How to Survive as That Villainess - Chapter 0

<– Prologue –>

V1 Ch0. Prologue.

[From now on, you are Lady Radell Karrel. Please do your best to survive.]

The first voice I heard after regaining consciousness was an instructional one, but the content was completely unfamiliar to me. Radell Karrel? That’s the name of the villainess in the novel I read yesterday. But am I supposed to be that woman now? This is absurd…

“Radell Karrel!”

I heard a voice that sounded furious, and I raised my head in a daze. Now that I think about it, I must have been sitting on the ground, looking down. As I raised my head, I saw a bright light and numerous people. There was a man looking down at me with disdain and a slender, beautiful woman trembling with fear in his arms. Surrounding them were several onlookers, observing us.

So, what is this situation?

“Lady Radell Karrel, are you still not in your right mind?”

I briefly glanced at the man who was shouting loudly at me once again. His flowing golden hair and deep ocean-like eyes seemed somewhat familiar. I tried to look more closely, wondering if we had met somewhere before, but no matter how hard I searched my memories, nothing came to mind. I couldn’t possibly forget such a handsome man.

“Please, Your Highness…”

“Stay still. You’re too kind for your own good.”

Oh, and the woman trembling in the man’s arms was also a remarkable beauty. Her cream-colored hair and eyes as vibrant as the depths of summer were captivating even to me, a woman. Her angelic face and delicate figure instinctively drew attention, and anyone who saw her would never forget her striking appearance.

What’s going on with these two? Are they actors? Or perhaps celebrities?

So, I must be on a special shoot right now. But why am I sitting here so hesitantly? It’s like my memories have been completely edited, even though I haven’t had a drop of alcohol.

“Apologize quickly, Karrel Yeong-ae.”

“Uh…me? What in the world…”

I wasn’t Radell Karrel, and I had nothing to apologize for. Instead, I felt like I should be the one receiving apologies. In this heavy and suffocating atmosphere, I was the center of attention for everyone. This didn’t feel like a filming atmosphere. Could this really be reality…? In my confusion, the man slowly approached and grabbed my wrist.

“Ouch!”

My wrist hurt. I was afraid of this man who held my wrist as if he might twist it with a fierce expression. Feeling fear, I tried to pull my wrist away, but he held it even tighter without mercy and said,

“It seems you still don’t realize your mistake. Didn’t you just slap Seria with this hand?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Did he just say Seria? That woman is the protagonist of the novel! So, the trembling woman in front of me right now is Seria, and I’m the villainess who slapped Seria’s cheek, is that it? And the man currently gripping my wrist is Prince Eden?

“Heh, not even a laugh, huh.”

“…What?”

Ah, my inner thoughts slipped out for a moment. But I couldn’t help it. The current situation was truly mind-boggling, and I had lost my composure in an instant. I closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them again, I would find myself waking up from a dream. However, instead of returning to normal, all I saw was the man glaring at me, who had just heard my unfiltered thoughts.

“No sign of remorse, uttering such words.”

“Eden! Please stop. I’m fine! Lady Yeong-ae did nothing wrong…”

Suddenly, Seria shed tears. Seeing her in the role of a pitiful heroine, I looked around again. Everyone was giving me hostile looks. Especially Prince Eden, who had roughly gripped my wrist and was now holding Seria protectively, glared at me as if he wanted to tear me apart.

Chilling. Experiencing the hatred of someone for the first time. I still didn’t know why I was here or what the current situation was, but I had a few things figured out.

I had somehow ended up in the body of the villainess Radell Karrel, and everyone here seemed to despise or hate me.

“I-I just wanted to get along with Lady Yeong-ae. I don’t know why this happened…”

Seria cried while uttering these words. She still had a kind heart. To me, who was currently sitting there, receiving scorn, her words felt like a small comfort. Yes, the heroine did nothing wrong. If anyone was at fault, it was the villainess who tormented the kind heroine, and that villainess was me now.

“Seria, please stop crying. I’ll stop now.”

Eden, who had been gently comforting Seria, withdrew his affectionate gaze and gave me a sharp look. I realized for the first time how painful it could be to be the subject of people’s disdain.

“…You should step aside now. I hope we never meet again, Karrel Yeong-ae.”

I couldn’t say anything in response to Prince Eden. Not out of fear, but because I felt incredibly unjust. It was so unfair to be subjected to this contempt just because I suddenly found myself in the body of the villainess Radell. I wanted to explode and wreak havoc right now, but if I did, I’d probably end up getting killed.

“Oh, wait a moment.”

“…?”

Seria, who had been nestled in Eden’s arms, stopped in her tracks as if she had something to say and turned to look at me. With a dazzling smile, she spoke.

“Lady Radell Yeong-ae, even though our relationship may be strained now, I’ll wait for the day when Yeong-ae comes to apologize. Farewell for now.”

A heroine who was kind even to the villainess. She was truly perfect. One of the onlookers who had been observing Seria’s angelic demeanor couldn’t help but exclaim, 

“Indeed, she’s an angel.”

I agreed with those words. To say such kind words to the villainess who had tormented her for so long, she was truly an angel. Oh, why did I suddenly find myself in the body of the villainess, enduring this situation? If I had to possess someone, I should have chosen the body of a heroine like her.

“Oh, is it over already?”

As I watched the retreating figures of the two, I inadvertently turned my head in the direction of a voice. Flowing black hair and piercing red eyes that seemed to see through everything. Realizing that this place was from the novel, I instantly knew who he was.

“Kailonse Rayven.”

I whispered his name as if to myself. Kailonse was the next heir of the Rayven Swordsmanship Clan and one of Seria’s princes. With his carefree and indifferent personality, he had a captivating and beautiful face, just as I had read in the novel. I was so captivated that I momentarily lost my composure.

“I heard there was a disturbance, so I rushed over.”

Kailonse seemed to have noticed my persistent gaze and glanced at me briefly. His red, intense eyes caught a glimpse of the pitiful villainess.

“In the end, Seria won.”

For a moment, his gaze lingered on me, but soon lost interest and shifted elsewhere as he muttered disinterestedly.

Kailonse scratched the back of his head and disappeared into the crowd in an instant. Somehow, Kailonse’s words kept echoing in my mind. Seria won. I hadn’t done anything, yet victory rested in Seria’s hands. I felt incredibly empty and strange.

“Well, now that Lady Karrel Yeong-ae has also apologized to Seria and come to her senses…”

“True. It’s amusing to watch, but it’s getting tiresome now.”

I snapped out of my thoughts upon hearing the conversation of the onlookers still present. Right, I needed to apologize. I may not like it, but I had to live as the villainess now, and to survive as the villainess, I had to reconcile with the heroine. It was time to catch up and apologize.

With that in mind, I got up and ran in the direction Seria had gone.

*

“Where did she go?”

After exiting the place I had been in, I looked around and realized I was in a party venue within the academy Seria attended. Judging by the novel’s progression, this seemed to be a party held before the summer vacation, and Eden and Seria were probably having a conversation in the garden. At least that’s what my memories indicated.

I circled the party venue and finally found the garden with blooming flowers. I took a deep breath and started walking.

‘Oh, there she is.’

Seria, who seemed to be unaware of my presence, was admiring the flowers alone. I quietly approached her.

“It was fun.”

Still unaware of my presence, Seria was elegantly holding a red rose from a rosebush in the moonlight, her smile full of joy. As I was about to speak to her, I couldn’t help but close my mouth upon hearing Seria’s voice again.

“Haha, oh. It’s still so funny. That dumbfounded look you had!”

Huh, what did you say? That doesn’t seem like something you’d say with such an angelic face. Wait, did I come to the wrong person? Isn’t she the heroine, Seria? No matter how I look at her, it’s definitely Seria. What’s going on here?”

“Believing in their own lies without knowing it, how foolish. Even shedding fake tears, they believe it wholeheartedly.”

Oh, oh, oh. I think I have a rough idea of the situation now. So, that was Seria’s true self, right? Then the fragile appearance she showed earlier, her delicate appearance, and even the tears, were all an act?

Goodness, how can she be like that…

“Hmm, it’s too easy now. When will that foolish Yeong-ae start entertaining me?”

Saying this, Seria laughed like a witch, “It’s boring when you always win.”

Fun? I found that whole incident exhausting, but for Seria, it was just an event for amusement. Now that I knew her true nature, I felt a surge of anger inside me.

I had thought she was a delicate and beautiful angel, but it turned out she was a queen sitting arrogantly on her throne. I was deceived, and now that I knew the real Seria, I felt betrayed.

I was fooled. And as Kailonse had said, I had lost to the arrogant queen. I had completely lost to the Seria hidden behind that pretentious mask.