The Dead Villainess Had A Child With The Male Lead

Chapter 2 The Imperial Family

“Ugh… Ugh!”

Veronia opened her eyes, feeling her insides twist in pain.

A soft groan escaped her parched mouth.

‘I thought I was dead… alive?’

She didn’t recognise the unfamiliar landscape in front of her as all her senses were engulfed by the terrible pain.

‘…Ouch. It hurts so much! I might as well just… die…’

Veronia was not at all grateful or thrilled to be alive.

The intense pain made a peaceful death seem like a blessing.

“Aahhhh!”

With an agonized groan, Veronia fell unconscious again, slipping into a sleep that had no bottom or end.

***

How much time had passed.

Whether hours or days had passed, Veronia had no way of knowing.

All she knew was that she awoke in a very strange and new place.

Veronia lay still, her eyes darting this way and that as she tried to assess the situation.

Grave-faced doctors and maids were bustling about.

One of the many doctor, who appeared to be the general manager, approached her and spoke politely.

“Your Highness, you must be feeling much better now that your fever has gone down. Is there anything that is bothering you?”

“… No, I think I’m fine.”

Veronia shook her head slowly, lying flat on her back under the covers.

Her pale face looked gaunt, but inside she was cheering.

‘It’s amazing that she’s dead and possessed someone else’s body, but not just anyone else, but the Princess, that’s literally golden spoon!’

The corners of her mouth twitched, threatening to turn up.

‘No! It’s not even that bad, look at it now. How many doctors and maids are laboring to cure this one body.’

The unknown doctor, oblivious to her inward exclamation, resumed his polite explanation.

“There’s still some poison in your system, so you can’t eat a normal meal yet. Take the medicine for one more day and the poisonous energy will be completely out of your body.”

“…”

Veronia’s eyes widened at the word poison coming out of the councillor’s mouth.

‘What, I’ve been poisoned…? That’s why I’ve been so sick, is this the hated Princess?’

Veronia’s heart sank.

Life in the imperial palace, with death threats lurking around every corner! Veronica quickly grew to hate all these luxuries.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to just die, … rather than live in fear of dying?’

Veronia’s mind and heart jumbled.

Again, she heard the calm voice of the unknown doctor.

“If you take the tastes with your medication until today, you can return to your normal diet tomorrow.”

“…Yes.”

Veronia gave a small nod of her head.

The maids prepared the medicine and the rice wine as the doctor instructed.

Then it was time.

Without knocking, the door burst open, and the Emperor and Empress, dressed in their finery, entered, followed by the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and the Third Prince.

“Veronia is awake? How is she?”

“Veronia, are you alright?”

The Emperor and Empress came to her bedside in a flurry of excitement.

Veronia frowned at the strong smell of perfume that assaulted her nose.

But it wasn’t the smell that mattered now.

‘…Veronia? …Veronia!’

She recognized the name as soon as she heard it.

She knew she was in Evangelina of the Dawn, the romance fantasy web novel she spent her teenage years with.

It was a web novel in elementary school, a webtoon in middle school, and a collection of web novels and webtoons in high school, so how could she not know?

Thump, thump, thump, her heart began to beat wildly.

‘The original owner of this body was Veronia…? She is possessed by Veronia’s body, a wicked woman who is about to die!’

Princess Veronia was a typical evil character.

She viciously tormented the heroine, a saint, and eventually became a murderous, only to be found out and executed.

There was no deviation from the basic conditions of the villainess.

‘Originally, she was loved as the people’s sister and a national idol thanks to the image created by the imperial court, but her true nature was exposed to the world because she was mean to her original mistress.’

Even the imperial court could not prevent the execution of the only empress dowager.

The imperial court, a hotbed of luxury and indulgence, corruption and injustice, was powerless.

‘All power, no affection or interest.’

The Emperor and Empress did not regard Veronia as a daughter.

The crown prince and prince did not consider her a member of the family.

To them, she was a tool.

A tool to launder the image of a corrupt imperial family.

‘It’s quite functional, too, heh!’

Before she was born, the empire was in the throes of famine and starvation following a long drought.

The hunger-stricken people blamed the unkind heavens and pointed fingers at the incompetent imperial court.

But on the day the Princess was born, rain miraculously poured from the sky.

The rain continued for a week after that.

And so it was.

Veronia was loved by the people as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity.

But soon afterwards, hardship befell the Princess, who was special to the entire empire.

The previous Empress had died just a year after giving birth to her.

The people of the empire shed tears for her in unison.

Gradually, Veronia became deeply rooted in the hearts of the people as a place of affection.

But as they say, with every gain comes a loss.

The people’s undivided affection and concern for Veronia turned out to be a poison.

The emperor was incompetent in every way, but strangely enough, he was quite clever at exploiting the image of the young princess.

Thus, from the moment of her birth until she reached the age of twenty, Veronia’s every move was frequently illustrated in the newspapers with large pictures.

The imperial family used Veronia as a shield for the imperial family whenever there was an incident or mishap that made them look bad.

Even those who were outraged by the imperial incompetence and corruption laughed and cried at her articles.

‘Perhaps… there was a reason for this poison event as well?’

Veronia looked warily at the emperor and empress, the crown prince and prince.

The Empress, noticing that the doctors and maids had all disappeared, spoke first.

“I adjusted the medicine myself this time, and it was quite appropriate, don’t you think? You’re getting better at this!”

Ho ho ho, the Empress’s high-pitched laughter was deafening.

Standing beside her, Second Prince Tate chimed in.

He was Veronia’s older brother by two years.

“So, come to think of it, you were supposed to be unconscious for four days, then wake up, then spend another four days recuperating and nursing yourself back to health, I suppose?”

“Yes. That’s right, you remember exactly, Tate.”

“That’s amazing, you’re so good at sticking to the schedule I had planned.”

It was all bullshit, coming from a human mouth.

Leaning against the head of the bed, Veronia’s complexion grew paler and paler.

The mood of the rest of the household, however, could not have been more cheerful.

Third Prince Caspian opened his mouth.

The 15-year-old boy, who stood as tall as a mulberry tree but still hadn’t grown out of his boyish tee, lowered the corners of his eyes.

“Thanks to you, my sister, I’ve managed to get a story about me in the paper. I thought things were going to blow up this time, with a pig of a girl going blind and a stupid boy getting his leg crippled, but it’s all quiet!”

“It’s so quiet, it’s almost boring, what’s happened to people’s brains, they’ve forgotten all about it, thank you, sister!”

Ah… so that was it! Veronia clenched her molars, fighting back a surge of anger.

It was disgusting.

Even the imperial family, at the top of the hierarchy, was bound to be questioned if they repeatedly harmed people for no good reason.

Especially when the victim was a nobleman.

And if the perpetrator was the youngest prince, still in his infancy, there was a risk that the public would turn against him.

‘Poisoning Veronia to cover up an unsavoury incident involving the youngest prince! Can you call yourselves people after that?’

Veronia’s fists, which were curled up in the quilt, balled into fists.

The anger that had been building up inside Veronia began to boil over.

‘What? You think you’ve adjusted the medication properly? You’re wrong! Your Veronia is no longer in this world! She’s dead! The Veronia in front of you is not the real Veronia!’

She fought down the urge to shout at the pharyngeal-masked monsters.

The Emperor stroked his beard slowly and spoke with a stern expression.

Though in Veronia’s eyes, it only made them look like a bunch of fools to her.

“You’ll be glad to hear that. I’m sure you’ll be well enough to be on your feet by next week’s victory ceremony.”

The victory ceremony? Veronia’s ears perked up as she listened intently.

She had to pick up as many clues as she could about where the story was going.

The Empress interrupted the Emperor.

“Yes, the people will be enthusiastic again if you can show your regained health at the triumphal ceremony, and at the same time be affectionate with Lord Killion.”

The victory ceremony and Lord Killion.

So this was the beginning of the story.

‘Veronia hasn’t met her mistress Evangeline yet. She hasn’t earned her karma yet!’

Oh, thank God! There’s still a chance! Veronia secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was then. Caspian began to chuckle, his shoulders shaking.

“What a gullible lot they are! Stupid things!”

Veronia clicked her tongue inwardly and looked at her brother.

Caspian had beaten and crippled people for no particular reason, and he felt no guilt. The fifteen-year-old kid looked like the devil.

So did her family, who tried desperately to wrap their arms around her.

‘So far, so good,’ She thought, ‘they’ve managed to fool her people into doing what they want.’

It would have been easy.

They had a shield, a lovely, pitiful girl with a beautiful face they wanted to protect.

‘But that was yesterday, and from today onwards, things will not go your way, for Veronia, your puppet, is dead and gone!’