Liliengela is the youngest daughter of a ducal family.
The shock of having her engagement broken off moments ago triggered the resurgence of memories from her previous life. From these memories, Liliengela realized that this world is the setting of a novel called “Maricia’s Happiness”. She also came to understand her role in it—that of the pitiful villainess.
As a so-called villainess, however, Liliengela had done nothing wrong. She was merely the hero’s fiancée, but because her position placed her in opposition to the heroine, the novel labeled her as the “villainess.”
In this dynamic:
- Liliengela was the villainess.
- Her fiancé, Lucius, was the hero.
- The heroine, Maricia, was Lucius’s lover, forming a love triangle.
Liliengela’s father, Duke Romana, had been deeply worried about her frailness at birth and coddled her to no end. Everyone around her praised her endlessly, nurturing her into a sweet but somewhat airheaded young lady, which was unusual for someone of her high social rank. Eventually, the Duke arranged for her to be engaged to the son of a rival noble family, as part of a political alliance. The innocent Liliengela, trusting her father’s decision, adored her fiancé Lucius with all her heart—but Lucius did not feel the same.
The kingdom itself was prosperous, with abundant lands, but its ruler was only a six-year-old boy.
Many nobles, including Duke Romana, believed it was no time for internal power struggles, as tensions with neighboring countries, which were strengthening their military forces, were on the rise. This led to numerous political marriages to promote unity, with Liliengela’s engagement being one of the most significant.
Duke Romana, in an effort to foster reconciliation and solidarity among the nobles, had hoped Liliengela’s earnest love for Lucius would symbolize the unification of the kingdom’s factions. However, Lucius, still holding onto the long-standing enmity between their families, refused to open his heart to Liliengela and instead took the hand of Maricia, a heroine of the same cheerful and carefree disposition as Liliengela.
Though similar in personality, there was a stark difference between them: Liliengela, as a noble, possessed proper education and etiquette, while Maricia, a commoner, did not.
In aristocratic society, ignorance of protocol is rarely forgiven.
Ultimately, the absolute reality of social hierarchy became an insurmountable barrier. Lucius and Maricia, burning with the passion of their “true love,” abandoned everything and fled the kingdom together. This was the prologue of “Maricia’s Happiness, which focused on their journey through foreign lands, accompanied by a guard.
The real issue, however, was this: What happens when a high-ranking noble, engaged as a symbol of reconciliation between factions, has their engagement publicly broken?
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