Judgment Event
“What do you think? Even the young master waiting out there will fall head over heels at first sight, right?”
“Since it's for a debutante, we had to put in some extra effort.”
“Go ahead and open that door. Your partner young master should be waiting.”
Lily steadied her pounding heart and took a cautious step forward.
Watching her, the grannies chimed in.
“We've seen plenty of fine gentlemen and ladies come through here over the years. The way a man reacts when a woman wears a dress she's never worn before—that's how you know his heart.”
“His… reaction?”
“Just look into his eyes. If they're shaking differently from usual, you're already halfway there.”
“If he compliments you but can't look you straight in the eye, that's a sure thing!”
Lily swallowed hard.
Until now, she'd tried appealing to the young master with outfits like that sexy secretary getup.
But she wasn't entirely sure if he truly saw her as a woman.
Sure, she'd felt those lecherous stares, so he saw her as one on some level—but it was different from this.
Creak—
When she opened the waiting room door and saw Edrick bolt upright.
His eyes are shaking. Pupils dilating like crazy.
Lily confirmed it.
***
“Uh… uh…”
The waiting room door suddenly swung open, revealing Lily.
For a moment, every thought flew out of my head.
Then an overload of information hit my brain all at once.
Is that dress see-through? Wait, are dresses supposed to be that sexy? But how can she be that cute too? No, cute doesn't even cover it—
I swallowed hard and stared straight at Lily again.
Oh man…
Damn. An angel? I knew she was pretty, but was Lily this pretty?
The deep midnight blue fabric clung flawlessly to her curves without a single gap.
No frills or dangling ornaments—just smooth fabric cascading down, adorned only with silver threads and cold crystal embroidery that sparkled like sharp ice crystals under the light.
Especially the gems scattered thinly over the sheer fabric from her neckline to just above her chest.
Combined with her northern pallor—skin so white it was almost ghostly—it was dizzying, leaving me no idea where to look.
Whew, okay, brain's working normally again.
As I stood there speechless, the seamstress grannies started glaring at me fiercely.
I could tell what their eyes meant without words: This punk! Hurry up and compliment the lady!! Use every flowery phrase you know to praise her!!
Feeling embarrassed, I averted my gaze slightly and muttered.
“You look pretty.”
“See? We told you!”
“Now go on, off with you!!”
“Kyaa!!”
The grannies gave Lily's back a light shove, and she stumbled toward me unsteadily.
Whoa, she's gonna fall—
Thud.
I quickly grabbed her shoulders, and her slender body slipped right into my arms.
“……”
“……”
We froze like that, locked in an embrace.
My heart was pounding thump-thump-thump.
Could Lily hear it too, with her face buried against my chest?
She stayed clung to me for a moment, then murmured without lifting her head.
“…Young master too.”
“Huh?”
“It suits you. That.”
Ah, right.
While waiting in the room, one of the grannies had slipped in and tossed me a suit.
Pros are pros—they nailed the fit perfectly from just a quick glance.
“Suits are so uncomfortable.”
“……”
Silence again.
She could've roasted me with something like, Wearing a suit you never wear before—how many girls do you plan to knock off their feet?
“These old folks are gonna die of envy!”
“How long are you gonna lounge in someone else's shop?!”
“Ah, sorry. Lily, hold on.”
I startled and gently eased her out of my arms, prompting more granny advice.
“Those heels are high, so escort the lady properly!”
“Make our debutante cry, and we won't let you off easy!!”
“Uh… thanks for rushing it. What about payment?”
“Oh, don't you worry about payment. We made plenty in our youth—money's rotting away on us.”
“We've received much grace from His Highness Bernhardt. Just promote our shop loud and clear at the Founding Festival ball tonight.”
Whoa, these grannies are big-hearted. Running the business as a hobby now?
“Off you go. Saw the carriage pull up already.”
“Oh, right. Thanks again, grannies.”
I took Lily's hand and stepped outside slowly; the head butler had arranged carriage was already there.
“Let's go, Lily.”
“…Yes, young master.”
With a strange fluttering in my chest, I boarded the carriage with her.
***
Milliela's life was undoubtedly at its peak right now.
“Ufufu. Your Highness the Crown Prince, come catch me~”
“Oh, lovely Milliela. If I catch you, I might not let you go until morning.”
Today the Crown Prince, tomorrow the young heir of the Magic Tower, the day after the Empire's genius knight commander…
She steadily planted flags with a different male lead every day.
As mentioned before, Milliela knew every route in the original novel Reborn as the Villainess Lady, I'll Be Happy.
Their deficiencies.
How to fulfill those deficiencies.
What points they reacted to, even down to their favorite dishes at obscure shops.
It was like clearing a game with a full walkthrough and cheat keys.
And there was another reason her dopamine spiked daily.
Conquering routes I already know is no fun.
The dream harem ending the author declared as their finale.
The one where Milliela and all the male leads live happily ever after—the ending she died without seeing in her past life.
Blazing a completely new trail gave her that thrill, satisfying her dopamine every day.
Of course, uncharted territory meant she wasn't sure if this was the right path.
But for a harem ending, how hard could it be?
Just plant flags with all the male leads and run all the routes at once, right?
A simple plan.
But surprisingly, it was working—more smoothly than Milliela expected.
“Thinking I won't see you for a week already pierces my heart like a needle. How will you take responsibility?”
“Oh, come on. Say that, and my resolve weakens.”
“But I must let you go. A man's promise to a man.”
At first, she worried how the male leads would react to multi-routing.
Wasn't it blatantly two-timing, three-timing, four-timing?
But astonishingly, once hooked on Milliela, they accepted it, even making their own rules to coolly share her.
A groundbreaking development absent from the original.
If it kept going like this, wouldn't she nail the full harem ending?
“And today's the event I've been waiting months for. Hehe.”
Yes.
Today was the big day for the key original event Milliela had anticipated.
The Founding Festival ball's judgment event.
“Seeing that bitch I hate crumble live. Ahh, I wish evening would hurry up.”
As the title suggests, Reborn as the Villainess Lady, I'll Be Happy's protagonist Milliela was originally set as the villainess lady.
But that was just the setup; the actual Milliela in the story wasn't villainous at all.
The classic ropan cliché: reincarnated into the villainess body but doesn't do evil deeds.
But if the set villainess becomes the protagonist.
Of course, a true villainess must appear.
Enter [Vil.Reb.Hap]'s real villainess: Katarina de Helios.
The eldest daughter of the Western Grand Duchy, originally engaged to the Crown Prince.
Like clockwork, she bullies Milliela with every dirty trick.
Then hits the judgment event and exits stage left—that's Katarina de Helios, villainess extraordinaire.
And now.
The judgment event was about to begin.
Splash!!!
With a sharp water splatter straight out of a K-drama.
The water from Katarina de Helios's glass soaked Milliela's face and dress top.
“Kyaaak!”
Milliela let out a perfectly timed scream, collapsing to the floor.
Tears welled up right on cue.
Her shoulders trembled faintly from the ice-cold water—pure pitiful victim vibes.
“How dare a rootless wretch hover around His Highness? Know your place!”
Katarina huffed, hurling the empty glass to the floor.
Clang!
The sharp shatter cut through the ballroom's silence.
Yes! That's the line!
Milliela cheered inwardly.
Katarina de Helios, you're the perfect villainess!
On the grandest stage, the Founding Festival ball.
Splashing and verbally abusing the crown prince's favorite lady in front of countless nobles.
Judgment stack? Sky-high right now.
“Hic… Lady Katarina, what have I done wrong…?”
Milliela sobbed miserably, hands covering her face.
On cue, furious shouts erupted from all sides.
“Milliela!!”
First out was, predictably, the Crown Prince.
He rushed over, draping his ornate uniform jacket firmly over her soaked shoulders.
“Are you alright, Milliela? Anywhere hurt?”
“Y-Your Highness… hic.”
As Milliela sobbed pathetically in his arms, an icy voice rang out above her.
“Katarina de Helios. Do you know what you've done before my very eyes?!”
“Y-Your Highness! That vulgar vixen is bewitching you, I couldn't stand by—!”
“Silence!”
Katarina flinched at the Crown Prince's roar.
Nice. Now it really starts. Delicious.
“Move a finger, and an ice spear pierces your throat. Lady of the Western Grand Duchy.”
Next, the Magic Tower heir had snuck up, aiming a chilling ice spear at Katarina's nape.
Gone was the cute puppy-dog junior who fawned over Milliela.
Replaced by pure killing intent—the gap had Milliela drooling inwardly.
Mmm. Like watching a movie. Live judgment event is the best!
What's next in the sequence?
Milliela buried her face in the prince's chest, calmly recalling the wawlkthrough wiki in her head like flipping pages.
[Phase 1. Villainess provokes physically and verbally in the middle of the ballroom]
Just cleared with that refreshing splash.
[Phase 2. Male leads appear and subdue]
Achieved with the Magic Tower heir's icy spear.
Next up: Phase 3, obviously.
Irrefutable evidence time.
As Milliela pretended to tremble and glanced sideways, heavy footsteps approached on cue.
Another male lead candidate: the young Imperial Knight Commander.
“Lady Katarina. Did you think we'd be fools unaware of the horrific acts you've committed against Lady Milliela?”
The knight commander pulled a thick stack of documents from his breast pocket and tossed it to the floor.
“Last month's mana beast luring incident, and sabotaging Lady Milliela's carriage wheel. Confessions from back-alley guilds say it was all on the Grand Duchy's orders.”
Yesss! That's it!
Milliela cheered silently.
Truth be told, she'd dodged those events flawlessly using her foreknowledge, unscathed and smug.
But to max Katarina's judgment stack, she'd deliberately left tails intact for evidence.
Now relax and enjoy the judgment event…
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
Right then.
A massive drumroll echoed, utterly out of place.
The nobles watching the judgment turned toward the entrance.
“New participant at this hour…?”
“Hasn't everyone important arrived?”
“Who shows up this late…”
Note: Drumrolls for new arrivals were reserved for major VIPs.
But we're mid-judgment event?
Who's butting in??
As Milliela and all the nobles wondered.
The doors opened, and the doorman bellowed the latecomer's name.
“Entering: Edrick von Heiden, second son of the Northern Heiden Grand Duchy!!”
…??
Why's Cedric's little brother showing up at this timing??