Chapter 3: The Windsor family

The maid looked like a fish out of water, gasping for breath. Looking at her almost made Camilla laugh; she thought she looked ridiculous. "Camilla, dear," Duchess Edda said with sickeningly sweet kindness. Any stranger or a naive fool would believe that the Duchess is kind just by the way to spoke to Camilla. "That maid was originally a maid from my family. Why would she tell you to wear such a dress?" She asked with a smile.

'Ah. Just hearing your voice makes me annoyed right now. Is this how Camilla truly felt when she was around you?' Camilla only smiled back in response, "Mother, I don't mean to blame and ridicule the maid from your family. I was saying how she suggested I wear this dress, and I agreed. Not because I think she would ever have authority over me. No. Because she is my dear mother's family maid who is trusted," She says with her voice laced with its sweet, melodic tone.

Duchess Edda was silent, and her face stiffened slightly; she didn't expect Camilla to call her mother or say anything back with her sweet and kind words to shame the maid. "Is that true?" A young boy's voice was heard through the awkward silence. Camilla looked next to her stepmother and saw that her younger stepbrother had spoken. Oliver Windsor. If she remembers the book's contents and a bit of Camilla's memories, she never had anything against Oliver. He never did anything wrong to Camilla; in return, she did nothing bad to him.

The maid opened her mouth, wanting to speak. Still, the Duchess was the one to talk, "dear, why would a maid tell their master what to wear? Camilla is just confusing some things. She is a sick child, which means she is pitiful and unfortunate," she tried telling her son with a forced smile, 'do you think being sick means I am pitiful and unfortunate? Oh my, are you trying to pick a fight with me?' She asked herself as she began taking a few bites of her food. "Are you not going to change?" her big brother had asked her uninterestedly while wiping the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

Caspian. He is the first-born son of the Windsor family and is next to become the next Duke and one of the male leads. Caspian, being the first-born and a boy, was the favorite child of the Duke. Of course, he always wanted a son, but his late wife got pregnant and had a daughter. Caspian was always hostile towards Camilla. Camilla was the sole reason why their mother was dead. She consumed her mother's life and magic while in the womb, a stain to the Duchy, a demon child who ate her mother's life force.

"Why would I change? I'm already here with the family eating breakfast while having a nice chat," she made eye contact with the maid when she mentioned that she was having a nice chat. The only ones who haven't spoken up were her father and her younger stepsister. She's not worried about her sister, though; the two never make any interactions in the novel, and she is only briefly mentioned. Caspian sighs as he finishes his meal and shoots Camilla a glare full of disgust, 'What are you glaring at me for?'

"Caspian. Camilla. Stop this childish behavior," her father finally decided to speak up. Caspian looked at his father and stopped glaring, "apologies, father," he said, looking down at the table. "You are scheduled to go to the palace soon, Camilla," Arthur tells his daughter, which makes her slightly confused about why she has to go to the palace soon. 'What. Which part of the novel did I wake up in?' Just as she thought, "Your marriage with the crown prince is soon. I pray to sun and moon gods that you don't put any more shame into this family once you are married," was what he had told her, and it felt like she was going to drown.

'No. No! I can't get married to that fool!' She was screaming at herself and wanting to shout out that she didn't like to so badly. "Remember, the Windsor family is always next to the royal family, so don't destroy this relationship," his response was as cold as ever. "Camilla is going to get married?" Her little sister began speaking, but Camilla quickly stood up and looked at her father, "refuse the proposal. Call it off," her voice was in a hurry, and her palms became sweaty, 'If I get married to him, I'll die. No. I refuse to be anywhere near a man like that!' She wanted to scream. But then it was like the voices of those around became muffled, and she heard static "██████ █████!" 'Who's voice am I hearing? I... I don't want to,' Why does she feel so scared?

"Sis!" Oliver yelled, bringing her back to reality. She looked over at Oliver, who gave her a worried expression. "Don't be selfish," Duchess Edda said, "you complained that you wanted to marry him, and now you don't? A Windsor never returns to their words, so don't be selfish." Camilla has a feeling that she strongly wants to leave. She'll go insane if she stays here! She turned on her heels and walked out of the room, ignoring the calls from the others. When she finally got far from the dining hall and made it outside, she felt like she could breathe.

She took a few deep breaths and then heard what sounded like fighting. She turned around and realized that the training ground for the knights was pretty close to her. She checked it out and saw many men practicing sword fighting and using fire. 'How can I forget? Those from the Windsor family or who worked for them all specialized in the fire. While Camilla... absorbs the life of anything and anyone.' Camilla was finally understanding her position in all of this. If she can't get her family to annul the engagement, she must act like a dead mouse and not get on the crown prince's wrong side. She'll try to stay out of his line of sight and not mess with anyone around him. Being the villainess is fun, but getting killed by the crown prince and the other male leads is awful. Camilla thinks that if she doesn't get on his nerves, she might be able to survive. She'll have to pretend and fight to survive.