Chapter 1
If there is exactly one good thing about possessing the body of a villainess—
“Aletheia? Even his name sounds unlucky.”
—it’s this:
You are allowed to curse people you don’t like as much as you want.
Because that’s the villainess’s role.
With a bit of personal bias, Mio started insulting Aletheia.
“The name openly includes the word for the River of Death. Lethe.”
“……”
“Yeah. Now that I think about it, it fits him perfectly.
From now on, I’ll call him Lethe.”
If she had known this was not gossip behind his back,
but something said right in front of him,
She never would have said it.
Villainess privileges only work on stage.
when the male lead and female lead are present.
This was backstage.
An unofficial chat.
A bonus scene, really.
“Oh. A nickname?”
She never imagined the person himself would show up behind her.
“That feels a little early, darling.”
It was the cold voice
of the strongest person in this world.
***
For the record, I’m not the kind of person who insults others for no reason.
Even if I’m forced to play a villainess, that’s not my true nature.
What happened at the banquet was nothing more than a terrible coincidence.
“No, honestly… that guy deserves to be cursed.”
The reason I started hating Aletheia was simple.
He blocked my plans every single time.
“What? Someone bought the mine I had my eye on first?
That guy—wasn’t he the one who competed with me at the black market auction?
And he won in the end too!”
By the way, those two examples would later be revealed as huge future treasures, guaranteed regression rewards.
Aletheia took them openly, without even hiding his name.
So a question naturally came up.
Does Aletheia know the original story too?
Of course, I tested it.
I tried to buy a completely worthless, half-collapsed cabin under a fake name.
I was sure that if he knew anything,
He would never be interested in that place.
The result?
“M-Master… It’s him again.
He offered the owner double the price, so the cabin won’t be sold to us.”
How was I supposed not to curse him after that?
Even if I were a kind female lead instead of a villainess,
My blood pressure would’ve spiked.
I didn’t know whether Aletheia was aiming at my fake identity or my real self.
But one thing was clear.
He was blocking me.
“And there’s more, Master…
Count Duon was arrested a few hours ago…”
“What? Why?!”
Count Duon was my partner.
We secretly smuggled luxury goods together.
He was generous enough to work with a villainess.
and rich enough to hide plenty of gold.
“It seems Aletheia reported him.
People say the Grand Duke will personally investigate.
so Count Duon is definitely going to prison…”
Just like that, my business was destroyed.
All of this happened within three months of Aletheia returning from the battlefield.
Now then.
Who wants to teach me how to like Aletheia?
***
“Mio. Where did you hide my dress?”
“Why would you look for your dress with me?”
Does she have any idea how stressed I am?
I was caught bad-mouthing him just yesterday.
Yesterday was also the first time I met Aletheia face-to-face.
“Ah—Aletheia…?”
The moment the strongest person in the world appeared behind me,
I turned into a mouse standing before a lion.
“Hm?”
Aletheia wore a terrifying smile.
Golden hair.
Blood-red eyes.
The overwhelming pressure of royalty.
Just remembering it made my legs shake.
But that was it.
He laughed at me—
then left.
That left me confused.
Why did he just leave?
What was that supposed to mean?
Sure, not being executed on the spot was a relief.
But after everything he’d done to me,
My thoughts were a mess.
If only he’d gotten angry and drawn his sword.
This feels worse.
Does he really know something?
Was that a warning?
But there was no way he could know
that all my fake-name dealings were actually me.
And honestly—
Why would someone like him care about someone like me?
He was a character barely mentioned in the original story.
Just “the strongest in the world.”
Sure, I was a villainess.
but only in relation to the male and female leads.
Until my final exit, I only bully them like kids.
The truly dangerous crimes happen when the villainess is written out.
The only illegal thing I did was smuggling.
And even that ended before I made any money.
because Count Duon was arrested.
“Sigh… those mines and auction items he stole…”
They were basically mine.
As I swallowed my frustration,
The clueless female lead, Caleb, approached me.
“You’re the only one who could’ve hidden my dress, Mio.
Just tell me the truth.”
“I told you I don’t know.”
Even if I said that,
Everyone would conclude that Mio the villainess did it.
That was how this world worked.
“I promised Wyden I’d wear that dress tonight.”
“…Oh.”
“If I don’t, he’ll think something’s wrong.”
Mio looked at Caleb.
She had light brown hair and a sweet face.
She looked worried—for me.
Here we go again.
This was the pattern Mio had lived with for ten years.
The Villainess Pattern.
Whenever Caleb wore that kind expression,
The pattern activated.
“Mio. If you tell the truth before Wyden notices, nothing bad will happen.”
So this time, it was the scene where the male lead finds out.
Mio stayed silent and decided to wait for Wyden.
Arguing was pointless.
“Why are you doing this?
Why do you keep bullying me, Mio?”
Caleb looked like she was about to cry.
Mio leaned back in her chair and waved a hand.
“You won’t believe me anyway.
Just go bring Wyden. I’m tired of waiting.”
“Are you serious? I just said it’ll be bad if he finds out!”
“Should I go get him myself? That’ll end it.”
Once the villainess pattern starts,
It doesn’t stop until the villainess is exposed.
Mio hated it the most.
Being insulted over and over still hurts, even to me.
She had tried everything to escape the villainess role.
Smiling kindly.
Explaining calmly.
Providing evidence.
None of it worked.
The world’s force couldn’t be ignored.
At least the original story is almost over.
Just endure a little longer.
Once the villainess exits the story, everything ends.
Mio praised herself and looked back at Caleb.
Caleb didn’t seem like she would go get Wyden herself.
Mio stood up to do it—
“Mio. My mother asked me to give you something. May I come in?”
Wyden’s voice.
He opened the door, saw Caleb’s troubled face,
and immediately glared at Mio.
“What is it this time, Mio Northam?
Did you bully Caleb again?”
