How to Survive as That Villainess - Chapter 1

1.

The villainess, Radell Karrel. She had quite a grim past. Her mother passed away after giving birth to her, and her father, as a result, grew to despise his daughter terribly. Radell grew up in such an unfortunate household. As she grew older and became more beautiful, her father saw an opportunity to exploit her beauty. Under her father’s exploitative control, Radell lived a lonely life.

Due to her circumstances, her personality twisted completely, and eventually, her father, unable to tolerate Radell’s disruptive behavior any longer, sent her to an academy. Radell, who was sharp-tongued and determined to get whatever she wanted, one day met a man who happened to be none other than Prince Eden. Radell, who found her perfect ideal type, naturally decided to pursue him relentlessly. She would eliminate any woman who approached Eden herself and always tried to stay by his side.

Eden, who had no interest in Radell at all, found her bothersome, but it was convenient for him to have her deal with the women who approached him, so he simply let her be.

One day, a commoner entered the Sirius Academy, a school that only nobles could attend, and that commoner was none other than Seria. Although she wasn’t a noble, Seria possessed exceptional talent in both academics and magic, earning her a special scholarship to attend the academy. Naturally, all the students at the academy, including Eden, were intrigued by the first commoner to enter.

When Eden, upon seeing the beautiful and angelic Seria for the first time, fell head over heels in love with her, it marked the beginning of a tragedy for Radell. Despite her reputation as a cruel and ruthless woman, Radell did not leave Seria alone. She attempted all sorts of harassment, but her efforts always ended in failure, thanks to Seria’s White Horse Princes who came to her rescue.

Eventually, fueled by rage, Radell struck Seria on the cheek at a summer party, an incident witnessed by Eden by chance… That was the story up until yesterday.

Last night, having discovered the true identity of the heroine Seria, I returned to being Count Karrel. Fortunately, a maid came out to greet me, and I was able to enter the mansion safely. And the one who welcomed me into the mansion was,

‘Crack!’

It was the sound of my furious father’s slap. It hurt, really hurt. Until I returned to the mansion, I had been questioning whether this was a dream, but at that moment, it became clear. My cheek stung as if it had been burned by fire. Radell’s father, whom I had seen for the first time, was extremely authoritarian and fixated on his own authority and image.

“I heard the story. You dare to torment a fellow student from the same academy and defile my face? Go to your room!”

That was the end of it. It was hardly a conversation; it was an oppressive order. I suddenly felt sorry for the villainous Radell. How must it have felt to live in the same house as a father who was worse than others? I felt sympathy for the villain for the first time.

Without saying a word, I followed the instructions given by the maid and entered the room. I lay down on the bed as she had shown me. The sudden possession, the original nature of the heroine, and the slap from her father had left me bewildered. Eventually, my head began to ache. If I closed my eyes now, would it be my home’s ceiling? Or a hospital’s? It didn’t matter as long as I could escape from this dreadful nightmare, I thought and drifted off to sleep.

“Miss, I’ll come in.”

“Uh-huh…”

As I recalled last night, it seems I was lost in thought again. I barely regained my senses and responded to the sound of the maid knocking on the door. The maid, who had entered the room to prepare me for the morning, was startled when she saw me sitting in front of the mirror. Was something strange?

“Um, Miss, did you sleep without removing your makeup last night?”

“Oh, right.”

I must have been too preoccupied yesterday and just went to sleep without removing my makeup. It was surprising that I had the presence of mind to remove it, considering how tough yesterday was. I took a deep breath and headed for the washbasin. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even washed my face because I had been lost in thought. I needed to pull myself together.

“Huh?!”

I nearly jumped in shock when I saw Radell’s face without makeup. What was this? The innocent-looking young lady… Until a moment ago, she had looked like a sophisticated older sister due to her heavy makeup, but now her face seemed innocent enough to star in a sports drink commercial. Why did she wear such heavy makeup when her bare face looked so much better?

Ah, now that I think about it, I read about this in the spin-off. Influenced by her father’s pressure to use her beauty, Radell had always worn heavy makeup and expensive, extravagant dresses. But all of that was unnecessary. Even now, Radell looked far more beautiful in the mirror without the heavy eye makeup and bright red lipstick.

“I won’t be wearing makeup from now on. If I do, I’ll stick to the basics.”

“…Understood, Miss.”

The nameless maid listened to my words and widened her eyes in surprise. However, she quickly returned to her normal expression and began braiding my hair.

“Today marks the beginning of summer vacation. How would you like to schedule your day?”

“For now, I’d like to start with breakfast.”

Just as my stomach started to growl, it seemed like perfect timing. I should head to the dining room and have breakfast. I glanced briefly at the mirror. Red hair and, for some reason, melancholic golden eyes. I took a moment to take in the appearance that I would have to live with for the rest of my life and then got up from my seat. Following the maid, I made my way to the dining room.

*

“Radel, your posture is all wrong.”

“I apologize. I’m not feeling well…”

As soon as we arrived at the dining room and took our seats, my father, who had arrived earlier, made a comment about my posture. He glanced at me while sipping his soup and furrowed his brow slightly. Is it really that bad? Granted, I might not excel in academics, but I had always perfected the basics of noble etiquette, graceful movements, and such. However, what I have now is just an ordinary woman from South Korea. I have no idea how nobles walk or behave.

I don’t know anything about proper etiquette. What should I do? For now, I tried to imitate what I saw Seria doing yesterday at the party, but it still felt awkward. It seems that Seria was more graceful and refined than any noble present at that party. Even though she’s not a noble, she carries herself with such elegance. I’m envious. Envious indeed. Her personality might be terrible, but her outward appearance was perfect.

With this situation, I’ll have to take lessons during the summer break. I need to learn the basics of posture and the subjects they teach at the academy. I’ll have to work hard.

The only consolation is that I managed to possess this body right before summer break, just in time for the summer party. If I had done it during the school year, it would have been a nightmare even to imagine.

“Radel.”

“Yes…?”

I quickly responded to the abrupt call and found an angry figure in front of me. Why is he angry again? I swallowed hard in this uneasy atmosphere.

Now that I think about it, according to my memories, this is the moment when Radel was almost expelled from her home. Her father, who didn’t want a daughter tarnishing his reputation, was planning to send her to some rural place. However, she managed to avoid this crisis at this point… How should I handle this?

“I am deeply disappointed in you because of this incident. I’m considering having you quit the academy now and entrusting you to Aunt Ori’tan.”

Aunt Ori’tan. She’s known for her strictness and manages a small estate in the countryside. Ah, I remember now. In the novel’s ending, Radel eventually ends up with Aunt Ori’tan, living in seclusion in the countryside, and gets married off to a nobleman as if she were being sold. It’s truly a bad ending. If this were a game, it would be the second most terrible ending an antagonist could experience.

No, I can’t allow that. I need to avoid this crisis. I tightly grasped the hem of my dress and furrowed my brow as I racked my brain for a solution. What would Radel, the true antagonist, have done in this situation? Should I fake tears like Seria? No, that won’t work now. He’ll definitely scold me if I cry at the dining table. So, what should I do?

“Well, I’m leaving then.”

“Father!”

I hastily called out as he seemed to finish his meal, wiping his mouth with a napkin. It wasn’t because I suddenly had a brilliant idea. It was purely to avoid this situation, so I decided to go for broke.

“I have a proposal.”

“A proposal…?”

My father raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. I needed to push forward without hesitating. Instead of biting my lip, I imitated the gentle smile Seria used to wear. Of course, my smile would be far from angelic and could even be considered devious if I lost, but with my makeup removed, I appeared quite gentle. I prayed that my smile didn’t look awkward and spoke to my father.

“Yes, a proposal. I won’t cause any trouble at the academy from now on. I’ll maintain top grades.”

“So, you’re saying I shouldn’t send you to Aunt Ori’tan?”

My father immediately understood the gist of my words and chuckled as if he found it absurd. It was a clear mockery. Yes, it was quite amusing. His own daughter, who had a bad attitude and only knew how to torment others, was making such a proposal. But I was confident. I was quite good at studying, and even if I disliked it, I intended to quietly spend my time at the academy.

I tilted my head slightly and continued speaking.

“Please give me a chance. I won’t disappoint you.”

I had to say something like this to persuade him. Father looked at me with a suspicious glance and then sighed as if he were contemplating.

“All right, this will be your last chance. If you don’t want to be kicked out of this house, then behave until you graduate from the academy.”

It worked. I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and put on a smiling face again. Smile, keep smiling. I felt like my face might cramp up at this rate, but I smiled widely.

“Thank you, Father. And please call a private tutor during the summer vacation.”

“Now you’re finally coming to your senses. Very well, I’ll arrange for one starting today.”

My father left, saying, “This is your last chance.” As soon as he left the dining room, I wiped the smile off my face and scowled. Seriously, is he my real father? Am I actually his biological child? The people around me, including Seria, why are there only people like this? Suddenly, exhaustion washed over me.

Seria, come to think of it, she was good at studying too. Pretty, with a nice figure, good at studies, isn’t that cheating? She has the luck of the heroine, and perfect interpersonal relationships. Everyone likes her, admires her, and praises her. It’s the opposite of how I’m treated right now. Ha ha.

Ah, I want to win. I wanted to bring Seria down from her throne. I wanted to shatter the deceitful, sneering woman who made me look like that yesterday, pretending to be good in front of everyone but mocking them behind their backs. Looking at it now, the novel’s content wasn’t about the angelic heroine Seria healing the wounds of the male leads and fostering love but about the conniving actress Seria manipulating the male leads.

I’ve been fooling the readers and the characters in the novel all along. Perhaps because of my attitude yesterday, it seems like I’ve been using the villainess for my own image.

I’m the type who pays back when wronged, but I treat villains differently. Seria, just wait a bit. I’ll peel off that pretentious mask. But for now, let’s finish this meal, yum.