Chapter 2: I Reincarnated as a Villainess…and Ended Up Stranded

“Uunngh…”

When I sat up with my light body, I realized I was in a forest.

The uncomfortable, grimy feeling of the dirt beneath me was hard to ignore.

As I rubbed my eyes, a completely unfamiliar wilderness greeted me.

“Where the hell… am I?”

Not a single sign of human life in sight.

The only familiar thing was the maid doll perched on my shoulder like it was her throne.

No wonder my shoulder felt heavy.

“You’re heavier than you look, you know. You can fly, can’t you? Why are you using me as a chair?”

When I asked her to get off, she smugly shook her head from side to side.

Smack!

“…!”

So I flicked her on the forehead. She rubbed her brow with a tiny hand…

…but still didn’t budge from my shoulder.

…Whatever.

The real question is, why did I wake up in a place like this?

Let me think.

I’d transmigrated into the mysterious noble girl Lin Rosegarden, and then—

Right, we were swallowed by a massive thundercloud…

“…and crashed.”

The airship I was on got struck by lightning and plummeted.

Yeah, that much I remember.

…But seriously?

I just found a new life and now I’m already fighting to survive?

That’s ridiculous.

Sure, I reincarnated as a villainess noble girl, but even so—this is way too much.

I was supposed to have some narrative weight, being a daughter of the influential Rosegarden family.

But now I nearly died like a bug splattered on a windshield?

Getting hit by literal lightning right after reincarnating?

That’s beyond unfair.

Deep down, though, I already knew.

In the original story, the Rosegarden family only had two sons.

No daughters.

Which means there’s only one answer.

I was supposed to die back there.

If you’re going to shove me into someone, at least pick a character who can live more than ten chapters!

Grrrrgle…

As I seethed inwardly at this cosmic injustice, my stomach decided it was time for breakfast.

It was yelling at me to hurry up and pour in some tea and sweets.

But this was a wild forest and I had no idea where I was.

“Oh. Apples.”

Luckily, there were several apple trees around.

Would wild apples even taste good?

Now wasn’t the time to be picky.

Crunch!

I bit into one—and surprisingly, it tasted like a perfectly normal apple.

What the hell?

Was this grown by a person?

I looked for signs it had been handled by human hands, but found nothing.

Logically speaking, there’s no way a wild-grown apple could taste the same as one fed with human agricultural tech and nutrients.

Was I just so hungry I imagined the flavor?

But no, I had only just woken up after a short nap.

I wasn’t exactly starving to the point I’d chew on bugs like some survivalist YouTuber.

…Ugh.

The thought alone disgusts me.

If I don’t find more food soon, is that what I’ll have to do?

“…Whew.”

Okay.

First things first: survive.

Let’s do a quick situation check.

Who am I?

Lin Rosegarden, the first daughter of the Rosegarden family.

Why am I like this?

Because fate said so.

What do I do next?

“Before sunset, I must achieve my dream of home ownership!!”

Slap!

I gave myself a double-cheek slap to get fired up.

The doll next to me copied the exact same motion.

Now my cheeks hurt.

That was dumb.

Never doing that again.

As motivated as I felt, the truth was I now had the body of a girl around elementary school age.

And I was supposed to build a shelter—alone?

Out here?

Yeah, no.

Even in my past life as a 20-something dude, I couldn’t have managed that.

The only realistic option was to find a natural shelter—maybe a hollow tree or a cave.

So I started walking aimlessly in a single direction.

“Want some?”

As I walked, I shared a few slices of apple with the only companion I had—my maid doll.

Ungrateful thing gave me a frown, like she was asking, This is it?

Hey, this is plenty.

You’re the size of a soda bottle! How much can you even eat?

Oh?

Look at this smug little face.

You dare frown at your master, huh?

“One more face like that and you lose three Maid Points.”

“…….”

The doll, now deep in the negative points, casually plucked an entire apple from my stash and perched herself back on my shoulder.

Hey!

You’re heavy enough as it is!

But the weight didn’t last long.

The doll stuffed the entire apple into her tiny mouth and gulp—swallowed it whole.

Then flashed a satisfied smile.

“…You eat really well, huh?”

It felt like I was watching a cartoon.

How is that physically possible?

Even in a fantasy world filled with magical tech, that was… extreme.

“Hey… actually, calling you ‘hey’ all the time is getting annoying.”

“…?”

As I walked through the forest, my thoughts wandered.

It didn’t feel right not to give my only companion a name.

The first name that popped into my head was Wilson, but that felt a bit too tragic for a maid doll.

Then it hit me.

“Kiriel. From now on, your name is Kiriel. Cute, right?”

“…!”

Kiriel seemed to like it, buzzing around me in delight.

Like a cute little housefly.

Only difference: she was adorable.

After wandering with minus-four-points Kiriel for about an hour,
we stumbled upon a uniform lying on the ground.

“This is…”

It was the uniform worn by the crew of the airship.

Splotched with dried blood in several places—

From that height, there was no way they survived.

…

…Wait a second.
Then what about me?

Why am I perfectly fine?

Kiriel I could understand.

She’s not human, she can float.

But even then, she should’ve sustained some damage from the fall.

My arms and legs?

Not a scratch.

Not even torn clothes.

They say most people die of cardiac arrest before they even hit the ground at that height…

“…….”

“…?”

There’s no way this little thing caught me in mid-air.

The sun had started dipping past its peak while I stood there wondering.

But dwelling on it here in the wild was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

I’d figure it out later.

For now, I needed shelter.

Still, I paused briefly to offer a prayer for the poor fallen crew.

“What now… should I dig a hole in the ground or something?”

But no matter how hard I searched, there were no caves.

Not even a hollow tree.

There was no way a little girl like me could build a shelter in a day with zero tools.

As twilight fell, I got increasingly desperate.

I decided to at least build a small fire, so Kiriel and I gathered pinecones and twigs.

Fwoosh…!

With a snap of my fingers, I lit the fire.

I hadn’t practiced, but I could manage a basic flame spell.

Thank you, Father and Mother of this world, for giving me innate magical talent.

Even if one of you is dead and the other is doomed.

Crackle… crack…

With a fire going, wild animals should stay away, right?

Hopefully.

Then again, this is a fantasy world.

And the monsters here are far worse than wild beasts.

Sleeping in the middle of a forest with nothing but a campfire?

That was basically gambling with my life.

Even professional adventurers take turns keeping watch…

But here I was—just a little girl and a maid doll in a dress.

Honestly, I was scared to death.

But if I didn’t sleep, I’d wither away anyway.

This little body demanded rest, and I couldn’t resist anymore.

“Kiriel.”

When I called her name, she buzzed over and lay down next to me.

Even if she wasn’t human, her presence was a huge comfort.

And so, with all kinds of worries lingering in my mind, I drifted off.

The fire crackled softly, occasionally spitting out a rebellious spark.

Kiriel, the specially-made magic doll, lay beside her young master with eyes closed.

Grrooo…

As the fire dimmed, the cry of a small beast echoed in the shadows.

Three goblins with crude wooden weapons and drooling mouths sniffed the air.

They caught the scent of soft, tender human girl meat—and grinned.

“Grk!”

One pointed a bony finger at the sleeping girl.

The goblins snickered and crept closer—

Then a small, silent storm ripped one of their heads clean off.

“Gr… grrk?”

The other two froze.

What the hell was that?

They hadn’t seen anything.

Only a sleeping girl.

But then—another wind swept in, tearing their heads and torsos apart.

“…….”

Kiriel scanned for hostile mana.

None.

She’d protected her little master.

Then, calmly, she broke a twig and tossed it into the fading fire to brighten the area once more.

Kiriel was no ordinary maid doll.

She had magical powers on par with a mid-level spirit.

Crunch!

To replenish her mana, she devoured a whole apple in one bite.

Then lay down again beside her master, eyes closed—resuming her silent vigil.