Chapter 2

When her father met his pathetic end, Kynemeia was ten years old.

That marked the beginning. 

Kynemeia Lyonne—who had a history of resentments—was branded as the ‘Evil Lady of Lyonne, bearing her grandfather’s tyranny, her mother’s pugnacity, and her father’s beauty’. They were so spiteful that no one would ever try to listen to the Lyonnes’ side of the story. That was how the rumours spread from mouth to mouth and blew up within the empire and outside of it.

Thanks to that, the Lyonnes were given the cold shoulder by the high society. She couldn’t hold her debutante ball properly and no one would even send her a letter for a marriage proposal. How could she lead a happy life given the circumstances? Kynemeia who grew twisted gradually started spiralling down the villain route… 

And at her last moment?

As she magnificently grew up to be a wicked fief lord, she was sent to the guillotine by the protagonist who listened to the pleas of the furious villagers!

“The epidemic, the monster invasion, and the harsh taxation were all because of that Evil Lady of Lyonne!”

And then slice—

That was how—the characters in the novel recounted with a tut—Kynemeia’s pitiful death went.

‘No, nevermind the taxation, how can the epidemic and monster invasion be my fault too?’

But the bad rumours that had already been set into stone, bore such influence that even the leaves falling would be blamed on her.

‘… Damn it.’

Kynemeia was distraught when she remembered all those details.

‘God, no wonder everyone’s expression looks terrible whenever I ask why we never held a party in the castle even once.’

It’s because not a soul would attend even if they sent out an invitation! She curled up her body on her bed while wiping off the droplets of tears from her face.

‘Ah, sweat keeps on coming out of my eyes…’

Why was it her fault that the family ended up like this?

But it seemed like in this world, rancour is guilt by association.

* * *

What an unbelievable future as a fief lord. Being a fief lord would be stifling even in an ordinary era. It was all the more so stifling being a fief lord in another realm where monsters roam around and dungeons pop up, supplemented by malicious rumours of her being an evil lady. It was clear what her future would be. She was heading to the ‘revenge killing’ ending.

‘I’m ruined! Ruined, I say!’

It was then. Nanny Vanessa had a precious doll sent from afar to comfort Kynemeia who had been in the doldrums for some time.

“Look at this, Young Lady. Isn’t the yellow cute?”

In spite of her complaints about what good a mere doll would do when she would die soon, Kynemeia still accepted the doll amidst sniffles.

“This resembles Pikachu.”

“… Pi— What?”

“Nothing.”

Since Vanessa wouldn’t know about Pokemon…

… Pokemon? 

At that moment, Kynemeia received an inspiration like a lightning bolt.

This is it. Pokemon. That manga where the main character attained success and honour because he picked up the cutie Munchkin1 Pikachu at the beginning and made it work hard.

‘This is ittttt!’

She achieved enlightenment then. That this was the chance that God had granted her. That it would be fine as long as I get a Pikachu too. She knew all about the hidden skills of the characters that appeared in the original work, after all.

‘If I could make those Munchkins be at my beck and call…’

If Kynemeia could just sit back and enjoy the ride while they did everything and live out her golden years in comfort, it would be perfect.

‘Just like Pokemon!’

Just like that manga where the cute monsters would be the ones battling it out while the masters would just be supporting from the sidelines only to relish the victory and receive the reward themselves afterwards! It was similar to the saying one man sows and another reaps. Ha, good gracious. That other fellow was totally her role model.

‘No matter how you look at it, it’s a win-win solution!’

It wasn’t a bad deal for the Munchkins either since they were living silently without knowledge of their talents before they met the protagonist.

‘That’s right. Let’s survive! I’ll triumph over the ties of resentment and survive!’

Kynemeia cuddled the yellow mouse doll. 

‘Even if I can’t be a good lord, it’ll be fine if I can at least be an okay lord!’

A land that was habitable without any major issues. If she could be a lord that blends into the background, she could just let nasty rumours slip through one ear and out the other! She immediately rose up and unfolded a note, then started jotting down all the data on the useful characters. Fortunately, she could remember all of it off the top of her head as if she was reading the book all over again.

‘I need to exclude the ones that resent me.’

A Munchkin that resented her… just the thought of it gave her goosebumps. Kynemeia wrote the names and data to make it look organized, but then her pen came to an abrupt halt and she began drawing circles around one name.

Eian Krosch. 

A candidate for the master of the magic tower, and a shadowy character who always appeared whenever the protagonist encountered a crisis.

‘Uhm, this is a Munchkin that I can immediately meet, but…’

The scale in her head kept on oscillating between the risk and need. And then with a ‘bam!’, the scale weighed heavily on the side of the risk.

‘Yeah, he’s a bit dangerous…’

When Kynemeia was being sent to the guillotine, he was one of the characters that helped out the protagonist because he held resentment towards her. When he was young, he collapsed due to the injuries he sustained during a dispute within the magic tower and was subsequently confined in the Grand Duke’s castle. He was a Munchkin who harboured resentment towards Kynemeia because she turned him into her plaything around the time she started to grow twisted.

‘… Let’s leave out Eian.’

He was also portrayed as a character that couldn’t be comprehended in the original work, so she didn’t want to take any chances.

‘It’s best to not get involved with him at all.’

And so, she’d come down to the underground prison. Right at this moment. To cut off any ties with that Munchkin.

“Lady of the Grand Duchy, Kynemeia Lyonne, has arrived. Get on your knees and pay your respects before her.”

The shackles on his ankles clanged. The light from the torch was reflected on the shackles that were used to keep his magic at bay.

“This is the guy, Young Lady.”

A young boy sat on the ground before her.

‘Eian.’

His pitch-black pupils⁠—as if they consumed the flickering small light from the torch⁠—locked on her.

‘Even in the original work, his dazzling beauty was always emphasized.’

It felt unusual to see it in person; his short black hair which was trimmed just above his neck, his elongated sharp eyes, and obviously child-like face which was smooth as if someone crafted it. His hair looked dishevelled and dirty since he had been locked up in the prison, but it was obvious that if he cleaned up thoroughly and wore something nice, his looks would attract anyone anywhere.

That was how much his beauty was unrivalled. It was to the extent that Nanny unknowingly let out a small exclamation when she laid eyes on Eian. The boy’s eyes met Kynemeia’s, and in an observant manner, he shut and opened his eyes slowly.

“Would the greeting to the Lyonnes be ‘Greetings to the wings of Lyonne’? Miss Lady of the Grand Duchy.”

“…”

From the shackles on his ankles to the injury from a beating on his sides—even if he was obviously in an inferior position, he didn’t bother to conceal the overflowing pride and leisure of a powerful person.

‘As expected, he’s a dangerous guy.’

Kynemeia narrowed her eyes.

“Lady is just a lady, and a miss is just Miss. What’s up with ‘Miss Lady’?”

Even at her faint censure, Eian merely smiled with his eyes.

“I said it twice to get on your good side.”

“You don’t have to.”

“So you won’t even hear an offender’s explanations before you kill them? The lord of the Lyonne is so heartless.”

You say that, but you wouldn’t even perish even if I tried to kill you.

“I’m not the lord yet, and I have no intention to kill you.”

“…?”

She ignored Eian’s doubtful expression and gestured to the prison guard.

“Let him go.”

“Pardon? Let him go?”

Both the guard and Eian wore dumbfounded looks on their faces.

“… Why?”

“I just said I would let you go, why would you be curious about that?”

“Ah, are you going to conduct human hunt with me as your fleeing prey?”

What on earth does he take me for?

“No.”

“Really?”

I have no intention of doing something like a human hunt, so stop asking.

Kynemeia held back her tears that were threatening to fall. Have the rumours of me reached even the magic tower? So unfair.

“… Well, I can do it if you want to.”

“Do I look like I want to?”

“A bit?”

“What a dishonest young lady.”

She shrugged. 

“It’s because I still don’t dare to kill a prime Rikasha2.”

“…?”

The carefree Eian found himself tongue-tied for the first time.

“How did you know?”

He was smiling but his eyes hardened chillingly.

“A… A Rikasha?!”

“No way!”

The prison guard and Nanny exclaimed at the shocking news. Kynemeia tilted her head as the pair of black eyes kept on concentrating on her.

“How did I know, you ask. You have endless curiosities.”

“The magic tower is filled with such people, Miss Lady of the Grand Duchy.”

“Here—”

She pointed at Eian’s ear. Beneath the earring connecting his earlobe to his earflap was an elaborate pattern, printed resembling a tattoo. It was a mark of a high-ranking magician. The higher one’s rank is, the more circles there are. Three indicates an elder, four indicates a Rikasha, and five indicates the master of the magic tower. For a moment, Eian’s eyes gleamed conspicuously.

“This isn’t something that Miss Lady would have been privy to, though.”

“Well, I chanced upon it by accident.”

Since I read the original work. She gave a vague wave of her hand.

CLANG—

The prison guard unlocked the shackles on Eian with a perplexed look then stood up, carrying the keys. Even after Eian rose from his position, he steadily kept on watching Kynemeia. However, she rapped the bars a couple of times before turning around without any hesitation.

“Don’t get caught again, Rikasha.”

This matter with him is done, finally.

‘Now I can feel at ease.’

—was what she misunderstood.

… Because this was merely the start of an excessively ill-fated relationship.

[1]Overpowered/super powerful characters

[2]Candidate for the master of the magic towe