It always starts out in the same way. A young woman from the modern world dies and reincarnates into another. And while that in itself is absurd enough, she finds herself in a world she is already aware of. The world of a novel she has read, or a game she has played in her first life. 

This. This was the formula that many consumed like a drug. Although stories that started out this way have become repetitive, young girls and even older women loved them with burning passion. It makes sense in hindsight. After all, the very concept itself manages to raise some interesting questions.

How will the main character adapt into this new world? How will she make use of her previous life's knowledge? How will she live her life? Whose hearts will she steal? And who will manage to capture hers?

It would be a lie to say that people wouldn't go crazy thinking about these as they read their favorite cliché novel. Perhaps every single one of these readers have imagined themselves in the main character's shoes. After all, these formulas also exist to fulfill this type of fantasy.

But among all of these reincarnation novels, one type in particular has risen in great popularity.

What if the main character wakes up as the world's villainess?

This... was another cliché that readers consume like the sweetest and most precious honey. While reincarnating into the heroine or side character indeed sounds inviting, nothing could have as much allure as the idea of being reborn as the villainess. It was a concept with a whole other level of appeal.

After all, rather than a peaceful walk on a flowery path, people would rather read about the bloody thorns. It was all about the breathless desperation. The struggle for survival in a world set up for your eventual destruction. 

How will the main character change her fate? Will she choose to escape? Or will she embrace her role of evil? And finally... whose heart shall this villainess eventually steal?

Truly an intriguing concept. One could understand how these types of stories are popular. In fact, people would often say how they also wish to be reincarnate into their favorite novels or games and capture their favorite characters' hearts.

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There is but one problem with that fantasy however...

"My Lady doesn't cry much for a baby. I'm worried. She's not feeling sick, is she? Should we go ahead and call for the doctor?" 

"Are you sure she didn't just inherit her father's disposition? I always get the feeling that My Lady resembles her father very much."

"Are you a fool? Even Young Master Dimitri who is the spitting image of the Duke wasn't this quiet as a baby! Listen, a baby's only way of communicating her needs is through her cries. If a baby doesn't do that, we may never be able to notice that she is sick!"

"...Do you really think that the maids of the Mallory house are so incapable as to not notice their Lady's health? Whatever, if you're so concerned then I'll go ahead and inform the head maid." 

One of the maids hurriedly left the room, leaving the other to care for the child in the crib. She looked down with a look of concern and placed a rattle in my hands.

"My Lady, you're not feeling sick are you? If you're not feeling well, you should just cry out so we'll know right away..."

Why, thank you for your concern. I am not feeling well, but it's not exactly a matter that a maid can help me with.

I looked up at the high ceiling above me. To think that I would ever witness a ceiling embellished with gold like this... the me from the past would surely burst into tears. But now, there were things much more pressing than the genuine gold on the ceiling. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes.

I can't believe this is happening. Forget a maid, I don't think anyone can help me with this.

The House of Mallory. It was a family known to be one of the most powerful in the Kingdom of Weiss. It was also currently the family that I had been born in. Although it is not as wealthy as the rest of the ducal houses, it had a strong military power enough to rival the Imperial Army. It is without a doubt a most dangerous household.

If only that was the only thing that made this family so dangerous...

That is because the most dangerous fact about this family was not their family’s history. Nor their wealth. Nor their power. It was the very fact that the Mallory house was a family rotten to its very core. A family of traitors. A family of villains.

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as anger started to boil in my chest. I clenched my small fists and huffed. This is absurd. All of it is just way too outrageous.

Who was it? Who was it that said they wanted to be reincarnated in their favorite game? Why don't you come here and take my place instead!

Things like waking up as the villainess of your favorite novel or game. They make good reading material. But that's all that they're supposed to be. Reading material. Don't be fooled by what you witness in these novels. 

Reading about such things is fine, but being actually part of it?

I waved my rattle around way too aggressively for a baby as I felt anger, despair, and frustration at once. The maid by my room gasped as she tried to figure out what had set me off.

I hate this...!  I want out! Lemme out of this place! Dukes? Princes? Kings? Queens? Who cares? If I was going to be reincarnated into this damn family anyway, I might as well have just stayed dead! 

Maybe it was because my emotions were too much for a tiny baby, but large drops of tears began to pour down from my eyes. I was overflowing with frustration, which may have been too much for a baby's body. I soon lost the energy to wave my rattle around and just resigned myself into a wailing, sobbing mess.

"My Lady! What's wrong? Are you hungry? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you sick? Is there anything you want at all?"

I... I don't want to be part of this cliché!