I was reincarnated into the world of the otome game 'Rosalian Chronicle' as Mia Rosalian, the villainess. In the game, she's executed after being condemned—an utterly garbage role. But I know this world's rules, the love interests' weaknesses, everything. If I use my head, I can avoid the bad end.
At first, I planned to live quietly. But wait, as a commoner I couldn't do anything. So I used my past-life knowledge and schemes to take the top spot at the Royal Academy, crush the nobles, and climb
The Villainess's Rise to Power. - The Black Evil Eye Shatters the Blade of Condemnation ~Game, I've Decided to Live Here~
The dusk before the Founding Festival cast deep shadows over the temporary palace of Vernheim Castle, still under reconstruction.
The wooden provisional palace, built to replace the burned-down main castle, creaked with every gust of the north wind. Outside the window, men in work clothes were hauling in the last of the materials for tomorrow's Founding Festival. The sound of hammers was swallowed by the dry earth.
Remilia Rosalian stood before a simple desk.
Her black hair, reaching to her waist, took on a bluish luster in the dim twilight. Her right eye was a deep, blood-like red; her left, a purple that seemed to melt the darkness of night. Those mismatched eyes slid across the report in her hands. The edges of the paper curled slightly in the dry air.
At her chest, a silver butterfly necklace chimed faintly against its chain with each small movement.
Her grandmother's keepsake—stolen, and then reclaimed. Its cold touch quietly regulated the rhythm of her breathing.
"Lady Remilia. The final report has arrived from the Shadow Garden."
From behind her, a deep, composed voice. She turned to see her butler, Cyan Crawford, his deep violet-blue hair swept to one side. His deep emerald eyes looked straight at Remilia. His black butler's uniform bore not even a trace of soot, and every detail down to his white-gloved fingertips was immaculate.
The small old scar above his left eyebrow was faintly visible in the twilight.
"Read it aloud."
"Yes. First, regarding Orvan Seigrid's movements. It has been confirmed that at tomorrow's Founding Festival, at sunset, he plans to activate the ancient magical relic beneath the cathedral—the Heart of Asteria."
Remilia gazed out the window.
Far away, the northern sky was dyed madder red. Beyond that sky lay the royal capital, Alventia. One of the workers straightened his back, looked up at the sky, and immediately bent down again.
"Also, regarding Mia Celestia—"
Cyan's voice dropped just slightly.
"Her false testimony at the academy festival, her involvement in the burning of Vernheim. We have secured all evidence of her collusion with Orvan. If she sets foot underground of her own accord, the fact of her complicity cannot be overturned."
"Yes. That girl will surely follow me if I make a move. She's the type who can't help but see things with her own eyes."
Remilia touched the silver butterfly with her fingertip.
The cold sensation of silver. Her grandmother's fingers had once touched this butterfly the same way.
"Cyan. Prepare for infiltration of the royal capital. We depart before dawn."
"Understood. If it is my lady's command, this body is of no consequence. All, as my lady's heart desires."
Cyan bowed deeply.
His voice was steeped in the maddening loyalty she had heard countless times before. But tonight, Remilia did not find herself suffocating under its weight.
"Thank you, Cyan. I am truly glad to have you."
Cyan's shoulders trembled faintly.
His deep emerald eyes gazed at Remilia as though beholding something unbelievable.
"...Such words are too generous for me, my lady."
His voice was faintly moist.
Remilia narrowed her eyes at the sunset beyond the window.
The setting sun cast long shadows across the wooden walls of the provisional palace. The shadows passed by her feet and reached the far wall of the room.
———
The night of the Founding Festival.
The royal capital, Alventia, was wrapped in the most brilliant light of the year.
Countless lanterns hung in the plaza before the cathedral, and colorful flags swayed in the wind along the streets. Nobles' carriages groaned against the cobblestones, and festival music drifted from somewhere. The air was mixed with the scent of sweet confections and flowers. The burnt smell of roasted chestnuts also wafted from between the crowds.
But Remilia Rosalian's footsteps carried a stillness wholly removed from that clamor.
Clad in a black dress, the silver butterfly necklace gleaming at her chest, she stepped into the grand hall of the royal palace where the evening banquet was being held.
In that instant, two hundred pairs of eyes pierced through her.
"That's... the Witch of Rosalian..."
"She was expelled from the academy, yet she dared to show her face."
"Tonight, perhaps, she'll finally be condemned."
Whispers meant to be heard surged toward her like waves.
Remilia did not change her expression in the slightest.
(Glances of this degree are nothing to me now.)
She advanced toward the center of the grand hall. Cyan walked half a step behind her. His emerald eyes silently pierced through each person who had whispered, one by one.
"Remilia."
A low, heated voice.
She turned to see the First Prince, Ren Alventia, standing there, his golden hair swaying like gathered sunlight. His blue eyes, clear as the open sky, looked straight at Remilia and no one else. The silver earring on his left ear glinted in the light.
"You came. I've been waiting for you."
His voice, as though cutting through the surrounding clamor, reached only Remilia's ears.
"Yes. It was a promise. More importantly, the arrangements?"
"The survivors of the Shadow Garden are all in position around the cathedral. We can move at any time."
Ren leaned in slightly.
His hand reached for Remilia's, then stopped just short.
"Remilia. For your sake, I would not begrudge my status as prince. This country, this crown—without you, they mean nothing."
His voice seeped into Remilia's heart like sweet poison.
(This man is always like this. He says he'll throw everything away, and he means it.)
Something ached faintly deep in Remilia's chest.
"...I won't run anymore. I will accept your help. I cannot yet answer your feelings. But I want you to fight beside me."
Ren's blue eyes wavered greatly.
"Ah. I will devote everything I am to you."
His right hand enveloped Remilia's left.
His palm was hot, and trembling.
"Then, let us go. The stars of tonight's banquet are not us."
Remilia left the grand hall behind, the nobles' gazes at her back. A single clinging stare pierced into her spine.
Cyan followed soundlessly.
(I can see it. That girl's gaze is stuck to my back.)
Remilia twisted her lips just slightly.
(Follow me. And with your own feet, open the door to your ruin.)
———
Behind the cathedral.
The darkness of night painted the stone walls black.
The clamor of the Founding Festival could be heard, muffled, in the distance. Here alone was quiet, as though it were a different world. The cold of the stone walls seeped through the thin fabric of her dress onto her skin.
"My lady. As expected, she is following us."
Cyan whispered at Remilia's ear.
"Yes. That girl will surely follow if I make a move. And she cannot help but confirm it with her own eyes. ...Let us deliberately leave the entrance to the underground open. So that she exposes her complicity with the mastermind herself."
"Understood. Then I will remain here. I pray from my heart for my lady's safety."
"You are coming too. This is an order."
Cyan's eyes widened for just a moment.
"...I am honored. By my lady's side, this life of mine."
The three passed through the hidden door leading to the cathedral's underground.
With each step down the stone stairs, the air grew colder and heavier. The ancient magical script carved into the walls pulsed faintly with a pale blue light. The corners of the steps caught at the hem of her dress.
(This is the power of the Heart of Asteria. The entire underground is being eroded by that relic's magic.)
Remilia touched the silver butterfly at her chest.
A passage from her grandmother's research book surfaced in her mind.
——The Heart devours not blood, but feelings.
They reached the underground altar.
It was a vast stone chamber. The ceiling was high, and the walls were densely carved with ancient magical script from top to bottom. In the center, a massive crystal about the height of a person floated, emitting an eerie light. The air carried a faint scent of burning.
The Heart of Asteria.
Before it stood a man.
Silver long hair. Gray eyes. A jet-black robe, the mark of the highest-ranking mage of the Star-Reading Tower.
Orvan Seigrid.
"So you've come, Witch of Rosalian. No—reincarnator Remilia Rosalian."
His voice echoed coldly through the underground chamber.
"I knew from the beginning that you would come. Just as the game's script dictates. The villainess is condemned and executed. That is this world's correct ending."
Remilia looked straight at Orvan.
"That script—I shall rewrite it for you."
Orvan's gray eyes narrowed faintly.
"Interesting. Then let us begin. Heart of Asteria, the time of awakening has come."
Orvan raised both hands.
The massive crystal began to emit a blinding light. A rumbling echoed, and the ancient script on the walls blazed to life all at once.
"I won't let you!"
Ren drew his sword and charged. Wrapping himself in the defensive magic of a holy knight, he slashed at Orvan.
But.
"Naive. A mere prince cannot stop the power of this Heart."
Orvan waved one hand.
An invisible wall of force blasted Ren's entire body away. The holy knight's defensive magic shattered like paper.
"Guaah...!"
Ren was slammed against a stone pillar and crumpled. His sword slid across the stone floor, scattering sparks.
"My lady, please fall back!"
Cyan leaped in front of Remilia. In his hand, at some point, was a slender sword.
"A mere butler. Die."
From Orvan's fingertip, a blade of black light was released.
It was a magic blade that permitted neither evasion nor defense—a sure-hit strike.
Zashuu.
"Gah... aah...!"
The blade of light pierced deep through Cyan's abdomen.
Fresh blood sprayed across the stone floor. Red droplets scattered across the back of his white gloves.
"Cyan!!"
Remilia's scream echoed through the underground chamber.
Cyan dropped to his knees. His white gloves were stained red with his own blood. The dripping of blood made a small sound against the stone floor.
"My lady... please... run..."
"You think I'll let you escape? Reincarnator. I know everything about your true nature."
Orvan slowly approached Remilia. His footsteps echoed coldly against the stone floor.
"Your grandmother, Celestia Rosalian. That woman knew the secret of the Black Evil Eye. So I killed her. I tried to take the Evil Eye. But in her final moments, that woman bequeathed the Evil Eye to her granddaughter. ...That is you. Remilia Rosalian."
The blood drained from Remilia's entire body.
(Grandmother was... by this man...)
Anger blazed up deep in her chest like black flame.
"You... Grandmother...!"
"Yes. And tonight, you will follow the same fate as your grandmother. Just as the game's script dictates—condemned and executed. Now, offer that Black Evil Eye to this Heart."
At that moment, another set of footsteps echoed from the altar's entrance.
"Lady Remilia...? What in the world is this...?"
Shaking her pinkish curled hair, Mia Celestia appeared. Her clear water-blue eyes widened at the scene at the altar.
"Mia Celestia. You've come too."
"Lord Orvan, what is the meaning of this? I was only following Lady Remilia..."
"You're no longer needed. A mere saint candidate has no value in this ritual."
Orvan's cold voice cut Mia down.
"Th-That can't be...! I cooperated with your plan! You said I could have Prince Ren!"
Mia's voice cracked. The mask of the lovely saint warped with anger and fear.
"Yes. I made good use of you. The false testimony at the academy festival, the burning of Vernheim—all your achievements. But that too ends tonight."
Orvan turned his back on Mia.
"Don't mock me! I'm not your pawn! I'm going to become Prince Ren's wife! I'm going to stand at the top of this country!"
From Mia's words, the lovely noblewoman's tone vanished, and vulgar commoner speech spilled out.
But Orvan was no longer looking at her.
"Now, Remilia Rosalian. The time of condemnation has come. Offer the Black Evil Eye to this Heart. The world will be recompiled accord
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