Xia Wei awoke to a splitting headache.

A dull ache pulsed behind her temples, and the scent of burning incense filled her nose—too rich, too suffocating. Her body felt weak, like she had been lying here for days. When she tried to sit up, pain shot through her skull, making her wince.

“Miss! You’re awake!” A frantic voice pierced through her grogginess.

Xia Wei blinked, her vision adjusting to the dim candlelight. A young girl knelt beside her bed, eyes brimming with tears. The face was unfamiliar, but her words sent an ominous shiver down Xia Wei’s spine.

Miss?

Her fingers tightened around the silk sheets. This bed, this room—it was too luxurious. Polished wooden panels stretched up to an intricately carved ceiling, and the faint flicker of candlelight cast long shadows over delicate furniture. Everything looked expensive.

Her gaze landed on the bronze mirror placed near the bedside. The reflection staring back at her was not her own.

Beautiful. That was the first thought that struck her. The girl in the mirror had delicate, snow-white skin, a small cherry-red mouth, and large, phoenix-shaped eyes that should have sparkled with arrogance—but they were currently filled with stunned disbelief.

Who… am I?

Suddenly, memories that did not belong to her surged into her mind.

A lavish banquet. A proud young woman dressed in the finest silks. The murmur of nobles, their whispers sharp as knives—

"The infamous Xia Zhiwei is at it again." "Doesn’t she ever learn? The Crown Prince clearly favors Miss Shen." "She’s embarrassing herself. Again."

Then, a bitter confrontation. A beautiful, tear-streaked heroine standing opposite her, looking utterly heartbroken. The male lead, cold and indifferent, standing protectively in front of the heroine. And Xia Zhiwei herself—furious, humiliated, and thrown aside like a joke.

Then, poison.

Betrayed, discarded, left to die alone in her chambers.

The realization hit her like a lightning bolt. She had transmigrated into a novel—into the role of the most hated villainess.

Xia Zhiwei.

Xia Wei almost laughed.

This body’s original owner had been nothing short of a disaster. Stupidly obsessed with a man who despised her, blindly fighting for his attention when he only had eyes for the heroine, and digging her own grave by making an enemy out of every powerful person in the novel.

And she was supposed to be dead right now.

“What… happened?” Her voice came out hoarse.

The young maid quickly wiped her tears. “Miss, you—y-you were poisoned! The physician said it was a miracle you survived!”

Ah. A miracle?

No. That was her.

She had survived because she wasn’t the original Xia Zhiwei anymore.

A strange calm settled over her. So, she had replaced a villain doomed to fail? That was fine. Because she refused to live as someone else’s stepping stone.

If the original Xia Zhiwei had been an idiot, then she would become the kind of villainess that no one could trample on.

Her fingers traced the cool silk of the bedsheets, a slow smirk tugging at her lips.

“Prepare my clothes,” she murmured.

The maid blinked. “M-Miss?”

Xia Wei stretched her limbs and leaned back against the pillows, her smile deepening.

“If I was supposed to die, then I might as well live as I please now,” she said lazily. “It’s time to have some fun.”

Because if fate wanted her to be the villainess—then she would steal the male lead himself.

—End of Chapter 1—

Sky~