My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 5

by Satoru Yamaguchi

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustrations

  Character Introductions

  Manga 1: The Day I Realized I Had Become a Villainess

  Chapter 1: A Rival Appears

  Chapter 2: Taking Care of My Little Brother

  Chapter 3: Alan’s Afternoon of Bliss

  Manga 2: Daily Training

  Manga 3: Katarina and Maria’s Baking Classroom

  Chapter 4: A Lady for Nicol

  Chapter 5: Raphael’s Thankless Job

  Manga 4: Sleepover Girls’ Talk

  Manga 5: Boys’ Talk at Tea-Time

  Manga 6: Anne’s Room

  Chapter 6: Love-Talk With the Girls

  Manga 7: About the Factions

  Chapter 7: Katarina & Co.

  Character Profiles

  Afterword

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

  Chapter 1: A Rival Appears

  After being confined to the countryside for so long, seeing the capital again, with its beautiful streets and its busy people, filled my heart with joy. As I returned, I was the happiest I had been in the last seven years. However, during the party that my friends had prepared to welcome me back, all of that joy was taken away and replaced with anger.

  “How?! How does that girl still dare call herself Jeord’s fiancée?!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the table and making the tableware on it clatter. “He ought to have gotten rid of that worthless girl years ago!” I could feel the anger heating up my face.

  “...That is what we were expecting, too...” muttered one of my friends.

  “Then why?! Why are they still engaged?!” I asked her, bringing myself closer.

  “We do not know, either... Rumor has it that Jeord himself refuses to cancel the engagement,” she replied while cowering ever so slightly.

  “Jeord himself?! That cannot be true!” I shouted even louder.

  “Why would the prince wish for a fiancée like her?!”

  “That I do not know, but...” she said while retreating even more.

  “...But? But what?!”

  “Some say that he is adamant about making amends for the scar on her face...”

  “The one that supposedly is the original reason for the engagement? I cannot believe that it has not healed after all these years!”

  Seven years ago, that girl tripped in the castle’s garden, and the accident left a scar on her forehead. Jeord, who was accompanying her, took responsibility by choosing her as his fiancée. Jeord taking responsibility for her clumsiness!

  “Knowing her, she is probably hiding the fact that her wound has healed to keep the prince in her clutches. Oh, my poor Jeord!” Just thinking of him being deceived by that harpy made my chest hurt.

  Jeord Stuart... the king’s third son. The first time I met him, seeing his blue eyes, blonde hair, and handsome face, it was like seeing a prince from a fairy tale. I fell in love with him, and leveraged my father’s standing as marquess to have me considered as a potential bride. I would make him my prince! I knew that there already were a few other ladies contending for Jeord, but that did not stop me. I am much more beautiful than them! And smarter! And I have stronger magic! I am the perfect bride for the prince!

  ...Or so I thought. Soon after my interest in Jeord was made public, someone came to steal my righteous spot as favorite princess candidate. And why? Because of a scar that Jeord wanted to take responsibility for. Unbelievable.

  Upon hearing the news, I fell into despair. Had that someone been at least more beautiful, smart, and magically capable than me (which is unlikely, I know), I could have made peace with the fact and resigned my love. But as it turned out, Jeord’s fiancée was not particularly good-looking, not particularly intelligent, and not particularly good with magic. Her family’s rank was higher than mine, but that was the only subject where she bested me. To think that a girl like that would marry the prince...

  I had actually met her when I was six or seven years old, as our parents knew each other. She struck me as an egotistical, spoiled, and untalented child. Of course I was not there to witness the scene, but I would wager that she threatened Jeord into taking responsibility for the wound on her stupid face.

  I asked my father and friends for help in freeing the prince from his captress... After which, of course, I would marry him. However, for as dumb, plain-looking, and inept as she may be, I was still up against a duke’s daughter. She would not go down easily.

  First of all, I had to make her look bad, and then make myself look good in Jeord’s eyes. I started using my father’s network of acquaintances to spread the truth about how much of a spoiled brat that girl was. Very soon after that, however, my father got sent off to live in the countryside, far away from the capital... and his whole family, including me, had to go with him. Officially, he had been put in charge of reforming new territories for the kingdom, but it did not take a genius to figure out that he had been forcefully relegated to as remote a location as possible.

  He must have displeased someone important... He never told us exactly what he had done, but on the day he received the orders to move, his face seemed to have aged by a good ten years. Also, whereas previously he had always been so kind to me, he was now distant and cold.

  Both Mother and I strongly objected to accompanying him, but he would not listen to us, and we ended up having to live in the middle of nowhere near the country’s border. So it came to be that eight-year-old me was exiled amongst the cattle and fields for seven years, far enough from the capital that not even rumors would reach me.

  Surrounded by nothing but nature, with nothing to entertain me... they were seven years of torture. But I managed to escape this agony of boredom thanks to one of the kingdom’s laws. As I have turned fifteen, I am required (or rather, allowed) to return to the capital to enroll in the Academy of Magic. There are still a few months before the school year starts, but I insisted upon going there in advance with the excuse of needing time to prepare.

  My father — who had remained unchangingly cold towards me since the start of his countryside exile — was not fond of the idea, but I pestered him so much that he begrudgingly gave in, on the one condition that I “lay low and do nothing problematic.”

  I promised to respect this condition at the time, but that was because I did not know that Jeord was still being controlled by that dreadful girl. Rumors from the capital could not reach me, so I had assumed that my poor, poor prince was now engaged to a different, decent fiancée.

  Seven years ago my father’s untimely failure ruined my plans, but this time I will succeed. I will free Jeord from his engagement... and then, maybe, I will become his new fiancée!

  I stood from my chair and made my declaration of war.

  “Katarina Claes, your days are numbered! This time, I will seize Jeord from your clutches!”

  ★★★★★

  “Ahh-choo! Ahh-choo! Hmm... Did I catch a cold? Not surprising in this weather... Anne, could you get me a hot drink?” I asked my maid while sniffling.

  “Of course,” she said in her usual deferential tone before preparing my tea. “However, if I may say so, such sneezes are unbefitting of a lady such as yourself.”

  “Yep, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Unbefitting sneezes? How do ladies sneeze? Am I supposed to raise my pinky while covering my mouth? Uhm... Maybe that will work.

  Anne brought me the tea, along with some delicious-looking cookies. She really knows how to please me. I thanked her and started sipping my tea, which warmed me up from the in
side. Now that fall was starting to turn into winter, even my room had started to get chilly.

  Once winter is over, I’ll have to enter the academy to study and live there for two years. There’s a lot to take care of before moving out of the house for so long! In particular, in my case, I have to worry about the many Catastrophic Bad Ends waiting for me at the school.

  Then again, time really flies, doesn’t it? I was reborn into this world as an eight-year-old, which means that I’ve been engaged to Jeord for seven years now. I tried to cancel the engagement so that I would have fewer Bad Ends to worry about, but all my efforts were in vain.

  My fiancé, Prince Jeord, once revered as a handsome and capable child, had now grown into a handsome and capable youth. If anything he had become even more handsome, as proven by the many girls in love with him. Since he’s smart and a powerful magic user in addition to being good-looking, women throughout the kingdom think higher and higher of him every year.

  ...On the other hand, the opinion that those women have of his fiancée, that is to say me, gets worse and worse. Oh well, at least the worst I’ve ever had to contend with are cold stares and the occasional nasty remark. Nobody here would really hurt a duke’s daughter... But what about after I enter the academy? Will I still be safe?

  Jeord was cold and calculating in the game, only treating the protagonist to fake smiles as she tried to complete his route. However the “real” Jeord is kind to everyone, including me, and can often be seen smiling and laughing. With all the women that have fallen in love with him, I’m sure that the protagonist will be no exception once they meet. But what about Jeord himself? Despite having so many fans, he never talks about any of them in particular.

  I wonder what kind of girl he even likes. In the game he became infatuated with the protagonist because of her unpredictability and positivity. Will the same happen here? If it does, then being engaged to me would be a nuisance, but I would very happily step aside and give Jeord and the protagonist my blessing... Anyway, no matter how much I speculate, the only way to know how things will play out is to wait and see.

  I’ve read enough manga (and novels, since I was reborn) and watched enough anime to know how this usually plays out... The protagonist falls in love with Jeord, she starts seeing me as an obstacle, and Jeord turns against me.

  But if he does that, I’ll be prepared!

  “I’ll go to Grandpa Tom and have him help me with my toy snakes!” I declared while standing up from my seat, half a cookie still in my mouth.

  “Lady Katarina, I suggest that you stop playing around and focus on preparing for the academy,” said Anne.

  “Why Anne, my snakes are part of my preparations for the academy! I must perfect them before the school year starts!”

  “You surely are not planning to bring those ghastly trinkets you made with the gardener to the academy... are you?”

  “Of course I am! I need them for defense!”

  “...Defense? Defense from what, if I may ask?”

  “Defense from doom!”

  “Again with the nonsense...” said my maid with a sigh, bringing a palm to her face. I left her to her unwarranted anxiety and went to Grandpa Tom, who teaches me how to farm and helps me in preparing my serpentine defense against Jeord.

  Today, I shall make my best projectile snake yet! I excitedly started marching towards Grandpa Tom’s quarters... Unfortunately, on my very first step, I tripped on the hem of my dress.

  “Eeek!”

  I somehow managed to put my hands up in front of me to avoid diving face-first, but oh what a terrible way to start a day. This couldn’t be a good sign.

  Curse this world and its long dresses! Give me back my tracksuits!

  For the time being, I rolled up the skirt of the dress to free my legs from the knee down. Great! Now I can run to my room, change into my work clothes, and then comfortably go to the garden.

  Just as I took my first step, the door in front of me opened and Mother came out of it. Her initial surprised expression quickly changed into one of stern disagreement after looking at my dress. She’d told me many, many times that proper ladies should walk carefully enough that the hem of their dress doesn’t flutter about. Forget fluttering about, my hem was rolled up all the way above my knees...

  I usually try to avoid any improper stuff around Mother — I don’t want to get scolded — but I got so excited about my snake toys that I completely forgot about her. Mother’s face was not exactly the sweetest to begin with, but now it was slowly turning into a devilish mask of rage. I’d better... get some distance... and run away... very far away...

  She’s known me for long enough to realize what I was thinking, and grabbed me by the collar before I could go anywhere.

  “Katarina... Come to my room, will you?”

  Needless to say, “Come to my room,” means “I am now going to lecture you for hours on end.” There went my plans of building snakes, or actually even reaching the garden at all, for the day. And on top of that, Mother said that she was worried that I’d embarrass her at the academy, and so I’d have to have even more frequent etiquette lessons.

  The day of my enrollment in the academy draws nearer, and here I am, unable to prepare for it.

  “A ball?”

  “Yes. You are going to enter the academy soon, and it would do you good to do so armed with more acquaintances. A dance party would be the perfect occasion,” Father told me while we were all dining together. “I have chosen some invitations from the ones we have received, so take a look and decide which one you want to attend.”

  My first ball was earlier this year for my fifteenth birthday, and then I went to the one that Jeord and Alan had held for theirs. But that’s it...

  The reason why I haven’t attended any balls since then is that, at the princes’ party, while trying out all of the delicious foods and drinks being served, I ended up accidentally drinking alcohol, getting drunk, and passing out. Or so I’m told, because to be honest, my memories from that day are a bit hazy.

  Luckily all of this took place in a hidden corner of the dance hall, and my friends took care of me fast enough that news of my... incident didn’t spread. On the other hand, I was forbidden from attending balls for a while and had to take extra etiquette lessons, courtesy of Mother.

  For a while, “Your manners! Your manners! Your manners!” seemed to be the only words coming out of Mother’s mouth... Have my manners improved enough that she deemed it okay for me to go to a ball? Am I free from lessons now?

  As it turns out, no and no. She just thought that, as a noble lady, I was expected to attend a few parties before going to the academy. She also said that during my two years in the academy I won’t have as many opportunities to interact with the high society, since I will have to live on campus.

  So she still wasn’t satisfied by my manners, despite all of these years of behaving like a proper lady... She must be a real perfectionist. Whatever the reason, I still had to take those lessons with Mother, but at least I could attend a ball.

  Tea parties with my friends are nice, but I only get served light, sweet snacks. I don’t have anything against those, but at balls you can eat actual meals, and they’re all delicious!

  With Keith’s help, I chose a ball invitation from the ones that Father had received. I was already looking forward to it!

  “Why have you chosen this one?”

  As soon as Jeord came to visit me at home, as he did several times a week, I shared with him my excitement about the prospect of going to a ball after so long. However, he gave me a perplexed look and asked me that question.

  “It doesn’t really matter to me. This one’s just as good as any other! But Keith said I should go to that one, so I agreed.”

  I knew next to nothing about high society, so I really didn’t have any preference. I’m sure that Father had already filtered my options, leaving only the balls where it was least likely that I’d get myself in trouble. But Keith insisted on that one, and I
had no reason to refuse.

  “Keith... You chose this on purpose, did you not?” asked Jeord with the coldest of stares.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about,” replied Keith with the warmest of smiles.

  “Is there some problem with this ball?” I ask Jeord.

  “The ball itself is fine, but, on that day, I must meet some guests from a neighboring country. I cannot miss such an appointment; nor can I have them delay their whole trip.”

  “I see, I see. And what’s the problem with that?”

  The royal family sure is busy... even Jeord, who only has to take part in a few of their diplomatic meetings since he’s still pretty young. But I’m the one who’s supposed to go to the ball, not Jeord, so why would that even matter?

  Jeord sighed.. “Katarina... This is a ball, meaning that you need an escort. Obviously you would choose your fiancéto escort you.”

  “Ahh! You’re right!” I had almost forgotten that for balls, unlike tea parties, you need an escort! That’s what happens when you don’t attend any balls for so long. I should’ve checked whether my fiancé was free before choosing a ball...

  “I am sorry... I had completely forgotten that. But I already replied to the invitation... What should I do?” Oh snap... I already said that I’d go! Can I cancel that?

  “Don’t worry, Big Sister. You could choose your fiancé as your escort, but you don’t have to. I will do it.”

  Oh, Keith, here you go again, saving your sister whenever she’s in trouble!

  “Thank you, Keith!” I said, relieved... But Jeord looked even more troubled than before.

  “Keith... How dare you...”

  “Hm? Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Oh well, I will be escorting Big Sister to the ball, but you do your best in greeting those foreign visitors, Prince Jeord!”

  And so it was decided that Keith, who was now sporting an even wider smile, would accompany me to my third ball ever.

  This ball, being hosted by relatives of the Claes family, wasn’t particularly large in scale, but I still had to undergo a battery of preparations in order to look like a proper lady. Fix your hair this, clean your skin that... After all that, come the day of the ball, Katarina the Villainess had been replaced by Katarina, the Not-So-Bad-Looking Villainess.