A Fairy Tale Written by a Villain

Chapter 2

Dejar Kingdom was on a small island.

There were only two reasons that this small country with a tiny population was famous. The first reason was that it was where the multinational Mage Tower was located. Since the land had exceptionally strong magic flowing through it, the mages established the Mage Tower to conduct research. The second reason was because of the bloodline of Dejar’s royal family. Blessed with exceptionally good looks, they made good spouses. The royal family conceived many children from generation to generation, and they maintained the crown with the gifts they got by marrying their children. In a way, they were such lazy rulers.

It’s a first returning to the castle alone after saving the prince. Isabelle remembered her second life in which she killed the prince by leaving him alone. The beach was clearly empty that day. Even before she arrived at the castle, she was caught by the imperial army for the murder of the prince and dragged onto the warship.

“Your Highness, where did you go last night? I was so shocked because you suddenly disappeared. Oh my, you’re all wet.” Badelle, Isabelle’s nanny and maid, wrapped her body with a large towel.

Just then, the first princess, Maria, came into the room. “It’s not like it’s the first time she’s like that, right? She’s just acting up because Father is trying to sell her off to another country.”

“Ma... Maria?” Isabelle racked through her hazy memories and looked at Maria. Every time she went back in time, the memories of her previous life were hazy. It was just like forgetting a dream right after waking up. She was the only family member who cared about her.

“Congratulations on your wedding, Isabelle.”

“No! Please, save my sister!”

Many sounds mixed inside her head, and then a ringing noise echoed in her ears. Isabelle paled. Maria scoffed as if she were saying, Here we go again.

“Were you disappointed I came to visit after so long?” Maria sighed. “I am Maria Dejar, your god-like older sister.” Her annoyed face seemed to say, Is that enough now, you punk? Stop acting and fix your face.

Maria, who greeted her by gracefully lifting the hem of her skirt, tapped Isabelle’s shoulder with the fan she had in her hand.

“Maria Dejar...” Isabelle mumbled.

“Yes, yes. I am that Maria Dejar—the one who came to take care of her stepson and entered the castle to see her ugly younger sister.”

The king had sent off the first princess, Maria, to be married to a wealthy foreign aristocrat. She usually did not speak about her family, but she was especially angry today. “You said you were choosing your husband today,” she began.

“Husband?”

“You said that Father looked like he was going to sell you off to some rich guy. You even sent me a letter about it, so why are you acting like you don’t know?” Maria scoffed, saying that the letter looked much like a will.

“I wrote... that kind of letter to you, I see.” Was that why Isabelle threw herself into the sea? Suddenly, opening her eyes as she lay on the sand whenever she went back in time made sense.

“Be prepared, Isabelle.”

“What?”

“If your husband gets chosen today, you may have to leave right away. Remember how I packed my bags when I was married off? I didn’t even have time to cry.”

“The candidates... Who are they?”

“Why are you asking me that? Did you want to forget because the best choice you were left with was that forty-one-year-old Viscount Dantor?”

Forty-one? Has the king gone crazy? Isabelle was only twenty-two. “The youngest man was in his forties?” she asked, surprised.

“No. The youngest was the cursed, foreign grand duke.” That was Grand Duke Waschke. Maria knew him very well. She had no choice but to know him because her stepson followed him around everywhere saying, “Liege, liege,” and his bad reputation was well known throughout the empire.

After the first night of the marriage passed, each of the grand duke’s wives turned into corpses. Their numbers were already twelve. Thanks to that, the man with the most wealth, honor, and even beauty in the empire was still single.

“Everyone says that they’re scared of the curse, but when they see his face I bet they won’t think that anymore. That’s why twelve brides jumped into it,” said Maria.

Isabelle closed her mouth. Assessing the situation roughly, there were two choices: One, marry the prince and get stabbed by the Little Mermaid. Two, marry the grand duke and die to the curse on the first night. Of course, there was another option: marrying the forty-one-year-old Viscount Dantor and running away from the palace to live in hiding.

But in the past three lives, I always died on the same day. Since the day she would die could not be changed, there wasn’t any reason for her to suffer any more than she had to. Isabelle’s decision leaned more toward the grand duke. She did not want to be involved with the prince who had made her experience death three times.

“If possible, Isabelle, just choose a young man. And don’t get sold off to a grandpa by staying quiet like me.” The age difference between Maria and her husband was more than twenty years. Even the age difference between her and her stepson was less. Moreover, because her husband lay on his sickbed like a corpse, Maria was also taking care of the old man.

“I already feel unfairly done by that marriage alone, but the rumor that I am a mean stepmother spread throughout the estate. My rude son must have spread it—Snow White,” Maria pronounced the name with such bitterness.

Snow White? Isabelle whipped her head around. I thought I was a character in The Little Mermaid! It would be hard to believe that Maria’s son was Snow White the princess... no, the prince.

“He claims that I kicked him out because I was jealous of his beauty. In reality, he was busy spending time with his partner. So of course it drives me insane hearing these rumors!” With that, Maria continued to complain about her son being a pain in the neck as well as the fact that her husband was old enough to be her father.

I never learned this kind of information in my last life. The situation and the information itself had changed. There may be a way for me to live if I change the original story. Isabelle grabbed the hem of Maria’s skirt. “Maria, where’s Snow White?”

“Why? Do you want to take him as your husband? Don’t. My proud son has different partners for each day of the week.” She seemed to imply, Plus, I am against having a daughter-in-law with a bad attitude like you. Maria drew a line between them firmly.

“There’s something I need to ask him,” Isabelle pleaded. “Where did he go?”

“He went to the Mage Tower. He said that the grand duke’s ship was arriving soon and he had to get something. But until then—” She was cut off.

“Isabelle!” The bedroom door burst open, and she heard an angry voice. Isabelle’s father, King of Dejar, briskly walked in and raised his hand. His rough hand slapped down on Isabelle’s cheek. Huh. This is ridiculous. If it were her from the past life, she would have been able to stand this kind of beating. But Isabelle’s body was weak. Bracing herself as much as possible so that her head wouldn’t turn, she slowly raised one eyebrow.

As she lived her past lives, she had learned one thing: Isabelle’s father thought his daughter was just like a doll who would take heed of everything he said. A scoff came out of her. “How could you slap my face, Father?” Everyone pointed fingers at her, calling her a villainess, but there was a reason for her messed up personality.

“I am appalled that someone who cares about their well-being would stay outside the castle all night! Didn’t I tell you that a woman should always be demure?” the king shouted.

“You don’t even care about your possible son-in-law’s debauchery, and yet you can criticize my attitude.”

“You brat!”

“Calm down, Father! If you keep hitting her, you really won’t be able to use her for her looks,” Maria clung to the king’s arm and pleaded.

“Since she has her great healing magic, it’s all right. Today, I will finally fix that rude little thing’s attitude.”

“Father, you know that Isabelle can only heal others. She can’t heal herself!”

“Who knows? We’ll find out after we give it a shot.” Engulfed by insanity, the king raised his other hand.

Goodness. Last time, I decided to marry the prince to get away from this messed up household.” She would need to make a different decision this time. Isabelle remembered Maria mentioning that the grand duke’s ship was due for arrival. She opened her eyes and looked straight at the king. “A ship from the Nevellant Empire will arrive soon. I heard that Grand Duke Waschke is onboard.”

“What?” The king glanced at his attendant next to him. The attendant nodded and confirmed that it was true.

“I plan on proposing to the grand duke as soon as he arrives.” Isabelle stuck her nose in the air.

“You mean that grand duke who killed all his brides after the first night?” It seemed like the king interpreted the grand duke’s curse in a different way, suddenly worrying about her life when he usually didn’t even care.

“Yes. So, if you hope that I get married safely, don’t lay a finger on me anymore.”

Arrogantly raising her chin, Isabelle gave a curt nod and left the room. Madam Badelle, who was looking around cautiously, followed behind her.

Although the king’s angry voice rang out even outside the room, Isabelle had a satisfied smile on her face as she exited the hallway.

***

Snow White, who came out from the Mage Tower, did not feel good. It was because the damn tower master didn’t keep their end of the contract, making all manner of excuses. The grand duke will be disappointed. He ruffled his hair, which was as white as his name.

At that moment, a beauty with a chilling look approached him. “Are you Snow White?” the woman asked.

“Yes, I am.”

She was a familiar-looking beauty. When have I seen such a fair maiden before? Snow studied her carefully. The corners of her eyes that curved upwards like a cat were coy, and their color was turquoise like a clear ocean. Fair skin and blonde hair. Oh, if she’s blonde...

“I am Princess Isabelle Dejar, your mother’s sister,” she said.

“Actually, I just remembered.” Snow forced a smile and stepped back. He resented his memory for forgetting that pain-in-the-neck princess for a moment. Eight years ago on the day his father was getting remarried, his stepmother’s sister, who came as a guest, caused a scene. It was said that the evil deeds that continued for three days left a huge mark on the empire’s high society.

If only I had remembered… Well, then, I would’ve run away. Who could have known that the girl whose looks were beautiful would grow into an even more breathtaking beauty? Nothing’s working out today… He didn’t want to get involved with a bad-tempered villainess. Snow was about to leave when she distracted him.

Isabelle got to the point. “I want to ask you for two favors.”

“Uh, I’m quite busy, so doing you a favor is...”

Isabelle cut him off. “The prince of Nevellant is in our kingdom right now.” He would have arrived at the castle by now and would be meeting the king.

“What… did you say?” Snow couldn’t believe his ears.

“I thought you were searching for the missing prince all this time, were you not?” she asked.

“How do you know that, Princess?” Suddenly, Snow’s eyes became sharp.

Isabelle remained unfazed, stared directly at him, and tilted her head. “Because I somehow ended up saving his life.”

“Wait, why did you do that... No... Ahem.” He cleared his throat. “I see. You are the person who saved the prince...” Snow grinned. There was a smooth change in the attitude of the man who had thought of running away until now.

“So, will you do me a favor or not?” Isabelle asked.

“Would there be any man who could just ignore a beautiful princess’s favor?”

“Great. Hurry and take that bastard back to the empire. That is my first request.”

“That bastard...?” Oh no. Isabelle averted her gaze slightly. She had spit out words that portrayed her bitter feelings toward the prince, who had been the cause of her three deaths.