The Villainess Survives

Amber managed to snuggle her way out of her mother's embrace and sat straight on the bed. To her left was her mother sleeping peacefully and to her right was a bedside table with a vase at an angle on top of it. She closed her eyes and faced the ceiling as she started to gather her thoughts. It should be quite easy as during the time that she was unable to move or do anything, she had organised her thoughts and meditated a lot.

The story 'The light mage and the prince' created by Amber in her past life was an otome game like story which takes place in a country called Tether. She created this story due to her obsession with reading them in her past life. Whenever she would have the time or the possibility to leave the house, she would always go to a friend's house where she could read all of those books that she couldn't possibly have at home. Though it didn't take long for her to figure out that she didn't like writing. Moving back to the main point, the story takes place in a magical institution for nobles. The institution is known as 'The Tethern Royal Mage Institution' or the TTRMI for short. Elise, the main character and heroine in this novel is a commoner who managed to enter the academy due to her magic affinity to light.

'Light Magic', categorised as Unique magic means that no one else apart from her has the ability to use this magic. It is symbolised by the absence of a magic tattoo and instead, her whole body glowing white when she was birthed and when she uses said magic. This gave her the unique advantage of being able to use magic from birth which has not been possible to date. Due to her mother's request, she was able to live a peaceful life in a rural village in exchange for a contract that would start when she turns 15.

The contract stated that: When the client reaches the age of 15, they shall be taken under royal custody along with the guardian.

At the age of 15, she was taken into protection by royalty and was then announced to the world. She also managed to sneak her friends into the school through some persuasion methods. Although at first she was hated by most, if not all the nobility, she slowly managed to win their hearts through her kindness and beauty. As a consequence of that, a few love interests arose which included the prince, duke, and even some lower-ranked nobles. This caused problems for the villainess, Amber Silverwood. She was in love with the prince for a reason that hadn't been elaborated on by the writer and saw problems in the way the prince was attracted to the commoner.

She would push, insult and just be an overall bully towards the lovable Elise. The closer the prince and Elise got together, the worse her bullying had become. She was envious of the love a mere commoner got instead of her. During a particularly heated conflict between the heroine and the villainess, Amber had pushed Elise in front of Prince Keith injuring her causing him to go ballistic for his love. He threatened Amber with execution and all she could do was just sit in silence and fear. At that moment, she realised what she was doing but it was too late to change things. Though to her surprise, Elise herself came to her rescue. The kind soul had managed to convince Keith to keep her punishment to a minimum meaning she only got exiled from the capital. Duke Silverwood, the father of Amber was under a lot of backlash so to clean up the mess, he revealed to the world that Amber was, in fact, a beast-kin, and faked a document stating that she wasn't the duke's daughter and was just adopted. This placed all the blame on Amber making her one of the most hated person in the kingdom.

That's the end of Amber in the story. Elise married Keith and they lived happily ever after. Elise's friends managed to become great and world-renowned mages that would affect the country for years. And her roommate at the institution, the daughter of a baron and the only noble that was kind to her from the beginning, Sophia Feathermond, was her right-hand woman during her marriage and would continue to support her. She also started working in the palace as a secretary and was managing all the income of the palace.

'And that's about it, I think.' Amber thought to herself as she finally organised all her thoughts neatly. 'Hmmm, but another question is why am I trapped here… I can't ask mom questions and there aren't any books in this room that could explain anything. Guess there is nothing I can do about it for now.'

Amber stretches her body and removes the comfortable bed sheets before jumping down from the bed.

'Now let's think about more exciting stuff, like MAGIC. But honestly, the whole kaboom thing doesn't sound pleasant.'

'BUT, I have a way to evade that!' She thought while grinning. Amber made her way to the corner of the room and sat down in a lotus position and started meditating. She slowly closed her eyes and relaxed every muscle in her body. She focused on herself and concentrated on every sensation across her body, including her wings. She was searching for a specific point, a feeling

'There!' She focused on the part of her body where she could feel something that wouldn't normally be on a human body. A polished blue crystal gem at the centre of her body.

This gem is called the mana pool as it contains all the mana of its host. It has an infinite amount of space but it usually only has a little bit of mana. The average ȧduŀt has a glass of mana available at most leaving an infinite amount of unused space. The reason why mana cannot be used by people younger than the age of 15 is that the place that connects the gem with the rest of the body is blocked. At the age of 15, the amount of mana is usually enough to destroy the blockage and allow mana to flow throughout the body. The things blocking the path of the mana are impurities in the body. The reason why light magic users can use magic at a young age is that the impurities are usually cleaned by affinity. This also means that they have more time to absorb mana from the atmosphere making them naturally stronger.

There are of course special cases of people who can use magic younger than the age of 15 or sometimes older but it does remain consistent for the most part. To unblock the path, you need more mana to be able to push and break the impurities.

'So the question now is how do we get more mana without absorbing them. Well, it's quite easy… You circulate it.'

The more you use magic, the more proficient you become. The same goes with mana. The more you use and move mana, the more proficient you become with magic. By circulating mana, not only are you becoming better at magic but you are also allowing the duplication of mana inside your body. The mana inside your body is part of your body itself. So you can move it but it's easier said than done. You need a lot of concentration and must be at peace of mind while doing it. But luckily for Amber, she has already become great at meditating so it should be easier for her than others. When one becomes good at it, they can even do it subconsciously or while they are asleep.

The mana droplet that was once stable inside the pool started to vibrate. At first, it was slow and the movement wasn't even obvious, but after a couple of hours, it got faster and faster. So fast that you could now only see a blur being left behind.

Finally, after 4 hours since starting the process, the mana droplet was duplicated. The mana particles split into two and slowly slowed down Amber made the droplets reach a complete halt and then returned her consciousness back to her body.

She opened her eyes only to find the tattoo on top of her hand had a light blue glow that was fading away. It seemed that she would need to be more discreet while doing this.

White light poured through the tinted windows, lighting up the space. Amber got up and stretched her arms and legs before jumping back into the bed. She slept under the warm embrace of her mother.

=== [2 Months Later] ===

"Amber, we have permission to leave the room for the day."

Amber stopped twisting the tuning keys from her mother's guitar that was lying on the bed. She flipped her head to where her mother was and had a big smile plastered on her face.

"WE CAN!!" She shouted.

"Oh my, look how excited you are. Looks like you've been meaning to go out for a while now hasn't it?"

"But unfortunately, since I'm a bit sick, I will have to be pushed using that wheelchair." She pointed towards the side of the door where a wheelchair was placed. Amber looked towards where her mother was pointing and then returned her head to her mother's gaze.

"Okay! come. Let's go!" She stood up and glided off the bed. She reached her hand towards the handle and pushed it to the bed.

Her mother was surprised by her sudden movement and giggled a bit. She then calmed down and managed to stand up a bit with the support of the walls "Oh honey, you don't have to do that. We have a maid to do that job."

Amber pouted slightly and replied, "I wanted to do that."

"Maybe when you are older you can do that." She finally managed to sit down on the soft cushion of the wheelchair. "Valentina!"

The door that was always closed opened up to slowly show a figure of a young lady in maid clothing. Her purple hair swung behind her as she entered and bowed her head.

"Good morning ma'am." Her voice was calming and elegant. She lifted her head up and stood straight. "Have you slept well?"

"I have. How have you been?" Amber's mother questioned the maid.

"I have been well. Shall I escort you and the young lady for a visit to the garden?"

The maid laughed a bit before answering "I shall take you up on that offer my lady."

Amber looked at the scene whilst confused about what was happening. 'Who the fuċk are you and why are you so close to mom.' she thought to herself as she looked at the maid. She tugged her mother's clothes and looked directly into her eyes

"Who's that?" she questioned

"That's the person who will be pushing the wheelchair and showing us around. Her name is Valentina and we've known each other for 5 years." Her mother replied

"Good morning Miss Valentina," Amber said while looking at the maid

"No need for the miss. You are my superior after all."

"Then… Good morning Valentina" She smiled as she looked at the beautiful lady. The lady smiled back before placing her hand on the handle of the wheelchair.

"Then miss Amber, allow me to escort you," Valentina said as she stretched her hands and grabbed Amber's. She pushed the wheelchair out of the door with Amber holding her hand as they made their way out of the room. Amber followed behind the maid as she conversed with Amber's mother

"How are things with your husband?" Amber's mother asked

"Aren't you worried about his safety?"

"As his wife, I can't help but feel worried. But the most I can do is wait for him to return and greet him with a smile."

"I heard expeditions can take a couple of mont…."

As the ȧduŀts continued talking, Amber's eyes moved around and examined the unfamiliar area. Although she lived here, she had only remained in a single room her entire life. Well, her entire second life that is. From the ceilings decorated with murals to the tiled floors coated gold in between the gaps; it all looked gorgeous. The three of them continued their way and reached 2 large wooden doors. Amber looked at the doors that quintupled her size curiously wondering what was on the other side. She would soon find her answer as Valentina let go of her hand and walked towards the large door. She placed her hands on both doors before pushing both of them open

Amber was ȧssaulted with a gust of wind so she closed her eyes and covered her face. As it calmed down, Amber slowly opened her eyes through the gaps of her hands and could only stand still in shock. The luscious greenery enveloped the handrails which separated the garden from the desk at the centre. The different multi-colour flowers had spiralled the entire garden which added an extra layer of colour to the beautiful, natural green. It was all stunningly beautiful.

Amber looked at the scenery in silence as she tried to appreciate the beautiful architecture and garden work of the place. She was in awe of the beauty of this place. While she was doing so, the 2 ȧduŀts turned around and looked at her. Seeing the cute reaction, they both put on a light smile before turning to each other.

"She's really cute, isn't she?" Amber's mother said.

"That I can agree with," Valentina laughed.

She stretched her arms to where Amber was and patted her head before saying

Amber nods her head and grabs the maids hands tightly as the 3 of them walked past the doors towards the beautifully decorated garden