Part 1.
Are We Allowed to Mess with Villains?
It was a chilly winter afternoon about a week ago, just a few days before my wedding to Callis Hanneton.
I was lazing around in my bedroom when I dozed off and found myself dreaming that Seria, the most infamous villainess in the empire, was in the throes of a furious outburst.
“So what?
It was I that wanted you!” Seria spat out in a rage, her hands stained with blood.
“That damned Lina!
Always Lina, Lina, Lina!” she sneered.
Saint Lina.
From the moment she first appeared, Lina monopolized the attention of everyone Seria had ever coveted.
She was adored and loved.
Seria found herself consumed with an unbearable sense of defeat, and she loathed Lina with a terrifying passion.
“What’s so great about her?” Seria growled.
“My only regret is that I could not cut her throat and dump her body into the lake!”
Suddenly, a flash.
A sharp blade sliced cleanly through Seria’s neck.
A crimson tide of blood erupted forth.
Lina, looking on and unable to bear the sight any longer, clamped her eyes shut as tight as she could.
I woke up with a start, my body trembling, the afterimage of the dream still dangling in front of my eyes.
Damn, that scene again…
It was a scene from the novel, and it was terrifying.
This life was terrifying.
Ever since I first woke up as Seria, I frequently dreamed of dying just as she had in the story.
But then, who wouldn’t?
For anyone who found out that they were living the life of a villainous character from a novel and that they were destined to die a brutal death of retribution, such nightmares would be inescapable.
Along with the appearance of Lina, the story had begun to unfold the same way it had in the novel.
I clutched the thick shawl draped over my shoulders and gazed out through my large bedroom window at the barren winter garden below.
Suddenly, I remembered how Callis had offered his jacket to Lina earlier, and a strange sense of unease came over me.
But I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as one of my attendants came running towards me.
“Miss Seria!
There you are!”
“What is it?” I asked.
“The dressmaker has arrived!”
“Lady Begonia?
So soon?”
Lady Begonia was the most in-demand dressmaker in the Giroux Empire, a rising star who had entered the scene just three years ago.
Her immense popularity was due not only to her talent but also because her grandmother was an imperial princess.
In other words, she was of royal blood.
With such a noble background and considerable talent, her success was inevitable.
To commission a dress from Lady Begonia, one needed money as well as the requisite social standing.
And it was my betrothed, Callis, who had commissioned her to design our wedding attire.
Come to think of it, Lady Begonia’s dress led to an incident with Lina in the story…
I hurried out to meet her.
Begonia placed great importance on etiquette.
She believed it was an essential element in the proper wearing of her clothes.
I made sure to quickly check my appearance in the hand mirror offered by the maid before entering the room.
My bangs were perfect, with not a hair out of place.
“You look absolutely stunning today, my lady,” the maid gushed.
I chuckled at the girl’s clumsy flattery.
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
Even though Seria was a crazed villain, she was also undeniably beautiful.
I cleared my throat.
The maid opened the door to the adjoining room, and I entered in the most noble manner possible to appeal to the designer.
And there, waiting for me inside the room, were Lady Begonia and Lina.
Huh?
I was taken aback for a moment but managed to compose myself and put on the most noble smile I could muster as Begonia turned to look at me.
“My sincere apologies for keeping you waiting, Lady Begonia,” I said, trying to sound as polite as possible.
“Not at all,” Begonia replied.
“I arrived a bit early.”
There’s something odd about her expression.
A year spent struggling to survive in this new world had forced me to become an expert in reading people’s faces and thus gleaning their emotions.
It was a kind of survival tactic.
A hand suddenly shot out.
“Wow, so you’re Callis’s fiancée!” Lina exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
She had grabbed my hand.
What the…?
Had Callis already given her permission to use his first name?
What the hell?
It’d taken me almost a year to earn that privilege.
“I’m Lina!
It’s a little embarrassing to say this out loud, but everyone knows me as the Saint!”
Who in this empire, or even across the entire continent, wouldn’t know that Lina was the Saint?
I gently pulled my hand from her grasp and replied, “I am well aware of that, Lady Saint.”
“I heard you were fitting for your wedding dress today!” Her eyes were gleaming with curiosity.
“Is that true?”
“That is correct.”
“My goodness!
A wedding dress from another world!
All the clothes here are so different, so I’m dying with curiosity.
Can I watch?”
Watch?
Watch what, exactly?
What an odd request.
Traditionally, no one was allowed at the dress fitting other than the bride’s servants, close relatives, or perhaps her very close friends.
Lina was none of those.
But before I could come up with a response, Begonia spoke up.
“Lady Saint, I am sorry, but a wedding dress fitting is not a spectacle.”
Lina got the hint and clasped her hands together.
It seemed that similar to her character in the novel, she wasn’t completely clueless.
“Forgive me,” she said.
“I didn’t mean it that way.
It’s just that… I’m not very familiar with this world yet.”
Begonia smiled at her.
“Of course.
But now, would you mind stepping outside?”
“What?
But I—”
“I cannot work with frivolous eyes present.
I hope you understand, Lady Saint.”
“Oh… Okay.” Lina was clearly dejected, but Begonia remained firm.
The Saint turned and slowly left the room.
As soon as the door closed, Begonia shook her head.
“She lacks refinement.”
Lady Begonia was a woman who took great pride in her noble background.
Some might even call it arrogance.
In the novel, when Callis went to commission a dress for Lina, Begonia had snobbishly told him something similar.
“The Lady Saint is beautiful.
However, she lacks the refinement I require.
Without proper inspiration, I cannot create a worthy dress.”
This refusal made Lina extremely upset.
She had fallen in love with Begonia’s dresses, only to be rejected so crassly.
In the end, an indignant Callis had used his influence to pressure the designer into making her one anyway.
As the owner of the largest silk importing business in the empire, Callis had had no trouble persuading Begonia to do what he wanted.
Actually, Lady Begonia was also something of a villain.
A villainous dressmaker, if you will.
Still, no one could match Seria Sterne.
And, don’t get me wrong, such characters are fun to read about, but now that I had become one, I had more tears than fun.
“How wonderful!” Begonia responded with delight as she held up her preferred fabric.
“I knew this shade of white would go perfectly with your eyes, Lady Seria!
This part will need to be redone, and this section shortened…”
When we’d finished, Begonia seemed quite satisfied, even happy.
“I sincerely congratulate you on your wedding to Marquis Callis Hanneton.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
“I must say, this dress is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh, stop!” Begonia laughed, clearly pleased with my compliment.
Now that Callis no longer had to threaten her to make a dress for Lina, I actually felt relieved that the arrogant but kind-hearted dressmaker wouldn’t be bullied into submission.
* * *
“Seria!”
My bedroom door burst open.
“Callis?” My heart leaped in my chest at the sudden intrusion.
Callis barged into my room and looked straight at the wedding dress hanging neatly on the mannequin.
“I take it this is it?” he asked.
“Yes.
Isn’t it gorgeous?”
“Hmm.” Callis scrutinized the dress up and down.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing is wrong… But I worry that it fails to accentuate my fiancée’s beauty.”
“What do you mean?”
“The color is too dull, and there are hardly any jewels,” Callis explained, still staring at the dress.
Huh?
What’s with that look on his face?
“But Begonia said that this is currently in fashion in the capital at the moment,” I protested.
Callis paused, composed himself, and smiled warmly.
“Seria,” he said, “you are not just any noble lady from the capital.
You are a Sterne.
You deserve nothing but the absolute best.”
His words sounded sweet.
But I had been carefully observing him for a year in my private crusade to avoid being killed by him, so I was able to see right through his smile and words.
Callis was upset.
“Do you not like the dress?”
“You really cannot be fooled,” he admitted, his smile waning.
“Then I’ll have Lady Begonia return,” I said.
“She may be busy, but I am confident she’s the type who will do all she can to make sure her clients are happy.”
“How about a different designer?” Callis suggested.
“Not Begonia?”
Where on earth was this coming from?
Seeing my puzzled expression, Callis seemed almost to shrink.
With my eyes alone I pushed him for an explanation, and he responded with a sigh.
“I dislike the idea of my dear bride wearing a dress from such a stuck-up designer.”
“Stuck-up?”
“Yes, stuck-up.” With this, Callis’s tone was resolute.
That sudden confidence in his words showed me something.
I had a hunch, but I really hoped I was wrong.
I looked him in the eyes.
“Is this because of the Lady Saint?”