COARV Chapter 2

1. Is It Fine to Treat the Villainess However You Like

One week earlier, on a cold winter afternoon, mere days ahead of the wedding to Kallis Haneton.

I was sitting in my bedroom, dozing, when a dream surfaced.

Seria, the Empire's most notorious villainess. She screamed.

"So what? I wanted you for myself!"

The voice, thick with fury, no longer belonged to a noble lady at all. Envy, jealousy, rage—Seria's two hands were already stained through with blood.

"That damned Lina—Lina, Lina!"

The Saint, Lina. From the very moment she descended, she'd monopolized every ounce of attention Seria wanted for herself. Loved that much, by everyone. Seria hated Lina—hated her to a sickening degree—for the gift of humiliation and defeat she could never stomach.

"What about Lina? I only regret that I didn't slit her throat and throw her in the lake myself!"

Flash.

A blade sliced clean through Seria's throat. Red blood flooded out in a wave. Lina couldn't bear to keep watching and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Gah!"

I shot upright, startled out of my skin. My whole body shuddered.

I flinched and opened my eyes. My whole body trembled. A scene from the original that surfaced right when I'd nearly forgotten it.

Ugh, shit. This scene again.

Terrifying.

Life. Terrifying.

Since I'd woken up as Seria, I sometimes had dreams like this—dying exactly as the original had written it. I suppose anyone would, if they'd learned they were living inside a novel and that they, as the villainess, were scheduled to die brutally. Nightmares were an inevitability.

And now that Lina had arrived, the original story was slowly, surely starting to move—

I clutched the thick shawl tighter around my shoulders. I looked out through the large window in the bedroom. The winter garden, barren and desolate, came into view. It suddenly occurred to me that just a while ago, right out there, Kallis had taken off his jacket for Lina, and my mood turned a little strange again.

There wasn't time to sit with the discomfort.

The reason, when it arrived, was frankly absurd.

"Lady Seria! You're here!"

"What is it?"

The maid who served me came scurrying in, stamping her feet.

"Designer Begonia has arrived!"

"Begonia? Already?"

"Yes!"

I stood up from the sofa, a little flustered.

Begonia was currently the most sought-after designer in the entire Gleick Empire, a shooting star of a talent who hadn't even debuted three years ago. The reason she was this popular was, of course, her skill—but also because her grandmother happened to be an imperial princess.

In other words, she carried imperial blood. Noble blood paired with real talent—it was only a matter of time before she blew up. Commissioning a dress from Designer Begonia required not just money, but rank besides.

The one who'd commissioned my wedding dress and Kallis's suit from Begonia had been my fiancé, Kallis Haneton himself.

Come to think of it, there'd been some kind of incident in the original involving Lina and one of Begonia's dresses.

In any case, I didn't want to keep anyone waiting, so I hurried. Even hurrying, Seria's body had a habit of elegant footwork bred so deep into her that it never left her, and honestly, I was a little impressed with myself.

Even after finally arriving, I couldn't simply throw the door open and barge in. Begonia, being of imperial blood, valued proper noble bearing above almost everything. Otherwise, she felt, it wouldn't suit her own clothes.

I checked my face quickly in the hand mirror the maid held up.

Bangs, perfect. Nothing out of place.

"My lady! Oh—you're, you're the loveliest yet, even today."

I let out a dry chuckle at the maid's clumsy attempt at flattery. Well, it wasn't wrong, exactly. Seria might have been an insane villainess, but her looks were insane too, in the best sense.

I cleared my throat and walked through the door the maid held open.

Playing the part of a proper noblewoman, exactly the kind of style that landed with Begonia—and there, through the open door, stood Designer Begonia and, of all people, the original novel's own female lead, Lina.

Huh?

I was startled for a moment, but since Begonia was looking my way, I forced my most aristocratic smile into place.

"Designer Begonia. Am I a little late?"

"Not at all. I arrived earlier than the appointed time, that's all."

Begonia said it with a smile directed at me, but I could feel it.

Her expression's a little off.

The reason I'd gotten so good at reading other people's expressions was, of course, the result of a full year of flailing to survive. I'd worked so hard at reading faces and flattening myself to the ground before them, terrified of ruffling the male lead or the sub-male-lead the wrong way, that I could now easily read someone's emotions just from their expression. Who'd have guessed?

A survival mechanism, in other words.

Was it a good thing... or a bad thing.... Goddammit....

Right as I started to feel a little sad about it, a hand suddenly grabbed my chin. I startled and opened my eyes wide.

"Wow, Kallis's fiancée!"

She was grinning, eyes sparkling.

Lina had suddenly grabbed my hand.

Wait, hold on.

Kallis had already given her permission to use his name? Fuck—it took me eleven months just to get permission to say his name. Guess the sub-male-lead's blood really doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?

Lina spoke, eyes bright.

"I'm Lina! It's a little embarrassing, but I'm also called... the Saint!"

Was there anyone in this Empire—no, on this entire continent—who didn't know Lina was the Saint? I gently pushed her hand off mine and said,

"Of course I know, my lady Saint."

Lina, unbothered, whipped her head this way and that, taking in the sitting room.

"I heard you're being fitted for a wedding dress today! Is that right?"

"That's right."

"Amazing! A wedding dress from another world! Everyone here only ever wears dresses, so I've really been curious!"

Lina, eyes shining, asked,

"Can I watch?"

Watch?

An oddly-phrased request.

To begin with, you don't share a wedding-dress fitting with just anyone. It was reserved for close attendants, or close relatives, or a very intimate friend at most. Lina was obviously none of the three. Before I could even open my mouth, Begonia spoke first.

"My lady Saint, I apologize, but a wedding dress fitting isn't something to be watched."

"Eep."

Startled, Lina clasped her hands together at once. Well—at least in the original, she hadn't exactly been oblivious.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I don't know this world very well yet…."

She didn't know this world very well. Well, of course—Lina was the Saint sent down by God herself. Begonia, seeming to recall that fact too, softened back into a gentle smile.

"Of course. Only, would you mind stepping out for the moment?"

"What? But..."

"If I have an outsider present while I work, I simply can't get anything done, so I hope my lady Saint will understand."

"I understand....."

Lina left, looking crestfallen. She glanced back several times, clearly reluctant, but Begonia stayed cold. She even murmured something quietly once Lina had shut the door behind her.

"No grace to her at all."

For a moment, the original novel I'd read in my past life came back to me.

Designer Begonia had been, in the original, a woman with tremendous pride in her imperial blood—arrogant, even, if you looked at it a certain way. Begonia had told Marquess Kallis Haneton, who'd come to commission a gift dress for Lina, quite courteously:

"The Saint is beautiful. But she lacks the grace I require. Without inspiration, I can't make her a dress."

So in the original, Lina is devastated. She had fallen head over heels for one of Begonia's dresses at first sight, only to hear that. Furious, Kallis ends up leaning on Begonia's salon from behind the scenes—since the largest silk-trading guild in the Empire happened to be his—until Begonia finally caves and backs down.

Come to think of it, Begonia had basically been playing the villain role in that whole subplot too.

Whatever villainess she'd been, she was nowhere near Seria Stern's level. Ha, ha, ha. Back when I was just reading it, it felt like sweet, satisfying karma. Now that I'm actually the villainess, all I've got is tears.

"Oh my! I thought this pure white would suit Lady Seria best, given her eye color! And this part here, and this one, need re-stitching…."

Anyway....

By the time the fitting was done, Begonia's face had brightened. Looking satisfied, apparently pleased with the result, Begonia said,

"My sincerest congratulations on your marriage to Marquess Kallis Haneton, Lady Seria."

"Thank you. Your dress is the most beautiful one I've ever seen, Begonia."

"Oh, my. Ahaha!"

There'd be no gift dress for Lina from Kallis now anyway. Even if she was a little full of herself, it was a relief that kind-hearted Begonia wouldn't have to go through that ordeal.

I was quite happy with the wedding dress Begonia had made me, too.

"Seria!"

My bedroom door burst open, and I jumped, startled, and lifted my head.

"Kallis?"

He strode in, tall as ever. Kallis's gaze went straight to the wedding dress hanging neatly on the mannequin in my room. He tilted his head.

"This is the wedding dress?"

"Yes."

"Hm...."

Kallis examined the dress carefully. What could be bothering him? 

"What is it?"

"No, it's just... a little too—"

He hesitated, then finally said,

"It doesn't quite bring out my fiancée's beauty, I think."

"What?"

"The color's a bit drab, and there aren't nearly enough jewels."

"But Designer Begonia said this was the current fashion."

Wait—his expression just—

For a moment his expression shifted. But Kallis quickly recomposed himself into his familiar warm smile and said,

"Seria, you're not just any noblewoman. You're a Stern, of all things. So I want to give you the most perfect wedding dress there is."

On the surface, it sounded like a sweet thing to say. But was I not the villainess who'd spent a full year cringing and scraping to stay on the sub-male-lead's good side, purely to survive?

His expression alone told me everything. Kallis was in a bad mood right now.

So. What about?

I asked, straightforward.

"Kallis. Is it that you don't like the dress?"

"You really can't be fooled, can you."

"Then I'll call Begonia back. She's a busy woman, but she does take responsibility for her own work seriously, so—"

The wedding was only days away. I reached to pull the bell-cord at once, but Kallis stopped me.

"Not Begonia. What about a different designer?"

"...Not Begonia?"

What the hell kind of bullshit was this? He must have read it on my face, because Kallis looked a little sheepish. When I pressed him, he sighed.

"However I look at it, I just don't like the idea of my precious bride wearing a dress from such an arrogant designer."

"Arrogant?"

"That's right."

The moment I heard that, it clicked. But I hoped I was wrong.

"Is this about the Saint, by any chance?"