Chapter 1

The Return of the Villainess, Lydith (1)

I felt as if I had been asleep for a very long time.

A bright light was shining through the curtains, which were embroidered with glittering stars in shades like the night sky. It must be morning.

I had a strange dream.

It’s a very unpleasant dream in which I had an accident in a carriage and received an unwanted reprimand from a poor little boy who calls himself god in a white room that I didn’t understand.

I feel totally sick.

Today, however, I am still the perfect Lydith Anne maria.

I stepped down from the soft duvet and slip into my indoor shoes and looked around the room, which had a closet, a make-up table, a dressing table and a writing desk. I stood in front of the dressing table.

In the mirror, I started at myself, the beautiful girl staring back at me.

She has smooth platinum blonde hair and big, crystal eyes with long lashes, although they are a little pinched.

Her white cheeks and peach-coloured lips, which are not even flushed with red, give her an air of fragility.

Her height is a little small for a sixteen-year-old, but she still has room to grow, so there are high hopes for the future.

I am beautiful today.

I proudly brushed my hair back in satisfaction and then tilted my head.

‘I wonder if I’m still eighteen…….’

Immediately I noticed something strange, I suddenly remembered what happened before I woke up clearly.

That’s right!

I had died once, hadn’t I?

Yes, I did. I don’t really feel it now, but I did.

Then I was sent back in time by a nosy god. That’s a total waste of time.

As Duchess AnneMaria, I should never have walked through time twice. I will not make the same mistake, I will not repeat life twice in vain. Life is meaningful and valuable because you only live it once.

Besides, I really had no choice. Though I don’t like it, and I’m not happy in the slightest, because I could start over, I’m not going to give in to that cheating fiancée, Rafael, or Cynthia, who doesn’t listen to me.

I am not going to give in and lie to myself and the Noble ladies who were kissing up to me, but were also denouncing me while  I was at my lowest.

When I was sixteen years old and already Master Rafael’s fiancée, I was  enrolled at the Royal Academy to identify the promising young talent for the kingdom as queen, but I got carried away with Cynthia and that’s how it happened.

I sat on my bedside table and raised my eyebrows in annoyance.

Cynthia and I were classmates. Rafael was two years older and is eighteen years old. In a kingdom where we can be engaged and are allowed to marry when we reach fifteen, we could have gotten married without going to the Royal Academy, but I wanted to learn a little more, so I was going to wait three years before graduating.

Master Rafael was a kind man and gladly accepted my proposal, saying, ‘If that’s what Lydith wants”.

At first it was good.

Master Raphael always gave me priority, and every time I met him he whispered to me in a voice that sounded like he was going to be prodigal: ‘Lovely Lydith’. Well, about that, I am a lovely, beautiful and perfect daughter, so it is only natural. Complimenting and loving me was as common as having fish in the ocean.

When did that change?

Before I knew it, Cynthia-san was close to Rafael-sama. When he said to me in a troubled tone, “Cynthia has just become a noble and is still having trouble adjusting to the school”, I could do nothing but accept it, “Oh, how kind of you. As expected of Raphael-sama,” I had no choice but to accept it.

Cynthia-san was next to Raphael-sama at the school ceremony, at the ball and at the dinner party.

As for me, I couldn’t allow myself to show my miserable appearance by attending alone, so I had no choice but to bring along my brother, his friends who are close to me, and Clive, my butler, if everyone else was unable to make it.

Of course, I also remembered to say, “I will be fine without Rafael-sama, don’t worry.” It is only natural that I should be able to manage on my own, as the queen cannot be a weak woman who cannot do anything without Rafael-sama.

Master Raphael says: “Lydith seems to be having fun without me. Cynthia can’t do it alone. I’m sorry,” and so on. Then, I looked at Cynthia, who was attached to him as if she was being protected by Raphael-sama, and I suddenly realised.

I wondered if she might have been told by Baron Katze to get her hands on the Crown prince and take my place as queen.

Miss Cynthia is dainty. If you compare her to me, we are as different as the moon and a pebble, but I guess it’s because she’s  dainty.

There is no shortage of other parties. I had tolerated her until now, thinking that she must be having a hard time in her unfamiliar aristocratic life, but if she wants to compete with me, this is no time for me to be taking Cynthia-san’s position into consideration.

I immediately called Cynthia out to the backyard. She looked horrified, said “I’m sorry” and started to cry. I was surprised.

I had never thought that there existed in the world a young lady who cried just because I called out to her.

When I was surprised, Orchis Amber, who is going to be the next Prime Minister and who apparently heard the commotion, held Cynthia by the shoulders and took her away. I think he was glaring at me hatefully, but it would be a big mistake to think that a glance would do anything to me. If I had something to say, I could have said it, but I think that’s pathetic for a man.

After that, it was all kind of a blur.

Cynthia probably needs a bit more independence. It’s shameful for a woman to have a man protect her at all times. Sometimes it is the duty of those who are related to royalty to fight with a sword. If you are aiming for that, you need to be strong.

It is not that I dislike Cynthia-san. In the first place, as a person standing on top, likes and dislikes towards others are futile feelings. You should not judge others based on personal preferences.

So I was trying to educate Cynthia, who was so pathetic, and I reprimanded her every time I saw her, but before I knew it, a confrontation structure between Cynthia and me had been formed.

Then, on the day of the annual Fresca ceremony to welcome the end of the year, the charges were announced to me.

On that day, Rafael-sama was away on an outing. I was tied up and sent to the brothel by Orchis’s command.

“No matter how many times I try to remember now, I feel like I did nothing wrong…….”

When I muttered this, I felt very convinced.

Cynthia was still too pathetic to be a queen or a Consort in any way.

She was always frightened and always had men to protect her. It’s naive to think that she wants men to protect her. It’s as sweet as sugar candy. If you want to be above people, you have to pretend to be protected by men and manipulate them. You have to be that strong. That’s what my beauty is for.

Yes, that’s right.

If I were as beautiful, I would have had the best of many men in the brothel, made them pay for my jewels, made them grovel at my feet, and I would have been at the top of the brothel.

Alas, my carriage had an accident before I could live the whorehouse life.

Oh, my God.

I can’t stay like this.

I haven’t tested my potential yet.

If we’re going to go down the same path, it’s better to change things quickly. And sometimes it’s an advantage to be young. Maybe it would be better for me not to enroll at the Royal Academy, but to work in a whorehouse.

This is a second life.

It would be boring to do the same thing. I did it once and got tired of educating Cynthia-San. She was not a good student and it would be futile to repeat it.

Goodness knows what I was in a hurry to do.

I fished through the closet myself, trying to change my clothes, trying to act before the people in the house noticed.

I lost consciousness again.