When the Villainess is in Love

Chapter 1

1. When I Turned Into the Villainess

Princess Libertia was a villainess: an evil character who tormented the pure, innocent female lead but ended up being pushed around by the male leads. Her death was befitting of a villainess as well—she drew her last breath in a damp and disgusting dungeon cell after being tortured for her misdeeds.

In the aftermath, Lavrov, the male lead, said while scoffing, “Libertia, that greedy woman, would not have lived for very long regardless. So swallow your sadness. She merely died earlier and in more pain than others.”

Princess Libertia had suffered from a terminal illness, and Lavrov had said such a thing to console the tearful female lead, who pitied her wretched death. He needs a personality transplant. How tactless. I was a fan of the elegant and aloof Princess Libertia, which was why I’d felt like tearing the book in half when I’d read Lavrov’s dismissive line. But I’d endured and managed to finish the rest of the novel.

The absurd story left me perplexed. Seriously? What the hell? The novel was a love story between Ariel, the virtuous female lead, and Crown Prince Lavrov, the male lead who was entranced by her. Ariel won over the masses with her charm and innocence and was beloved by all. In the end, Princess Libertia was cast aside, allowing Ariel to marry the crown prince without any objections. Had the author ended the book with the wedding, everything would have been fine.

Wait, they all die?! As much as I loved her, it made sense that Libertia died in the end—she was the villainess, after all. There were three handsome secondary male leads, but two of them, along with two minor characters, became entangled in Ariel and Lavrov’s love story and died. The lone-surviving secondary male lead and Daniel—the evil mastermind who served as the final boss—both ended up losing something precious to them as well.

The illustration of the male and female leads smiling happily on the last page was just exasperating. The two main characters are the worst couple ever, aren’t they? I ended up tearing the book in half after all.

I really should have gotten at least ten more read-throughs out of it before destroying it. Had I known what would happen, I certainly would have. On one bewildering summer’s day, I stared at my reflection and found myself in the body of Princess Libertia.

* * *

The reason I was a fan of Princess Libertia was simple. First of all, her character design best matched my personal taste. On top of that, unlike many other villainesses I had read about, the cold and aloof Libertia never lost her dignity even as she committed her villainous misdeeds. Honestly, she’s pretty awesome. But my relatively minor interest in her blossomed into true appreciation after her very last scene. Ariel, the female lead, had come to the dungeon where she was held to offer her pity, and the princess hadn’t accepted it.

“I am the princess. I was born a princess, and I will die as one.”

There was not even the slightest indication of remorse in her demeanor. She then whispered, “Lady Ariel, I did nothing to deserve any scorn, but I was loved by no one. People have called me a villainess since before I could even crawl. I suppose you could not even begin to imagine such a life.”

That was due to her mother. Libertia’s mother had been a true villainess, so wicked that her side of the family had been forced to retire from the political world. Lysian Vanus—a woman so vile that people believed her daughter was also tainted by the same evil. She had prevented Libertia from speaking to anyone about her illness, but that ultimately didn’t matter.

“Isn’t it better for people to think I died as an evil woman than as a sickly patient? That is why I decided to become the person everyone already assumed I was.”

In the end, she had been driven to make such a choice by those who had despised her without cause.

“Tormenting you, someone who is loved by all without having lifted a finger, was quite enjoyable.”

Princess Libertia refused to look at Ariel as she continued under her breath.

“And now, no one will remember me as an invalid.”

It was only revealed later on in the story that the princess was terminally ill, but the other characters thought nothing of it because she had already become the perfect villainess.

“So do not fool yourself. Your actions never had any bearing on mine whatsoever. I am here of my own volition. I regret nothing. Not one thing.”

The princess smiled blissfully as she gazed into the beam of moonlight shining into her cell.

That was the best part! It was during this particular scene that my heart had been stolen by Princess Libertia. The actual female lead be damned! Aaaah! She’s so cool and pretty and amazing!

“But... I never wanted this,” I said.

Somehow, Princess Libertia was nineteen years old again—exactly three months before the events of the novel began. But the person who woke up inside her body was me. My memories of my past life were sparse and all jumbled up, but there was one thing I was sure of: I wasn’t the real Libertia. First of all, I clearly remembered dying, and second, my memories of reading this novel were still intact. But most importantly, the face that stared back at me in the mirror couldn’t possibly be mine.

I laughed humorlessly. The pudgy cheeks that I’d earned from copious nights spent eating fried chicken were nowhere to be seen, and my eyes weren’t puffy from too much instant ramen, either. This wasn’t a plain face that only a loving father would call pretty—the girl in the mirror was beautiful. She had platinum blonde hair and mysterious purple eyes. Her pale skin seemed to shine. Libertia was ridiculously pretty.

Wow… I couldn’t help but sigh. “She was this beautiful, yet she died so young without having dated at all?” Not to mention, she had died under pain of torture. Also… “Even if I were to avoid the torture route, I’ll die soon anyway, right?”

Damn it. It was horrible enough that the elegant Libertia I knew and loved was nowhere to be seen, and I was left wearing her skin like an impostor. This also means that I’ll die soon. I let out an anguished cry before shuffling over to the bed and collapsing onto it pathetically. Then I began to cry about wanting my favorite character back—or maybe I was crying about not wanting to die. Perhaps it was both.

I had been wallowing in my pitiful fate for a whole week when I met Princess Libertia in my dreams.