"Thank goodness, she is awake."
Were the first words Emma heard the moment her eyes opened. She groaned in discomfort before turning her head to the side of the voice.
"It's me Lily." The feminine voice assured her as Emma used her arms to push herself up.
In front of her sat a woman with the same fiery red hair as the girl she had possessed. Eyes filled with warmth as the woman stared right back at hers.
"You gave us quite a fright." The woman smiled, "Your father had to be somewhere important right now." She added, softly smiling at her.
Emma blinked her eyes as she thought, So this is happening. This is real.
Suddenly the woman squeezed her hand softly before standing up. "You seem to be tired- I will give you some space to rest." Without responding, Emma watched the woman walk out the bedroom.
Once the door closed, Emma sat up and ran her fingers through her hair- sighing in the process of doing so.
Lillian Thomson.
This is real. Transmigration is real, does that mean I...I died...
Emma blinked her eyes as she teared up thinking about her death. She might have not lived the dream life but it was still her life. Sure she barely had no one around unless her mother called her to talk about her successful cousins. Which hurt her more than anything. She could never make her parents happy.
So she buried herself in her apartment. Going out only if it was necessary. Spent her days reading and working as a freelancer.
Emma was not dumb, she was average. Average in the sense of looks and intelligence. Now she was in a novel.
The flames that consume.
She was not Emma anymore. She is now Lillian Thomson but, she did not feel like she was her.
The beauty before her was something she never knew she would achieve. Eyes that made her stand out in a room full of people, hair that danced around her like flames.
Lillian Thomson was a beauty but unfortunately the original Lillian Thomson had no intelligence. Her jealousy and reckless behaviour became her downfall.
But this story was not about Lillian Thomson, a Heroine was already decided. Thinking about the female lead, Emma groaned in annoyance.
"How could she be so dense?"
The female lead Elodie Maynard was a beauty like no other. She had hair that shined under the sun, eyes that glowed under the moonlight and had a smile so pure that haptenized any man in her path.
She was the envy of all.
She was able to charm the Crown Prince and warm-up the cold Duke's heart— something that was deemed impossible but somehow Elodie Maynard succeeded.
The female lead was destined for a bright future. Whether she chose the Crown Prince or the Duke but instead she chose none. Elodie couldn't choose between the two and that very decision caused the fall of the capital.
Emma left the bed and walked to the mirror- hand pressed against it as her reflection stared right back at her.
~"I love you both dearly but I-I cannot choose."~
Emma groaned, remembering the words that started the downfall of the empire but she was here now. That was the past and now this was the future. She could change it. Help the female lead choose.
It couldn't be that hard.
If Emma had to pick between the Crown Prince or the Duke.
"It would be the Duke..." She told herself as she stared at her reflection but that would not be her decision to make.
Then suddenly she heard a knock coming from the door. "Come in!" Emma yelled as she turned to the door. The door opened and the maid she saw before walked in.
"It's time for your bath Young miss." She said and Emma felt heat crawl up to her cheeks. "You don't have too."
"It's my job." The maid said, "Is everything alright, Young miss?" She asked and Emma shook her head too quickly which caused the maid to look uncertain.
→❁←
"How old am I?" She asked the maid who was washing her hair for her.
The maid's hands stopped moving for a second before she responded, "16."
I'm 25.
Emma was 25 but Lillian was 16. Feels like my lifespan had extended. She chuckled at the thought then asked, "How long have I been a...a villainess?"
The maid stood up and picked up a wash cloth to clean her. "Si-since your father decided to hold your debut to the ton until your eighteenth birthday." Emma blinked her eyes, bewildered.
I'm ashamed for that's what it took for Lillian to start her villain acre.
Emma wondered if Lillian had hit anyone but remembering the maid's reaction before caused her to look down. "I'm sorry." Emma apologized and the cloth dropped down which caused the maid to nervously pick it back up before standing.
"You-you don't need to be sorry." The maid said and Emma shook her head. "I'm-no- I will never be that person again." Emma declared, unless the plot requires me to.
→❁←
After requiring information from the maid, who happens to be her personal maid. Emma sat on the couch in the bedroom.
Sixteen.
She had two years before the female lead showed up. Two more years before the Daron and his wife found their missing daughter.
On the day of Lilian's debutant ball. Elodie Maynard will make her entrance to society.
And Emma will be ready. This time, Lillian Thomson will not fall.