Read Reverse Engineering the Villainess :: Prologue

There once lived a psychic.

She foresaw her future at a young age- that she was going to die young.

Although saddened by this, she knew she could not change fate.

She continued to live her life and had a small family.

But when her inevitable time came, she had many regrets in her life.

“I lived such a meaningless life,” she said to herself.

In her last minutes of living, she had another foresight- her daughter was going to die young as well.

So she made a wish to god:

“I wish for my daughter to continue living and find herself a life with meaning.”

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[In an engineering office in the modern world, a lone woman, Norma Lee, clicks through her simulation system. The office is completely dark because of inactivity, but is dimly lit by Norma’s computer screen. It is one of those days where Norma stays late after work again. After working meticulously on her simulation setup, she watches the job status window. The simulation iterated through a couple cases successfully but all of a sudden: “SIMULATION FAILED: NO CONVERGENCE.” Expecting this, Norma stares at the error message blankly- too tired to feel anything.]

NORMA (talking to herself):

“Maybe it’s time to go home.”

[She closes her laptop and realizes that the office has become very dark. To activate the sensor lights, she gets up from her chair and starts walking around to activate them. The white office lighting starts to turn on, slightly burning her eyes due to shock. Then, Norma goes back to her desk and starts packing up her things to go home.]

I wasn’t brilliant.
I wasn’t one of those shiny, fast-talking engineers who won awards and got promoted.

In fact, I was just another cog on the wheel.

And being a woman, when I did speak up, men just took my ideas and slapped their names on them.So eventually, I just stopped talking.

But I found some solace from working alone.

It’s a lot more quiet that way but…

Everyday is the same day. Just wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep.

Maybe this is just how my life will play out, I always thought to myself.

Just another mundane, insignificant life.

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Norma left the office. It is a rainy night but she drowns everything out by wearing headphones on her walk home. Walking alone on the sidewalk, she looks down at her feet. Each step splashing a bit of water as she is walking towards her dreary apartment. Stopping at a busy intersection, she waits for the signal to turn green. As the rain is constantly downpouring, she stands there in solitude, and deeply sighs to herself. The crosswalk light turns green and she starts to cross the street. All of a sudden, a loud screeching noise is heard along with a loud honk. Already in the middle of the road, Norma turns to the sound of the noise. A large truck hydroplanes on the road and is driving towards her. Suddenly, a bright light starts to fill her vision, her eyes slightly widening.]

And then…
I was suddenly removed from my world.

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[The bright sunlight bleeds through embroidered curtains into a large, ornate room. The birds chirp loudly outside. The main focal point of the room is a large bed with a velvet canopy dressed with golden silk sheets. A gilded mirror sits across from the bed and a dresser with a large mirror sits directly next to the bed. Hearing the birds, Norma opens her eyes forcibly and gasps out of shock. Breathing heavily, she immediately bolts upright on the bed.]

??? (shocked):
“Where...? Where am I…? Didn’t I just get hit…?”

[Norma looks in front of her- a fancy, huge room that she isn’t familiar with. She then looks at her hands- unfamiliar slender and petite fingers. Scanning the room, she looks to her left and sees the dresser mirror. What’s reflected back at her: black, long wavy hair cascading over her shoulders, unfamiliar gray eyes, and wearing a white regal nightgown. Startled at seeing someone different reflected back to her, she stares at herself in the mirror.]

??? (whispers to herself):
“That’s not me. Am I dreaming?”

[Before Norma could really process her thoughts, the bedroom door slightly opens, and a maid holding a tray slowly invites herself in. Once the maid sees the lady awake in bed, she immediately stops, frozen in place.]

MAID (cautious):
"L-Lady Caelia… You’re awake?"

[Caelia looks over at the maid standing frozen at the door with utter perplexity.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Caelia..? Who’s that…? Is that supposed to be me???

[She then smiles awkwardly at the maid, not knowing how to answer.]

CAELIA (confused):

“U-Um… Yes…?”

[Hearing Caelia’s calm response, the maid was terrified that she had done something wrong. Looking at Caelia, the maid notices her smiling, which was even more uncommon.]

MAID (surprised):
"...You’re… smiling?"

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

That’s such a weird question to ask!!!

[Now even more confused at her current situation, Caelia tries to find the correct response to the maid.]

CAELIA (shaky):
“Do I usually not…?”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Who is Caelia? Why does it sound so familiar…? It sounds pretty uncommon, where have I heard that name before? Honestly… it sounds like a villainess name.

[After thinking that, Norma immediately glances around her room noting that her furniture looks very historic and gold plated. She then made an instant realization.]

Fuck.

──────────﹒✶﹒﹒─

[INFO: LADY CAELIA ARDENT – Daughter of Duke Edward Ardent. A cruel noblewoman and antagonist of the romance novel The Radiant Rose of Everhart who is doomed to die by the crown prince’s sword.]

─﹒﹒✶﹒──────────

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:
I know this story. I know this woman.

She’s the villainess- the arrogant, bitter one who spent the entire book sabotaging the sweet little heroine. And then… died.

Have I reincarnated as her?!?! No way, right?! I must be dreaming!

[Caelia slightly pinches herself to test if this was all a dream but when she feels the pain, a stronger wave of confusion consumes her.]

I… I feel the pain… How does this even happen??!?!!

There is no logical explanation for this!!!

MAID (scared):

“I - I’m gonna leave the tea in your room, okay Lady Caelia?”

[The maid cautiously enters Caelia’s chambers and slowly walks towards the nightstand next to Caelia’s bed. The maid carefully drops off the items from her silver tray one at a time. As she’s preparing the morning tea, Caelia thinks to herself, thinking very pessimistically in her head.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

How come when I die, I am reincarnated?

Much less, reincarnate as someone who has already done damage…

I skimmed this story in my previous life! I barely remember it! Where are we even at in the story?

[Caelia quietly sighs to herself.]

Realistically… shouldn’t I have just moved on when I passed?

[Remembering how she died in her first life, she is mad at the world for allowing someone as unimportant as her continue to live. She felt a huge amount of anxiety looming over her. Then she averts her gaze to the large windows next to her, basking in the natural lighting from the sun.]

Honestly… I’d rather have that.

Can I even do anything about this?

There’s no way someone like me could ever survive in this story…

[Caelia starts thinking of her lonely past. Long hours staring at the computer screen, aimlessly clicking random buttons without any meaningful reason. If she didn’t get hit by the truck, she probably would’ve made it home, made the same dinner, and then slept. Her phone would’ve been empty of notifications from anyone with no one checking up on her. It would’ve been like any other day.]

Well… It’s not like I lost too much in my life anyway…

[She continues to look out the window, noticing that it is a sunny day today- a contrast to the rainy day when she had passed.]

I need to do some research about this situation. Maybe the library has something.

[The maid works at the nightstand and pours the tea into Caelia’s teacup. Trying to avoid eye contact with Caelia as much as possible, the maid kept her head low. Feeling like she had no one else to ask, Caelia musters up the courage to talk to the maid.]

CAELIA (gently to the maid):

“Could you remind me where the library is later?”

[The maid is speechless because of Caelia’s atypical gentleness and newfound interest in reading, almost dropping the teapot as she pours.]

MAID (scared):

“M-My Lady, are you feeling alright? You have never been interested in reading before.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Was the only hobby Caelia ever did was torment the main lead?!

[Caelia awkwardly smiles again, being careful with her word choice.]

CAELIA (cautious):

“I’m feeling fine… I just want to try it out…”

[Now finished with pouring her tea, the maid stands up straight and bows to Caelia.]

MAID (agreeing):