The Villain's Redemption

"You can't just marry someone like a prince!"

Rhea already expected her father and mother to lose their cool once they hear what she wanted. What she never expected was for her older sister to react hysterically. She stared at the beautiful woman wearing a sky-blue dress in front of her. Amanda's sinister eyes as she stared at Rhea made her almost unrecognizable. The sweet and smart Amanda that everyone outside of this house knew was gone. What replaced her was a venomous creature that wanted to devour the saintess.

Or at least that's what anyone would say once they see the current scene.

"Why are you smirking?" Amanda continued. "Did you think you can just disrespect our family because you are considered a saintess?"

"Amanda, that's enough."

"No father! How could she marry Mo Li? I mean… why him? If she wanted to marry a Prince, there is another Prince alive, why would she marry Mo Li?"

Rhea lifted an eyebrow. It seems that Amanda's concern was actually her marrying that is not a direct lineage of the Emperor? Still, Rhea maintained her silence. It would be useless to argue with someone as close-minded as Amanda.

"What? You're not going to say anything?"

"I can smell your breath," Rhea said. "It's not a pleasant smell."

"You — " disbelief flashed in her elder sister's face. "You dare— "

"Amanda! That's enough!"

At her mother's word, Amanda immediately pursed her lips. She leaned back and glared at Rhea.

"Rhea… perhaps… I should start calling you the saintess now." The woman who spoke was… Amanda's mother. The Original Rhea didn't actually know that this woman, Countess Jiya Esteban, was not her biological mother. Growing up, Jiya spoiled Rhea to the point that Rhea doesn't know any survival skills outside of these walls. At first, Rhea thought that she had been treated well. She was called the Princess not only because she was the youngest but because she was actually treated as one.

However, this wasn't really the case.

Jiya wanted to introduce Rhea as the entitled princess, while Amanda was the hardworking heiress. Compared to Amanda, all Rhea had was her beautiful face. She didn't know what was happening outside of the house or the country. She wasn't permitted to go outside using the excuse that she was sickly and delicate.

Inside this mansion, Rhea was actually treated so well — too well. She wasn't allowed to do anything on her own. The result? A useless miss. If she didn't become the saintess, she would have been married off for some political reasons to some faraway place.

Sadly for Jiya, Rhea became the priestess. When they first found out about this matter, Jiya called her a witch. And that was the reason why the first memory of Lily about this body was the fact that she was a witch. The body was so useless that she didn't even know that she was a spell caster, not some witch that Jiya called her.

Silly woman.

Rhea only smiled in response. "Yes, please do," Rhea answered. Jiya's face turned ugly, but she was quick to hide it and immediately produce some tears instead.

'Ah, her acting was still top-notch' Rhea thought inwardly. If she was still the old Rhea then, she would have hugged this woman immediately and promise to do everything that she wanted just to see her smile again.

"You would dare treat your mother like this?" Gaspar Larsen, her father bellowed. "Not only did you treat us as fools because of that surprise engagement, but you also are not treating your mother who sacrificed a lot to give you everything, like this? Rhea… you are the worst!"

"Gaspar, please don't say something like this. She is still your child." Jiya said. She was already sobbing. She eyed Rhea, her eyes full of hope and sadness.

If Rhea's guess was right, then… Jiya was waiting for her to approach and hug her mother. Oh well, that's not happening. Rhea leaned against the velvet chair in her father's study and turned her head towards the window. The view of her father's study had always been good. She wondered if those roses were still there.

Seeing that Rhea wasn't planning to budge, Jiya's sobs turned louder.

'She would faint," Rhea said to herself. Jiya always does this all the time. Rhea couldn't help but wonder if Amanda and Gaspar would still fall for something like this.

"Rhea, you made mother cry! Go and apologize immediately."

Rhea looked at Amanda. The woman's intimidating gaze was still there. Amanda was someone really prideful and arrogant. As the next heir of the Larsen Family, she grew up thinking that she could command the wind and heavens. Of course, she can back this up. After all, Amanda was someone who studied war and politics. She is good in both military and cooking and sewing and embroidery and dancing.

She was the perfect wife.

"Why would I apologize, Crown Princess?" Rhea asked, her gaze was still on the window. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You — You still don't know what you did wrong?" Amanda's face was already red from anger. "You — I knew it. I know you don't understand the current politics in this empire! Mo Li… is the head of the knights! He is slowly gaining influence and authority. Because of his merits, he became a Prince! The Emperor was forced to adopt him to keep him away from the influence of the church! Ugh! This is just… infuriating."

"Crown princess, can you please enlighten me? As you can see, I am not aware of any politics and the current status of the empire. I am just an ignorant woman after all." Rhea smiled. Isn't it nice to watch give everyone a taste of their own medicine? They raised her as someone ignorant.

Then… what would happen if she used this ignorance against them?

"Gaspar, this is all my fault! Please punish this wife of yours!" Jiya's words made Rhea froze.

"Huh?" What is this? What kind of acting is this? But instead of doing anything, Rhea just smiled and watched the show.