Cannon Fodder To Villainess

🏮2. Ancient Artifact

After crying in a somewhat pathetic fashion, Amber stood up, and dusted herself off; quite literally. She couldn't believe how dusty and nasty this room was. She would have to make her new home more hospitable, after she took an inventory of her belongings.

Her room was sparse with a bed, vanity, and a wooden chest in the corner of the room. She walked over to the scratched up wooden chest, bent over it, and lifted the lid. Inside the chest there are ten wrap dresses in different colors. All of them looked pretty plain and like they'd seen better days. They were obviously hand me downs. This wasn't really a surprise since she remembered that in the book, Arabella had been hated by her parents. They couldn't stand to look at her because of the bumpy red discoloration on her face that wouldn't go away. They saw it as a personal attack on their pride. This had hit Amber hard because she'd also been trying to win her parent's love.

Being hated by her parents was the reason why Arabella Amber had first met the protagonist. Arabella had heard that the Silver's medical prodigy daughter would be attending the royal tea party. Everyone knew that she had been desperately looking for a cultivation manual that she could use while practicing her lightning magic. It was a well known secret that Cray Silver's magic was incredibly weak and disjointed from her talent in medicine.

Where there's talent and success, there are those who envy. There was no shortage of people who liked to whisper about Cray's lack of magic talent. They said that her magic mostly resembled giving someone a static shock and so anyone could do it. Cray became desperate to correct her perceived flaw as she had a somewhat irrational desire to be what she considered perfect.

After hearing all of the rumors about Cray, Arabella had come up with a plan. She was often left to her own devices from a young age and because she was bored, she would wander around her family's storehouse. This particular hobby wouldn't have been possible originally if it weren't for her dad's gambling addiction. All of the men who had guarded the storehouse had been fired to save money.

The first time she ran into the storehouse, she wasn't expecting much to be in there and she was right. The storehouse consisted of two large rooms with the second one's door in the back of the first room. There were large empty shelves with wide isles in both of the rooms. She wasn't there for treasures, she was there to find a place to hide from her dad's drunken rage.

Her mom caught one of the maids bragging about sleeping with the Baron and when her mom fired that maid, her dad discovered the maid's absence and became enraged. Arabella happened to be in the room and when her Dad's rage filled eyes landed on her, she ran from the house. She ran out of the main house and into the storehouse. She ran into the back room and climbed into the back of a bottom shelf. She learned early on that when her dad was angry, It was best to stay away from him.

She put her knees up to her chin and controlled her breathing. She heard her dad's angry voice calling out her name, but she didn't answer. She was waiting for him to get tired and pass out. After waiting for a couple of hours, she was starting to feel tired. She decided to lay down and noticed that there was a book next to her. There was an inconspicuous little brown book that said, 'Know Your Heart' on the cover. When she picked it up and blew the dust off the front of it, the cover changed to her favorite night time story. She laid down on the bottom shelf, read her favorite nighttime book, and fell asleep. It was the first time she felt safe in a long while and in the following weeks, she spent most of her time there. Every time she picked up the book, it turned into whatever book she wanted to read the most.

A few weeks after she started to come to the storehouse, her dad found her in her hiding place. Right as he was bending down to grab her, she tucked the little book into her dress and wrapped her little eight year old arms around herself. The memories of this life flooded into Amber as if they were her own and tears came pouring down her cheeks.

Just underneath the dresses she saw the little brown book in her memories that said 'Know Your Heart' on the cover. She bit her lower lip while reaching out with shaking hands and gently picked the ancient book up. As she blew on the cover, the words swirled around as if they had been caught in a whirlpool. The letters straightened out and the lines changed their shape to rearrange themselves into the title 'Duchess Dash'. Amber's eyes widened and she gasped. She flipped it open and began to read.

According to the book, she was supposed to meet the protagonist at the royal tea party in two weeks time. There she was planning on presenting the magical book to Cray and allow her to borrow it so that she could cultivate. In return, she wanted Cray to heal her face so that her parents wouldn't hate her anymore. This way she would be able to make friends and perhaps her fiancé would look at her with more than disgust. She was currently seventeen and soon she would have her debut ceremony. Although she had been engaged from birth, it was still important to her to look her best.

"Pfft!" Amber snickered as she closed the ancient artifact and hid it back underneath her dresses. There's no way she's going to give up this great treasure to that spoiled little brat who ends up using her as a stepping stool, but she will meet her. Perhaps she'll just use this opportunity to step on her head instead.

A great shift took place in her heart at that moment when the two lives' memories converged into one. All of that pain and longing had broken her and she emerged a different person.

"Pfft, let's see if they try to push me around anymore. Let's see them use me or try to murder me. I will make this reality bend to my will and everyone can either bend with it or be crushed into dust." Her eyes glistened with determination and a smirk formed on her beautiful lips.