The Alpha's Villainess

Chapter Twenty-Three

“So, how do you both know the Alpha King?” I asked as we finished up eating. I’d noticed how they referred to him by his first name, and Thaddeus himself had claimed they were old friends.

The two exchanged a glance, as if recalling fonder years of their youth, and a mischievous smile twitched across their lips.

“Well... it was when we were all much younger. As children, really,” Hazel started. “Thaddeus would sneak out of the palace and play with us in the street, getting up to all sorts of no good. This was well before we found out he was the heir to the throne, of course. As kids, we didn’t care about showing up to the public appearances the royals would do.”

“No, the Capital is so large that we didn’t learn his real identity until he was well into his teen years, unable to hide his aura from us anymore,” Rubeus added.

Hazel nodded. “He just wanted to be a normal child, I think. A break from his royal duties and responsibilities. But he fooled us for many years – not that we would have cared who he really was. The three of us had become as thick as thieves in no time at all.”

I smiled softly as I listened to them recall the memories they clearly cherished.

“Do you still see each other often?”

Their moods then shifted, becoming more sombre, and I quickly regretted asking.

“Well... life gets in the way,” Hazel answered, looking down. “Thaddeus took the throne, naturally, then found his mate and had his two boys. We did the same and started to run the tavern here. He offered to give us titles and ranks, but none of that ever interested us. We’d seen how hard he’d tried to escape those responsibilities and had no desire to join him in that lifestyle. Over time, our lives just naturally drifted apart. It happens when you get older. We still treasure the time we had together.”

“Yes, it’s important to never wallow on the things you lose...,” Rubeus said, his eyes seeming sad. “Just be happy for the time that you had together.”

Something told me they weren’t entirely talking about their childhood with Thaddeus anymore.

Though I could relate to their words, more than they could imagine. It was something I was still coming to terms with since my death. How to move on from losing the things I’d left behind, the comfort and familiarities I’d once known. How to live my new life since awakening inside a world where it felt like everything and everyone was against me.

The air seemed to grow quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts, and I wasn’t sure what else I could add to the profound words last spoken. But Hazel then sprung to her feet, breaking the silence.

“Come,” she instructed, brushing down her skirt. “I’ll take you to your room. I’m sure you’re tired from your journey here.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but the only spare room we have is across the street, upstairs in the tavern. We used to live there before buying the house here a few years ago. Now all of the rooms there have been repurposed as storage, except for one.”

I followed behind her as she opened the door, the chilly wind immediately whipping past and sending a shiver through me.

“Thank you,” I forced out, trying to stop my teeth from chattering. “I hopefully won’t impose on you both for long. Ideally just a month, if I can find work.”

She looked me up and down, seeing how I hugged my arms to stay warm, then gave another small sigh, walking towards the tavern with me in tow.

“It’s my daughter’s old room,” she said as she unlocked the tavern to let me in. “You can use her clothes too, if you’d like. They should fit you. I believe there is a cloak in one of the chests somewhere, as well as some warmer dresses hanging up in the closet. This time of year is always cold inside the Capital.”

“Your daughter?”

I stepped inside and looked around at the interior, finding it to be a mid-sized typical medieval looking tavern. It was mostly made from a beautiful deep coloured wood with stone walls, but the entire place smelt about what I expected. Of alcohol and the faint trace of food. I was honestly a little surprised it wasn’t open, given this time of day would surely be prime for patrons.

“Yes – Lucia,” Hazel answered, then waved me to follow her up the stairs she was on. “Up this way.”

I followed after her, walking up the steps and then down a hallway until she got to a wooden door.

“Lucia won’t mind that I’m wearing her clothes?” I asked politely, watching her unlock it.

But as the door then swung open to a room that clearly hadn’t been used in years, the surfaces covered in dust and corners housing cobwebs, I realised something was off.

“She’s unfortunately no longer with us,” Hazel answered quietly.

My heart dropped into my stomach as her words sunk in, realising the full gravity of them allowing me to stay here. To sleep inside the room of their dead daughter, a place they’d clearly left alone for a good reason despite the renovations they’d mentioned.

“I’m... I’m so sorry,” I whispered, feeling sick. “If it’s too much, I can find accommodation elsewhere. It’s no problem at all.”

I didn’t know where else I could go, but I genuinely felt terrible for ever knocking on their door. Somehow, this felt infinitely worse than if I’d just stayed at the palace. Aurora’s hatred for me be damned.

But Hazel waved off my concerns and proceeded into the room so she could light the candles, bringing it a bit of warmth. “Don’t be silly. You’re more than welcome to stay. Besides, these things have been left untouched for years. It’s about time they found a new purpose. Though, you’ll have to excuse all the dust.”

“It’s not a problem! I’ll be sure to give everything a good clean,” I said, and then paused. “And if there is anything else I can do for you, or any work you need done, please let me know.”

She chuckled. “Know anything about running a tavern?”

I looked up at her in surprise. My first job had been in hospitality, a job I’d done casually whilst getting my Arts Degree. I didn’t know much about the management side, but I at least knew the basics.

“A little,” I said. “I can serve drinks, take orders, and process payments, if that’s what you mean.”

She leaned against the old closet and looked at me closer. “Well, we’ve been thinking of hiring someone to help run the tavern. Rubeus and I are getting older, you see, and we just don’t have the energy anymore. Though, I’m unsure how much we can realistically pay you—”

“—Anything is fine,” I said eagerly, in disbelief I’d potentially found work so quickly. “You’re already letting me stay here. I can’t ask for much more. Maybe... if it’s okay... just a little bit of extra change? Just enough to buy some food and basic essentials is all I would need.”

Just enough so that I could save up to leave in a month’s time. I didn’t want to make the same mistake that I’d made in Easthaven and leave without supplies again. Though, I highly doubted Alistair was going to chase after me once the matebond was broken, unlike Liam who had started a manhunt when I’d tried to leave him.

“Nonsense, you’ll get a fair wage for your work. If you’re a good fit, that is,” Hazel nodded. “I’ll start you off with a trial to see how things go.”

“I promise I won’t let you down.”

It was the first truly good thing to happen to me since waking up in the book. I was almost in disbelief how everything just seemed to fall into place, perfectly aligning with exactly what I needed. A lifeline in this terrifying world I was trying to survive in.

“Then I’ll let you get some rest and we can talk details tomorrow,” Hazel said, heading out the door. “There are linens in the cupboard out here, extra pillows on the top shelf. If you need anything else, feel free to come by the house and ask.”

“Thank you again, Hazel. Really. I appreciate it so much,” I said, catching her eyes so she would know just how sincerely I meant my words. “You have no idea how much this kindness means to me.”

She gave a gruff nod, said good night, and left me alone in the room.

It was cold in there, but far warmer than it had been outside, at least. Honestly, I would have slept in a barn if I had to. At this point, I was willing to take whatever charity I could get. Especially if it came with the added bonus of not being within a two hundred meter radius of Aurora.

I went to the linen cupboard and pulled out every warm bedsheet I could find, wasting no time in making the double bed that had been pushed into the corner of the tiny room. When it was finally done, I picked up the fluffiest, most thickest blanket of them all, pulled it completely over my head...

...and shoved my face into the pillow.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so comfortable, almost reminding me of the way my own bed back home had felt. Not the luxurious feathery softness of Scarlett’s bed, but one that had a different sort of comfort to it.

As I slowly drifted off to sleep that night, still plagued by the conflicting feelings the matebond was trying to force on me, I couldn’t help but have one final chain of thoughts come to mind.

Because if I didn’t know better... had I become Aurora instead of Scarlett, or rather the main female lead and not the villain, then I would have thought the Alpha King’s plan to have me wait one month to ultimately decide my fate sounded an awfully lot like those marriage contract plots.

You know... like the ones where the girl has to pretend to be married to the rich, handsome CEO billionaire for a short period of time, but then they ultimately fall in love anyway.

...Hmm.

I guess it didn’t really matter anyway since this was a completely different kind of book, and I wasn’t the female lead... hell, even Alistair shouldn’t be alive right now. All of these facts contradicted any sort of nonsense I was contemplating.

I pushed the thoughts from my head as I lulled into an exhausted slumber, doing my best to forget the golden eyes that felt branded in my mind. Everything was already confusing enough without deluding myself into thinking real romance plotlines would apply to me. I’d already tested the theory back in Easthaven, thinking that the world would work like a book and would want to see me succeed, but I had been proven so incredibly wrong. I was only thinking about it now because I’d read too many of these trashy novels before.

No... there was no point getting my hopes up.

Scarlett’s existence was only to be used as a tool for the main character’s development.

...And it wasn’t like he would ever want the real me anyway.