The protagonist from the novel ‘The Saint Loved By All’ was obviously a saint, both literally and metaphorically. 

Her name was Catherine Bryant, daughter of Baron Bryant. When she was a small child, she and her mother had a carriage accident. Her mother died and she ended up at an orphanage. Thus, she grew up as a kind commoner. 

The baron looked all over for her, and finally found her when she was seventeen. That’s where the novel started, following Catherine as she learned to navigate high society. With her bubbly, optimistic, and innocent personality, she attracted several prominent figures. She faced hardships, but they were always overcome with her saint-like disposition, ridiculously good luck, devoted male leads, and literally God’s blessing. 

‘Wow, my past life had terrible tastes in novels.’

It couldn’t have been more cliched. The good guys win and live happily ever after, the bad guys lose miserably. Catherine married the crown prince, and House Avington was destroyed. 

I wouldn’t have that. God had given me a blessing, and now I held the power of the future. 

I couldn’t control my happiness and it bubbled over in giggles. With my knowledge, I could easily take over the kingdom, or even the continent. 

‘Empress Valentina Avington.’

I loved the sound of that. I could already imagine the castles, statues, songs, and plays all dedicated to me. Everyone would obey my words and worship the ground I walk on. Father and Mother would be so proud. 

After I calmed down from my excitement and daydreams, I started looking at things more practically. I drummed a finger on my bed thoughtfully. 

The villainess’s troubles started with her stupidity. She was madly in love with the crown prince, but her methods for removing Catherine were simply brainless. 

These amateur mistakes could easily be avoided. After all, I could remember years when web novels were my past life’s only entertainment. I literally knew every trick in the book, so Catherine wouldn’t be this lucky this time. 

The best course of action would be to deal with the saint before the story has a chance to start and arrange a political marriage with the crown prince like in the original. That was the fastest route to being queen, and I’d simply not fall in love with him. There would also certainly be a way to deal with the demons that show up later in the novel without the saint, so removing her wouldn’t cause too much harm. 

The main arguments the crown prince provided for annulling our engagements were that I was not qualified to be queen and that he did not love me. Valentina from the novel only asked for the engagement because she loved the prince, so she hadn’t learned the academics necessary to be queen. She also hated studying, a sentiment I shared. But with my past memories, I knew that I could do it, if I really tried. As for the latter, there were plenty of loveless political marriages. That wouldn’t have been a valid excuse if he hadn’t met Catherine, and I could slip him a love potion if that made him feel better. 

My head hurt from all the thinking. The novel had been stupidly long, and my memory wasn’t amazing. 

I got up from my bed and went over to my desk. Taking out a notebook, I wrote down all my previous thoughts, then recorded everything I remembered from the novel. After considerable rearrangement and many headaches trying to recall specific details, I managed to put down all the major events in chronological order. 

‘Ah, finally!’

I leaned back and stretched. I had started just after lunch and now it was time for dinner. A sense of accomplishment and pride welled up in my chest. 

A maid knocked and I told her to enter. 

“My lady, Lord Damian said to inform you that he would be eating in his room. There’s a spell he wants to work on.”

“That’s fine, I’ll take dinner in my room too. I’ve been working all day, you know.”

She had the audacity to look surprised, but I was in too much of a good mood to be angered. 

“His and Her Grace will be delighted.”

I nodded, pleased. Father and Mother were returning from their trip tomorrow, and I intended to surprise them. There were many preparations I needed to make, but one could be done right away. 

“Also, tell the housekeeper to train Tia as my personal maid.”

“Yes, my lady.”

I dismissed the maid with a smile. Already, I had successfully turned one of Catherine’s most invaluable allies into my own. This was too easy. 

Yet, something bothered me. When my past life read the novel, she thought the villainess deserved every bit of what she got, all while mindlessly cheering on the heroine. Perhaps all the novels she read had melted her brain, but it still unsettled me. 

There was one crucial difference, though. I wasn’t the stupid Valentina or the wicked woman from my past life. I was surely different, and better. I would win where they lost. 

‘Winners write the story.’

Valentina was the villainess because she lost. There were plenty of popular transmigration novels with the villainess achieving happiness and the original heroine becoming the real villainess. When I won, I would go down in history as a saintly queen. If I lost, I would be the most evil and despicable villainess. 

The ridiculous idea made me laugh. After I finished dinner, I wrote out a plan of action. It was quite easy, actually. When I was done, victory was all but certain. 

I admired my reflection in the mirror. With my red lips smiling coyly, I looked like a real villainess. 

This was going to be fun.