The following series is a work of fiction. It explores potentially controversial themes such as Domestic Abuse and Suicide. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Reader discretion is advised.

Villainess in Love

Chapter 1

Yunifer could hear the sound of falling rain. The weather had been clear all day yesterday, but now it seemed to be coming down.

She wanted to sleep some more, but the sound grated against her ears. It couldn’t be helped. She’d have to get up and close the window if she wanted to resume her beauty sleep.

“Ngh...”

As Yunifer pushed herself up on her arms to get out of the bed, she felt a dull ache. A stinging sensation began in her nether regions and crept up to her waist before spreading throughout her entire body—even her head was throbbing.

It was only then that Yunifer remembered she’d been at a party the night before.

“I think I drank too much...” she mumbled.

Yunifer was about to congratulate herself for managing to arrive home safe and sound, but she paused her internal celebration when she looked down to find her chest covered in red splotches.

They were way too big to write off as simple bug bites. No, these were clearly hickeys.

“Aah!”

Yunifer yelped and jerked in surprise, her hand shooting to her waist. More pain flared up due to her sudden movements. In spite of her stiff neck, she twisted her head around to find that even her shoulders were peppered with the little red marks.

“He really went for it, huh...” she thought.

And to think, she’d never even been with a man before last night!

Looking at the door to the washroom, Yunifer cradled her spinning head as she fought back another small scream.

What she had mistaken for rainfall earlier was actually coming from across the bed and beyond the door. It seemed her partner was washing up inside.

She briefly considered sneaking out but immediately dismissed the idea. It wasn’t as if she’d committed a crime.

For now, the best course of action would be to conserve her energy before calling for the family carriage to take her home.

Suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.

“Your eyes get red when you’re excited, how interesting… I’m sure someone as handsome as you would still look good even if you were crying.”

Yunifer could not believe she’d actually said that.

However, she couldn’t, in good conscience, place the blame on the other person.

Yunifer could only remember bits and pieces of the previous night, but one thing was for certain—she was the one who had made the first move. She distinctly remembered her treacherous hands caressing the man’s face.

“Argh, I must have been out of my mind!” she groaned.

Still, she had to admit that the man she’d spent the night with was stunningly handsome—handsome enough to drive a girl crazy.

The door opened, and the man entered the room. Yunifer could feel goosebumps rising on her arms.

“You’re up.”

Damn. What a face…

She found him handsome now, being completely stone-cold sober, so it was no surprise that she had been utterly captivated by him when she was wasted.

No wonder she’d stayed.

The man, whose face she was all too familiar with, stood before her, towel wrapped around his waist, pushing his damp hair back off his forehead.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “You kept groaning in your sleep.”

Yunifer was frozen in place as the man leaned over to kiss her.

Wrapping a strong arm around her waist, the man gently laid her back on the bed. He innocently rubbed the small of her back for a moment before his hand slid downward.

“Aah...”

Her lips parted with a gasp at the feeling. The man’s tongue dove in and coaxed Yunifer’s own into a passionate dance. Her hand trembled as his tongue slid over hers.

His hand slowly crept down further.

As if the spell had suddenly broken, Yunifer’s eyes, which had been closed till now, snapped open.

“W-Wait!”

The man leaned back obediently. Yunifer didn’t even need to push him away at all.

He looked at her with slightly furrowed brows like he was trying to figure out what was wrong.

“I’m sorry. You must be exhausted...” he started.

Yunifer squinted slightly at the man for a moment, and then it hit her. Her exhaustion was the least of her issues right now.

“...Ishid?”

The man responded by kissing her cheek.

He wouldn’t have done that if she’d said the wrong name. There was no doubt about it.

This man was Ishid Lucrenze.

“Oh... Oh my... Ishid...”

Exactly how much did she drink last night? Did the alcohol completely shut down her brain?

How could she make such a huge mistake... with HIM of all people?! She had put so much effort into avoiding him; how did she end up in his bed?!

Yunifer suddenly remembered how she’d sat on his lap and curled up against him. She wanted to die from embarrassment.

Hah, and even putting aside the embarrassment, she might actually die now.

“What is it?” Ishid asked.

Despite the thoughts racing through her head, Yunifer willed herself to stay calm. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the situation wasn’t as dire as it had initially seemed. After all, it was just one night. All they needed to do was say their goodbyes.

“Right,” she started, “so about us...”

“Yes?” Ishid responded, his tone expectant.

“Let’s just forget this ever happened. This was a mistake. If we ever meet again, let’s just pretend we don’t know each other,” Yunifer said quickly.

Ishid frowned ever so slightly.

Yunifer inwardly clucked her tongue. She felt a little bad seeing just how surprised the usually calm and collected hero was. However, if she didn’t nip this problem in the bud now, her life would actually be at risk.

This wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t gotten drunk. Blame it on the alcohol.

Gingerly getting off the bed, Yunifer picked up her scattered clothes one piece at a time and got dressed. She couldn’t be bothered with the intricate layers of her full outfit, so she settled for draping her cape over her undergarments.

Was this an inn? She’d better check into her own room and call for a carriage.

The stiffness in her body had Yunifer doubting how far she could walk on her own.

She really shouldn’t be surprised that the hero had such great stamina.

“Why do you keep pushing me away,” Yunifer whined. “Don’t you want to sleep with me?”

“I don’t do one-night stands,” Ishid replied.

“Ah.” Yunifer nodded. “Well then, today marks the first day.”

“First day of what?” he asked, confused.

“Of our relationship,” she replied. “We’re dating, starting right now, didn’t you know? After all, we are lovers,” she teased.

At that, Ishid had paused in his attempts to gently push Yunifer away.

Taking that as a yes, Yunifer had pressed her lips against his. The pair moved to the bed, tearing off their clothes as they went, and…

What did people usually call this? Hit it and quit it?

The more Yunifer thought about last night, the more she was beginning to think that maybe death was too mild a punishment for her.

Yunifer groaned to herself. “I am absolute trash...”

Lost in her thoughts, the bare chest that suddenly stood to block her way took her by surprise.

“Ah!” she yelped.

Realizing she couldn’t, in good conscience, just leave him without a word, Yunifer—quaking in place like a criminal on death row—looked up to meet Ishid’s gaze.

With a frosty expression, Ishid spoke in a low tone. “I told you. I don’t do one-night stands.”

His cold face reflected his icy tone.

Upon seeing the fury in his eyes, Yunifer felt chills go down her spine.

M-Mr. Hero? Why are you being like this?

Ishid Lucrenze. The Grand Duke of Lucrenze and the captain of the Order of the White Night. Wielder of Siergo, the Sword of a Thousand Days.

Not only is he one of the five living fire mages, but he’s also known as the Knight of the Crimson Flame.

He is the hero of the novel, Melting the Heart of the Moon.

The aforementioned moon is, of course, the silver-haired heroine of the novel, Lady Raelle Carnia.

The story goes like this.

After being abandoned by the unfaithful Crown Prince, the beautiful heroine, Raelle, meets Ishid, and they both live happily ever after. As most exes do, Crown Prince Cassian grew spiteful and did everything he could to interfere with Ishid and Raelle’s relationship. In the end, he came to regret his actions.

What he did to atone for his deeds, however, was truly unbelievable.

As an apology to Raelle, he killed Yunifer Magnolia, the villainess who had also gotten in the way of Ishid and Raelle’s relationship.

In the novel, Yunifer was Raelle’s friend. The two had many things in common and had been close since their days at the academy. However, their relationship became strained when Raelle started to meet with Ishid, Yunifer’s unrequited love.

Unaware of Yunifer’s feelings towards Ishid, Raelle began dating him. But Yunifer thought that Raelle had started dating Ishid despite knowing Yunifer’s feelings toward him, and so Yunifer began tormenting Raelle.

While it was true that Yunifer committed many evil acts, Cassian didn’t have the right to judge her actions. Regardless of that fact, he killed Yunifer, stating that she was an annoyance.

He was an absolute bastard.

Anyway, the important thing was that on the day Yunifer was to enter the academy, an ordinary girl who had just been reading the book suddenly found herself in Yunifer’s body, living the life of a character in a novel!

The girl went so far as to change rooms and avoid Raelle as much as possible so that the events of the novel would not happen. Naturally, since she had steered clear of Raelle, she had also stayed out of Cassian’s sight.

All she had needed to do was avoid the hero and she would have been able to live a long and happy life... So why was she with Ishid?

And in his bed, to boot!

“Aah!” she moaned. “My name... say my name. It’s Yunifer.”

“Yunifer...” Ishid called out.

Lost in the throes of passion, Yunifer whispered, “I like you… so much…”

Not only had she revealed her name, but she had also thoughtlessly confessed to him.

As the cold reality of the situation sank in, more and more of Yunifer’s memories began to creep back. No matter how she looked at the situation, it was all her fault. She needed to think.

She had tried to seduce someone who had repeatedly refused her. When he said that he didn’t want a one-night stand, she said they should start dating right then and there. Taking her word for it, the man relented, and the two spent a passionate night together. The next morning, Yunifer said this was all a mistake and told him to forget everything.

It sounded like a plot from a late-night soap opera.

And she was the main character.

“...”

As Yunifer, she was 10 years younger than she had been in her ordinary life. She was also much prettier. And her body... In the real world, she’d done everything from yoga to Pilates, but even without doing any of that, Yunifer’s body was about 100 times better than her own.

She would have been satisfied with just being young and beautiful, but she was also rich and talented in a variety of ways.

She was happy living Yunifer’s life.

If she could have just avoided a few people, everything would have been smooth sailing. It’s not as if she was the type to get infatuated with a guy. If anything, she couldn’t understand the original Yunifer, who had chased after a man who was so steadfastly faithful to another.

So why was she following in her footsteps?

She couldn’t let this go on!

“A-Actually,” she stuttered, ”I don’t remember what happened last night.”

What’s worse than telling someone that it was all a mistake and to forget about it? Telling them that you don’t remember anything.

The corners of Ishid’s lips quirked up. He looked like he was mocking her for saying something ridiculous.

It didn’t take long for Yunifer to realize her mistake.

Why would a person who doesn’t remember anything ask someone else to forget everything?

If she didn’t remember, why would she have said that it was a mistake? Her actions from earlier were clearly those of someone who remembered everything.

If Ishid pointed out her error, there would be nothing she could say to defend herself. If anything, things would only get worse.

Yunifer gulped as she glanced up at Ishid.

Their gazes met. Ishid’s steely expression relaxed, instead looking like he wanted to sigh.

Considering his much larger build, he seemed to realize that he would come off as too intimidating if he kept looming over her.

“Fine,” he said.

“Fine, I know that—” Yunifer paused. “Wait, what?”

Thinking that he was agreeing to her earlier suggestion, Yunifer looked up at him, eyes shining with hope.

Ishid gave her a quick, good-natured smile in return before continuing.

“You were pretty drunk last night, so I understand. If anything, I was in the wrong for not taking into account how inebriated you were.”

As expected of a hero! His grace knew no bounds!

“R-Right?” Yunifer stammered. “I was so drunk last night that I couldn’t make heads or tails out of... anyway, it was my mistake. I’m really sor—”

“So let’s do it again,” Ishid interrupted.

“Excuse me? Do... do what again?” Yunifer asked.

“Everything that you don’t remember,” he whispered with a radiant smile.