The Villainess' Bombastic Venture

[Disclaimer: Contains swearing, blood and death. ]

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"... Huff... Huff... "

Her chest burned from exhaution. The blood that pooled from her stomach wound had begun to dry, stiffening around her midriff into a dark, congealed layer. Kim Soohee could feel her concentration waning. It had been an hour since everything had gone awry, and the fact that she'd been seperated from her team, had begun to weigh down in her mind. Yet, as the flames licked around her, bringing down debris and burnt wood with it, her determination remained. This cat and mouse chase had to end.

"Kim Soohee~" The male voice that was akin to a smooth, sonorous lull, sounded like chalk grating against a blackboard. It was the same voice that had haunted her for the last five years. The voice of a man she'd wanted to kill-

"Found you!" The dark silhouette loomed over her cowering form and Kim Soohee immediately pointed her gun at him. To this, the man simply giggled.

At first glance, the figure before her could be described as stunningly handsome. Piercing eyes, dyed strawberry blond hair that had been pulled up, a sharp jaw and a lean body. Jeong Min peered down at her with an alluring smile, it was almost flirtatious and would have been one to swoon over, if not for the crazed expression imprinted upon his face.

"You shouldn't do that." Jeong Min said, his tone sing-song as he inched towards her. "After all, you want me, don't you?"

BANG!

Kim Soohee fired her gun, aiming at his forehead. Yet, with almost superhuman precision, Jeong Min dodged it. The smile he gave her only grew, stretching past the fleshy confines of a human face. He giggled again, seeming amused, his eyes fluttering as he grew even more excited. "Haha, you never listen, do you?" He leaned in. "See? This is why I like you so much."

Kim Soohee glared at him, her revolver ready to shoot again.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Three shots. None touched him. With that, her gun was out of bullets.

"Why?!" Kim Soohee cried out in anguish. Why couldn't she hit him? He was so close to her, so close, and yet, no matter how many times she shot at him, he dodged them effortlessly. It was inhuman. She knew he was intelligent, but why was he this agile as well? She'd begun to moved away from him. Her wound was opening again with every movement of her body and as fresh blood poured out, Kim Soohee had to grit her teeth to ignore the searing pain.

"Why indeed, my dear?" Jeong Min said, his words mocking as they repeated her own. He crouched before her. "Maybe, as I've been saying, you don't want to hurt me."

"Bullshit!" Kim Soohee yelled. She lurched forward towards him, ignoring the sharp sting in her lower abdomen. She raised her gun to strike at him. But he grabbed her arm in time.

His grip was strong. Impossibly so. And, Kim Soohee could only struggle in vain as his other arm reached out to throttle her. "Don't worry, my sweet dear. " Jeong Min leered. "You're finally mine."

He grabbed her in a chokehold and Kim Soohee thrashed weakly in her attempt to free herself. He placed his knees down on either side of her, avoiding her from kicking him. She could only now strike him with her arms, even if hitting him felt like hitting a steel wall. Her throat burned as the oxygen supply waned and she was beginning to see specks of black cloud her vision.

No no no no! The words echoed in her mind. I can't lose to him! Not after everything!

Yet, she could only feel her chest contract and her ears ring as the grip around her throat grew stronger. In a last ditch effort, she clawed into his face with all her might, her nails digging into flesh to draw blood. Still, the grip only tightened.

The next thing she knew, her consciousness had floated into darkness. Everything around her was still now. Peaceful. The void was welcoming, caressing her as she allowed it to carry her wherever it'd take her.

Then the face of Jeong Min popped up before her and she was sitting up with renewed stamina, screaming, "No, you can't-!"

Her voice died in her throat as bright sunlight filtered in through the clear glass windows and she had to squint to look around and orient herself.

Where... Where am I?

The scenary around her was unfamiliar. She was sprawled across a vast velvet bed, dressed in unfamilar, flowing clothing. Her hair was open, cascading down her side, which felt unnatural as she was used to tying it up and- wait, why was her hair blonde? Heck, why was it so curly? Her hair was supposed to be naturally straight!

She jumped out of the bed and almost stumbled, having not anticipated how high it was. She was more cautious now, taking a better look at her surroundings, trying to understand what was going on. Was Jeong Min responsible for all this? Did he have some weird fetish of dressing up women in foreign clothes and wigs and confining them in huge rooms?

"Miss? You're up so early?"

Kim Soohee jumped at the voice and she turned around, ready to fight, only to be caught off-guard by the sight... Of a maid?

"What?" She asked dumbly, her mouth opening and closing like a freshwater fish.

"It's merely 7 am. Go back to sleep please." The maid said politely.

"Huh, but I always get up around 6- owch!" A sharp pin-prick of pain shot up spine into her brain, as alien memories flooded back to her mind.

"Who... What...?" Disoriented, Kim Soohee ran to the first mirror she could find, to ascertain if her new memories even made sense. When she stood before the mirror, the face that greeted her was completely foreign! Curly cascades of blonde hair, electric blue eyes and a look of arrogance and pride.

"I... I've become Annette?!"

The memories that rudely kept entering her brain, only acted as proof for the same. Kim Soohee, no, Annette, almost crumpled to the floor at this odd discovery and the maid that had entered the room ran to catch her.

"Miss! Miss! Are you okay? What happened?!" She held her, looking concerned.

"I... I... " Annette looked dazed. "I've become a villainess?"

"Huh?" The maid, Mary was her name, looked confused.

"Mary... please help me back to my bed."

"O-of course, my lady!" Mary pulled her along and laid her back on the bed.

"I... I want to be alone, please."

Mary nodded and bowed. "Please rest." And she left.

Annette watched her go, before she let out a resigned sigh and covered her face. "What... What have I gotten myself into?"

Annette wanted to believe that all of this was false, but her memories were so fresh and vivid, that she couldn't push them away. Somehow, she'd become Annette Nachtnebel, the villainess of a popular romantic light novel, "Flowers Upon Moonshine". Her memories reinstated that though, as she recounted the novel's original plot from the perspective of Annette. She even looked the part, the exact description of the author now had become her current presence. She even sharply yanked at her hair to see if it was a wig but the pain and the tufts of golden hair told her it was not.

Annette closed her eyes. This wasn't a fun predicament. She was now in the body of the stereotypical female antagonist, who had a horrible reputation, was known for her short temper and snooty behavior as well as the absurd amount of bullying she did to the original heroine, Penelope Lionheart.

"Must I really deal with all this?" Annette mumbled to herself. "If I want to live normally... I have to clean up the villainess' mess. " She sighed. "How annoying."

She looked up at the ceiling. "But... Does this mean I, Kim Soohee, really died?" She grumbled, massaging her forehead. "Well, no point thinking about it. The more I think, the more depressed I feel. " She sat up. "Gosh, I'm even talking to myself."

She got off the bed more carefully this time and paced the room in her nightgown. "Well, " She mumbled to herself. "If I really am this Annette, I might as well try to figure out how to get around... This chaos. " She stopped, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hm... Today is... Right, 9th of Month XA of year 203Y. So, that means... " She clicks her tongue. "Annette bullied Penelope at the ball again yesterday and got publicly humiliated by Emal for it. She's been ill-tempered ever since."

Annette thought back at the incident.

In Annette's eyes, it had been a harmless joke, even if mean-spirited. At the birthday ball of Crown Prince Emal Badeaux, angry and embarrassed that Emal had chosen Penelope over her, his own fiance, to start the dance with, she'd decided to 'mistakenly' throw red wine at Penelope's baby blue gown. It'd stained the delicate lace and the intricate design, much to Penelope's horror. Annette's following remarks had been derrogatory and perhaps would've grown worse, had Emal not stepped in, noticing the commotion.

"The minute I step out to talk to my business partners, you start bullying poor Penelope!" Emal almost yelled at her, drawing unwanted attention to the situation.

It had made Annette's heart hurt. Not because of the attention they were getting from surrounding guests, for she had never cared about what others thought of her, but at the way in which Emal was speaking to her. His anger only made her more vicious in her defensiveness.

"Emal, I already told Penelope that it was a mistake! I didn't mean to spill the wine! Besides, she should've been more careful if that ragged dress means that much to her! "

Emal had looked livid. "Annette Nachtnebel, I know you well! I know you did it on purpose because you love making Penelope miserable!" As he said so, Penelope, now sobbing, ran into his arms, which made him angrier and Annette more agitated.

"Well I-" She tried to defend herself but Emal cut her off.

"This is why I hate being in your presence! If Father hadn't forced you onto me, I'd never have engaged myself to a woman as wretched as yourself!" And without allowing Annette to reply, Emal had left with Penelope, soothing her as they went.

Leaving Annette alone in the ballroom, swarmed by judging looks and cruel whispers.

The current Annette sighed at the antics of her past self. While she sympathised with Annette's reasons to act the way she did, she would never accept her behaviour as proper.

"Should I apologize to Penelope?" Annette wondered to herself. She could, yes, but just like past Annette, she disliked the original heroine. After all, despite her sweet gimmick in public and in front of her love interests, Penelope was particularly shrewd in private. Even though Annette and Penelope's situation was a constant attempt at one-upping each other, no matter the outcome, it would always be Annette who faced the brunt of the matter.

Annette plopped herself back on her bed, pulling her blanket over herself. She fidgetted for a while there before sitting up again in annoyance. She felt restless. How was she to proceed?

"Mary!" Annette finally called for her personal maid.

"Yes, Lady Annette?" Mary was at her doorstep in seconds.

"Please help me dress, I wish to visit the Royal Palace immediately after breakfast." Annette said.

Mary hesitated. "But the Crown Prince doesn't-"

"-want to see me after what happened yesterday. Yes, I know. " Annette said. "Don't worry, I'm not going to meet him."

Mary's eyes widened to such an extent, they might as well have popped out of their sockets. "P-pardon?!"

"Don't worry too much about it." Annette waved it off. "Just help me, okay? Nothing too gaudy, alright?"

"Of course, miss!" Mary fitted Annette into a deep blue gown.

As they sat before the dressing table, with Mary gently brushing Anne's hair, Anne said, "Could you tied my hair up?"

"You want to tie it up?" Mary looked surprised since Anne, who prided in her own beauty, would always try to flaunt her beautiful, long curls.

"Yes." Anne said. "It's been a little hot lately. "

"Understood."

Her parents greeted her warmly when she went to the dining hall for breakfast.

"Good morning, Anne!" Duke Nachtnebel said cheerfully. "I hope you're feeling better today. "

"I ordered the chef to make your favourite bread!" Ducchess Nachtnebel quipped in.

It made Anne smile. "Thank you."

"So, " Duke Nachtnebel said. "What do you plan on doing today? Want to go shopping at the new boutique?" Her parents were always eager to appease their daughter.

"I'll be going to the Royal Palace" Anne said.

The Duke and the Ducchess exchanged looks. The Duke, winced a little. "The Royal Palace, dear? But-"

"Don't worry, dad, I'm not going there to meet the Crown Prince." Anne smiled.

"Huh?" Both her parents looked confused and Anne couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry about it." She said.

"Well... If you say so. " The Ducchess nodded with some reluctance.

After breakfast, Anne got into the horse carriage and told the chaffeur to drive her to the Royal Palace. The journey would take a good twenty minutes. She'd decided to go alone, much to the dismay of Mary and her parents, but after a bit of persuasion, they'd yielded.

As the carriaged rocked unsteadily against the gravel path, Annette was lost in thought. She wondered if she should've spent the day resting. Perhaps she was being too sporadic. But she had plans in mind that she wished to execute.

The longer she looked out the carriage, the more her thoughts started to drift. She was Annette Nachtnebel now, not Kim Soohee. Yet, even thinking about that felt weird. Had she really died so pitifully? It was a frustrating thought. Five years spent tracking down the terrorist, Jeong Min and she'd died at his hands.

Anne shook her head. No, no. No point in reminiscing the past. She couldn't think about what had already happened. In classic Kim Soohee fashion, she just had to move forward and execute what she had in mind for the present.

The carriage finally came to a halt and a guard helped her down. He was about to tell her that thr Crown Prince had ordered the guards to not let her into his chambers, but Annette instead, asked him to lead her to the gardens.

Albeit surprised, the guard did as told.

Anne had a very specific reason to go there. Much like the Crown Prince, Emal, his younger sister, Emily, was very fond of Penelope as well. In fact, they were rather close. It was a well-known fact. Something that had caused the past Annette to gnash her teeth in jealousy. After all, Emily had obvious bias towards Penelope and absolute distatste for Anne.

As Anne had surmised, Penelope was in fact, alone in the gardens. She seemed to be waiting for Emily while enjoying a cup of tea and some sugary viands. Upon notice the approaching figure of Anne, her expression stiffened.

"Lady Annette." She immediately put on a forced, polite smile though her eyes betrayed the disgust she felt towards Anne. "What brings you here? I promise you, Emal isn't here. I'm only waiting for Emily to-"

"I want to talk to you." Anne said.

Penelope looked annoyed, though she tried to hide it with a smile. "Me? Oh, why would the great heir apparent of the Nachtnebel duchy want to meet with a meagre Baron's daughter such as I?" The words were sharp and Penelope, who'd noticed the approaching figure of Emal in her peripheral vision, had considered this the perfect time to see if she could rile up the other.

"I wanted to apologise." Anne said.

Penelope almost sputtered. "P-Pardon? " She'd have followed quickly with a snarky comment, but noticing that Emal, also surprised, was watching, held back her tongue.

"For yesterday." Anne said, her tone neither sarcastic nor mocking. "I'm sorry I spilled wine on your dress yesterday. "

"W-what? " Penelope looked lost. She quickly side-glanced at Emal, while pretending to not have noticed him and continued. "I-Is this, are you making fun of me again...? Look, I-I know Emal was rather harsh-"

"No." Anne said. "I want to genuinely apologize. Of course, it's alright if you don't accept the apology though, considering how horrible I've been to you. I just had been thinking about it all night, and I've come to realise that I've been needlessly cruel."

Penelope grew flustered. Behind Anne, Emal did too.

"I-I... " It was hard to believe that Anne had completely changed overnight. In fact, Penelope did not believe it one bit. She assumed it was another trick by her to try and win Emal back. So she added, "See, I know Emal was really harsh to you yesterday. But, he really cares about those that matter to him, so he lost his temper. If Emal is forcing you to do this, you really don't need to-"

"Nobody forced me." Anne said. "I really am sorry." She bowed to her which confused Penelope even further.

"I-" Before she could say something, Anne turned and started to walk away.

She noticed Emal as she was walking back to the carriage and noticed that he was frowning at her. "Annette, is this another of your tricks to-"

"No." Anne said. "I really have thought about my actions and want to change."

There's a pause of disbelief and seeing that Emal is unable to say anything further, Anne adds, "Oh, and dont worry. Starting from today, I won't bother you and Penelope anymore. I've learnt my lesson."

With a smile, she walks away, leaving the other two flabbergasted. Emal raises his hand towards her as she's walking away and looks like he'll say something to her, but in the end is unable to so. He just stands there dumbfounded. Anne's words echo in his mind. I won't bother you anymore.

He should be happy but... Why... Why did it feel like he was about to lose something important?