Sylvia had always acted haughty and unpleasant in front of Ray. Seeing her now collapsed on the floor, crying her heart out, Ray froze completely, unsure of what to do.

Her sorrowful sobs were filled with resentment.

Ray moved his lips hesitantly.

“Is this because I called her mean?”

Sylvia kept repeating that she was a bad person who would die early because she was mean.

“Waaah… I already feel so wronged! Why do mean people have to die early?! I want to live a long life too! Why do I have to die early?! Why?!”

Ray suddenly felt afraid.

It was true that he disliked Sylvia.

It was also true that he thought she was mean. And today, he had even said it out loud.

‘But… it’s not like I hate her enough for her to die.’

Ray clenched his fists and looked at Sylvia. Even though her expensive dress was completely dirty, she didn’t care at all and kept rolling on the floor crying as if something truly terrible had happened.

Come to think of it, didn’t people say that those who are about to die start acting strangely?

Remembering something his aunt once said, Ray finally began to understand Sylvia’s behavior.

‘She came to give me a book because she was going to die.’

For the usual selfish and unpleasant Sylvia, something like this would have been impossible.

Ray’s expression grew more serious. Before long, tears began to fill his eyes as well.

“Waaah! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”

“Sob…”

“Waaah! I don’t want to dieeee…”

“Sniff…”

Sylvia suddenly heard a different sobbing sound mixed with her own. Turning her head, she saw Ray—unable to even wipe his tears—quietly crying.

Startled, Sylvia’s tears immediately stopped. She was so surprised she even stood up from the floor and cautiously watched Ray.

Even after a long time, Ray kept sobbing. Sylvia said nothing and quietly waited. She somehow knew she was supposed to.

After sniffing a few times, Ray finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

“…I’m sorry.”

It was no longer the polite, distant speech from before, but the casual tone Sylvia had wanted.

“Huh? No… I’m the one who should be sorry…”

She had never imagined that giving a book would be taken as mocking someone for not being able to read. But thinking from Ray’s perspective, she understood he must have been very upset. Now his earlier aggressive behavior made sense.

This was Sylvia’s first experience of empathy.

“The book… it got torn. What should we do? You said you liked it…”

Ray sounded small and apologetic. Sylvia quickly shook her hands.

“No, no. It’s really fine. I didn’t need it anyway.”

Hah! Realizing Ray might feel hurt, she quickly added,

“I meant I’ve already read it many times, so I don’t need it anymore. Not that it’s useless. It’s still my favorite book. I thought you might like it too because I enjoyed it… I really didn’t know you couldn’t read.”

“…Why don’t you need it?”

“Huh?”

“Just now… you said something about dying early. Is it related?”

“Well…”

It was something she had wanted to tell someone, though it was hard to tell her parents.

After hesitating for a moment, Sylvia nodded.

“Yes. I’m really going to die. In 10 years.”

Ray immediately became frightened. He worried she might actually die because of what he said earlier. So he quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry I called you mean. But you shouldn’t say things like dying. My aunt said that’s bad luck.”

Trying to reassure her, Ray continued, but Sylvia shook her head.

“No. I know for sure.”

“Why are you going to die?”

“Because I’m a bad person. I’ve done too many bad things.”

Since Ray wouldn’t understand the idea of a “villain whose death is already destined,” she simplified it.

“Don’t die.”

Ray’s voice grew teary again.

“Why? You hate me, don’t you?”

“…I didn’t hate you enough for you to die. And I don’t really hate you anymore.”

If giving a book meant to mock her, then today’s Sylvia hadn’t come with bad intentions. Now that the misunderstanding was cleared, a new feeling began to sprout in Ray’s heart.

“Even so… it’s already decided, what can I do?”

Sylvia replied sadly.

‘I don’t think I want to die either. I was finally born into a healthy body again… I don’t want to die either.’

Right now, no one wanted to avoid death more than Sylvia.

Then Ray spoke again.

“Then… you just have to live properly.”

“…Huh?”

“If you live properly, you won’t be bad anymore. You said you die because you’re bad, right? So if you stop doing bad things… you won’t have to die. You still have 10 years. You’re only ten now, so if you live properly from now on…”

Death meant a warm hand turning cold forever. It meant the eyes that once looked at her kindly would never see anything again. It meant never meeting again, no matter what.

An image she had long tried to forget resurfaced.

A face that looked very much like her aunt… someone who loved her just as much as her aunt did.

Ray spoke without thinking. He didn’t want to hear about death.

But there was no answer. He looked to the side. Sylvia’s shoulders were trembling as she lowered her head.

Was she crying again?

Ray panicked and placed a hand on her shoulder like she had done for him.

At that moment, Sylvia suddenly hugged him tightly. Startled, Ray widened his eyes.

Their eyes met.

There was the sky.

A clear sky without a single cloud.

“You’re a genius! How did you think of that?! Wow! There was such a way?!”

Sylvia hugged him even tighter, her face bright like a rainbow, completely forgetting they had been enemies just minutes ago. Ray, frozen in shock, endured the sudden hug until she finally let go.

Later, back at the mansion, Sylvia was in a very good mood. She even hummed.

Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

If villains are killed because they are villains…

‘Then I just won’t be a villain!’

So simple.

So easy.

In the novel Square Illusion, Yuriel attends a debutante ball and meets the crown prince there. Sylvia Langston becomes nothing more than an obstacle between them.

But that no longer mattered.

If she had to choose between pride and life, the answer was obvious.

After giving up the position of crown princess, her mind felt clearer.

“Right! We’re already rich anyway. There’s no need to enter the palace!”

The more she thought about it, the less appealing becoming crown princess seemed.

A life trapped in the strict imperial family? Why, when she could live freely as a wealthy duchess’s daughter?

Then she realized something important.

The crown prince wasn’t even her type.

There were three male leads in Square Illusion: Eric Donovan, her childhood friend Iluka, and the hidden-boss northern duke Raynoer Schuedin.

Among them, Sylvia preferred Raynoer Schuedin.

With his black hair and red eyes, and his loyal devotion to one woman alone, he was exactly her type.

Compared to him, the crown prince who falls for another woman despite having a fiancée wasn’t even worth comparing.

“What a ridiculous choice I almost made…”

Without Ray’s words, she would never have thought of this path.

“Alright. Let’s write down what I need to do.”

She took out a notebook and wrote:

Not becoming the crown princess.

After a moment of thought, she added a number.

Even if she tried her best, things might not go as planned, so she added a second condition:

1. Do not become the crown princess.
2. Live properly from now on.

The reason Eric would execute her in the future was her bad reputation. So she needed to live properly and improve her image.

But…

“How exactly do you live properly?”

She had no idea where to start.

“Etiquette lessons? No, that’s just pretending to be proper…”

What she needed was the real method of becoming good.

After thinking for a while, she suddenly realized:

“Hah! There is! There is one!”

There was exactly one person—someone nearby—who always spoke honestly when she did something bad.