should be because she already has the crown prince as her fiancé, but surprise surprise! Her fiancé turned out to have someone else in his heart. In fact, not only him, but it seems like all high spec guys like the same lady!
Said lady was the female lead in the novel, the daughter of the impoverished Baron Edward, Emily Jean Evans. Emily was depicted as a pretty and smart lady. She has chestnut brown hair, large green eyes, small button nose, rosy cheeks and pink lips. Her skin although not that white, was fair. She always get the highest grade in their year and was righteous in all of her actions. She was strong-willed with a slight hero complex. In short, she became the girl guys love to love, and girls love to hate.
Meanwhile, Serena could not accept the fact that she became a girl standing behind someone's shadow. So she tried to reflect on what she might be doing wrong. The first thing she thought of was that in one of the books she read, it was said that smiling at people makes one look kind and friendly. Serena's parents told her to not just give her smiles to anyone. Well, perhaps that is one thing that she should change. However, Serena's face is unlike that of any normal girl. Her smile looks coquettish with her two vortexes, and although it attracted a lot of bees to the honey, it made her look too much of a seductress. Things would have been alright if that ended there, but given her school performance, she was directly labeled as the typical dumb blond bimbo in the campus.
Serena tried her best to excel in school, tried being friendly, tried being nice to everyone, albeit, her description of nice and friendly were hugely disproportioned to what was normal. Slowly but surely, she realized the weight of the duke's name and her status in society. So when things did not turn out the way she wanted them to despite her efforts, it led to her blackening. And the target of her ire became Emily Evans.
You can probably already guess what happened next. Just like any villainess trope, Serena became the overly jealous, egocentric, overindulged, spoiled brat. This of course, only highlighted the goodness of our female lead, Emily, to the eyes of everyone. Later on, Geoffrey annulled his engagement to Serena and married Emily to start living happily ever after.
So what happened to Serena? After everything, she was sent back to their dukedom, a little crazy and disillusioned because she can not accept the story of what her life became. The duke and the duchess were very much saddened but knew in their hearts that it was their fault that Serena became that way. They died with heartbreak, while the adopted brother, Leonard Alphonse Maxwell, became the new duke.
Leonard's feelings for his younger sister was quite complicated. When they were younger, he liked her because of her cuteness, but they were never close. When they got older this turned to a love-hate feeling especially during the time that she was chasing the crown prince like a dog in heat. However, after all the fiasco, he felt her pitiful, and whenever he looked at her being mentally deranged, it only strengthened his resolve that she is his responsibility.
At the age of Seven, Leonard was sent to Alighieri for schooling. There, he met and became good friends with their crown prince, Geoffrey William, the only son of the duke of Suffox, Charlton Heindrich Daniel, and the second prince of Alighieri, Kylo Louis. During his first 5 years in the boarding school, he got to return home during summer and winter. While the next 6 years only let him return during summer break. When he was in their home for vacation, he never got to spend too much time with his sister due to their difference in gender and the fact that he is an adopted son.
Male children of nobles, specifically those with the stature of Count above were sent to Alighieri's school for young leaders at the age of Seven. They stay there for 11 years to learn skills and knowledge necessary for leading their territory. After that, they go to Windsor school for nobles at the age of 18 to assimilate themselves to society, gain mastery of their skills and knowledge, and for some to find themselves a wife. Female children on the other hand, were home schooled. This means that the only mastery required of them was etiquette, while other skills and knowledge though encouraged were only secondary. When they reach the age of 18, they are sent to Windsor school for nobles with not much expectations other than finding a suitable husband.
Leonard's upbringing was a bit unconventional. At a young age, his shoulders were already burdened with much expectations due to fact that he is the sole heir to the dukedom despite his lineage. With this knowledge, he strived to do his best to deserve his position.
There was a difference on how he was treated in comparison to Serena. Serena was the real princess while he was just merely a pauper. When he was younger, his adoptive parents only asked him for one thing in exchange of him inheriting the dukedom, that is to ensure Serena's well-being.
Leonard was not an ingrate. During the time that he and Serena were in Windsor school of nobles, he tried to protect her the best that he can. If not, Serena will not return home with only a mental illness, which was of her own doing, after everything that she did. Sadly, he can not control the heart of a monarch, and his power as the heir of a duke in comparison to the crown prince is limited to merely just that of a sidekick.
Upon his ascension as a duke, he took care of his mentally deranged sister the best that he can.
Not much was really said after that part in the novel. Serena's granddaughter, Rianne, only left Serena's ending with that. Thankfully, Rianne is a normal kid living in a peaceful 21st century. Serena can't imagine herself living in a fantasy world with gore and violence.
"m'lady, shall we join the duke and duchess for breakfast?"
Serena looked one more time at her image reflected in the mirror.
'so what if I'm the villainess? I read and watched too many transmigration and rebirth novels/ dramas in my life to not know that I can always change my fate. With this face and my wits, who is to say that I will just become the shadow behind the school flower? Besides, I'm not really interested with that, my only desire is to fulfill my fantasy! I loved my husband truly, but this is now my chance to do what I never got to do. On any normal occasion, I would choose to live my life the way I did, but this is a fantasy world! I'm meant to fulfill my every fantasy here. So to hell with the story! I just want to have a number of boyfriends to taste before getting married!' Serena smirked at herself in the mirror.
"Alright, let's go to the dining hall Beatrice"
Beatrice was slightly worried about her lady acting a bit strangely. But who is she to question her? She is but a maid in this dukedom.
