Chapter 114: 27th Floor: The Villainess, Lee Do-hee
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: 27th Floor: The Villainess, Lee Do-hee
Lee Do-hee arrived on the 27th floor.
The keyword for the 27th floor's trial was 'Selection'.
If I had to compare, it felt similar to the 'Success' trial on the 22nd floor.
That was because the one doing the selecting wasn't me, and also because this was another floor that had to be challenged solo, without a party.
The core of this trial was to be chosen by someone.
Whether it was being appointed as a guard captain, inheriting a throne, or signing a contract with a company, I just had to beat the 'competitors' and be chosen.
The one key difference from the 22nd floor's trial was the guaranteed presence of competitors.
And the selection I had to receive was...
"In one month, I will choose the Crown Princess."
"...?"
'W-what did he say...?'
[You have entered the competition to become the Crown Princess of the Rubellion Empire. Surpass your rivals and be chosen as the Crown Princess.]
'Whoa... No, wait a minute!'
Looking around, I found myself in the banquet hall of a medieval fantasy palace, complete with a magnificent chandelier.
Right, it was that familiar medieval fantasy setting again.
The kind where I didn't even need a background explanation—you know, the one with Swordmasters and nth-Circle Mages and all that.
But even with the same historical backdrop, the atmosphere could be different.
On a dais stood an annoyingly handsome guy in a striking uniform, looking down at the crowd. Around me were three other young, beautiful women adorned in exquisite dresses and jewels.
It was obvious that the handsome guy was the Crown Prince, and the three women standing with me were my rivals in the competition for his hand.
Glancing down, I saw a frilly dress that couldn't hide my large chest.
'Seriously... What is this, some kind of female-oriented romance fantasy?'
I couldn't believe this.
I, Lee Do-hee, had to be chosen by the Crown Prince!
Looking around, people who were clearly nobles were applauding, gracing the occasion.
"In the name of the Empire, I promise the ladies a fair competition. That is all."
As the Crown Prince left, I quickly made my exit as well.
'Phew... Thank god for Memory Transfer.'
Without it, I'd probably be making some stupid sound like, "Huh...?" and drawing glares from everyone around me.
'Receiving memories... it's still a strange feeling.'
Of course, my sense of self was still Lee Do-hee.
It wasn't like memories from childhood came flooding in all at once. It was more like they surfaced when I saw a related person or tried to recall something specific.
Now that I had a rough grasp of the situation, I walked to a corner of the banquet hall to try and recall memories about myself.
'My name is Kalisha Crawford. I'm finally free of being Pichina Ibenstein...'
When I get Memory Transfer, it seems they just drop me into a body without changing the name like this.
'But why is everyone moving out of my way?'
No, it was less like they were making way and more like they were running away in fear.
People hastily changing direction to avoid my path, people quickly averting their eyes the moment we made eye contact.
Everyone was afraid of me.
Seeing their faces brought back memories.
The woman who just saw me, jumped in fright, and ran away was Celeste Elbatein.
I once stripped her naked at a banquet, causing her immense humiliation. I vividly remembered her surprisingly voluptuous, pale skin and the look on her face, mortified and unsure what to do.
'What the, I did something like that?'
The young man sweating bullets, pretending not to see me and turning away, was Lucian Cohades.
He looked down on women and challenged me to a duel, so I deliberately beat him to within an inch of his life without accepting his surrender. The leg that aches every night and makes him limp is my handiwork. The psychological trauma was a bonus.
A woman I humiliated by pouring wine over her head.
A man whose younger sister fell ill because of me.
The head of a family on the brink of ruin because of me.
A woman I slapped, a woman I hit on the back of the head, a woman I punched in the uterus, a man I kicked in the balls…
Because of me... because of me...
'Aah...'
That's right.
I, Kalisha Crawford, am the Empire's greatest villainess!
'This is absurd...'
The worst woman in the Empire, so infamous that crying children would instantly stop if told, "Kalisha will come and get you!"
So how could she possibly be in the running to become the Crown Princess?
I was able to recall the reason for that easily enough.
'Her father is an incredibly powerful man...'
The number one war hero and most powerful vassal of the Rubellion Empire, which was enjoying its greatest prosperity.
A duchess? The daughter of a count?
No, I'm not some half-baked noblewoman like that.
The one and only daughter of the Crawford family, the only family in the Empire to hold the title of king.
The woman who stands at the pinnacle of the Empire's power, second only to the imperial family.
Princess Kalisha Crawford.
That's me, Lee Do-hee.
Ordinarily, an empire doesn't keep a kingdom as a vassal.
This is due to the risk of decentralized power and rebellion.
But a combination of special circumstances made the impossible happen. This part was missing from my memory, probably because Kalisha never studied.
'Even so, why did she do so many terrible things...?'
The owner of this body committed so many evil deeds that some might say she wasn't even human.
I traced the memories back further.
'Was it all because of her father and the Crown Prince...?'
It pricked my conscience a little to blame others, but it was at least half-true.
My father, Barthion Crawford.
He is a powerful vassal of the Empire, so close to the current Emperor that they address each other as brothers.
He married a commoner woman not for political reasons, but for love. That woman gave birth to me, Kalisha, and then died from poor health.
Barthion, who had loved his wife so dearly, never took another woman.
If his personality had been a little more twisted, he might have resented me, but he never did. In fact, it was the opposite.
'You... look just like your mother...'
He projected his wife onto me, her spitting image, and let me do whatever I wanted. He knew his wife had a difficult upbringing as a commoner.
Perhaps not wanting me to grow up the same way, he let me do and have anything I truly desired.
Kalisha, the king's only blood relative, who received an overflowing amount of love.
Someone insults Kalisha?
He'd fabricate a pretext, declare a territorial war, and crush them!
Kalisha wants something?
If money couldn't buy it, he'd get it for her by any means necessary, whether by killing the owner or stealing it!
Someone Kalisha doesn't like?
He'd make them disappear from her sight, one way or another!
The side effect of a truly fanatical love.
Kalisha grew more and more arrogant and insolent.
The problem was that even when she did these things, there were no major consequences.
Although the Crawford family was a vassal serving the Emperor, they were in charge of defending the entire northeastern border and thus had more soldiers.
In short, it was a case of "My dad is stronger than your emperor."
On top of that, the Emperor showed infinite trust rather than trying to keep him in check, so there was no one to restrain him.
Of course, the Emperor wasn't a fool.
He knew Barthion wasn't the type to rebel, but there was no telling what might happen if he were to be checked or suppressed.
By choosing to show trust rather than restraint, he prevented any potential conflict that might have arisen.
But problems arise when that passes down to the second and third generations.
Their bond of trust will weaken, and if anything happens to sour their feelings, a civil war in the Empire would be inevitable.
That's why the Emperor wanted to make me the Crown Princess.
If I, the sole heir to the kingdom, marry the Crown Prince, our kingdom's nobles and territory would automatically be scattered and absorbed by other nobles or the Emperor himself. This would eliminate the Empire's greatest threat in a very natural and smooth way.
Aren't there any relatives? Not according to my memory.
According to imperial law, there were no close relatives left who could inherit the title of king.
The Crawford Kingdom is stronger than most neighboring kingdoms, so if this happens, the Empire will enter a period of stability for hundreds of years, barring any other major issues.
The Emperor could prevent a rebellion in the next generation, and since Kalisha has liked the Crown Prince since she was young, it's a win-win situation for everyone.
'What a strange situation... But I'm supposed to have chased after a punk like that?'
The Empire's villainess, Kalisha… she'd been infatuated with that smug-looking Crown Prince since childhood and followed him around everywhere.
What on earth did she see in him? She followed him around as if she'd give him her liver, her gallbladder, her pussy, everything!
'He really is handsome, though... I guess a pretty face is its own justification.'
She even committed the bizarre act of sneaking into his bedchambers to try and sleep with him.
Most of Kalisha's evil deeds were related to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince's name was Daniel.
'How dare you flirt with my beloved Daniel?'
I sentence you to the punishment of being stripped naked at the banquet!
'How dare you secretly give a letter to my beloved Daniel?'
I'll let you off if you eat this cake in one bite! Smack!
She would inflict humiliating and shameful punishments on women at balls and banquets, and if a male family member came for revenge, she would beat them up instead.
The martial arts her father taught her for self-defense.
But his daughter was so talented in martial arts that she had few rivals in the Empire.
'That's a relief. I won't have to hide my martial prowess too much.'
In any case, Kalisha committed countless evil acts while chasing after the Crown Prince.
However, all her courtship and efforts earned her was the derogatory title of the Empire's worst villainess...
...and the disgust of the Crown Prince, who was fed up with her behavior.
Right… what good is immense power?
The Crown Prince despises me, and this competition was his last resort to get rid of me.
On the surface, his justification was that he 'wanted to seat a woman befitting the Empire's future as the Crown Princess,' but the Prince had his own agenda.
He would buy time and create a pretext against the Emperor and the King, who wanted to unite us, while doing everything he could to worsen my reputation to the point where it would be impossible to accept me as the Crown Princess.
Then, he would marry the woman he truly loves.
This was the Crown Prince's scheme, and of course, the Emperor knew all about it but had no justification to forcibly stop it, leaving him with a massive headache.
Naturally, upon recalling this, I…
'Damn it, this whole situation is suffocating...'
The fact that it's in my memory means Kalisha knew about it too. So why did she keep loving the Crown Prince?
I don't get it, but funnily enough, to pass this trial, I have to win his love in Kalisha's body.
In other words, I have to be no different from the foolish, Crown-Prince-obsessed whore that Kalisha used to be.
'So, to sum it up, I either have to win the heart of a prince I don't even like, or I have to show that I truly have what it takes to be the Crown Princess.'
I started forming a rough plan based on my memories.
And now, just as I stood up abruptly from my chair to leave this uncomfortable place...
"Kyaaaaaaah!!"
A young noble lady passing nearby saw me, shrieked in surprise, and fell backward.
'Huh?'
I grabbed her by the waist to keep her from getting hurt, but—
Splash!
The wine she was holding in her hand spilled due to inertia, drenching her face and dress.
"Ah..."
Her face was thoroughly soaked in red wine, and her white dress was stained so badly it was beyond repair.
Her scream drew everyone's attention.
To top it off, I was kindly holding the wine glass to prevent it from falling and shattering.
The empty wine glass in Kalisha's hand.
The poor noble lady drenched in red wine.
Her waist, looking as if it were being held forcibly by Kalisha.
This... anyone would see this as me having poured wine on her face and dress.
The villainess Kalisha.
Today's one evil deed per day: complete!
'What kind of situation is this...'
Of course, it was a misunderstanding that would have been cleared up if she had just defended me, but...
"Kh... hic, sob... I-I'm sorry, Your Highness..."
...she ran away, sobbing her eyes out.
"H-Hey, wait!"
'Wow... this is completely damning, isn't it?'
In an instant, my defender was gone, and I was left to face the stinging glares of the crowd.
Of course, this wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened, so they just muttered curses under their breath and looked away. In their minds, I had long since become the world's worst bitch who bullies powerless young ladies passing by.
But not everyone remained silent.
As if they had been waiting for this very moment, there were those who chose to challenge me…
...the trio of Crown Princess candidates!
'What, this wasn't an individual competition...? No, am I the only one being ostracized?'
The three of them approached me together, united in their hostility.
Among them, a woman with blonde hair and red eyes shot a sharp glare at me.
"Kalisha, that's enough of your wickedness! How can a woman who would be Crown Princess cause such a commotion?"
'But I didn't do anything...!'
It was unfair, but the person who could have cleared my name was long gone.