The Regressed Villainess Tore Up The Annulment Papers - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Villainess's Regret (1)

Aria Floris.

She had it all - the prestige of being born into a highly respected magical count family, a sharp intellect honed by years of top-tier education, and a beauty that captivated all who beheld her, effortlessly earning her the title of everyone's first love.

She was the undisputed flower of high society.

Born into a life of privilege and abundance, she couldn't help but be arrogant. She looked down upon countless others, dismissing them without a second thought.

Those who simply displeased her, those who dared to defy her, those who envied and sought to undermine her - she felt no remorse for her actions, nor did she seek their understanding.

This arrogance extended even to her fiancé.

From the beginning, she resented the engagement, a forced union she had no say in.

And this resentment only grew when she finally met him face-to-face.

His imposing physique, his rugged features devoid of any aristocratic refinement, his rough demeanor that blurred the line between nobleman and barbarian - he was the antithesis of the sophisticated, charming courtiers she had grown up surrounded by.

She tried to be patient, hoping that in time, her feelings would change. But as she matured, her negative feelings only intensified.

She saw the time spent with him as a waste, avoided their meetings, and resisted any attempts to deepen their relationship.

She planned to end it all, to break off the engagement on her own terms.

She never imagined that he would be the one to initiate the separation.

- "Let's end this."

***

During a grand ball hosted by the imperial family, Aria encountered her destiny.

The Crown Prince, heir to the throne and future ruler of the empire, was everything she had ever desired in a partner.

Even a child on the street knew that the woman who stood by his side, the future Empress, would be the most powerful woman in the empire.

The Crown Prince was a trophy, a symbol of her own superiority, and he possessed both the looks and the abilities to match.

She couldn't actively pursue him before, bound by her existing engagement.

But with the annulment looming, Aria seized every opportunity to engineer chance encounters with the Crown Prince.

She learned his schedule, ensuring her presence at events he was likely to attend, and even enrolled in the academy, a place she had no intention of attending before, simply to be closer to him.

The academy, with its confined space and limited social circle, provided the perfect setting for her plan.

She would win the Crown Prince's heart, secure a betrothal upon graduation, and claim the coveted position of Crown Princess.

At first, she believed achieving this goal would be effortless. She had never failed to attain anything she set her mind to.

But... all her plans were disrupted by the arrival of a single girl.

For some inexplicable reason, the girl attracted the attention of all the most eligible bachelors, including the Crown Prince.

They flocked around her like moths drawn to a flame, vying for her attention.

She couldn't care less about the other men, but the Crown Prince was different. It wasn't simply a matter of status or power.

He was hers, his affections, his heart, his future - all belonged to her. And she wouldn't allow some insignificant obstacle to stand in her way.

She spread vicious rumors, orchestrated subtle acts of bullying with her loyal followers, and even publicly humiliated the girl on several occasions.

But her efforts were futile.

If anything, the men, including the Crown Prince, only grew more protective and possessive of the girl, rallying around her like knights defending their princess.

Growing increasingly desperate, she stumbled upon a suspicious magic book in the academy library one day.

It was a forbidden text detailing dark magic, specifically a spell for mind control.

Dark magic was officially outlawed by both the empire and the church, its study considered a serious crime. How such a book ended up in the academy library, in plain sight, defied all logic.

A rational mind would have recognized the danger, the potential consequences of even touching such a book.

Aria, raised in a prestigious magical family, would have normally shunned such a method, but...

She was driven to the edge, her carefully laid plans crumbling before her. She was desperate, willing to grasp at any straw.

And so, she decided to use the spell detailed in the forbidden book to manipulate the Crown Prince's affections, to brainwash him into loving her.

She was confident in her magical abilities, and she had meticulously prepared for every aspect of the spell.

But she overlooked one crucial detail.

- "Aaaah—!!"

The Crown Prince, heir to the throne, was hardly going to be unprepared for mental attacks.

Her plans were thwarted by a holy relic the Crown Prince always carried, a gift from the church.

- "My... My body! What's happening?!"

Worse, the backlash from the dark magic struck her instead, afflicting her with a strange curse that crippled her magical circuits beyond repair.

If only it had ended there...

- "I followed the trail of this foul magic, and it led me straight to you! You vile woman! Seize her immediately!"

The Crown Prince, enraged and betrayed, uncovered her crimes.

She faced the executioner's blade, but her father, desperate to save his daughter and salvage what remained of their family's reputation, offered the imperial family a hefty sum, a payment that crippled their finances.

In exchange for this sacrifice, Aria's sentence was reduced to expulsion from the academy and lifelong confinement within the Floris estate.

***

Time flew by.

The curse ravaged her body, weakening her day by day.

Her once lustrous hair turned dry and brittle, her meticulously maintained figure withered away, her bones protruding beneath her skin.

Her face, once a testament to divine craftsmanship, became grotesquely disfigured.

Anyone who remembered her former beauty would hardly recognize the wretched creature she had become.

Even the most skilled healers and mages were powerless to break the mysterious curse that plagued her.

The world moved on, oblivious to her plight.

The Demon King had reemerged, plunging the continent into another war.

Her father and brother, forced to bow to the imperial family's demands as penance for her crimes, were conscripted and sent to the front lines, where they met their demise.

Her mother, unable to cope with the devastating loss, took her own life.

The remaining servants, seeing the sinking ship, abandoned the estate, looting whatever valuables they could find.

By then, Aria's condition had deteriorated to the point where she could barely move.

She managed to drag herself to a puddle of stagnant water and nibbled on a piece of moldy bread. It was the last sustenance she had for days.

Weakened by prolonged starvation and the constant, unrelenting pain that wracked her body, she finally succumbed to exhaustion.

Her vision blurred, and she lost consciousness.

***

Aria awoke to an agonizing pain that felt like her body was being torn apart.

"Ugh..."

A dry, raspy voice, barely a whisper, escaped her parched lips.

Her head pounded, and each breath sent a stabbing pain through her chest.

Her body was in a state of utter ruin, a testament to her suffering.

What was happening?

Struggling to regain her senses, she searched her memory, slowly turning her head, her movements stiff and painful, to survey her surroundings.

'Where...'

Her eyes widened in horror. She wasn't in her dusty room, the familiar confines of her prison.

How did she end up here?

'…Kidnapped.'

Her past actions had earned her a multitude of enemies, those who would gladly inflict harm upon her.

They must have learned of her vulnerability, her isolation within the abandoned estate. It wasn't unreasonable to assume she had been abducted.

Creak—

The door to the room slowly creaked open.

Knowing she was powerless to resist, she watched the sliver of light widen, her heart pounding with dread.

An eternity seemed to pass before a figure stepped into the room.

'…Who is that?'

He was a giant of a man, clad in black armor, his face hidden behind a helmet, blood and gore splattered across his massive frame.

With each step, his long, unkempt black hair, escaping from beneath the helmet's seams, swayed like a dark banner.

He approached her bedside, stopping just inches away.

He seemed to stiffen as he met her gaze, his body momentarily frozen.

"You're awake?"

A rough, gravelly voice, strangely familiar, filtered through the helmet.

Startled, Aria trembled.

The voice was rougher, harsher than she remembered, but... it was undeniably his.

But that was impossible.

He would never seek her out, not after everything that had happened. She was a painful reminder of his past, a source of bitterness and regret.

Yet...

"Eu... gene...?"

She whispered his name, her lips trembling.

He nodded, a silent confirmation. Then, he reached up, his hands moving with a practiced ease, and removed his helmet.

"It's been a while."

Her former fiancé.

"Aria."

Eugene Everhart stood before her.

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