The Cliché of the Villainess Novel

Before I transmigrated here, my life had been pathetic through and through.

The day the Gate opened.

The city drowned in red, and the roars of monsters that seemed to tear the sky apart echoed everywhere.

My memories of my family were hazy. All that remained was the faint warmth of my mother’s embrace and the large, steady feel of my father’s hand.

But the one person who had saved me that day, amid a world soaked in blood, I remembered with perfect clarity.

A hunter who cut down a massive beast with a single stroke of his blade.

Light shone behind his back as dark crimson blood stained the ground.

In that instant I forgot fear and sorrow alike, staring in pure awe.

In the moment I lost everything I had, only one thought filled my head.

I want to become someone like him.

From that day on, I resolved to become a hunter.

But…

“You have no talent.”

I stood there blankly for a long time.

“What…?”

“An ordinary person who never Awakened cannot become a hunter.”

No. There has to be some way.

I desperately sought out the Hunter Association and endlessly searched for methods to grow stronger.

But the answer was always the same.

“If you can’t Awaken, it’s impossible.”

“If you can’t handle mana, you won’t last a minute inside a Gate.”

They looked at me with pity, and I despaired.

In the end I never Awakened, possessed no talent whatsoever, and even with training I lagged far behind everyone else.

Years passed, and at last I gave up on everything.

The day I finally accepted that the path to becoming a hunter was completely closed to me.

Because I could do nothing in reality, I wanted to become someone—anyone—at least in a virtual world.

I shut myself in bed.

A life spent reading novels and playing games all day long.

But now, that pathetic experience might actually prove useful.

No matter which route you chose, Yeon Bennet’s end was always wretched.

Honestly, it felt like she had it coming—but the problem was that I was now that Yeon Bennet.

What would happen if, in this situation, I treated the servants well?

Originally, when someone with a filthy reputation does something kind, the effect is even greater.

I thought back to the transmigration novels I had read before.

What happens when a wastrel or a villainess transmigrates and starts acting kindly?

Their relationships with the people around them improve almost immediately because of the change.

With modern common sense, even a little kindness toward those of lower status makes them instantly moved and loyal.

All I could do right now was actively exploit that cliché.

By earning their trust I would gain opportunities to grow close to the playable characters who thrived in the main story, then use the knowledge I had gained from the game to clear the plot and somehow force a happy ending even in the final chapter.

A perfect plan.

It should have been perfect.

But it might not be as easy as I thought?

“Ugh.”

Even so, fainting the moment I apologized…

Just what the hell had this woman Yeon Bennet been doing every day?

Carrying a collapsed person to the infirmary turned out to be easier than expected.

Having a level meant one had Awakened to mana; Yeon’s body could exert far more strength than an ordinary person’s.

I had worried the doctor might panic at the sight of such a notorious woman carrying a maid, but he only stiffened his expression slightly and focused silently on the examination.

“Um… do you know how Annie ended up like this…?”

So this maid’s name was Annie.

“Uh…”

I hesitated a little.

“N-no! You don’t have to answer! It’s just a simple faint—she’ll recover if she rests here a while.”

Fear colored the doctor’s face and tone.

He worked in this mansion too, so he must have been one of Yeon’s victims.

This might actually be an opportunity.

I put on the most dejected expression I could manage.

“I thought I’d been far too harsh, so I apologized… and then… she just fainted.”

I finished with an awkward smile. He looked at me with a complicated expression.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry to you too. And I want to apologize to the others as well.”

He watched me for a moment, then tilted his head as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

“You’ve truly decided to change. Your expression alone is much brighter. May I ask the reason?”

I sighed and spoke.

“I enter the Academy in a year. I want to become a hero who fights Contamination and saves people. I can’t keep living selfishly and childishly anymore.”

There was a measure of sincerity in those words that went beyond mere survival.

The characters of Tales of Etheraisha who had soothed my loneliness in that dark room.

If they were truly living people, I wanted to save them.

And just like the hunters I had admired in my previous life, I wanted to become a hero myself.

He stared at me with a look of surprise.

“Even so, it won’t be easy. Because of… ahem… everything the young lady has done, others won’t open their hearts as readily as this child lying here.”

That was true.

Even I, who had only seen Yeon’s atrocities through a game, shook my head at them; the servants of the mansion who had suffered them firsthand would hold deep grudges.

“Still, I believe you will try.”

He smiled and looked at me with warm eyes.

The feeling was strange.

A choked, sad, wistful emotion.

It wasn’t mine.

These weren’t game characters, and there was no reason for me to feel this way toward them.

Could it be Yeon’s emotions?

That she could feel something like this…

Honestly… did she have no conscience?

After the treatment finished, instead of calling someone to return Annie to her room, I decided to carry her myself.

If I was going to earn points, I might as well do it properly.

Judging by the doctor’s expression, he was already mostly won over.

When I arrived at Annie’s room and opened the door, a book radiating tremendous presence lay on the desk.

What is this? Some kind of grimoire?

Bennet Princess Safety Manual

The moment I saw the title I opened the first page as if entranced and began to read.

It seemed I would have to give up on winning Annie’s heart.

Already three months ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had passed since I arrived in this world.

The place I had transmigrated into was a remote mansion belonging to the Bennet family.

Apparently Duke Bennet had confined Yeon here to correct her habits.

Thanks to that, I hadn’t seen a single member of the family.

It was a little disappointing not to have met Serena Bennet—Yeon’s older sister and one of the playable characters—but…

Considering everything Yeon had done, none of them would like me anyway.

Still, just as I expected, the servants opened their hearts quickly.

It felt a bit uncomfortable, as if they had forgiven me only because of the difference in status, but it still felt good.

Haa… I really should start training my unique ability properly.

When I tried using the unique ability, wounds had been left on my body, and for a while the mansion had been in an uproar over it.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of the knock I answered in a slightly mischievous tone.

“Come in. You don’t have to go somewhere else for a whole hour.”

“Young lady! We agreed you’d stop teasing me about that!”

Annie and I had grown quite close.

Close enough to exchange light jokes.

It was a bond of only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three months, yet even a relationship like this was precious to me.

I hadn’t realized it while locking myself away playing games, but I had been lonelier than I thought.

“I’ll attend to your bath, young lady.”

“Mm.”

“Young lady, is the water temperature all right?”

“Perfect. Thanks, Annie.”

I answered while looking in the mirror.

Hmm…

I wasn’t particularly satisfied.

In real-world terms there would have been people who liked a slender build, but…

I preferred something big, like Rina’s.

Well, at this point it might not matter much anymore.

With the important organs gone, this body couldn’t react much either way…

If I’d seen this when I was still a guy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it would’ve been nice at least… haa…

Annie gently loosened my hair and carefully guided me to the tub.

When I slowly sank into the bath, the warm water wrapped around my body and eased the tension.

“Annie. About that manual.”

The moment I brought up the manual her face turned bright red.

“I only received it as a handover! And we agreed not to talk about that anymore!”

I answered with a dejected look.

“Still, it was too much. Treating the master they serve like some kind of freak instead of a person…”

“You brought it on yourself! That pitiful expression doesn’t work anymore, so turn around a bit.”

“Hehe, I was just kidding. I really do have one thing I want to ask.”

“Ask freely, young lady.”

“Why didn’t you leave that day? The last rule was written in thick letters and even emphasized.”

She had been so terrified after reading the final rule that she fainted from fear.

If someone was that scared, wouldn’t they just leave the way the manual said?

“I wonder. Maybe I somehow knew the young lady would become this kind. I didn’t want to leave.”

She answered while gently rinsing my wet hair.

Hmm… she didn’t seem inclined to give a real answer.

What circumstances could there be?

Circumstances that forced her to endure all of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that bitch’s tyranny.

If she had a problem, I wanted to help.

“If there’s any reason you’re staying by my side, tell me anytime. I’ll help.”

“It’s fine. I couldn’t possibly trouble the young lady. And it’s not because of any circumstances—I’m staying because I truly like you.”

For this villainess to hear something like that…

The original owner of this body absolutely had to thank me.

After finishing the bath I returned to my room.

“I’ll prepare breakfast and send it up, young lady.”

“Mm.”

“No picky eating—you have to finish everything!”

“I know already! Just send it quick. I’m hungry.”

A short while later the maid in charge of meals entered my room.

Was her name Mary?

“Mary. Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, young lady.”

She waited for my question with a slightly tense expression.

“Does Annie have some reason she can’t leave the duchy?”

“Th-that… I’m not sure if I should freely speak of someone else’s circumstances…”

“I want to help Annie. I’m not trying to harm her.”

She sighed as if she had no choice and opened her mouth.

“She has a lot of debt—raising her younger siblings and her mother falling ill. That’s why she couldn’t leave. The reason she volunteered as the young lady’s dedicated maid was also… ah!”

She covered her mouth as if she had made a mistake and glanced at me with slightly fearful eyes.

“It’s fine. Even if I had been a maid back then, I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to serve that version of me.”

I gave her a small smile to show it was all right.

She looked relieved, bowed, and left the room.

Before coming to this world, loneliness had been as natural to me as air.

There had always been people who approached me.

Even while living in the orphanage, even while attending school.

But I pushed them away.

Because I was afraid.

Afraid of having to go through another farewell.

After forcing people away long enough, it became easier to keep my distance from the start.

Having someone nearby was bothersome, and someday they would leave anyway.

That was how I lived alone—until I came to this world and changed a little.

Having transmigrated as a villainess destined for a bad ending, I began approaching people first under the excuse of needing to survive.

Convincing myself it was only to change the reputation of a wastrel young lady.

Yet the warmth of the people I touched along the way was warmer—and more dangerous—than I expected.

At first it had been nothing more than behavior for others to see, but before I knew it I myself was changing.

I hoped they could smile because of me,

and… I wanted to help Annie.

But what did Annie think of me?

What kind of existence was I… to Annie?

Yeon Bennet.

If it had been the woman I saw in the game, she would have tormented Annie half to death.

She would have sneered at the sight of someone of lower status crumbling helplessly, and trampled her until those tears hit the floor.

That was what the original owner of this body had done.

Because of the difference in status she might smile on the outside while still fearing me deep down.

No matter how much I had changed…

No matter how sincerely I wanted to care for her…

Would that feeling reach her?

Suddenly I grew afraid of the moments our eyes met.

When she looked at me, was she seeing the real me?

Or was she still seeing the villainess of the past?

What if Annie never forgives me to the end?

The thought made my fingertips tremble slightly.

An emotion I could neither abandon nor force myself to ignore anymore.

For the first time in my life I had grasped this warmth, and I did not want to lose it.

That was why, selfishly, I wanted to help her.