[Music Recommendation: How Villains Are Made ~Madalen Duke]

Gwen dropped the hand fan she was holding, raising her face to look at the princess in front of her. "Repeat what you just said."

Sophie chewed her lower lip nervously; she didn’t know if she was doing the right thing. All she wanted to do was show the Queen her loyalty and nothing more. If she could get closer to the woman, she would get the chance to stay beside Adric.

"Mother is talking to you," Jasmine pointed at Sophie’s face. "Have you forgotten how to speak?"

Sophie gulped. When she heard the news of Oriana being crowned Queen, at first she was very angry, but then when she heard that Oriana was also in charge of an army supposedly left by their grandmother, a part of her felt really hurt about it. If Oriana was left with something so important, it only meant how much she meant to their late grandmother.

"It’s um... Oriana... she is going to be Queen by tomorrow." Saying this, Sophie rubbed her sweaty palm on her dress.

Gwen started laughing. "That rat! She pushed me aside to take over the throne." The woman chuckled. "I must have taken her to be a small opponent; she’s one little trickster. Acting like she knows nothing..."

"Are you sure about what you just said?" Jasmine asked again to confirm. "Make sure you’re not just guessing things because we are supposed to end the king’s birthday with the masquerade ball. There’s no way the coronation would be held on the same day."

Sophie nodded. "I’m very sure. I was there when King Fidelis talked about it. The coronation is really happening tomorrow."

Adelaide squeezed her dress together, causing it to crumple so badly. Her face turned red with anger. "You heard that from my father? He’s going to crown Oriana Queen tomorrow?"

Sophie cleared her throat. She didn’t want to get on anyone’s nerves, but she wanted to prove her loyalty too. "Y-yes, that’s what I heard." She looked from the younger princess to the Queen.

"How dare Fidelis and his son treat me like an outcast while making an imposter a Queen!" Gwen threw the hand fan across the room, and it hit Sophie on the side of her face, causing her to wince.

"Mother!" Jasmine shouted. She turned to Sophie. "Leave now! We will let you know when you’re needed; you can go now."

Sophie raised her face; the corner of her eye was now bleeding. "Yes, your Majesty." She bowed and ran out of the room, her legs trembling with fear.

"Mother! This isn’t right! We can’t let that girl get crowned as Queen for any reason," Adelaide was now the one who spoke up.

Gwen nodded. "I should have known from the look in her eyes that there was something up with her. She wanted the throne!"

Jasmine didn’t know who to talk to. This was the first time she was seeing Adelaide lose her cool.

"I think we should calm-"

"Shut up!!" Both Gwen and Adelaide shouted with anger.

Jasmine held her chest. She didn’t expect them to attack her at the same time. She decided to keep her mouth shut and not say anything else, as it seemed like she was only adding more coal to the fire, fueling her mother and sister’s anger.

Adelaide chewed her fingers, pacing back and forth in the room. This wasn’t her plan; she had a bigger picture that was working. She really wanted to know the variable she had missed along the line. And what changed overnight? Everything was happening just fine according to her plan. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"That girl has Adric wrapped around her fingers, pretending like she knows nothing. Adelaide! What I told you to do, get it done tonight," Gwen suggested. "It’s better she doesn’t even see the next day to start with."

Adelaide grinned. As much as the suggestion sounded soothing, giving her the comfort she needed, to see Oriana bleeding to death with nobody to save her, it was too easy a death to give to someone who came into their kingdom to take over the throne and her home. She wanted something worse.

"I think I have a perfect plan."

"Leave the plan and just get her killed already! I don’t want to live another day knowing that girl is breathing," Gwen shouted.

Jasmine took a step back, watching her mother talk about taking another life like it was nothing. She knew that Oriana was getting on everyone’s nerves, but it wasn’t worth taking her life away. All Jasmine could do was watch from the corner; she couldn’t stop them or disagree with them either.

"Mother, what do you say we make her face the humiliation you did? This time, ten times worse. We turn the tables around for her." Adelaide rubbed her palms together, a grin forming on her lips as she thought of the plan.

Gwen turned, her brows furrowed. "What do you have in mind?"

Adelaide smiled, looking at Jasmine and then their mother. "Leave it to me. Once she’s humiliated so badly, I’ll make her death look like she killed herself just to pay for her crimes. Don’t worry, sleep well tonight and wait for the good news tomorrow." Adelaide bowed before leaving the room.

"Mother," Jasmine started after Adelaide had left the room, "Are you not going to stop her? Looking at Adelaide’s face, she-"

"Get out."

Jasmine raised her eyes to be sure she heard her mother clearly. "Mother?"

"I said get out of my room. Your mother is in dire need of help, and the only help you could offer is being a coward. Get out before I pour my anger on you right now," Gwen raised her voice, her hair falling out of place as there was no crown or jewelry holding it in place anymore.

Jasmine sneered. "I was going to leave even if you didn’t tell me!" She touched the door knob. "One more thing, Mother, you’re in this situation because you slept with another man while Father was alive, so don’t-" Before the cup Gwen threw could touch her, Jasmine ran out of the room and banged the door shut.

Meanwhile, Adelaide walked casually outside the palace, her hands moving freely on the wet grass. The rain had finally stopped, but the leaves still had rain droplets on them.

Behind the princess, Caspar was walking faster to keep up the pace but at the same time not walk very close to her.

"Caspar, you do know why I called you, right? I’m guessing you must have heard the coronation is happening tomorrow." Adelaide spoke with a calm tone that contrasted with the anger that was heating up her soul.

Caspar bowed. "Yes, Princess Adelaide. I’m guessing..." His voice trailed off when Adelaide turned to look at him.

"I’m the only one allowed to speak in that tone, Caspar." Adelaide smiled. "So, dear brother-in-law, you’re not guessing. You know."

Caspar nodded countlessly like a lizard. "Yes, yes. I know. I will carry out the task tomorrow, putting the princess in the spot. But what about me? You know how your brother can be."

"Leave that to me to worry about. Just make sure you’re in bed with Oriana. Make it very clean and easy to believe; don’t worry about her drink." Adelaide stopped walking. Sitting on her heels, she looked down at a flower pot filled with daisies. Taking one out, she sniffed it before pulling the white petals slowly.

"This represents the princess. If only she had taken my hand the first time she arrived." Done with pulling the white petals, Adelaide raised the yellow center up. "Now, all alone, she’s going to shrivel up and die!"