Ch.21Female Protagonist (2)

“I thought I was going crazy, witnessing a scene too unbearable to accept.

How could this be happening?

Those who curse female leads in romance fantasy novels for despairing about being unable to escape their original fate should experience this firsthand. Then they’d understand why female leads become so fixated on the original story—the reasoning is overwhelming.

Like saying, “There’s no way the male lead from Detective Conan would fall for me.”

Or “It’s impossible for the male characters from Inuyasha to become obsessed with me.”

In short, female leads make rational assumptions after considering various possibilities.

And that’s exactly where I am now.

The original female lead who lured Rahilt with her gaslighting. And Rahilt, who blindly became her doormat. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine inserting myself between them. Not without some trashy hypnosis app or a golden sun cheat key.

How dare I…

How dare I, a mere villain character, think I could come between them…

Between the original female lead, Lady Rashera Ruat, and Rahilt, the child of the deposed emperor.

By some mysterious coincidence in this vast empire, they had met and were conversing without hesitation. Truly a meeting that could only be described as fate.

And this bitch, who’s already benefiting from such a miracle, has the audacity to say:

“How could that be? You’re going to be my partner tonight.”

To make matters worse, my heart was racing so fast and my blood was boiling that only certain keywords were being imprinted in my mind.

Night, and partner.

What are they doing at night?

What kind of partner is she talking about?

Who does this vulgar woman think she’s reaching out to?

My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists. I probably drew blood. The tips of my nails might have turned as red as nail polish.

The blood of the Northern Grand Duke flowing through me urged me on. One swift punch right now could eliminate a future threat completely. Crushing the skull of a snake-tongued socialite would take but a moment.

‘Calm down, you must calm down.’

Rahilt is right in front of me. Even if I harbored murderous intent, he would likely stop me. Not only that, but I could also cause irreparable disappointment.

‘What expression is Rahilt making? Damn, I can’t see because of the mask.’

I’ve never wanted to tear off Rahilt’s mask more than now. Yet paradoxically, I find myself relieved that he’s wearing it. If he were looking at her with an expression he’s never shown me, I would have crumbled right there.

Moreover, the feelings connecting my past and present lives, and the efforts I’ve built up over 19 years in this life, would all turn to bubbles in an instant…

I felt my eyes reddening suddenly. It took less than 10 seconds for these complex emotions to tangle and bring me to this point.

Is this the end?

Is there really no space for me to squeeze in?

As I desperately tried to suppress the feeling of my heart dropping, a little girl came running up, revealing her adorable self.

The child spoke:

“Who are you, big sister?”

She was so cute that once you saw her, you could never forget her. Perhaps because of this, my pounding heart gradually stabilized. I could look directly at Rahilt now, and had the composure to observe Rashera, the original female lead.

And so, I was able to observe.

Rashera’s subtly rotten expression and her hasty attempts to hide it.

The world that had been colored in monochrome suddenly regained its true colors.

That’s when I noticed.

The cracks in their relationship buried under prejudice, and the blue eyes of Rian filled with bewilderment.

So I bent down to the child’s eye level and said:

“I’m Serin.”

Serin, not Seriniel. I taught her the name he was familiar with calling me.

“And what might your name be, little miss?”

“I’m Eshtiel. Eshtiel Elenot.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

“Yours too!”

Eshtiel beamed with a bright smile. She was so lovable that I wanted to hug her tight and take her for a walk.

‘I see… so this child is…’

Lady Eshtiel Elenot. I already knew about her, not from the original story, but from my duties as the imperial princess managing the empire’s affairs.

The only family among the deposed emperor’s remaining forces that hadn’t had their title revoked.

Therefore, a future countess who would have a title but no land or wealth.

Special note: The Windmill Mercenary Group paid off her debts and is currently protecting her.

That was all I knew about Eshtiel.

‘Is this… a bad connection?’

Rahilt has no grudge against the imperial family, but I can’t be sure Eshtiel feels the same. As someone close to him, I want to make a good impression, but fate is truly troublesome.

Whether aware of my feelings or not, Eshtiel approached me and wrapped her small, delicate hand around mine.

“Brother Rihart. I want to go with big sister Serin.”

“Eshtiel will be busy. You’ll have a chance to meet her soon.”

“No?! I’m not busy at all! I’m the least busy person in the world!”

“Shouldn’t Serin be busy…?”

That’s right.

I’m well aware.

Rahilt’s admonition is absolutely correct.

It’s my mother’s birthday celebration, and as the eldest daughter, it would be strange if I weren’t busy.

However.

‘Who cares?’

I’m sorry for growing up as a dutiful daughter with a fire attribute… but this is something that must be forgiven. After all, my mother’s son-in-law is in danger of being NTR’d, so my duties are insignificant in comparison. My mother, who regressed and captured my father, would surely understand.

Yes, she must.

So I responded with a smile that wiped away all worries and concerns.

“I only have a few minor tasks left, so it’s not a problem. Besides, how could I refuse such an adorable young lady’s request? I should even bring back time that has already passed!”

“If Serin is truly fine with it…”

Rahilt trailed off, unable to shake off his uneasiness. I diverted his attention before his suspicion could grow.

“By the way, I wanted to ask something. Are you close with her?”

“Her? Her? What kind of manners are those for an Imperial Princess…!”

“Oh, I don’t care about that. Rian, please answer me honestly.”

To my direct question, Rahilt gave an immediate response.

“I met that lady for the first time today. It would be presumptuous to claim we’re close.”

“Yet you accepted her partner request?”

“I only agreed to enter the palace with her… I think she misinterpreted that.”

Then came Rahilt’s polite apology.

“It’s my fault for making confusing statements, so I humbly ask for your forgiveness.”

“…I accept your apology.”

From their brief exchange, I could immediately deduce what had happened.

‘Ah, so that’s how it was.’

If they just enter the palace together, seducing him to become her partner would be as easy as eating rice cakes lying down. Since they’re already accompanying each other, who would refuse if asked to be partners without a grand reason? Especially Rahilt, who wouldn’t have a partner anyway, would have even less reason to refuse.

‘Rashera’s original partner would have been her brother, so it would be easy to get his understanding.’

That was Rashera’s background setting and what I had observed about her. Even in the original story, it was mentioned that she always had her brother as her partner until she lured Rahilt.

‘By the way, Rahilt is quite skilled at managing situations.’

Despite not having done anything particularly wrong, he offered an excessive apology. This means that anyone who doesn’t accept it would be seen as the villain.

An apology that lowers oneself more than the other party expects is truly effective.

Therefore, I confirmed a hopeful truth.

‘In other words, concepts like “the original story’s compulsive force” don’t exist in this world.’

Damn.

“I thought it was a compulsive force, but it was actually a misunderstanding” is such a cliché in romance fantasy novels, yet I fell for it completely.

How much false accusation have female leads who were possessed or reincarnated endured until now?

I gathered my wits and looked at Eshtiel, who was holding my hand tightly. She seemed to have something to say, her plump cheeks full of words.

“Shall we go, Eshtiel?”

“Where?”

“To the imperial palace. Don’t you want to see it first?”

“I really want to see it!”

“Mmm, if you want to see it, you should. What do you think, Rian?”

When I turned around to ask his opinion, Rahilt gave his typical exemplary answer.

“I’ll follow Eshtiel’s wishes. This outing was for Eshtiel from the beginning.”

“That’s good.”

It felt like an old weight was dissolving in rainwater. I boldly took the place beside Rahilt and delivered an ultimatum to Rashera, who was standing like a pole.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going on your way?”

“Commander Rihart agreed to enter the palace with me…”

“I’m sorry, but it seems Eshtiel’s single word weighs more than such a casual promise.”

“Then I’ll also go to the imperial palace.”

“My, is the imperial palace a place one can enter as casually as going for a neighborhood stroll? Even I, the imperial princess, didn’t know that! I was under the impression everyone needed my invitation to barely cross the threshold.”

“Ugh…”

“Unfortunately, it’s equally open to those who received invitations from early evening, so please visit at your leisure. Of course, our adorable young lady is an exception, right?”

I grinned at Eshtiel, and she returned a naive smile.

It was just an impression, but I felt that Eshtiel was also uncomfortable with Rashera.

‘But for someone of Rashera’s status, there’s no reason to insist on a mercenary commander… why is she approaching Rahilt, who hasn’t even been revealed as the deposed emperor’s child?’

I won’t be able to find out here.

In any case, I understand that her intentions cannot be good if she’s involved. It’s an extremely biased way of thinking, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. At least I can preemptively block any NTR developments.

“Haah…”

Rashera exhaled deeply. She seemed unable to find a way to overcome this obstacle. As she was about to leave, hiding her anger, I caught her by the nape with my words.

“Lady Ruat.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“You should do what needs to be done before leaving.”

She responded to my command with silence.

Is her thinking so immature that she can’t grasp the situation?

Can’t be helped. I’ll have to teach her directly.

“A greeting.”

“Pardon?”

“You should uphold the etiquette and dignity you emphasize so much.”

“…”

Grind.

Though it wasn’t close enough to hear teeth grinding, a chilling friction sound seemed to linger in my ears.

She composed her twisted lips and bowed her head to me.

“I shall… take my leave now.”

Only then did I cheerfully wave my hand with a light heart.

“Goodbye, Lady Ruat. See you soon.”

Know that I’ll kill you if you cross the line.

◇

In truth, my aversion to Rashera didn’t solely stem from her being the original female lead entangled with Rahilt.

She was my polar opposite as an imperial princess because she was part of the deposed emperor’s remaining forces. This meant she was someone I would eventually have to eliminate politically. After all, the Ruat marquis title would eventually be inherited by either her brother or herself.

‘It wasn’t for nothing that we were positioned as the female lead and villain.’

Already being in the deposed emperor’s faction, and holding the card of being the deposed emperor’s child, how much crisis would I have felt as the imperial princess?

It was worth getting rid of her by any means necessary.

But Rashera, protected by Rahilt, the strongest in the world, was nearly invincible.

“Phew!”

I shook off the disgusting original content from my mind and matched my pace with Eshtiel, who was taking quick, pattering steps.

As a result, Rahilt followed us from quite a distance behind.

Eventually, Eshtiel, judging that we had sufficient distance from him, innocently opened the conversation.

“Big sister. You know what, I’m really grateful to you.”

“To me? Why?”

“That lady from earlier. She gave me a bad feeling.”

“La…! *cough*”

I had to suppress a physiological reaction of my lungs bursting at her refreshingly blunt description.

“She shouldn’t get close to Brother Rihart. She’s really bad.”

“And I’m okay?”

“I like you. Because I felt something like ‘whoosh’ and ‘woah’ from you. So you should become close with Brother Rihart.”

“I see…”

From today, I withdraw all opposition to Eshtiel.

She and I are one and the same, and any insult aimed at Eshtiel will be considered an insult against me and dealt with accordingly.

“Our Tiel, you’re good at judging people, aren’t you?”

“Tiel?”

“Is it okay if I call you by a nickname?”

“I like it!”

“I like it too.”

How can everything about her be so cute, from her behavior to her appearance to her name?

Just marry Rahilt. I’ll incorporate a fertile imperial territory into the Elenot county.

“Tiel, what’s your favorite food?”

“I eat everything well.”

“My goodness, what an incredibly good child?”

“Hehe.”

I’ll have to badger the pastry chef as soon as we arrive. I’ll order the most perfect desserts in the world. Sweet cream puffs would suit this innocent smile.

The imperial palace was getting closer as I made such plans.

I glanced at Rahilt, who was making it obvious that he found it awkward to intrude on women’s conversations.

Similarly, Rahilt kept glancing at us and following along. Even though the distance was just enough to make his presence vaguely faint…

That awkward distance somehow felt endearing.”