Kaifuku Shoku no Akuyaku Reijou - Chapter 1

“We’re at a party, would it kill you to smile just for the occasion?”

I opened my eyes when I heard someone spoke to me in a soft voice. What I saw was a man standing in front of me with golden hair and a somewhat familiar face.

Suddenly hearing these rude words, I almost scowl at the person in front of me, but I don’t have time for that as I have something more pressing to deal with as my headache is getting worse.

Who am I exactly, and whose memories are these that I’m experiencing?

I found it hard to breathe and my head hurt like I’d been hit. It was hard just to stand up because of the pain, so I wanted to hold on to something, but there wasn’t anything around to support my body.

When I was about to fall…

“Hmph, what’s this, are you trying to pretend that you’re not feeling well right now? Know this even if you try to escape, I won’t let you do that.”

“….!”

To say such a thing to someone who is in such pain! I twitched at the sound of those words.

I’m trying my best not fall down so why do I have to listen to the rumblings of this inconsiderate person… Just as I was thinking that my eyes met with the eyes of that horrible man.

…Ah, it’s His Highness Ignacia.

Suddenly I knew who this person was.

The handsome man in front of me, who has been staring at me for a while now and speaking harsh words to me, is my fiancée and the capture target of this Otome game.

His Highness Ignacia glances at me with a frown on his handsome face. Despite the fact that he’s my fincee, he seemed hesitant to stare at my face.

Perhaps because the pain in my head has eased a little, I’m beginning to get a sense of my current situation. It seems that I have memories of both this world and my previous life.

…Charlotte Cocoliara, the young lady who never smiles.

That’s who I am right now.

I’m the daughter of the Duchess of Cocoliara here in the Kingdom of Fabrum.

Possessing an ashen red eyes devoid of any signs of happiness, anger, nor sorrow. Although it’s commonly believed that Charlotte’s behavior stems from her upbringing as a duke’s daughter, it appears that she just chooses not to indicate her disinterest in things with a facial expression.

Her waist-length white blonde hair, which resembles the color of milk tea is perfectly styled all the way to the end. Her hair which is pulled back in a single, flowing bun is held in place by a rosebud ornament, giving her a calm and gorgeous look.

The dress that I’m wearing matches the color of my eyes and is the same deep wine red as my hair ornament. The off-the-shoulder A-line dress is adorned with black lace and a jewel in the center of the chest, while the skirt is embellished with layers of lace and attached to my waist with a ribbon. And lastly, my hands were wrapped in short-length, off-white gloves.

Given that this is the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to wear a dress like this, I feel a little embarrassed about how I look.

Regarding her upbringing, it may sound admirable at first, but Charlotte is just an ordinary little girl with no extraordinary abilities or talents hidden in her. The only notable aspect of her is the fact that her parents are in a ducal house and her fiancé is the crown prince of this country… His Royal Highness Ignacia.

When Charlotte was a little child, her parents engaged her to His Highness Ignacia. Right now she’s currently sixteen years old.

Just now, something came back to me along with the headache.

And that’s the memories of my previous life.

Looking at it, I’m in the worst situation possible.

I sighed slightly, hoping that His Highness Ignacia wouldn’t notice. My extensive knowledge of this world stems from the fact that have knowledge from my previous life.

It appears that this is the Otome game’s world that I have played in my previous life. The worst part of it is I’m playing the role of the villainess.

Seriously, what kind of joke is this.

I can’t help but wonder, “Why did I end up back here as the antagonist when I don’t even want to be the protagonist?” Wouldn’t it be too much to ask to be reborn as someone else entirely?

“…How long are you going to stay silent?”

“Ah! I apologize!”

When I was called out again, I turned my attention to not only myself but also to my surrounding.

It looks like I’m currently in a large party venue right now.

I’m positive that this location is within a royal castle based on the tall ceilings that are brilliantly lit by chandeliers made of magic stones and the pillars that line the walls and are adorned with various flowers and plants.

Looking around, there are many invited guest joyfully chatting, dancing, and eating. Right now, His Highness Ignacia and I are on the balcony, a bit further away from them.

This scenery appears to be very familiar for some reason…

…in a bad way.

The person who is standing next to me looking not happy at all is Igancia Fabrum.

He is the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Fabrum, also known as the Land of Flowers. He’s a really despicable man, because even though he had a fiancée, namely me, he’s still fascinated by another young lady.

When you look at him closely, you can see that his straight golden hair is parted in the center and knotted in a single knot on the back. His sky blue eyes are more like icy ice than dazzling sky blue.

His formal dress consists of a dark blue jacket with flecks of light blue here and there, as well as a single deep blue cloak on his right side.

Because of his well-defined face, I can describe him as a handsome young man if he only stays silent.

Wait, enough of worrying about him, what exactly will happen to me… I patted myself on the chest for relief, thinking that I remembered the game’s plot, and that nothing awful was going to happen to me.

Looking back, this isn’t a bad game in which the villain dies at the end. Whether the outcome is the good ending or the bad ending, the worst thing that can happen to the villain is exile. In other ways, banishment can also imply that the villain has no chance of redemption.

But isn’t that still bad? That is still a harsh sentence for a noble family’s daughter. Even if I am taken in by the country from which I will be expelled… how would I survive with almost no money and complete freedom?

Well enough being thinking negatively, I’m sure I can live everywhere with confidence because I have knowledge from my previous life.

Also there’s a little special about this Otome game, because this game isn’t just an Otome game…

“Kyaaah!”

“Huh?”

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a voice that came right next to me. When I look at the direction of the voice what I saw was a beautiful girl… the heroine of this game looking at me with teary eyes.

Huh, what exactly is going on?

My memories have only recently returned to me, and I have yet to thoroughly sort out the problem. I want to deal with what is going on appropriately, but I can’t since bad things are happening one after the other.

The heroine, whose initial name should have been Emilia, had a bright scarlet stain of red wine on her white dress. One can tell at a glance that’s it’s a miserable scene.

“Are you alright? Emilia-sama?”

While trying to hold back the urge to sight, I called out to Emilia, but before she could respond, His Highness Ignacia hid her behind him.

“What are you trying to do, by pouring wine on Emilia?”

“This dress was given to me by Ignacia-sama…”

What’s going on?

I couldn’t help but be surprised by what was going on. I’m just standing here thinking about my current circumstance when I’m accused of something I didn’t do. In the first place it was Emilia herself who was holding the glass of wine.

But I thought that it was inappropriate for a lady to create such a fuss, so I held myself back, and I just tried to smile by moving my facial muscles, which I usually don’t do much.

“No, I didn’t bump into her…”

“Don’t make any excuse, Charlotte. I’m sure you’re angry because you didn’t like that I gave Emilia a dress, aren’t you?”

“…”

His Highness Ignacia cut me off, indicating that he would not tolerate any argument.

I suppose I’m good at holding back but I almost got offended when he claimed he gave a dress to another lady while he already had a fiancée.

To calm myself down, I took a few deep breaths.

I see.

So that’s what’s going on.

This is the climax scene near the ending of the game where the heroine was sprayed with wine, close to where His Highness Ignacia and I, the villainess, were alone.

In other words, this is the situation where I’m about to be informed that my engagement has been cancelled