First Timeline
Natasha Nicholai's point of view※THIS WILL BE THE DAY I'LL DIE!I wish I was joking, but, unfortunately, I am not. And well, there isn't much I can do about all of this. There isn't, literally, anything I could do. Not without my arms, nor my legs or tongue. They cut everything.At least they didn't cut my head off, yet.But it will happen today, though!I'm not going to lie by saying that I'm in this situation for nothing. I'm not gonna say that I didn't do anything to be here. Because I did! I'm not, one hundred percent, the victim.I am a villainess, after all. I know every single vicious thing I did.I remember every single person I killed. Every single thing I stole and all the lies I've told. But I don't regret it.There's a reason for everything I did. Of course, there is! I did it for my sister. My sweet younger twin sister, Dalilah. All I did was for her.Okay... Almost everything. The last thing I did, which made me end up here, wasn't for her. It was for me. She's the one who got hurt by it.But I couldn't help it. There was a primal feeling deep inside of me, which I can't explain, that kept telling me to get back at that motherfucker. That son of a bitch who did that to me.Worst, my sister knew and didn't do anything about it.But I truly believe that she had a reason to do so. That asshole was probably emotionally manipulating her into not saying anything. Because he couldn't manipulate her normally, mind to mind, once she was the one with such a blessed kind of magic. She was blessed by the Goddess, and that's why she's a Saintess.I'm not dumb, neither am I stupid, so, of course, I knew how she would react if I followed the voice deep inside of me. But somehow I did it anyway. It was the first time in my life that I did something she disagreed with.I always knew how much she loved that octopus we have to call 'brother'. So it was an obvious and expected reaction. Especially when I murdered him so brutally and didn't even try to hide.That voice told me not to do so. It told me that it was for the best. That I was right.And that, it didn't matter the consequences that would follow what I had done, I should handle it because it would be worth it.So yeah, she organized my execution together with my brother-in-law, the 3rd Imperial jerk Prince Christopher Caspien. Who I deeply hate! That spoiled brat always got in my way even when I tried to help him for my sister's sake. Scheming things that could hurt me, and always failing. Making the time of my life I had to spend around him, because of Dalilah, a living hell.But again, I never did anything that would go against my sister. So, somehow I managed to keep my hatred towards him to myself, and never said anything rude to him. All because of her. I don't even know how I controlled myself all this time. It doesn't make sense, thinking about it right now. But life doesn't make sense, anyway.Now regarding her, it was expected. I disappointed my sister, by killing one of the people she loves the most in this world, our eldest brother, Octavian. And besides her sad feelings making me feel like shit and like I failed with her, I can't help but not give a damn about his death at all.And having this mindset is what makes people see me as a villainess. I can't deny that either. Again, I know what I am. As well as I know that all of the things I did, took me to where I am now.The depths of the Imperial Palace dungeon, for being accused of assassinating the Grand Duke Octavian Nicholai. My older brother. Which, again, I did! And with such an accusation, there was no way of me escaping execution.And well, as I said before, I truly thought I knew why everything happened the way it did. But, it turns out that I didn't. Not entirely. At least, that's what I ended up learning at my last moments alive in this sphere.As you see, I thought that I had done all of that because of my own personal and selfish desires. But, no! It was someone else's. Someone else's ugly internal desires and horrible feelings towards the people I harmed in some way and killed.And that person controlled me. Used her magical strings in my mind and brain-washed me.It seems like in the end, I was really stupid, after all.DALILAH ISABELA LUDWICK CASPIEN (born Nicholai), my twin sister, who I thought was the only one I never wished to harm. The only one I thought I cared about in my whole life. Who I helped and killed to protect.I used everyone and did everything in my power to make her the 3rd Imperial Prince Christopher's fiancee, so no one would dare to harm her and she would have a lot of power. She's the one who was born with the magic that made her able to brainwash and manipulate others' minds, between us two. The Saintess, guarded by the Goddess herself.Then how could she do this to me?I gazed at her blankly and she laughed at my face. Finally showing her true colors."I don't know how such a naive and stupid person could be my twin sister! Seriously, it's pitiful. Do you even imagine since when I've had my magical strings in your little mind, dear Natasha?" tears appeared in my empty eyes and I let them fall. "Since we were about to turn fourteen!" she said with a snakish smile that only
I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING but how much I always loved her. Even if she always was the one with the credits and everything, I loved her! I still do. Then why did she do all of this to me? Why...?Maybe I did something bad to her and she made me forget about it by controlling my mind."You were so naive, Natasha," yeah, you've already stated that. "To the point that you didn't use the magic jewel which could avoid your mind from being washed and manipulated," that's because I didn't know about its existence before it was too late!If at least, I could go back in time, the first thing I would do would be to get some jewels that were imbued with magic that could protect me against any kind of mind magic.That could protect me from her!"Oh, Natasha," she touched my hair, "poor child... It was obvious that you would never be favored by others like I was, as well as obvious that I would have a good marriage with one of the Imperial or Royal Princes, not you," lies!Why doesn't she sto
I STILL CAN NOT BELIEVE this is happening.Yeah, it's obvious that she betrayed my trust, used and abused me, and manipulated and brainwashed me as well. But my mind's still trying to get the meaning of this. My heart and mind are conflicted.I'm her sister, her twin after all!I'm not lying when I say that I love her. It's not like there's a [stop loving] button I can push and whip the feeling I have for her. That's why it hurts so bad.That doesn't mean I'm not angry. That doesn't make me stop wanting to kill her. Cuz I am furious. I want to scream and beat the shit out of her. But my love for her is still here.She always had people's attention and love, while I didn't. She was loved by our parents in a way I never was, but I was happy to see her being loved, especially because I knew how much it hurts to not have my parents' affection. I was already bad when I was a kid, but she wanted to see it? What's wrong with her?Did she hit her head when she was born or something like
I DON'T HAVE MORE TIME, so, please, I know I shouldn't ask this after every life my hands ended... but I can't help it. So, I'm asking for a second chance. One more chance and I'll do it differently. I swear I will.Let me do it right, just give me another chance. I'm begging you, Mikla! Or whoever has the power to grant me this last wish-I'm so scared of death... And I know I shouldn't be when I became so familiar with her, but I fucking am. I don't find my death attractive at all. It scares me more than anything.As I saw Dalilah going back to Christopher's side, I finally let the tears fall, falling them and getting mixed with the blood on my face.When I turned to meet the cold and shining ruby-red eyes of the executioner under his pitch-black helmet, I saw the ax dangerously close to my precious neck. He held it higher. And when he was about to behead me, I swear that I sensed him smiling at me.Not only that, but by the look in his eyes, he seemed amused by what he was goi
AS EXPECTED, NO ONE CAME IN. I thought someone would come, once I screamed when I woke up here, but I was wrong. Although it's not a surprise, because there were just a handful amount of people on my side. Valerian, of course, is who cares the most for me. After him, there's Asher and Sir Thorin Meelany, my disciple-brother and my swordsmanship master, respectively. Then comes Katherine, my nanny, and personal maid, who takes care of me as if she was my mother. Lastly, the head butler Leon and the kitchen's head chef, Yoostaf.Oh, there's also my naive father, Grand Duke Gilbert, though he's a complicated matter. He does care for me, but not as much as he does for my siblings, besides, he's always manipulated by my mother, Grand Duchess Cleo, because she keeps using his love for her to let her do anything she wants to. And even knowing that I'm not his favorite neither close to that, just the fact that he loved me at least a little bit was always enough for me.Stupid, isn't it? But
WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO OPEN THE DOORS I stopped and took a few steps back, waiting. And when I recognized the aura of the person coming in, I hugged her the moment she set her foot inside. Catching her by surprise."Are you alright, Your Royal Highness?" Damn, why is she still using those honorifics with me at this point? "Did you have a nightmare?""Ah, Kate, I did… The worst and longest nightmare of my whole existence," and living like that was indeed a damn nightmare. "I thought I would never wake up," and that almost happened, seeing how I died back there.For Mikla's sake, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about what I felt when the ruby-red-eyed executioner was beheading me. I took three steps away from Kate and passed my hands on my neck, swallowing hard.Fuck… I don't want to go through that again! Not again. And for me not to have my beautiful head separated from my precious neck, I can't let myself get caught when I kill the important people who did that to me. Because I
I RESTED MY HANDS ON HER SHOULDERS, "Come on, I'm not pranking you, Kate. I mean every word I've said."It's embarrassing that she thought I was joking about this, about not believing in my twin anymore. Damn, I can't even imagine how Val will react, especially after we fought so many times because of it. Although I am, honestly, looking forward to his reaction.Will he get happy?Or won't he believe in me like Kate doesn't?"What?" She touched my forehead with both of her hands, twice. "But you don't have a fever!""Ha ha ha, you are so funny, oh my Goddess," I exclaimed sarcastically, and Kate rolled her eyes. "Believe in me, Kate! I'm telling the truth."Sigh. "It's just that you've protected her so many times to the point where you've even quarreled with Prince Valerian when he tried bringing that up… Even I tried talking to you about it before," I was dumb to not listen to any of them.If I had trusted their words back there, maybe things wouldn't have turned upside down a
WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO GO DOWN THE STAIRS, I met Sir Leon, the head butler, who to my luck is also on my side. Realizing that he seemed to want to say something to me, I stopped midway and waited for him to reach me. When he did, he bowed respectfully and kissed the back of my gloved hand."Your Royal Highness," then his dark-green eyes met my golden eyes again. It's been so long since I last saw him because after my parents' death he went to the Mage's Tower and never came back. So I had forgotten how grateful he looked with those eyes, olive skin, and his shoulder-length wavy black hair. "Did you have a good night of sleep, Princess?" Oh, and his kind voice too.I greeted him back. "Yes, Sir Leon," it was a lie, of course. But he doesn't need to know that. And I don't want to start explaining any of that again. "You seem to want to speak with me about something," he nodded. "What's the matter?""Her Ladyship, Viscountess Chelsea Meelany," Sir Thorin's older sister, who's me and my s