Valentina Befort was adopted by the king and queen of Asdefor two years after the true princess had been stolen. They searched throughout the kingdom and the empire, but no one could find her. Resigned, the royals decided to adopt a girl. Although they already had an older son, their heir, they longed for another child, yet the queen was unable to conceive again. So, Valentina was adopted when she was three years old. At first, she was loved by her new family and grew up as a happy girl. The king even betrothed her to the young duke Alvin Cremond, as Alvin's father and the king were good friends.

Alvin and Valentina got along well; they were good friends, and Alvin was happy that his future wife was a very beautiful girl with albino hair and ruby eyes. But when they were both 14 years old, the true princess appeared; she was finally found in an orphanage on the outskirts of the empire. When that girl arrived, both the kings and the prince were thrilled. The girl, who was kind and charismatic, immediately won the affection of all, and even Alvin began to grow close to her, causing Valentina to feel left behind. In the palace, seeing that the albino girl was being looked down upon by everyone, the servants began to ignore her, happily serving the true princess, Frida.

Valentina no longer had a pretty room, nor the most beautiful dresses, nor delicious food; only out-of-date clothes and the leftovers from dinner. When she informed the queen of this, she was merely scolded and accused of lying, as Frida defended the maids and swore they were not bad. Valentina became furious and shouted at Frida; even Alvin rebuked Valentina for being unkind to the servants and yelling at Frida. Feeling alone and abandoned, her resentment towards Frida grew as she matured, leading her to become a capricious girl who humiliated anyone she wished. Seeing her fiance grow closer to Frida, she accused her of being a shameless woman for getting involved with a committed man. Frida simply cried, and it was Alvin who always protected her, alongside his brother, the crown prince. The kings no longer wanted Valentina in their family due to all the problems she caused, but if they expelled her, the reputation of the royal family would be affected. Despite all that Valentina did, she was an intelligent young woman and a flower among the society of noblewomen, unlike Frida, who only garnered sympathy from young ladies and young men.

However, due to her jealousy at seeing the closeness between Frida and Alvin, Valentina attempted to assassinate Frida, but Frida was saved in time and Valentina was accused of attempted murder, resulting in her execution. Following this, Alvin and Frida began their betrothal; they were the perfect couple and faced every adversity together. Finally, in the last arc of the novel, the younger prince of Trois Blanc, Maximiliam Chevalier, arrives in Asdefor as a representative of his parents. The moment Frida sees him, she is struck by his attractiveness—he had long blonde hair and beautiful red eyes.

During the welcome party, Frida approaches him, offering to be his guide during his stay. Maximiliam is grateful but prefers to keep his distance from her. Nevertheless, Frida always tried to be close to him, which made Alvin begin to feel jealous, causing their relationship to start to fracture.

Fed up with seeing Maximiliam always near Frida, Alvin confronts him during a party. When he sees Frida hanging on Maximiliam’s arm, he approaches and punches the blonde, accusing Maximiliam of trying to steal his fiancee. This event startled everyone, including the king. Alvin challenges him to a duel to prove that he is the one who deserves Frida, an offer that Maximiliam refuses.

"Why would I fight for the hand of that whore?" were Maximiliam’s words.

Everyone present fell silent, and Alvin used his magic to attack Maximiliam, but as soon as the attack began, Alvin was defeated, and Maximiliam did not hesitate to kill him before Frida's shocked gaze. Upon seeing everything, the king demanded that Maximiliam marry his daughter or face disgrace, as her fiance had died. Frida claimed to agree, but Maximiliam rejected the request. When the king threatened to imprison him, Maximiliam took it upon himself to destroy the palace, killing the king and his entire family, except for Frida, who ended up as a beggar, for the kingdom was taken by trois Blanc, and she lost everything, marking the end of the story. Of course, the author was met with harsh criticism for giving the protagonist such a conclusion, where she ended up with neither of the boys. Others agreed, saying that Frida deserved it for acting childishly and absurdly, believing she was in the right by flirting with Maximiliam while engaged to another.

And there stood a small albino girl with red eyes in front of the mirror, gazing at her reflection, surprised to see herself in that way; she looked like a 14-year-old girl.

Only a couple of hours earlier, she had awakened in that strange room, confused and unaware of her location. Her last memory was of how her life had ended, and suddenly she found herself waking up in who knows where. But memories came flooding back like a movie playing her entire life until the moment of her execution, and that was how she realized that she was now Valentina Befort, the villain of that novel with a bitter ending. But that was beside the point; what she disliked was Valentina's ending, as she had only become a villain because of those who despised her. She stepped away from the mirror and sat on the edge of the bed, observing her hands—they were far too thin. According to her memory, she was 14, but she looked like a 12-year-old, perhaps stemming from the lack of care she received.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance; it was bothersome to have been reborn in that poor girl. Yet, when she thought about it, it was better to be Valentina than Frida. That girl was pretty but also hateful and foolish. At least by being Valentina, she had many more chances of survival since she was a powerful mage, even though the real Valentina had failed to take advantage of it.

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After sleeping for a while, upon waking, a maid entered the room and left a tray of cold soup and a glass of water. Valentina eyed the dish, which explained why she was so thin and small. Just as the maid was about to leave, the plate, along with the soup, shattered against her head, causing it to break and cut her scalp. The maid fell to the floor, her hands clasped over her head, and when Valentina saw them, they bore remnants of soup and a red liquid. She was about to say something when the girl lunged at her, covering her mouth and pointing a utensil at her eye.

"Bring me something decent to eat or next time, I’ll stab you in the eye with this utensil."

The woman nodded, and as soon as Valentina stepped back, the young maid ran out. But it wasn't long before the queen and her favored daughter entered her room.

"They serve you food, and how do you repay them? By attacking the maid? You’re a disgrace." The queen shouted at her.

"She brought me a soup that isn’t fit for consumption. Is that how you usually eat?" she asked seriously.

"How deceitful you are, but if you refuse to eat, I will leave you without food."

The queen ordered that no one be allowed to feed her for the rest of the day.

"Oh sister! How could you? The maid is just doing her job; you shouldn’t belittle her..."

"Shut up, you stupid brat." Valentina directed her gaze at Frida.

"What did you say? I won’t allow you to speak to my daughter like that; you’re ungrateful." The queen scolded her.

"What should I be grateful for? I don't have anything left." she replied.

"Don’t say that, sister; you’ve always had the best. My parents have given you everything; you should be thankful." Frida implored her.

"Don’t you get tired of saying nonsense? Your voice is irritating, as is hers, Your Majesty." Valentina looked annoyed by the presence of the two.

"That will be enough, Valentina. You won't have good food; it'll be bread and water for three days. Learn to respect yourself," the queen scolds her. "And you can't leave for a week."

The queen and Frida exit the room, and the queen orders that Valentina be kept inside for five days, where she will only be given water and bread.

...

After being locked up, Valentina remains calm, seeing that they only feed her bread and a glass of water is not the end of the world. For the moment, she has dedicated herself to assimilating a little more the new life that she now has, her destiny in dying because of her sister and her fiance, but she will make sure that destiny never comes, after all, she is not interested in fighting for that useless man, he really is not worth it.

What interests her now is to improve her quality of life, she must strengthen her body and improve her skills, if she intends to survive that world, she must be strong. A maid enters the room, she was the one who attacked her days before and seeing Valentina standing by the window, she throws a piece of stale bread on the floor.

"There's your food, rat. The queen is thinking how to get rid of you, so enjoy your last meals." she shows a mocking smile.

Apparently the maids like to mistreat those who are more miserable than themselves. Valentina takes a couple of steps until she reaches the maid.

"Don't come near me, you filthy animal, you're going to give me your plague."

The maid tries to push Valentina, but she sees how she backs up a little and waves her hand, immediately blood begins to spurt from the maid's neck and Valentina screams. Other maids enter, seeing their companion fall to the ground bleeding from the neck and when they look at Valentina, she is in a corner watching everything with a frightened expression, hugging her knees.

"What happened here? Hey, you, what did you do to her?" yells the maid.

Valentina doesn't answer and just keeps looking scared.

"We have to tell the guards, I think she's dead." says the other maid.

Both look at Valentina, but she just looks scared and trembling with fear.

"What happened? You saw it, you talk wretch..." another maid yells at her.

"Hey, watch how you talk, besides look at her, she's scared." her companion scolds her.

"I'm just saying what it is, the king and queen don't even want her. I'll get the guards."

That maid leaves the room, while the one who stays, approaches Valentina and crouches down to her height.

"Are you okay? That woman." she points to the dead woman. "Did she hurt you? Did you see what happened to her?" she asks in a gentle voice.

"Sh-she... wanted to hit me... I ran and she fell on that..." she points to a shard of glass covered in blood. "I took it off her and the blood wouldn't stop coming out."

Valentina hid her face and the maid could hear her sobs, the young woman looks at the poor girl crying, it was so unfortunate that the king and queen have her in such a state and that they let the servants mistreat her, even if they have found their real daughter, at least they should give that girl the same affection and not leave her alone just because the real princess appeared.

Later the queen was informed of the incident, that maid testified what Valentina told her and offered to be the one to attend to Valentina to avoid such incidents. The queen allows this and goes on with her business in her office, but the crown prince was present, as he has recently returned from a study trip and watches as his mother downplays what happened.

"Aren't you going to see Valentina? She must be traumatized by what happened, Mother, even if she doesn't carry our blood, you adopted her, she is your daughter."

"Silence Omar, she is fine, besides I have to finish this because I have to attend a tea party with Frida, my daughter." mentions the queen smiling.

"Valentina is also your daughter, from the moment you adopted her, I don't understand why you do this, Valentina deserves better treatment." Omar looked annoyed.

The queen slams both hands on the desk.

"My daughter is Frida, Valentina was just her replacement and if it weren't for the family's reputation, she would already be back in the orphanage." She yells.

Omar is disappointed by his mother's words, he doesn't understand how she is capable of leaving Valentina in oblivion and focusing only on Frida, who also seems to be quite spoiled, seeking everyone's attention. Omar leaves that office and goes in search of Valentina, but upon entering the room that was supposed to be the girl's, there were only a lot of mannequins with luxurious dresses.

"Oh, Your Highness, this is Her Highness Princess Frida's dress collection." mentions a maid.

"What? Then where is Princess Valentina? This was her room." he asks annoyed.

"The queen ordered her to be moved to another room as punishment for tearing Princess Frida's favorite dress." the maid replies nervously. "That girl is in the south wing."

"What? That area is only for storage..." he can't believe his mother would do such a thing. "Have a room prepared in my palace, and it's not"that girl", it's Her Highness to you, do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Royal Highness." The maid curtsies and runs to comply with the order.

Omar, meanwhile, goes to the south wing of the palace. It was inhumane what his mother was doing and just for tearing a dress, Valentina would not do that, did she even investigate before punishing her?

Upon reaching the site, he asks for the room and when he is in front of it, he first knocks and receives permission to enter. Upon entering, he sees Valentina sitting near the window in an old chair and also her clothes were so old-fashioned, they looked like commoner's clothes. When Valentina saw him, she knew immediately who it was because of his appearance, so she stands up and curtsies.

"Greetings, Your Royal Highness, the Crown Prince."

"That's not necessary, I know what happened, how are you? You have witnessed something horrible." he asks worriedly.

Valentina shows an expression of confusion, of course, she didn't understand why Prince Omar was being kind, since in the story, he also walked away from her to always be aware of Frida.

"If I don't do it right, the queen gets angry with me." she looks down.

"As long as Mother doesn't see, it's not necessary, tell me, are you okay? Did that maid hurt you?"

"Not today... I managed to escape... but if I hadn't, she would be fine, right? Are they going to execute me? They say I killed her..." Valentina hugs herself, trembling.

"No one is going to hurt you, it was an accident, look, you're coming with me, this is no place for you." he offers his hand.

"N-no, if I come out the queen will be angry, I'm being punished, I can't come out and I must only eat bread and water..." she takes a few steps back.

"Don't worry, Mother won't do anything to you, you will be under my care..."

Omar keeps his hand outstretched, while Valentina watches, she doesn't understand what is happening, but if the prince really wants to help her, perhaps she should take advantage of that help, so she gets what she needs to get rid of the king and queen, their daughter and that young duke, although they did nothing to her, they are all trash and it wouldn't be bad for her to get rid of them, that way she has a little fun.

Omar gave her a room on the ground floor and that maid who was kind, is now her personal maid, the young woman's name is Lauren, she is kind and makes sure she is served her food, prepares her bath and Omar also ordered her to bring new dresses. When the queen learned that Omar would have her in his palace, she became angry and complained to the king, because the prince was overstepping his authority, removing Valentina's punishment, punishment given because of her bad behavior, but Omar knew how to convince his father to leave Valentina in his care, since he would be in charge of providing her with the best teachers so that her education would improve. So now Valentina has to have different classes during the day and in the afternoon, she can have her rest, although among all the teachers, none teaches magic.

"Magic? I didn't think you were interested in learning it, nor have we checked if you possess magic."

"So, is it possible that I don't have magic because I'm a commoner?" she asks sadly.

"What? Who said that? Possessing magic has nothing to do with status." he checks some papers. "I think I can bring a wizard and we'll see if you possess magic, do you think so?"

"Really? Yes, I want to know if I have magic, thank you, Your Highness." she curtsies.

Omar smiles seeing Valentina happy. Although he still can't believe that his parents are pushing her aside, even Frida doesn't approach her and a couple of days ago she scolded him for having Valentina in his palace and asked to move too, but Omar didn't give in, so Frida got angry and hasn't gone looking for him. It seems that the queen spoils her too much and is making her a spoiled and capricious girl.

...

~~~~NOTE~~~~

This story is part of the saga of, The Villain and The Emperor. This being the

Maximilian, is the son of Regis and Maxime, which is mentioned at the end of The Villain and The Wolf.

The order is this;

1\- The Villain and The Emperor.

2\- The Villain and The Prince.

3\- The Witch and The Wolf.

4 \- (this novel) The Villain and The Demon Princess.

Now that she lives with her brother, everything seemed calm. She had the right place for her magic practices, and thanks to the teachers Omar hired, she is learning a lot about that world. Unfortunately, that was interrupted when Lauren informed her that Princess Frida and the young Duke Alvin were in the tea room, waiting for her. It seems that Frida doesn't learn; even Omar had told her not to enter his palace because if something happened to her, Valentina would be the first to be accused. But surely, they already know that Omar has gone on an exploration, and that's why Frida went to see her, taking advantage of Alvin being at the palace.

Valentina entered the room, observing that pair of brats calmly drinking tea. Frida was a pretty girl, with brown hair and blue eyes, worthy of being a protagonist, just like Alvin, a boy with blond hair and green eyes, a true nobleman.

Valentina curtsied in their presence, greeting them nonchalantly, and took a seat.

"I heard about the maid's accident. I'm sorry you had to witness something so horrible."

"That poor woman, what happened was unfortunate; she was a kind and helpful woman," Frida expressed sadly.

"I believe the princess was not informed, but that maid assaulted me, which is why the accident happened," Valentina replied.

"I-I didn't know..." Frida bowed her head sadly.

"Your Highness, you must not speak to your sister like that; she was not aware."

"How strange, she was present when the Queen punished me for no reason. That's why that maid felt she had the right to attack me, or she is too foolish to remember, or she is just playing ignorant," Valentina replied with a malicious look.

"Your Highness, it is disrespectful to speak to your sister like that; she has only come because she is worried about you," Alvin said, hitting the table, looking annoyed.

"Then she shouldn't come; no one is forcing her to. Besides, she knows she is forbidden to enter this palace and yet she has come, taking advantage of His Royal Highness's absence."

Hearing this, Frida was startled, as Valentina was telling the truth. Her brother had forbidden her from entering the palace.

"I don't understand why they forbid Her Highness Frida from coming to this palace. She is only worried about you," replied Alvin.

There is no doubt that they are two peas in a pod, a couple of fools who justify each other.

"It's interesting how my fiance protects my sister with everything and not me, how curious. If anyone saw them, they would swear that my sister is the fiancee," Valentina replied calmly.

Both fell silent, because although she is only 14 years old, they know that their friendship can be misinterpreted by society.

"I'm just saying what is fair; the Crown Prince is the brother of both of you; there should be no preference."

"Tell that to the King and Queen and yourself, because from what I see, their favorite is my sister. Maybe you should change your fiancee," she said with a mocking smile.

Again, Alvin didn't know what to say, and Frida just looked down, not knowing what to answer. If she gave too many excuses, she would look even more guilty. She doesn't understand at what point Valentina started to behave this way; before, she would just lower her head and let everyone scold her. Valentina stood up and curtsied.

"I wish you happiness. And Princess Frida, my brother will know about your visit."

Valentina hurried out of the room, and as she walked down the halls, she only showed an expression of annoyance. It was tedious to have to deal with that pair; she only hopes that they will soon get engaged and get away from her, that way, she can continue with her life in peace.

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That same night, Frida let the Queen know how Valentina treated her and Alvin when they went to visit her.

"The young Duke was worried about her and took me to see her, but she was very rude to him. Mother, Valentina is strange; she wasn't like that."

"Certainly, she wasn't, but don't worry, dear; I will see to it that she is disciplined in the right way," replied the Queen.

She cannot allow Valentina to ruin the engagement with the Cremonds; they have a lot of influence, and Valentina is perfect to marry Alvin since she is submissive and obedient. Besides, Frida deserves more. She is destined to marry a man of equal or even higher status, like the Crown Prince of an empire, and she has one in mind, to which the kingdom belongs. She wants her daughter to be able to marry the youngest son of the Emperors of Trois Blanc, since there have been rumors that he could inherit the throne, as the older sister has shown no desire to do so. The Queen has sent an invitation this year, for Frida's birthday; she will soon be 15 years old and will be presented to society.

"And I hope you will be more aware that you cannot walk alone with the young Duke."

"But mother, he is my friend; ever since I arrived at the palace, he has been the one who has been kind to me."

"I don't want any malicious rumors about you and that young man, or you won't be able to find a fiance worthy of you."

Frida fell silent and looked down; what her mother said did not please her at all, because the one she likes is Alvin. He has been kind to her, protecting her from the bad intentions of other girls; she even thinks that Valentina doesn't deserve him.

Valentina was on the roof of her brother's palace. It was night, the night breeze was pleasant, and no one bothered her while she practiced a couple of combat moves. Although she knows the movements, that body is still weak; she needs to strengthen it. At least for the moment, she already knows some magic spells, although the most surprising thing for her teachers and Omar was that the magic she wields is strange, as it is dark magic, and although it is not associated with anything evil, it is strange that someone can use it.

Valentina concentrated, creating a kind of dark energy in her hand, she stretched her hands, managing to form a kind of bow with the energy and pretended as if she was going to shoot an arrow, creating one with the same dark energy, when Valentina pretended to release the arrow, it shot out towards the garden of the main palace and could be seen as a small explosion. At this, the guards mobilized, the lights of the palace came on, the uproar could be heard, with the guards beginning to search for where that attack came from. Valentina smiled; that power is interesting. If she manages to manipulate it well, she will be able to do great wonders.

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And so, finally, the day of Frida's party arrived to be presented to society as the beloved princess of her parents. When announced, she entered on the arm of the King, because she wanted Alvin to be her escort, but for obvious reasons, the Queen refused, and Omar did not want to accompany her, as he had to leave the kingdom. Of course, the Queen demanded that he leave that mission and stay, it was an important date for Frida, his sister, but Omar was not going to leave aside his duty for the whim of a spoiled girl. Valentina was at the party, as she had her presentation when she turned 14, a few months before Frida arrived at the palace.

Alvin approached Valentina since it was time for the dance to begin, and he wanted to tell her that Frida had asked him to be her first dance. Valentina just nodded disinterestedly and walked away from him, causing confusion in the boy. But since it was not the time to argue, he went in search of Frida, although the Queen forbade her to dance because she was waiting for someone special who would be Frida's escort in her first dance. And so the night wore on, that someone did not arrive, and the attendees waited anxiously for the princess to have her first dance.

"Your Majesty, if there was no answer, maybe he won't come," her maid mentioned to her.

The Queen was upset, so she had no choice but to announce that Frida's escort could not make it due to a complication, so Alvin Cremond would be the one to dance with Frida as a special favor to his fiancee's sister. And so, the dance began. Valentina knew that this moment would be the beginning of the romance between that pair of fools.

...