Villainess against Fate

Rain drummed softly against the umbrella above Lily Mikoto’s head as she stepped out of the bookstore, a single paper bag clutched tightly against her chest. Inside it was the newest and final volume of her favorite series, The Cursed Crown’s Beloved. Under the dull glow of the evening streetlights, the gold-embossed title on the cover gleamed faintly through the plastic wrapping. For the first time in weeks, Lily felt something close to relief. It had been a terrible month. No—if she was being honest, it had been a terrible life. At twenty-five, Lily had already learned that people always left. Her parents had divorced when she was still young, each too consumed by their own bitterness to notice the daughter left standing in the ruins. She had grown up teaching herself how to cook, how to study, how to survive alone in an apartment that always felt too quiet. Then came the man she thought she would spend her future with. Her fiancé’s smile had once felt like warmth. Until she opened the wrong door one evening and found him tangled in the arms of the woman she had trusted most—her best friend. The memory still burned like acid. As if fate had decided heartbreak alone wasn’t enough, the company she worked for announced massive layoffs only a week later. Bankruptcy, they said. Necessary sacrifices. Lily had smiled politely, packed her desk into a cardboard box, and walked out with the last fragile piece of her stability gone. Yet somehow, this book remained. This story had been her escape through every lonely night. A cursed prince. A brave commoner girl. Magic, conspiracies, forbidden love. And a tragic villainess whose end Lily had always hated. “She deserved better,” Lily murmured to herself as she adjusted her grip on the bag. The villainess, Lady Elara Valemont, had never truly seemed evil to her. Misunderstood, proud, and cornered by a cruel fate, yes—but evil? Never. Lily sighed and started across the street, the pedestrian light glowing white. “At least your story gets an ending,” she whispered. Headlights exploded across her vision. A horn blared. For one frozen second, Lily turned and saw a car swerving wildly through the rain, moving far too fast. A drunk driver. Her breath caught. The world slowed. The paper bag slipped from her fingers, the novel tumbling free as white pain and blinding light swallowed everything. Her body hit the pavement. Cold. So cold. Rain touched her face like tears. Somewhere nearby, people screamed. But their voices were distant, fading, as if the world itself was drifting farther and farther away. Lily’s gaze found the fallen book lying only inches from her hand, its cover soaked by rainwater. A strange laugh escaped her trembling lips. “How ironic…” Of all the ways to die, it had happened right after buying the one thing that still made her happy. Her eyelids grew heavy. Darkness pressed in at the corners of her vision. If there was another life after this… If miracles truly existed… Please, she prayed silently, let me live in that world instead. A world of magic. A world where endings could be changed. A world where even a villainess might be saved. The darkness answered. And Lily Mikoto’s world came to an end.