Saving the Villain

"… wait, what? Cosette, who?"

The maid raised her brows at the misplaced puzzlement of the young miss of the clan. There was a moment of silence between them before the maid called her name with a questioning tone. Only then did Cosette snap back to the current lapse.

"Leave me alone," Cosette ordered in a dead tone, looking away.

"But young miss."

"Leave."

The maid let out a shallow breath as her young miss' personality was getting cold every passing day. But she couldn't do anything about it as the last argument between Cosette and her father truly upset her.

"Then, I will tell the master you will have breakfast in your room," said the maid with a bow, leaving her alone without saying another word.

When Cosette was left alone, her jaw fell open as she stared at the mirror in horror. She couldn't believe what the maid called her. Although her original name was Cosette, her surname was different. That name… Cosette Blac was the name of one of her favorite characters in the novel The Devil's Den.

"It can't be, right?" she slapped herself to wake herself up from this dream, only to get disappointed and hurt.

Her cheek had already turned red, but she wouldn't wake up to reality! If anything, her face heated up at the constant slapping she did and it also hurt.

She couldn't possibly transmigrate inside the book, right?

"No way…" came out a whispered, feeling this sense of dread slowly envelop her heart. "That… this… only happens in novels."

She sat there for as long as she could remember, staring at herself in the mirror. When she finally got herself together, she rushed to her desk where her pink laptop was at.

"Come on…" she muttered, tapping her fingers against the desk impatiently. Once the screen turned on, her eyes instantly landed on the date. To her surprise, the date was… different.

Cosette had followed the Devil's Den for three years, re-reading it when she was bored with waiting for updates. So, she basically knew the world of the novel, the characters, the sequence of events, some powerful dialogue, and description like it was written at the back of her hand.

Although its setting was the modern world, the city, and the country, everything was different. It was a unique world heavily influenced by the modern world, but with many twists and turns. That was why she loved the novel in the first place.

"Did I really… become sister Cosette? My Goddess?" she covered her gaping mouth with her palm, still denying this unbelievable reality. "No, no. Maybe it's because of the medicines I'm having these strange dreams."

Cosette convinced herself that she was still inside the dream. A dream she could experience and could treasure before entering the pearly gates of heaven.

Deluded by the series of denials, Cosette tried to sneak a peek at Cosette Blac's laptop.

Based on the date, it was a decade early before the main story would start. In that case, Cosette was still in her early teens! Her face brightened up as she cupped her cheek, smiling from ear to ear, as she couldn't believe she would be able to see her favorite character in her teens.

In the story, Cosette was a sophisticated elite who can make a dollar ring make it look like it was a national treasure. The author used all kinds of praises whenever she described her — the villainess — and it only made it better with her personality.

Cosette never lost her composure even when the male lead refused her when she seduced him one time. If anything, Cosette laughed after getting rejected as if she was amused.

She was the perfect villainess, but somehow, no one shipped her with the villain. Actually, no one wanted to ship her with anyone because her personality was so strong it seemed no one deserved her.

"I don't want to wake up from this dream," she muttered while leaning back. All she saw in Cosette's laptop were presentations and things that a normal sixteen-year-old wouldn't do. Well, it was mentioned in the story that since Cosette was the heiress of the BLK Group, she pressured herself to deserve the title she was born to.

The sad part was, Cosette was so strict with herself that her relationship with her father only grew apart over the years. She thought her father wanted her to be the perfect leader of the company, so she played the role perfectly.

Only on her father's deathbed did she finally know that her father loved her dearly and wished for her happiness. That, what mattered to her father, was her own happiness before the company. But it was already too late.

"They all had sad stories." She frowned, thinking that the characters in this novel were pitiful. "If I'm going to live as sister Cosette for a day… will she be happy if I fix her relationship with her father?"

She pondered about what to do since she wouldn't wake up to reality until a knock from outside caressed her ears once again. It was the maid that came to her, telling her she prepared her breakfast.

"Come in," she permitted calmly, watching the maid push the food trolley. "I'll eat on my desk. I need to finish some things in school."

"Yes, young miss."

The maid carefully served the light breakfast on the wide desk while Cosette watched her in silence. She sounded so harsh on this old maid earlier, and she felt a little guilty about it. But that was because she was so shocked and confused at the same time.

"Don't go," Cosette uttered after the maid served the glass of water. "I want to ask you something."

"Yes, young miss?"

Cosette turned her swivel chair and sized up the maid. In the story, Cosette had this nanny who stood up like her mother and someone who treated her as her daughter. That maid helped Cosette emotionally and had stood beside her even when the entire world was against the villainess.

If her guess was correct, this was that nanny. "Nanny Lucia," she called in a quiet voice, studying the nanny's reaction.

"Yes, young miss?" Cosette heaved a sigh of relief when Lucia replied with brows raised.

"About Father…"

"I already told the master that you want to eat inside your room, young miss."

"No, I mean, do you know why I am upset with my father?" she shook her head lightly, carefully picking up the right words so she wouldn't sound suspicious.

Lucia hung her head low. "It's because the young miss wanted to start her training in the company, but the master is against it."

"And why is he against it?"

"Young Miss, please believe me if I say the master only wants you to enjoy your youth, and it's not because he thinks you're incapable of taking on big responsibilities!" Lucia exclaimed as she desperately looked at Cosette, hoping the stubborn young miss would listen to her for once.

'Of course, I believe you. Sister Cosette's lifetime goal was to make her father proud and ease his worry about the company. So, it is no surprise that she already wants to be more involved in the company at a young age,' Cosette uttered inwardly, letting out a sigh.

Cosette was already matured since childhood, but only when she was around ten did she start talking to her father as if they were simply business partners. She already knew the reason, and that was, the young Cosette wanted to prove to everyone she didn't need to be a boy to ease their worry on who would lead the BLK Group.

"Is that so?" she crooned, rocking her head lightly.

"Young miss…"

The side of her lips curled up into a smile as she glanced at Lucia. "Nanny, please inform the Master if he is free during dinner, I would like to join him."