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Chapter 135
Super Duper Important Meeting
“So, the villainess must die.”
Ann—the villainess in this world of an otome game—blinked.
“Huhhh???”
Then she blinked again.
She wasn’t sure if she had heard it wrong… oh, but the sentence continued to echo in her mind.
‘The villainess must die.’
~The end~.
Hold up, hold up, no, no, no! This isn’t the end! The scenario isn’t correcting itself here in this pretty much real world!!!
Ann’s mind continued to scream.
However, the people around her just… stared at her with expressions that seemed to say their words made perfect sense. Ann didn’t dare ask for clarification.
But the silence dragged on, so she awkwardly raised her trembling hand and pointed her index finger at herself.
“M-Me?” Ann asked in a weak voice.
Her pitiful expression made it seem as if the world were crumbling beneath her.
She had gone through so much—survived so much—and now they were telling her that she, the villainess, must die?! What kind of cruel joke was this?!
A very long sigh came from beside her. It was none other than Allen.
That sigh—paired with Allen’s weary expression—made Ann realize she had definitely said something wrong.
She quickly scanned the expressions of the people around her.
Currently, they were gathered in the royal castle’s meeting chamber. Sitting around the long table were the representatives of the royal family: the crown prince, Kiehl; then Allen and herself; the saintess, Laura; her adoptive brother and royal knight, Fremont; another trusted royal knight—Miles (whose true identity was Mila); the genius royal magician, Reginald; the Doussier couple—Viscount Jonas and Viscountess Vanessa; Ann’s maid, Faye; and finally, the Birdie-Ann soul mix—Serafina, or Fina for short.
It was a super-duper important meeting, yet confidential at the same time. Only those privy to the truth were present. They hadn’t dared invite any other nobles.
The fewer people who knew the full truth, the better it would be for them all.
Laura facepalmed so hard that Ann nearly jumped in her seat.
Was her hand okay?! Wouldn’t that leave a red mark on her forehead?!
“No, Ann, it’s not what you think it is,” Laura sighed, already imagining what must be going on in Ann’s mind.
“I mean the identity of the villainess. You know— the former king’s only surviving child, Former Princess Anne, who was masquerading as the daughter of Marquis Claritianta, Arlea Pristine Claritianta? We need to declare both of them dead,” Laura said with waning patience.
“So… we’ll murder two and create one?” Ann summarized in the simplest, most scandalous way possible.
“W-well… something like that,” Laura mumbled with a sigh.
“Let me explain,” said the ever-patient Crown Prince Kiehl, stepping in before Laura’s last thread of composure snapped.
“The Claritianta family had a sickly daughter named Arlea Pristine Claritianta who unfortunately passed away in childhood. At the same time, the remnants of the former king’s faction needed to hide his only surviving child—Princess Anne. Since few people had ever seen either girl, the identity swap worked, especially since ‘Arlea’ reappeared only after reaching adulthood, with the engagement arrangement to Duke Allen.”
Ann nodded slowly.
Yes… that was the original setup in the game’s story. The Claritianta family had tried to help the dethroned royal faction infiltrate the new regime. But the villainess, Anne, had been so twisted by hatred that she could hardly play her part. Especially since Allen—Duke Schwartzen—had personally killed her mother in front of her during the revolution…
Come to think of it, nobody in that whole rotten plan had cared about Anne’s feelings at all. No wonder the whole thing collapsed.
And when she died in the original game timeline, the former king’s faction barely flinched.
It was as if she were a disposable pawn.
If she succeeded—great. If she failed and died? “Oh well. What a pity. Anyway…”
Ann felt a hollow ache in her chest.
Poor Anne…
She glanced over at Fina, who was now sitting beside Faye, contentedly doodling on the paper that had been set out for her.
Well… at least that child seemed much happier now.
Clap!
Kiehl clapped once, pulling Ann’s drifting attention back to the meeting.
“Our plan is to reveal to the public that you are not Arlea. Rather, you were an orphan taken in by the Claritianta family—used as a pawn by the former king’s faction. We’ll also clarify that the real Arlea died in childhood. As for the former princess Anne, we’ll state that she perished during the revolution as well. That closes the book on both identities.”
“Wonderful. So I’ll become a pitiful orphan now,” Ann deadpanned.
Kiehl ignored her comment and continued, “The former king announced to his supporters that he had a surviving heir—you. That announcement rallied his followers and lent legitimacy to their cause. Their goal was to marry you into the Schwartzen family so you could serve as a spy and political tool. But you—being unwilling—deliberately behaved like a villainess to sabotage the plan.”
Ann pursed her lips.
It was actually a solid cover story.
“But eventually, you grew tired of living a lie and feared for your life. So, you gambled. You pretended to suffer memory loss from a head injury—and that’s when everything changed. That’s when we began uncovering the truth,” Kiehl concluded.
“Right. Still checks out,” Ann nodded.
“But then there’s one small problem,” Fremont chimed in from his seat with a dry smile. “Duke Allen wants to remain married to you.”
“Since your identity was fabricated, the marriage is legally invalid and will be annulled,” Laura explained. “You’ll need to remarry—under your real name.”
“But a commoner can’t just marry into the ducal family. That would cause an uproar among the nobility,” Reginald said calmly, pushing up his glasses.
“And forging a noble identity is risky,” Laura added. “Most noble families are well-documented and monitored. A fake claim would be discovered immediately.”
“That’s why we’ll forge her identity as the daughter of a fallen noble house,” Kiehl said, smirking confidently. “Many noble families were destroyed during the revolution. If we choose a house that perished without any surviving members, it will be difficult for anyone to disprove the claim.”
Ann crossed her arms. “So, in other words… if the house had survivors, they’d expose me. But if they’re all dead, no one can question it.”
“Exactly,” Kiehl said.
“But such a fallen house wouldn’t have any backing or support left,” Ann frowned. “So even with that forged identity, I’d still be a nobody in the eyes of the aristocracy.”
“Which is why we’ll take it a step further,” Laura said with a glint in her eye. “You’ll not only have a forged noble origin—you’ll be adopted into an existing noble house. That adoption will give your new identity legal weight and social protection.”
Ann’s expression shifted—her eyes widened as if a terrible realization had just dawned on her.
With a mix of horror and disbelief, she turned to Laura and asked, “You mean, I will be… YOUR SISTER?!”
Laura’s jaw dropped.
How did you even come to that conclusion?! And what’s with that horrified face?!
Ann’s thought process was simple—too simple. She assumed that since Laura came up with the adoption idea, and because the Ainsworth family had welcomed a commoner like her, that must be the plan.
She completely forgot about how the Ainsworth family was the family in which the saintesses were born into, so they were the most equipped with nurturing a saintess–hence why Laura was adopted by them.
“No, silly!” Laura quickly denied it, raising a hand as if to lightly smack Ann’s head, but stopping herself at the last second.
Ann flinched anyway.
“Then…?” Ann asked with a confused blink.
“You’ll be adopted into the Doussier family,” Prince Kiehl said with his usual composed smile, as if he were merely announcing the day’s lunch menu.
“E-excuse me, what?!” Ann stared at him, blinking rapidly.
She whipped her gaze toward the Doussier couple—who, to her utter shock, didn’t even flinch. They just sat there gracefully, sipping tea like this was all prearranged.
“Eh?!” Ann’s previously learned etiquette just flew away from the window of her soul, with that half-scream.
“We’ve discussed it beforehand. Your adoption into the Doussier family will not only provide a legitimate noble identity, it will also shield you from opposition,” Allen explained.
Ah, so they had already talked about this… Ann nodded slowly.
“Shield me…?” But Ann was wondering about this part right here.
Prince Kiehl explained, “The Doussier family had lost both of their sons during the upheavals that led to the previous king’s dethronement and the current regime’s founding. Not only the nobles, even the royal family highly honor the sacrifices the Doussier family had gone through. Anyone who dares to openly oppose your adoption and marriage to the Schwartzen ducal family will be insulting this legacy, and the royal family will consider it an insult as well.”
Viscount Jonas and Viscountess Vanessa remained silent, but there was a subtle shadow of pain in their expressions, perhaps from remembering the upheavals and the losses of their sons…
Ann’s mouth opened slightly. Politically speaking, this was a perfect arrangement. She wasn’t sure whether she should be impressed or overwhelmed.
Basically, my arrangements will be bulletproof by guilt…
Still, Ann turned back to the Doussier couple, feeling a bit nervous, especially when she gazed at Viscountess Vanessa.
“Why?” she asked, voice soft. She couldn’t finish the sentence.
She’s the daughter of the previous king. At least her body is. Isn’t that why Viscountess Vanessa treated her with much coldness? She knew her position and wouldn’t want to show her face up to the viscountess ever again, and yet…
“Because of her,” Viscountess Vanessa casually said as she looked at Faye.
Faye was entertaining little Fina, so she was very much surprised when she was suddenly brought up into the central topic.
“Me?” She asked as she tilted her head.
“Yes. We want to adopt you as our daughter,” Viscount Jonas said with a gentle voice.
“W-whaaa?!” Faye became so flustered she stood up from her seat quickly and said, “I could never…”
“When we rescued you from the kidnapping incident,” Viscountess Vanessa continued, sipping her tea with calm elegance,”We were so impressed by your determination and courage in order to save your mistress, whom you adored so much. Your courage and loyalty… it is extreme, to the point of stubbornness,” Viscountess Vanessa said as she took a sip of her tea.
I-isn’t that a bad thing?! Faye was unsure where this was going.
“It just reminded us of our sons. You’re just like them,” Viscountess Vanessa concluded.
“And during the time when we took care of you, we have grown fonder of you. That made us even more sure of this decision,” Viscount Jonas added.
Faye was dumbfounded. She had a hunch that the Doussier couple also treated her unlike how a noble would to a maid, even when she was entrusted to them. They seemed to treat her like a child, but at that time, she didn’t feel like it was odd… since Ann-sama, her mistress, also treated her warmly like that. She thought good nobles would be like that since she was a child. So, it turned out there was more to it.
The atmosphere was so warm, and it made the dumbfounded Ann even more reluctant to do this, but she braced herself and raised her hand with a slight tremble.
“E-excuse me, I am really honored and happy that you consider my Fa–Faye that highly and I know she deserves it, but… I was asking about why you would even consider adopting me as well…”
She failed to see the connection thus far.
Viscountess Vanessa quickly turned to look at her, Ann flinched slightly, but she relaxed when she saw that the viscountess’ gaze towards her wasn’t cold nor alienating.
“We’ve heard a lot about you from Faye. We have also heard the whole story from the prince. We conclude that you are worthy of our help. Without you, Faye might have never made it out there. Moreover, you seemed to have treated Faye very kindly, just like one would treat a family member, so why won’t you two take this chance to become real sisters instead?” Viscountess Vanessa said as she turned her head away from Ann’s gaze.
S-she’s like a tsundere!! Ann was impressed by the mismatch between the content of the viscountess’ words and the curt way she spoke.
By this time, Fina seemed to have caught onto something. She had stopped doodling the moment Faye stood up, and had been observing.
She then turned her head and asked with much sadness, “…Faye will be going away?”
“Ah…,” Ann paused. If Faye were to be adopted by the Doussier family, she would be away from both Ann and Fina. Ann would be fine with it, but the young Fina was so attached to Faye, Ann wasn’t sure how she would take it…
“Worry not, we will also adopt the young girl over there,” Viscount Jonas said with smiles.
“H-huh??!”
Ann’s brain could no longer keep up with all of the sudden twists happening in one sitting.
Not only her identity issue was solved, she would also gain two cute little sisters?!
This is a win-win-win situation, but… am I dreaming??!
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