I was exhausted. I knew beforehand that delivering a baby was not easy task, and I thought I had made the proper arrangements. I had gotten more than enough nurses, a doctor with lots of years of expertise, and even a priest. I just couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something might go wrong. And apparently, my prophecies became true. The whole ordeal took several hours, and my condition went from stable to very dangerous very quickly. Apparently, I was dead for a few minutes. By the time I regained my senses, the baby had already been cleaned and wrapped on a piece of cloth. I was still hazy and confused, but I wanted to hold her. She was absolutely the cutest baby I had seen, I wanted to pinch her puffy cheeks and hug her for the rest of my life. But… there was still something on the back of my head that was bothering me.
—Madame Rossane —one of my attendants called me, though I was still too confused to recognize who she was.
She was presenting me with a legal document to register my child’s name. That was normally left for the father or any other family member, but at that moment, I was her only living relative. Thankfully, I had filled the form beforehand, I just needed to sign it and be over with it. But as my eyes passed through the document trying to find the dotted line, something caught my attention.
—Violett Dragonroot? Isn’t a bit too cruel to name her like that?
—Whatever might you mean, madame? That’s the name you and your late husband choose for her, isn’t it? And since your family has a more noble ancestry, it was stipulated that she would inherit your last name.
—I… I know, but, isn’t a bit of bad luck to call her like that? At the very least it is tacky. I mean, really? Like the villainess of an otome game?
—Madame, what might you be talking about?
—Huh? What… —I started to feel nauseous, as suddenly a stream of memories started to rush to me.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
My name was Rossane Dragonroot, the only living member of the ancient Dragonroot clan. I had lived as such for 26 years, married someone out of political interest and getting pregnant just before he had to go and die in a meaningless conflict. But before all of that, I had lived another life, in another world. I was what is known as an office lady, and an closet otaku to boost. I would spend all of my free time reading mangas and playing videogames, and I was still efficient at my work, somehow. I… never had a family of my own. I just told myself I could do it later, talking with people outside of work was too bothersome. Then I died, rather suddenly I think… I don’t quite remember. As my mind ran through all of my memories, I was breathing hard and shaking. When they tried to take the baby away from me, I came back to my senses. I took a deep breath, and put on a gentle smile.
—I am sorry if I scared everyone, I got confused for a moment. I am fine now, so please, leave us alone for the moment.
They still did seem a bit worried, but they give me a slight bow and obeyed my command. As soon as the door closed, I dropped my act of noble mature woman and practically melted on my bed. The baby was lying over my chest. She was named exactly as the villainess of an otome game I had played in my previous life; Promises of an Enchanted Heart. It followed the clichés and tropes expected of such games, the protagonist was born as a commoner, adopted by a cruel noble family after they found she had great talent on Holy Magic. They wanted to use her, and treated her as crap, only giving her some liberty when she entered the Magic Academy. There, she had her fated meeting with one of five possible romantic partners. My child, on the other hand, was a pampered and spoiled girl who was accustomed to get everything she wished for, and after a slight offense caused by the protagonist, she would dedicate herself to make her life miserable and steal her love interest, even though she was promised to marry the prince. What’s more, even if the protagonist conquered the heart of her love interest, if the villainess wasn’t confronted and stopped she would end up practically destroying the kingdom through the use of the unique magic inherited by her family, one that was able to summon powerful dragons to do her bidding.
—Ah, but I know that already —I said to myself.
The Dragoonroot clan had become nobles for such feat in a great war a long time ago, but had since forgotten how to use it. In recent generations, we had even fallen into economic problems. That was the reason why I had married someone who had a lesser noble standing, but had more resources. It was kind of shameful to look back and see that I was spoiled myself, and had married someone just to keep the lifestyle I thought I deserved. I haven’t even cared that much when he died, as my future was already secured…
I… made a mental note to visit his tomb more often.
—What am I going to do? If I don’t stop this, a lot of people are going to be hurt…
A dark though started to form on my mind, but I couldn’t even dare to let it finish forming. I pinched my cheeks and shook my head, and then I picked Violett up and rubbed my other cheek against her.
—Don’t worry, Violett, Mama has a plan. You surely won’t become a villainess if I raise you properly! —I said, but stopped abruptly —So, how is one supposed to raise a kid properly?