The Villain's Wife

Noelle

"Romantic Passion" is the last novel Lucie read before she ended her life. The story was about Odette Picard, a young orphan who is adopted by the Le Blanc family. She was a beautiful little girl who easily won the affection of her new parents, except Noelle Le Blanc, the couple's biological daughter. Noelle was indifferent towards Odette and always grew angry whenever Odette tried to be her friend.

When both girls turned fifteen and made their debut in society, Odette asked that they donate the money from her celebration to an orphanage, while Noelle requested a luxurious party attended by influential nobles. At the event, the queen was enchanted by Noelle's beauty and compelled the crown prince to dance with her. Shortly after, Noelle is forced into a political engagement with Diamond's heir, Prince Francis Roche. Although it was a forced arrangement, Francis tried to get along with Noelle. However, she was a selfish and materialistic girl driven solely by wealth, which displeased Francis. Especially because he had met Odette earlier, who was the complete opposite of Noelle. They became great friends, and as Noelle started feeling jealous, Francis and Odette fell in love.

Francis did everything he could to break off his engagement, and eventually, Noelle realized she couldn't force the prince to marry her. Unexpectedly, the Baron decided to send Noelle to marry Raizel Ivanov, the Grand Duke of the neighboring Darklands, a land filled with monsters, danger, and shadows. Noelle's journey to those lands was even perilous, but she finally married the Grand Duke, a womanizer who cared little for Noelle's presence, continuing his eccentric life of parties, alcohol, and women.

Noelle became the laughingstock of society because she lost her engagement to the prince and married a man who didn't care for her. One night, while returning alone from a party, Noelle's carriage was intercepted by bandits. She tried to escape as those men not only wanted her jewels but also desired to take advantage of her. Although she managed to flee, Noelle was relentlessly pursued until she was struck by the bandits' arrows. She died alone in the middle of a forest, where she would likely be devoured by beasts. By the time Regis found her, she had already passed away, indifferent to her fate.

After several months without news of Noelle, Odette went to the Grand Duke's castle only to learn of her death. At that moment, Raizel fell in love with Odette and asked her to stay with him. Upon her rejection, Raizel became obsessed as no woman ever refused him and forced her to stay. When her father tried to take her away, Raizel killed him. Learning about Odette's love for the crown prince, Raizel initiated a rebellion to eliminate the royal family and have Odette solely for himself. Unfortunately for Raizel, Odette managed to escape and warned others about his plans. In this way, they gained the advantage and defeated Raizel, who was one of the main villains in the novel. Lucie remembers finding it absurd that a villain would start a war just to possess a girl; it made no sense.

At the age of eight, Lucie realized that she had been reincarnated as Noelle. Her memories flooded back to her when she fainted, remembering the story and her past life. At such a young age, Odette had already been adopted, fortunately Noelle was not a villain harassing her adoptive sister; she was simply indifferent. Lucie also didn't care about getting along with that girl, all she wanted was to prevent her death. So, as soon as she recovered, she asked her father to allow her to learn how to fight. The Baron and his wife were surprised but, after some discussion, they decided to grant her permission to train and even arranged for the best instructors for her.

"Sister, learning to fight is for boys, you are a girl."

"Evil people don't are whether you are a boy or a girl, they will still kill you."

"Do you want me to die? But I haven't done anything wrong..."

Odette immediately started to cry, causing the maidens to look at Noelle as if she were the one to blame. Ignoring that, she decided to distance herself from the scene. Odette undoubtedly had the sympathy of everyone, who were oblivious to how foolish their actions were. She hadn't even threatened Noelle, yet she took it as if she had.