Thirty Years In, I Finally Meet the Heroine
It had been thirty years since I was dropped into this other world, and at long last I stood face to face with a rofan heroine.
"I am Catra Le Linniel Lumelia."
Katrin, for short.
The main heroine of Whispering Love at the End of a Ruined World — the woman who saw the transmigrated male lead through from beginning to end, the truest of true heroines.
'Wasn't she the Goddess of Vengeance? The one rumored to be the most vicious of all the heroines.'
A character who went by the stage name Nemesis, Goddess of Vengeance.
'Just look at those eyes. Yikes. She looks like she'd gut you.'
Striking black hair and blood-red eyes — Katrin was rolling those memorable eyes around, taking stock of the situation. On the outside she was nothing more than a childlike little twelve-year-old, but I knew one astonishing fact.
Because of her, dozens of noble houses had been annihilated, hundreds of nobles were dead — enough corpses to stack into ten apartment buildings.
'Your new nickname is Bloody Rabbit. A rabbit with eyes as red as blood, that's what you are.'
Having christened the heroine in one stroke, I glanced to my side.
"I am Lisanne Marcel de Cheringham."
My childhood friend, my first love, and my liege lady — the lady who had transmigrated into this rofan world alongside me — was greeting someone with impeccable aristocratic grace.
To whom?
To Bloody Rabbit and her mother.
"And this gentleman is the treasure of Marcel, the finest knight in all of Catra, and the Knight Master who has sworn eternity with me — Sir Rian Limeberg."
Whoa! Nailed it.
Let me decode that baffling noble-speak for you:
Hey, nice to meet you. This here is Rian Limeberg, a knight from my house — the Barony of Marcel. I brought him along as my retainer when I married into Catra. His rank? Knight Master. Oh, and incidentally, he's the single strongest person in all of Catra County. And he serves ME, his lady, so he only takes orders from me. Jealous? Then don't even think about stepping out of line. I'm a woman who commands a knight of that caliber, you bitches.
Yeah, that about sums it up.
Wow, I'm apparently a genius at interpreting noble-speak. So damn smart. Is this what experience distilled into skill looks like?
"Your reputation precedes you, Sir Rian."
Katrin bowed her head in a polite greeting, and I waved my hand dismissively.
Truth be told, getting complimented by that Bloody Rabbit didn't make me happy one bit. If anything, it felt like pressure.
Because honestly, the person I was interested in wasn't the vengeance-obsessed heroine — it was her mother. Her name was... what was it again?
"I am Evelyn... I have no family name... I'm a commoner, you see..."
A black-haired woman ducked her head, glancing around nervously.
That's right!
She was Evelyn of the Back Alleys — a character from the side stories of Whispering Love at the End of a Ruined World.
My absolute favorite character. Honestly, the side story arc was a masterpiece. I bawled my eyes out reading it, for real.
Maternal love tastes SO good!
More mama, please!
Nom nom nom!
"So you're Lady Evelyn."
"Yes..."
"It's an honor to meet you."
I recalled the original story.
Evelyn — the main heroine's mother, a former prostitute — had been dragged into the succession war that erupted after Count Catra's death, and she had met a miserable end.
Days and nights of being exploited as a plaything by soldiers, until finally her severed head was hung from the castle gates.
That scene hurt so much I left a comment on the author's page — the first comment I'd ever written in my life, actually.
And in any case, exactly ten years after that moment, the illustrious House of Catra in the eastern Empire would be wiped out.
By that terrifying Bloody Rabbit right there.
For the record, Lisanne survived. And she went on to block the protagonist and heroines' path time and again as their worst possible obstacle.
The lady I serve is, in fact,
the worst villainess of the original story!
"I do hope we can get along, as women who share the same husband. Of course, you and I have walked entirely different roads. My, but you have a lovely scent about you. Might I ask what perfume you wear?"
So said Lisanne, beaming sweetly.
Let me decode her Kyoto-style noble-speak once again:
Who gave some back-alley prostitute who sold her body to the dregs of society permission to look at me with those big eyes? Got a death wish? You and I are from different worlds, so crawl back into your hole. Ugh, just standing near you, the stench of night flowers is wafting off you in waves. Just how many men have you spread your legs for, hmm? You cheap, filthy sow. Looking at you makes me want to vomit.
Whoa, okay, that's going a bit far.
She's gonna be hurt by that.
"Thank you for complimenting my mother, Lady Lisanne. Now, if you'll be on your way — I believe you were going somewhere."
"Oh my?"
At Katrin's words and stance — planted squarely in front of her mother like a shield — something flickered in Lisanne's eyes. That look said, Well, well. Would you look at this saucy little thing?
Should I step in here?
Yeah, probably should.
But first I needed to know who her guard knight was. That was the important part.
"Lady Evelyn, where is your escort knight?"
"My escort knight? He's..."
Evelyn's words trailed off as a group of knights and soldiers came jogging up behind her. The reek of hard liquor rolling off them made it clear they'd been drinking on duty.
Red-faced, they caught sight of Lisanne and me, dropped to one knee, and bellowed:
"Milady Lisanne! A fine day to you!"
"Ah, you serve my husband's younger brother, don't you?"
"Hahaha, that I do!"
The middle-aged knight chuckled, stroking the whiskers sprouting from both cheeks. Even as he laughed, his breath still stank of booze.
Now, what was this guy's name again?
'Can't remember the name. Just the nickname — Cowardly Monkey.'
Soon enough, the middle-aged knight introduced himself.
"You must be the treasure of Marcel, Sir Rian. A pleasure. I am Skoddella, a knight of House Catra recently returned from the capital."
That's right — Skoddellio, that was the name!
A character whose very impact was in a league of its own.
After Evelyn and her daughter entered House Catra from the back-alley world of the original story, this man had served as their assigned guard knight — and he was the absolute worst of them all: the piece of trash who used the daughter as a hostage to blackmail Evelyn into being his sex slave for two full years.
'Extras don't get illustrations, so he was hard to recognize. But yeah, that guy is the infamous freak pervert Monkey, huh?'
Among the readers he was known less by name than by his nickname — "Freak Pervert Monkey." He was the one who delivered the legendary line, "My sex slave is MINE to protect! I love Evelyn!" and spirited Katrin and Evelyn out of the county.
The readers' reaction was nothing short of explosive.
But in the very next chapter, the readers' opinion of him took a nosedive — because just as his escape from the county was nearly complete, he got surrounded by ambushing knights and soldiers and spat out a line like this:
'I still remember it. S-s-spare me! I'll give you my slave! I've trained her well! She'll absolutely blow your minds, so please, just spare my life— urk!'
The worst kind of scum — he shamelessly sold Evelyn off to the knights and soldiers, begging for his life right up until they cut him down. And ironically, thanks to his death, Katrin escaped safely, and the county fell to ruin years later... so yes, he was unquestionably an important figure in the story.
So the original plot really does have this guy assigned as Evelyn and Katrin's guard knight, huh? That's a problem, then. I'll have to step in.
"Sir Monkey."
"I beg your pardon? Were you addressing me?"
"Ah, my tongue slipped. Sir Skoradellio."
"Sir Rian, my name is Skoddella."
"My apologies. I'm good with nicknames, but names just slip right out of my head..."
"..."
Facing the Monkey, who was wearing a deeply sour expression, I made my declaration.
"From this moment on, the protection of Lady Evelyn and Lady Katrin will be handled by our own Catra knights."
"I am a Catra knight as well, if I may say so."
"I'll be placing a knight I know and trust."
"I'm afraid I don't follow... I take my orders directly from the Junior Lord of the house. Are you aware that this constitutes overstepping your authority?"
House Catra had two heads: a Senior Lord who managed the family's internal affairs, and a Junior Lord who handled everything outside it. The Junior Lord was Clipstol — Count Catra's younger brother, a man who had served as Imperial Minister of the Interior.
Mind you, Clipstol these days had been ousted from his ministry over corruption charges and had crawled back home in disgrace — a total wreck of a man. But he was still a high noble, so I supposed I ought to get permission.
"I'll report the matter to the Count myself. So kindly withdraw your soldiers."
"On what grounds? By what right do you—"
"My right? Well, you see..."
Ever since I transmigrated into this world — ever since I cast my lot with the House of Catra that was fated to be destroyed ten years from now — this is what I had always thought about.
If, one day, life unfolded exactly as the original story demanded,
the very first thing I would have to do.
And that was—
"I intend to take Lady Katrin as my page and apprentice."
Simple: become the master of the vengeance-crazed Bloody Rabbit.
No matter how deep her grudge ran, she surely wouldn't run her own master through, right? If you can't beat the future, recruit it.
Mwahaha, what a brilliant plan.
I might just be a genius.
"Rian, are you out of your mind?"
"My daughter... a knight?"
I ignored the protests of Lisanne and Evelyn alike and turned to Bloody Rabbit.
"Lady Bloody Rabbit. Would you care to receive my instruction?"
"Very well. Although — what's a Bloody Rabbit?"
"It's your new nickname. I'm much better at remembering nicknames than names, you see."
"...Do I look like a rabbit to you?"
"Yes. An absolutely dead ringer. And please stop opening your eyes like that. You're scaring me."
"..."
In the thirtieth year since I was cast into this other world,
I gained a new disciple.