I Became the Malicious Stepsister of Cinderella

"Oh, who was it that danced with the prince all night at his coming-of-age banquet yesterday? So mysterious and charming. I guess it must be a princess from some kingdom."

"Mysterious and charming? More so than Belia?"

"Belia? Belia does indeed possess unparalleled beauty, but that person is different... Whenever I see her, I feel like my heart isn't my own. Her dress is adorned with stars, her high heels shine brighter than diamonds... But it's strange, I can't even remember what she looks like anymore."

"Oh, how lucky she is. I wish I could dance with the prince all night. The prince is handsome and a gentleman. Every girl in the Soro Kingdom would want to marry him."

"No, no, no. Count Louis is more to my liking, proud and aloof, arrogant beyond measure..."

A dispute seemed to arise in the background, and the elegant and ancient French accents began to buzz annoyingly like flies. Lying on her back, Belia turned over, trying to continue sleeping, but her back was poked.

"Belia, Prince Carlo or Duke Louis, whom would you choose?"

...Prince Carlo and Duke Louis?

Belia's thoughts were muddled as she tried to process the situation. She really shouldn't read before sleeping; now even her dreams were related to the book.

The poking continued from behind:

"Belia, Belia..."

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

"Who are you going to choose, the prince or the duke?" A string of fluent French came out of her mouth, "Of course, you should choose the best, the God of Light."

The buzzing stopped, and the surroundings grew as silent as death.

Belia instinctively raised her head only to find that several pairs of eyes were fixed on her, unblinking. The mockery and malice in those eyes were like arrows ready to pierce her.

That's when she realized something was off.

She wasn't lying in her own comfortably soft bed; instead, she found herself in a Baroque-style room. The room was filled with large windows, and colorful light shone through the stained glass, casting a gentle glow around her...

Rows of pure white desks, adorned with carved rose patterns, were occupied by many girls wearing exaggerated European-style puffy dresses. They all stared at her with a "vicious" intensity, looking as though she had desecrated their ancestral tombs.

"Belia!"

At that moment, a woman in her thirties or forties, wearing high heels, hurried into the room with a flurry. She seemed to have heard the earlier conversation and pointed a long, slender cane at Belia, her voice trembling with anger.

"You ignorant, arrogant..."

She was so furious that she trembled all over, "How dare you blaspheme our great gods? Get out of here! Stand outside for an hour, right now!"

...Belia?

Belia's eyes widened. Could it really be what she thought?

She glanced at her arm instinctively. Her skin was as snow-white as the first snow of winter, with delicate blue veins visible underneath—due to malnutrition during her childhood, she could never attain such translucent skin no matter how much she spent on skincare.

And then there were these puffed sleeves and the rose-purple puffy skirt...

In her mind, a line of text surfaced:

"Belia is naturally good-looking. In Natasha's eyes, her stepsister was like the finest doll she had ever seen at Brunoit's store. She had snow-white skin, golden wavy hair, and azure eyes... However, her bad temper was as striking as her beauty."

She... Belia?

Belia pinched herself.

"Hiss—" her desk partner glared at her angrily, "Belia, are you going crazy?"

"Does it hurt?"

Her desk partner seemed even angrier:

"Do you want to try?!"

It did hurt.

"Belia!" the middle-aged woman on the podium screeched with a voice like an angry hen, "Get out! Right now!"

The room buzzed again.

"She really doesn't know her place. Thinks her beauty gives her the right to disrespect the great gods..."

"Ten years ago, even the most beautiful and noble Princess Helen dared to claim that she would become a deity's concubine... In the end, she turned into a little pig."

"The glory of the gods is everywhere. Those who blaspheme them will be punished."

...

Belia was expelled from the classroom.

Her classroom was on the sixth floor. From there, she could see the endless white dome, flocks of white doves, and distant snow-covered mountains.

The wind from the mountains, carrying icy moisture, woke Yuli up instantly. It was strange; there were snow-covered mountains nearby, yet the air felt humid. And she was wearing this puffy dress...

But she didn't feel cold.

Prince Carlos, Duke Louis, Belia...

The white arched dome, the endless snow-covered mountains, the peculiar climate...

Belia pinched herself hard.

Now she was certain: she had transmigrated.

And it was into a brainless Mary Sue novel called "Cinderella's Gorgeous Counterattack."

Throughout the book, centered around Cinderella, the absolute protagonist, Cinderella's life was filled with early hardships, followed by a series of successes. With her good luck and purity, she won the hearts of one powerful figure after another. In the end, she even formed a relationship with the greatest figure of all—the world's creator and supreme god, the God of Light.

Compared to the God of Light, other princes and dukes became insignificant. With the protection of the God of Light, Cinderella eventually reached the pinnacle of life—being summoned to the divine palace and constantly accompanying the God of Light.

However, the author seemed too infatuated with the male lead...

At the end, although Cinderella didn't become a deity, she became the highest-ranked god servant in the divine palace. She was bestowed with immortal life and the authority surpassing all others.

This was a lousy ending for a romance novel, a cliffhanger, causing countless readers to threaten the author with death threats. But the author remained stubborn, even leaving a final note:

"Deities should forever remain high on their pedestals, gazed upon by others. No one can obtain the lofty heart of the God of Light, not even Natasha."

Belia struggled through the night to finish the book, only to be left fuming at the ending. But now, she was abruptly in this situation.

She had transmigrated into when exactly?

If yesterday was the prince's coming-of-age event...

The voice of the female teacher in the classroom became clear:

"Three days from now, the divine messengers will come to our Soren Academy for testing. Let's hope that among you, someone will become a God's Chosen..."

The church spire chimed, dong-dong-dong...

Eleven times.

Belia counted carefully. From the high floors, she saw water splashing in the air...

The musical fountain began to sing.

Uh-oh.

The test for the God's Chosen was in three days, and the eleven chimes meant that the God of Light's incarnation's eyes were already dug out before the last class. He was left in a fake cave behind the fountain, hidden by flaming bushes—nobody noticed him.

But it was Cinderella who discovered him. That was the plot.

No, it couldn't be.

Belia thought she had to recognize him as the savior before Cinderella did—

Even if it was a bit shameless.

Just then, she saw a plump young girl in a gray dress entering the school gates from afar. She carried a flower basket, presumably holding lunch, wore a gray apron, and skipped merrily.

That was Cinderella, Natasha—

She was here.

She would save the God's incarnation. From now on, her luck would be unmatched, and her already smooth path would become even smoother.

Meanwhile, for her, who harmed the God, she would become a jinx, walking into puddles while drinking water, stumbling into pits, and even chipping a tooth while eating candy.

This was truly the turning point in the original body's life.

The most immediate consequence was that tonight, she would be thrown into prison for intentionally harming the God's incarnation—this destitute version of her thought he was a commoner but was actually a minor noble, "Gaia."

Because she had left behind a symbol of the Fergus family—the emblem of the golden iris.

The original body always carried it, symbolizing the unvanquished glory of the Fergus family.

...Anyway, she needed to avoid this trouble now.

Belia run like a deer.

Her rose-colored skirt fluttered, revealing the lace border of her pure white stockings. Her high heels made a "click-clack" sound on the ground.

She sprinted up the high steps, crossed the lawn, passed through the rainbow-sunlit musical fountain, and finally arrived behind the rockery—

Flames of bushes surrounded the rockery.

It was quiet and deserted here.

Everyone at Soren Academy had heard a legend about this place; countless skeletons lay beneath the flaming bushes.

That's why no one ever came here.

Natasha was standing there.

She turned around in surprise:

"Belia, sister?"

Belia's gaze fell on Natasha's palm:

Under the sunlight, a golden iris was shimmering.

The ruby stamen seemed like a drop of scarlet blood, haunting and captivating.