My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Volume 1

by Satoru Yamaguchi

  Panicking, I turned and tried to head towards the mansion — but it was already too late. Impatient at my apparent absence, Jeord and his entourage of servants had decided to visit me directly in the garden instead. The prince’s servants seemed hesitant as they laid their eyes upon me — probably confused as to why a noble young lady, who was supposed to be practicing her magical skills, was dressed in a farming getup with a hoe at her feet.

  What do I do...? Honestly, I had wanted to sneak back into the mansion undetected, change out of my overalls, and return to the garden with a fresh face. But of course, this was no longer possible — my eyes met with Prince Jeord’s.

  The prince, for his part, seemed overcome by surprise at first, his eyes wide open. But he soon assumed his usual smile and called out to me. “If it isn’t Lady Katarina. I heard that you were practicing your magic in the garden, and thought I would spectate. What exactly is it that you are doing?” the prince said, his ever-lovely smile plastered across his face.

  While I would have likened that smile to that of an angel before, Prince Jeord was the very same twisted and wicked prince from Fortune Lover. He was a true sadist, and his smile now seemed entirely demonic in nature. It was clear that he was laughing at me — a supposedly noble lady, standing in the middle of a field in gardening overalls. This was not the smile of a cute little prince who genuinely wanted to know what I was doing.

  I turned to look at the servants of my household, and then to the prince’s entourage. Yep. They were completely frozen, rooted to the ground. In fact, my father, who had been with the prince’s group, was now deathly pale, and seemed like he would pass out at any moment.

  Actually, my mother had already passed out, and was currently being supported by her personal maidservants.

  Personally, I felt that it was meaningless to dress up in fancy clothing if I was going to be doing field work. I decided to ignore the frozen servants and my petrified parents. Yes, this was my personal form of defiance.

  “Good day, Prince Jeord. Thank you for coming all this way — I do apologize for the inconvenience. I am currently communicating with the origins of my magic: the earth.”

  “Ahem. Communicating with the earth?”

  “Yes. I felt that the fastest and most efficient way to do so was to till the earth and work the fields, and so that was what I did.”

  “...So you are tilling the earth... to communicate with it? Working the fields... to talk to the earth?”

  I had answered the prince truthfully and cheerfully, and topped it off with a slight smile. In response, the prince looked downwards, his shoulders trembling.

  Oh no. Now I’ve gone and done it. Did it make him mad? Don’t tell me I’ll be exiled from the kingdom before I even get enrolled into the academy...! I swallowed hard.

  After a while, the prince’s shivering stopped, and he raised his head, staring straight at me. There was a smile on his face. At the very least, he did not seem angry — that was a relief.

  “I see. Tilling the earth and working the fields to improve one’s magic... A truly revolutionary way of practicing, no doubt.”

  “...Is that so...?” It did not take a genius to understand that the prince really meant to say that I had no idea how magic worked at all. So I gave him a vague response, hoping to smooth it over.

  However, Prince Jeord suddenly approached me, stepping into the field I had been working on. With yet another unexpected motion, he knelt down before me, holding out his right hand.

  “Lady Katarina — I am here to discuss the matter of our engagement. A formal visit, yes. I hope you will overlook my rudeness for asking in such a place, but do you accept my proposal?”

  “Oh... Um. Uh. Yes.”

  Jeord promptly took my hand in his, before lowering his head and planting a kiss on it. Just like a scene out of a fairy tale. The fact that one of the two was dressed in gardening overalls, however, didn’t really fit the image in general.

  Before I knew it, I had accepted the proposal of this angel-like prince — if it were any other noble’s daughter, or perhaps even Katarina before her memories returned, she would surely be elated at the development...

  As for me, however, it was hard to believe that Prince Jeord had just planted a kiss on my dirt-stained hand. In fact, I should have rejected, saying something along the lines of “I am hardly worthy of you, Prince Jeord.”

  Oh... Oh no! I was swept along by the flow and said yes by accident! Ugh! This was bad. I could no longer take it back! What do I do?!

  In fact, even my house-servants and Jeord’s entourage seemed to be looking at us in a warm, congratulatory way! It was almost like Jeord’s overwhelming charm had caused everyone present to forget about the fact that I was in gardening overalls! Jeord... Truly fearsome.

  Look! Even my father, who was almost out cold mere moments ago, is clapping!

  Ah. My mother, however, is still unconscious.

  Although I have no idea how we got to this point, I suppose I am now the official fiancée of Prince Jeord, third in line to the kingdom’s throne. In any case... I suppose I’ll have to try even harder at tomorrow’s swordplay and magic training...

  ★★★★★★★★★

  Jeord Stuart... that is my name.

  I was born in a strange position — third in line to the throne. In this kingdom, the next king is chosen by the current ruling monarch. As such, I have a chance to become the next king of these lands, but honestly speaking, such a notion bores me. It seems like nothing more than a hassle.

  To begin with, both my older brothers are extremely capable, and I often learned the ways of the sword from them. They are good rivals, and the next king in line should simply be one of them. I also have a twin brother. Due to his naturally weak constitution since his birth, he was fussed over by the nursemaids and our mother, and so I hardly spent any time with him growing up.

  Such is my role in this unfortunate affair, with most of the attention spread between my two older brothers and my younger twin. Sometimes, it almost seems like the entire castle has forgotten about my very existence.

  With minimal tutelage, I was able to master both the sword and my studies — while my tutors had much praise for me, what of it? It is meaningless to me.

  I am good at reading the thoughts of others, and am well-loved by my tutors and superiors, gaining their favor with a simple, fabricated smile. Unlike my older brothers, I do not have much of a goal in life, and do not really experience hardship in most matters.

  Each day was a requiem in boredom.

  Amidst this boredom and repetition, however, I got dragged into quite the troublesome affair about half a year ago. To be precise, said event was the wedding engagements of my second oldest brother, perhaps spurred by my oldest brother’s engagement half a year ago.

  None of that really mattered to me, however — no matter the number of announcements, they were all irrelevant to me... or so I thought.

  Society’s nobles, not having much else to gossip about, immediately focused on the possibility of the third prince getting engaged as well. While I was a largely forgotten presence at the castle, I remained popular in noble society, having paid my dues and performed the tasks expected of my role. Not a single noble in the relevant social circles had anything bad to say about Prince Jeord, third in line to the throne.

  As a result, a countless stream of potential brides were brought before me by their noble parents. This was, again, nothing but a hassle.

  It was at this very moment that Duke Claes sent a missive to me, saying that he would be bringing his daughter to the castle on his next visit, and that he would very much like for me to meet with her; a common phenomenon. Noble parents commonly paraded their young daughters before me, expecting an offer of engagement if they should suit my tastes.

  Due to the fact that Duke Claes wielded a significant amount of social and political strength, I could not exactly refuse — and eventually, the day arrived.

  My first impression of
the young Lady Katarina Claes was... as expected. She was a spoiled, prideful, arrogant, stupid young girl. She stuck to me like mud to the heel of a boot. Most annoying.

  As a result of this selfish, self-induced behavior, she fell and hit her head. Truly troublesome. From what I heard, the impact had left a cut on her head, one that was deep enough to require stitching. You reap what you sow — that was what I thought as I heard the news.

  Well, I supposed a formal visit was in order, and then that would be the end of this affair.

  “Lady Katarina Claes seems to have taken quite a liking to you, Prince Jeord. Do you not think that she could simply demand an engagement from you, using this injury as a front?”

  A statement from one of the servants... But yes, I can use that to my advantage. Honestly, this endless line of female suitors and nobles parading their daughters before me was irritating. Although I just wanted to pick a bride at random, the norms of noble society would not forgive such a thing.

  There were various political factions in noble society — both my older brothers had political factions of their own, as befitting of their station. If I were to take a noble lady from the political camp that sided with my oldest brother, my second oldest brother would ask if I had some other intentions for siding with the other, and vice versa.

  Conveniently enough, the Claes family was neutral, having pledged alliance to neither of my brothers’ camps. In addition, I now had an additional reason — that of accidentally scarring his daughter. It would be difficult for anyone to think that the third prince, having sided with Duke Claes, was aiming for the throne.

  The girl was, of course, sufficiently irritating, but she did not seem to be a complete imbecile, and would probably be easily fooled. With all these factors in mind, I decided to pay a visit to Lady Katarina, eldest daughter of the Claes family.

  Entering the recovering Lady Katarina’s room, what I heard betrayed my expectations...

  “No, not at all. Please don’t worry about this, Your Highness. It is a small wound, one that can be easily hidden with my bangs! There is no problem at all.”

  Katarina’s unexpected, almost ridiculous response struck me with considerable force, leaving me momentarily speechless. What is this girl on about? It was as she said — the scar itself was not big or prominent. However... this was hardly something a noble lady would say.

  To think that she was just a spoiled little noble girl when I had first met her... Was her fever this severe? Even so, to suddenly go back on my elaborate plan was even more troublesome. Katarina, with a cheerful but somewhat dazed expression on her face, did not really seem to be listening as I described the details of the proposal.

  Katarina Claes... I now found myself somewhat interested in the girl. Perhaps it would be wise to observe her for a little longer.

  And so it came to be that I paid Lady Katarina Claes a formal visit, as is custom for marriage engagements. Katarina, however, presented me with yet another unbelievable sight — she was dressed like a commoner, standing in the middle of a patch of dirt.

  When I asked what exactly it was that she was doing...

  “I am currently communicating with the origins of my magic — the earth. I felt that the fastest and most efficient way to do so was to till the earth and work the fields, and so that was what I did,” Katarina responded, seemingly proud of the conclusion she had arrived at.

  It was hilarious. I was ready to give it all up there and then, and simply laugh.

  Suppressing my laughter with great effort, I lifted my head, my eyes meeting with Katarina. Her aqua-blue eyes stared straight into mine. Then I approached and knelt before her.

  “Do you accept my proposal?”

  “Oh... Um. Uh. Yes.” Answering without much of a thought, Katarina’s eyes told me all I needed to know — she was confused, verily so. The sight of her made me want to laugh even harder.

  A young girl with brown hair and slightly upwards-slanting, almond-shaped, aqua-blue eyes. For the first time in my life, I felt strongly drawn to another person.

  For some reason, I had a feeling that my painfully boring life of being surrounded by equally boring individuals... was about to take a very different turn.

  Chapter 2: My Adopted Brother is Here!

  Several weeks after I formally accepted Prince Jeord’s proposal, I answered a summons from my father. I walked over to see him after I had finished my daily practice in swordplay. As of late, my family members had stopped recommending that I see a doctor — I wonder why?

  On another note, my tutor was full of praise for me again, as usual. “You have done most splendidly today, Lady Katarina. Excellent! Now, we just have to fix your footwork...” such was the prevalent tone of the feedback I had received.

  It seemed that they were close to choosing a magical tutor for me, so that part of my plan was going smoothly as well. At this rate, I would be able to dodge Jeord’s attacks elegantly, and maybe even build myself a magical business empire should I ever be exiled from the kingdom. With this, I, Katarina Claes, will deny and defeat all Catastrophic Bad Ends.

  Now in a considerably good mood, I hummed cheerfully as I skipped all the way to my father’s study. Little did I know, that upon cheerfully entering the room, more Catastrophic Bad Ends awaited me, like assassins in the dark.

  “Oh, my Katarina. Since you have been formally engaged to Prince Jeord, there is no one left to inherit the Claes name! To remedy this, I have decided to adopt a child from one of our branch families.”

  With those words, my smiling father held out his hand, and from behind his shadow came a small boy who looked to be my same age. He seemed incredibly nervous — perhaps he felt oppressed by the finery and atmosphere of the manor.

  With a wave of his hand, my father introduced the mysterious boy. “This is Keith. From today, he will be your adopted little brother. Katarina, you are his older sister now. Please take good care of him.”

  As if on cue, the boy approached me timidly. “...I’m Keith. I will be in your care...” he said, obviously not used to speaking in such a manner.

  IT’S HERE! IT’S HEREEEEEE! The second Catastrophic Bad End Flag! With that, my previously upbeat mood was instantly destroyed.

  While I knew that this day would come, it felt a little too soon. Actually, it was definitely too soon. I hardly had time to come up with any contingency plans for Keith!

  Keith Claes. Katarina’s adopted brother, and one of the four possible love interests in Fortune Lover. In the game’s setting, he was a flirtatious playboy.

  Stunned by this development, I stood, somewhat speechless. My father, prompting me with some well-placed eye movements, succeeded in reminding me that I had yet to introduce myself.

  “K... Katarina. I’m Katarina. Nice to meet you.”

  In response to my fumbled greeting, Keith lowered his head once more. Now only a child of eight, he hardly seemed to be the same person from the game. For one, he was not flirtatious at all. Of course, we would have quite the problem on our hands if an eight year old behaved in that fashion.

  Even so, he was a cute and lovable youth — being one of the love interests, this was perhaps to be expected. Just looking at his flaxen-colored, ever-so-slightly messy hair made me want to ruffle it obsessively. His blue eyes were perfectly round — he was impossibly cute.

  Come to think of it, I had always wanted a younger sister or brother in my previous life. My parents, however, had told me from a young age that this was no longer possible. What a cold dismissal! As such, I was delighted by the fact that I was now blessed with a younger brother. If possible, I wanted to spoil him in all sorts of ways.

  Unfortunately, due to the fact that Keith was a potential love interest of the protagonist, his very existence was a Catastrophic Bad End Flag to me. While I was pleased to welcome a cute younger brother into my life... the very fact that he was a Bad End Flag traumatized me. But he’s... he’s so cute... But... Ugh. Either way, I suppose it was fine for me to be happy, for
now.

  “.... And so I ended up adopting him into this household. Katarina, Katarina... Were you listening to your father?”

  “...Y-Yes father! Of course! I was listening!” When I had come back to my senses, I realized that my father had been talking all this time. I, however, did not absorb any of it.

  “And so... Keith is tired from his long journey, as you can see. He will be resting for the day. Take good care of him from tomorrow on, you hear?” My father was right — from Keith’s expression alone, I could tell that he was exhausted.

  And with that, Keith was gone, led away by my father to his personal bedroom. After watching them disappear around a corner, I made a beeline for my room, hurrying as fast as I could.

  As soon as I got back, I retrieved the papers — the very same documents that I had recorded my memories of my past life on. I personally called it the “Archive of memories on the game I played in my past life.”

  Immediately after realizing that I was in the world of an otome game I had played prior to my death, I had set about writing down and archiving as much information as possible. I turned to the appropriate page, locating the entry on Keith Claes.

  Keith Claes

  A lonely, independent character. He was sired by the patriarch of the Claes branch family, but his mother was a prostitute. At age three, he was taken into his father’s care.

  Due to the fact that his mother was a sex worker, Keith was frequently bullied by his older brothers. On one occasion, Keith was pushed to his limit after being bullied by his brothers, and said incident awakened his magical powers. His strong powers struck out at his cruel siblings, injuring them. This act, however, caused Keith to become even more of an outcast.

  When the head of the branch family heard that Duke Claes himself was looking for a successor to the name, albeit one with strong magical aptitude, Keith came to mind. The boy was summarily offered to the Duke, and adopted by the main family.