Chloe von Rosenberg, a daughter of a military noble family, suddenly realizes she's become the villainess from a game she played in her past life. Her fate is to be condemned and exiled. But Chloe, who was a salaryman in her previous life, decides to use her strategic mind to change her destiny.
She aims to become a perfect lady to improve her relationship with Crown Prince Alexis. However, her inner self is still male, causing her to act too familiarly with men and fluster Alexis constantly. Y
The Villainess with a Bewitching Face - The Villainess with a Bewitching Face Remembers Her Past Life (Currently Revising)
My head hurts.
It's a dull, deep pain, as if I've been struck repeatedly with something heavy. With my eyes squeezed shut, I fumble to check the position of my head. There's something that seems to be a pillow. It's fluffy. At least it doesn't seem like I collapsed on the floor.
(...A trading company, was it? No, I, at that time...)
Fragments of memories flood in like a deluge. The white light of fluorescent lamps. Piles of documents stacked high. Rows of lifeless numbers reflected on a computer screen. I vaguely recall that empty coffee cans had formed a tower on the desk. Then, a suffocating tightness in my chest suddenly came, and my vision warped and twisted.
Right. I'm Eiji Kurono. A humble trading company man from Japan. I died, didn't I? During overtime, from a heart attack or something.
"...You're kidding."
The voice wasn't my own.
It wasn't the low, hoarse voice of a man. It was a higher, clearer voice, like the sound of a bell. Startled, I bolted upright, and the long silver hair that reached my waist swayed smoothly.
"...Huh?"
A canopy bed I've never seen before. Heavy wooden furniture I've never seen before. From the window, a white, shining castle-like building I've also never seen before is visible in the distance. Everything was surreal. It's as if I've been thrown onto a movie set.
My heart is pounding.
I, Eiji, got out of bed on trembling legs and stood before the large full-length mirror in the corner of the room.
Inside the mirror was a girl I didn't recognize. She's staring right at me, her long, narrow purple eyes opened wide and round. Silver hair stretching straight down to her waist. She's wearing an expensive-looking nightgown with white lace decorations. She's tall. Her limbs are long and slender, yet her chest is full, and her waist is cinched. This is my body now.
"...Eeeeeh."
Along with the girl in the mirror, my mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
It feels like the shelves in my mind are collapsing with a clatter. My thirty-some years of life as Eiji Kurono and this girl's eighteen years of life are mixing together into a jumbled mess. Like blending paints of completely different colors.
This girl's name is Chloe. Chloe von Rosenberg.
Ah, damn. The moment I understood that, I slumped down on the spot.
Chloe von Rosenberg. I know it. I know that name very well. Because that's the famous villainess from the strategy game I was utterly obsessed with in my past life, *Valkyria of Supremacy*. That miraculous, mixed-up work where a full-scale strategy sim, an otome game, and a galge were fused together in a devilish combination!
"Isn't she that character who gets her engagement broken and her whole family ruined...?"
My voice trembles.
Chloe in the game was a spectacularly nasty piece of work. From the very beginning, she bullies the protagonist relentlessly, weaves conspiracies, and in the end, the crown prince Alexis exposes everything, breaks off their engagement, and she's banished from the country. The Marquisate of Rosenberg is dissolved.
I loved this game, and I played through all the routes countless times, including the branches for the male and female protagonists. But Chloe was always an enemy to be defeated.
Even as the male protagonist, Chloe was not a romance option. Meaning, there's no redemption route or heroine route for her. Reality is merciless.
And now, that character has become me.
You've got to be kidding. I'm just a regular salaryman, you know? The only things I'm good at are Excel functions and laying the groundwork with my boss. Why did this happen...
The white castle visible beyond the window is the heart of this country, Weisskrone Castle. This is the capital of the Kingdom of Elvasion, Felsenheim. This city, home to about 140,000 people, is organized into neatly arranged districts centered around the royal castle built on a hill. This splendid mansion where I live is on the eastern edge of the upper town district. The upper town is where noble families gather, and among them, my house is a military noble family, a particularly prestigious lineage.
Military nobles are special aristocrats who, in exchange for swearing military service to the royal family, are entrusted with territory and an army. There are only forty-two such families in the entire kingdom. Of course, to inherit the title, you can't just rely on your parents' influence; you must pass an incredibly tough martial and strategic exam called the 'Schwere Rite.' Both men and women have to take it.
So, well, the family holds a fair amount of power. It does, but...
"In the game, all of that goes up in smoke..."
I let out another deep sigh.
The time limit is short. It's until the protagonist, raised as a count's child, inherits the Grand Duchy as the orphaned child of the late Grand Duke. If Chloe is eighteen, there's one year left until the scenario starts.
Should I see it as only one year, or as much as a whole year?
But either way, some things are already too late.
Eighteen years of accumulated history as the perfect villainess, Chloe. That's me now. A woman whose pride rivals Mount Everest.
My current fiancé, Crown Prince Alexis, is strict with himself and others, and he probably finds my high-and-mighty attitude difficult to handle. On the other hand, Chloe herself, in her own way, held affection for Alexis as a fiancé worthy of her.
And soon, triggered by an incident involving the Grand Duke's orphan, he will grow close to the female protagonist, and I will be easily discarded.
"Don't screw with me. I haven't even done anything yet."
That's right. If I've been reincarnated, that changes everything. I know the game's future. I know Alexis's personality, what causes the engagement to be broken, everything. I never thought the strategic eye I cultivated in my past life would be used in a place like this, but it should be doable.
Still sitting on the floor, I desperately dug through my memories of the game. Crown Prince Alexis. A serious, awkward man who's terribly bad at expressing his emotions. Honestly, this guy isn't suited for nobility. But he's incredibly competent. His aptitude as a royal is maxed out.
At his core, he's sincere, and once he trusts someone, he'll protect them to the very end. The game's protagonist was drawn to his clumsy kindness.
If that's the case, there's only one thing for me to do.
Play the perfect lady who will win his favor. Elegant, intelligent, but someone who won't laugh at his awkwardness and can embrace him with a generous heart. If I can become that kind of woman, it'll be fine. Isn't it simple?
"...It's not simple at all."
Chloe is a perfectionist on par with the devil wearing something-or-other from a movie I saw on TV or something. If it's just about patching up the exterior, I have the foundation that Chloe thoroughly ingrained into this body until it became second nature.
On the other hand, inside, I'm an old guy in his thirties. Honestly, I feel like I'd be more at ease if I were told to put on a necktie right now and go apologize to a client. A lady... what is that? How do I become one?
First, right, let's practice in front of the servants.
Having steeled my resolve, I changed from my nightgown into a chic black dress that looked like mourning clothes. I spun around once in front of the mirror. Yeah, I look the part, even if I do say so myself. I straighten my back, tuck my chin, and try to float an elegant smile. My purple eyes look blue depending on the light. Okay, not bad.
I left my room and headed for the courtyard. A young gardener is just pruning the roses. A perfect practice partner.
"Good work. It's nice weather today, isn't it?"
Alright, excellent. My voice was calm too.
The young gardener looked up in surprise, then bobbed his head in a bow.
"G-Good morning, my lady."
Good, good, this is fine. Let's try to be a bit more approachable while I'm at it. The gap is important. Out of habit from my past life, I clapped him on the shoulder familiarly and said:
"My, the roses here are always so beautiful! The daily upkeep must be tough, right? You're so young, but you're doing a great job!"
The gardener's face froze.
He's looking back and forth between my face and my hand patting his shoulder, as if he's looking at some kind of rare beast.
"M-My lady...? I-I'm terribly sorry, have I done something wrong...?"
"Why are you apologizing? I'm complimenting you!"
Pat, pat.
When I patted his shoulder again, the gardener looked like he was about to collapse. By the time I realized I'd messed up, it was too late. His face twisted in fear, he bowed deeply, and then ran off to the other side of the garden at a tremendous speed.
...I blew it.
"A normal noble lady doesn't pat her servants on the shoulder, does she..."
My shoulders slumped in disappointment. Is it because my inner self is an old man not even forty? When I talk to someone familiar, the sense of distance inevitably becomes that of male camaraderie. In my past life, I deepened my department's rapport this way, but in this world, it's just a reign of terror.
After all, the woman called Chloe is mercilessly strict with incompetent people.
Though, she's even stricter with herself.
That said, even if they serve the House of Rosenberg, they never know when she might explode. Who would want to get close to such a ticking time bomb of a lady?
Damn it.
Pulling myself together, I'll practice walking like a lady this time. Not striding with big steps, but a more elegant walk where the hem of my skirt sways gently.
I lift my skirt slightly, point my toes forward, and step softly. Okay, good. I'm doing it, I'm...
"Whoa!"
I stepped on the hem of my skirt and stumbled forward spectacularly.
"My lady!"
A maid who happened to be passing by let out a scream-like cry and supported my body. Her face was pale, and she seemed far more frightened than I was.
"Th-thank you..."
This is too pathetic.
In the end, the first day ended in a miserable failure. I trudged back to my room, and the moment I closed the door, I let out a deep, truly deep sigh.
If the Chloe from before we merged had seen today's disgrace, she would undoubtedly have subjected me to merciless logical harassment as an incorrigible fool.
"Haaah..."
I dive onto the bed. The springs creaked, and my body sank softly. Staring at the canopy, I gently placed my hands on my body. Thin, white fingers. The soft, mature lines of a body completely different from when I was a man. I have to get used to this body, but my heart is still searching for the me in a black suit.
I thought that if my body changed, my heart would change too, but it seems it's not that simple.
Outside the window, it has already turned into an indigo night. Only the light of a small lamp dimly illuminates the room.
I quietly closed my eyes and tried to recall my past life once more. Strategy guide info for the game. The power maps of each country. The character relationship charts. In that game, there was one single player who fought me on equal footing. A nemesis with whom I read strategies and contested a single square for hours in online battles.
If I remember correctly, their handle was...
"...Sergio."
The Prime Minister of the Duchy of Grinford. In this world, there's a man with the same name. I've been reincarnated into the game world. Surely, it's not just a coincidence. I had an intuition that there's some deep, fated connection.
Right now, he's still a distant existence in a faraway country. But I couldn't shake the feeling that someday, we're bound to clash somewhere.
My resolve is already set.
Even if I fall on my backside and make the servants tremble in fear, I have no choice but to do it. First up is the upcoming peace negotiations with the neighboring Margraviate of Melvita. I will be attending as the acting head of the Marquisate of Rosenberg. In that setting, it's a familiar face for Chloe. But for me, merged with Chloe, it will be my first time meeting Alexi
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