Talia grew up without trusting anyone but herself to live. With no father figure to look up to and a clinically depressed mother who keeps on betraying her, Talia crawls her way to the top of the social chain to survive. But upon one drunken night, she meets her terrible end. Just like that, Talia loses all she worked hard for, or so she thought. When she wakes up, she becomes a duke’s eldest daughter in a medieval era where alliances and conspiracies dictate a noble’s future and where love is a luxury that will lead anyone to ruin. No matter how twisted the world she is pushed into, Talia is determined to live long. She realizes that she is given a second chance to live – or not. Reality slaps her hard when she learns that she is now inside the body of a sixteen-year-old villain character of the Netflix series that she binge-watched, “Thorny Crown”! Talia, who is now the infamous Lady Victoria, entered a popular yet twisted Netflix series two years before the plot started. And in that plot, the character of Lady Victoria is meant to die like cannon fodder for the female lead! Talia refuses to die again. And this time, she is going to extend her helping hand to another side character, the second prince of the story, Prince Cory. She decides to be the queen and defy the plot called destiny with the king of her choosing. In an era of deceit and conspiracies, will she be able to keep her head as she walks the thorny path of a villain? With her head on the line, will she be able to control her blooming feelings for the pawn that she has chosen?
View MoreA YEAR passed by since the coup d'etat happened that sparked the rebellion against King Elphaim and Prince Lauren. But as Grand Duke Rowan Cristof Castaña stared at the sleeping Lilian on his bed, he could not believe what transpired within a year after that fateful day. Rowan stepped out from the bed, careful not to disturb his wife. But no matter how stealthy he thought he was, she woke up. “So early? Where are you going, husband?”He leaned to kiss her forehead before he answered her. “Go back to sleep, wife. I will be late this evening. I have to attend the imperial faction meeting.”“That reminds me, I have to go to the palace to meet Her Majesty,” mumbled Lilian whose eyes sparkled like the stars in a clear night sky upon mentioning the queen. Sometimes Rowan pondered who his wife loved more, him or the queen?Not wanting to depress himself so early in the morning of spring, Rowan decided to leave his wife who was now dozing off.Right after the death of King Elphaim and Prince
PRINCE LAUREN walked with gritted teeth. His jaws clenched as he analyzed the chain of events that led him to his current situation. Why? Everything is going as plan! Until that wench got her head chopped off."Will we die here?""I don't want to die.""Hush, the imperial family might hear you."The whispers among the nobles fueled the first prince's temper. I am the future king yet some entitled boy is wearing the centuries-old crown right now. The passageway they were using was an ancient knowledge passed down only to the members of the royal family. This passage was hidden just behind the royal family's audience room for safety purposes such as today. The pathway was cramped surrounded by stone walls. Torches lit their way, guiding them through the darkness. With five royal knights at most, Prince Lauren knew that they were in a perilous situation.He glanced at the calm former duke of Rozenreff Duchy. The latter was holding Lady Sabina tightly and close to him.Seconds turned to
Prince Corean stared at his father who was grinning from ear to ear. He watched the person he once respected surrender to greed. His gaze shifted to his mother who remained clueless and was now surrounded by her attendants as the latter fainted from stress. Cory clenched his fists from worrying his frail mother but it needed to be done. His gaze then settled on his elder brother. The long enmity between them would not be settled. The second prince knew that he needed to end this now, for his mother and Victoria.Lady Merilla smirked. She signaled the royal knights on stand-by. "What are you waiting for? Arrest him!" Her emerald-colored eyes glinted with every step the royal knights took.Tori stared at the grinning king, and then at Lady Merilla, who was standing a meter away from her at the podium. The noble faction cheered for the royal knights. It's time. Tori turned to the traitor. "Who says you already won?" Tori offered her sweetest smile to Lady Merilla, who replied with a mo
The traitor triumphantly grinned as she saw the reactions within the courtroom. Just like her plan, the tides of favor were on her side. Lady Merilla continued after silencing the courtroom with a raise of her hand. "The internal conflict within the northern region and the unification of the north is the step which aims to usurp the throne. Letters between the three chieftains of the tribes in the north sent letters to the capital months before the said war, it was for their benefactor. Here are the letters with the duchess's name on them as she plotted everything.""All along, I thought it was the duchess so I sent the gathered shreds of evidence to the first prince whom I never thought would help me, a lady from the opposing faction. But Prince Lauren helped me reach my concerns to the king and an arrest was immediately issued to capture the duchess. With the help of Duke Rowan Castaña, the duchess was proven to be framed by the real culprit. Who would have thought that the person I
IT WAS customary for the royal knights to escort the accused, but Tori defied the rules. The royal knights under the banner of the first prince blocked their way out of the prison when she escorted the second prince herself with the Ming Country's knights. Tori stepped forward, her body shielding the nonchalant second prince. "Move," said Tori in a chilling tone. She saw how the royal knights barricaded before her faltered."We are here under the command of the emperor to escort his son to the courthouse." The leader of the royal knights blatantly lied which earned him a cold dead stare from Tori.Liar. You were taken by the first prince to kill the second prince on the way to the courthouse. If Prince Lauren made such drastic action, then he must be feeling anxious in this noble trial. "Oh, you are from the emperor's royal knights? Such a shame to miss them from our collection, right Prince Yei Lin?"The royal knights wondered what she was talking about. The countless eyeballs that
DUKE ROWAN Cristof Castaña spent his entire day just to complete the mission that Tori gave him. The hue of crimson red and purple splashed at the sky as if warning him of the impending battle this day. The young duke knew how Tori prepared for this day. He saw how she neglected her sleep to oversee every detail of her plan. Rowan knew how Tori anticipated every move from the enemies, which strengthened his resolve.This empire needs someone like Tori.For Rowan who came from the slums before he sat on his seat as the Duke of Castaña, he saw firsthand how Tori viewed the empire. In fact, she was seeing things as if she knew how the future would turn out. This made him respect her even more. She was not like the other members of the nobility—she was fair. After all, she took someone like him to the slums.The young duke strode inside the Castaña Duchy. The butler welcomed his return. "Blessings to the Empire's spear and shield, Duke Rowan Castaña.""Prepare me my bath; I have a noble t
"Then how can we counter this one?" The prideful duke lowered his pride; he refused to let another daughter of his suffering from the aristocratic faction.Headmaster Eyzana breathed a sigh of relief when the duke snapped from his rampage. "No need. Collect your cool, Duke Luwen. I have already sent my men to check the food that allegedly poisons the common folks. Let us wait for him then.""That is good. My men conducted an investigation but they are yet to give me a favorable result."It is understandable. If that person is the one under this scheme then it is likely that we will find nothing.Though the two influential men did not need to wait any longer when three successive knocks interrupted them. Duke Luwen straightened up before answering, "Come in."A young nobleman with the emblem of the Trifecta Academy came in with papers in his right arm. He bowed to the Duke and then to the Headmaster before speaking. "I have found what caused this illness." His wary voice and fearing ey
"How dare you accuse my event of food poisoning? This is a sponsored event of my beloved Prince Lauren!" The weight of her words as she proudly declared the first prince's connection to this alleged poisoning was later on realized when Sabina saw the ghost of a smile on Lord Zeno's face as if he was waiting for those words all along.I have been tricked! But her words could not be retracted anymore. Her palms were drenched with sweat as she clenched them. Biting the inside of her cheeks, Sabina looked frantic much to the young lord's interest.The whispers and the distrusting looks from the masses whipped around Sabina as she struggled to maintain her composure. Shena looked worried but could not butt in due to her status.Opening her mouth to say something, the shrilled voice of the commoners buried her voice. Startled and infuriated, Sabina looked behind her only to stagger backward as she saw one by one the commoners started to lose consciousness. "Marchioness Susana!" Looking at
Clad in a simple gray-colored indoor dress, Tori guided her newly arrived guests to her chamber's receiving area. Sitting at the head chair at the center, the two followed suit by sitting at both of her sides. Crossing her legs, Tori asked the regal-looking Marchioness. "How is life as the House Zoliel's head?""You know I can't be truly calmed unless the investigation stops, Lady Victoria." The wariness in her voice reflected on her face as she fidgeted with her handkerchief.Lily together with the other two handmaidens came trotting in with the teas in their hands. As the three served them, Tori replied to the Marchioness. "I understand your concern, Marchioness. That is why you are here, right? To foresee everything until the end." Yes, after all, you killed your husband for the fear of being imprisoned or kicked out from a life of luxury. "So, how is the preparation on your end? I received the reports from Prince Yei Lin's side.""I gathered as many witnesses as I can. The food
THE HALLWAY was buzzing. Talia knew the hallways were always rowdy, but not to this extent. Something must be on with the social gossip. She thought that maybe there was a desirable piece of a man who was transferring; she hoped it was the case.Social gossip was the portal to know who was in and out. After hard work, Talia ruled her small kingdom named Saint Martin High. She's at the peak of her youth. What more could she ask?Well, maybe a boyfriend.She's turning seventeen, but she's still the 'flirt to make out,' not the 'flirt to get laid.'A blue-eyed brunette came trotting into the classroom. Talia and the newly arrived brunette were a couple of minutes early for class. One thing about Talia was she might rule the entire High School, but she also excelled in academics. She was aiming to be her year's valedictorian. And the one that just came in was her not-so-sincere-so-called-BFF, Gemini. Talia knew that she was a two-faced hypocrite, but they benefited each other, so she let ...
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