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

by Satoru Yamaguchi

  Jeord’s handsome brows lowered the slightest bit. “Oh, the one where you took advantage of my official duties to escort Katarina? That ball?” he said with a malicious smile. He was still upset about it...

  “Yes, that would be the one,” I replied.

  You are always escorting her as her fiancé, is it that much of an issue if I get to do it just once? That was what I was actually thinking, but I did not want things to escalate. Jeord, in spite of his elegant, prince-like demeanor, actually had a very dark personality.

  “A girl at the ball was berating Big Sister.”

  “Berating? As they always do?”

  Indeed, young ladies who used to be potential fiancées for Jeord never missed an opportunity to scorn Katarina. But they would do so between themselves, just loudly enough that she could hear them, without ever addressing her directly.

  A normal girl, if she were the target of such harassment, would probably fall into gloom and stay there for a while, but Big Sister...

  “The ladies at this ball weren’t very creative with their insults. They just used the usual ‘inelegant’ and ‘plain,’ but nothing original. It was so boring!” she said. By the next day, she seemed to have forgotten about it completely. Their insults just bounced off of her...

  I never seriously considered putting a stop to this harassment. There were too many perpetrators to deal with them all, their words never escalated to anything harmful, and, most importantly, Katarina herself didn’t mind them at all. However, this time things looked more dangerous than usual. After all, that girl had basically declared war on Katarina.

  I asked Jeord if he knew anything about her.

  “Oh, that Marsha Catley?” he said with a bitter laugh.

  “Do you know each other?”

  Apparently Marsha had met Katarina before she was engaged to Prince Jeord (not that Big Sister remembered any of it), but had he met her too?

  “We used to, somewhat. She can use magic, so she is probably back in the capital to enter the academy come spring,” said Jeord, before muttering to himself, “I am surprised that her father did not tell her anything, though...”

  “What?” I asked him suspiciously.

  “Worry not. I shall take care of Marsha myself,” he replied with his widest smile so far.

  There was something unsettling about his smile, and it made me worry about what would become of that Marsha girl. Well, if she really planned to do my sister any harm, then she would be getting what she deserved.

  “But now, Keith, there is something else I would like to ask you about,” asked Jeord, now back to his usual fake smile.

  “What might that be?”

  “I have heard that during the ball you got rather... close with Katarina. I would like to hear the details, if you do not mind.”

  I stayed silent as his smile sent shivers down my spine.

  “Come on, Keith, I am all ears.”

  And, with that, I had to stay at the castle much longer than I had originally planned.

  ★★★★★

  Mother scolded me for what had happened during the ball, but she didn’t forbid me from attending other ones, since my enrollment in the academy was getting closer and closer.

  I would actually go to another ball soon, since Jeord had invited me and would be escorting me. Keith, who had escorted me last time, said that he had something to do and couldn’t make it. He looked really worried, so it must have been something important.

  I’d feel better if he was there at the ball with me, but I just told him that it was too bad he was busy, and to take care.

  He then said that I should take care, very much so. I assured him that this time I wouldn’t do anything that could stand out, but he frowned and said that wasn’t what he was talking about.

  “Then what is it?” I tried asking him, but he wouldn’t tell me. I never found out what he was talking about.

  As it turns out, this ball would be bigger than the last one, with more people attending. If I mess up around this many people... I could already see myself locked up in Mother’s room, or the lecture room, as I liked to call it.

  “Be careful,” said Mother with a creepy smile just as I was ready to leave for the ball. I’d better be...

  “Let me take your hand, my sweet fiancée,” said Jeord without any trace of embarrassment. As expected of a prince from an otome game. If anyone else tried to pull off a line like that, they would be met with cringes.

  This would look much better if he were accompanying a beautiful princess instead of a villainess, I thought while entering the ball’s venue hand-in-hand with him.

  Once we stepped inside the crowded hall, it was time for the greetings. Greetings were always a pain, but they were even worse when being escorted by the prince. Pretty much everyone called out to us, and pretty much all the ladies stared at me sideways... which was par for the course whenever I was in public with Jeord.

  At first I tried to stay by Jeord’s side and greet people with him... but I soon got tired of it. I’ve greeted enough people for today, right? Right.

  I aimed for one of the few moments when no one was greeting us to tell Jeord, “I am a bit tired, so I will be resting for a bit,” before quickly getting away from him.

  All these years running from Mother had taught me one or two things about swift escapes. I managed to get away, not because I could run faster than Jeord, but because he was stopped by one noble after another trying to greet him.

  While feeling sorry for him, I made my way to the only enjoyable part of any ball: the buffet.

  “I see, it’s desserts in this house...” I said to myself, nodding with my arms crossed in front of the refreshments.

  This was my fourth ball, but, considering that one of them was at Claes Manor and one was at the castle, it was only the second time I had attended one at the home of someone unrelated to me. I realized now that the food looked really different at each ball.

  My first ball, the one held at my home, had an incredible selection of all kinds of foods. What with the Claes family being so important and it being my high-society debut, the buffet was fit for a king. And of course, the buffet at the actual king’s castle was even better. However, last time I found out that the lower-ranking noble families aren’t as extravagant in feeding their guests. That being said, they had different varieties of salads, all delicious.

  This time, it was the desserts that were the best part of the offerings. Maybe, even if they can’t afford to make the whole menu luxurious from start to finish, nobles have some courses that they just can’t compromise on. As expected of fancy people.

  The hosts gave their best to provide us with these no-compromises delicacies, yet everyone was so busy greeting each other and dancing that the food was almost untouched! What a waste! It was up to me to do right by that buffet. I took a dish and started with the salads.

  When I was busy chewing on a piece of fresh, crunchy lettuce covered in delicious dressing, someone called out to me.

  “If you like that, you should try the one over here as well.”

  “Mphh?” I replied with my mouth full of salad. Between my weird reply and the leaf sticking out of my mouth, I must have looked pretty dumb. The other person, probably surprised by said dumb look, stared at me with a confused expression.

  I felt like I was having deja-vu. That confused expression was familiar — it belonged to a very beautiful girl around my age, with black hair and green eyes... Who is she?

  I didn’t know, so I just kept chewing and swallowed the salad. She waited for me to finish, then smiled and offered me a glass.

  “This drink is delicious. Would you care to try it?”

  She hadn’t introduced herself, so she must have been one of the many people I’d greeted together with Jeord... To be honest, there were so many that I couldn’t be sure.

  Saying that I forgot her name and asking for it again would’ve been very rude, so I gave her my “nice-to-meet-you-again” smile and thanked her,
accepting the glass.

  Inside of it was a light-purple liquid, probably either grape juice or wine. I sniffed at it to make sure that it wasn’t wine (Mother and the others told me to stay away from alcohol), and it smelled sweet and delicious, like juice. No problem then.

  I smiled again at the girl who had offered me the glass and drank its contents, which turned out to be sweet and delicate. Wow, this really is delicious... I could go for another one.

  “This is delightful! Where can I get more?” I asked the girl, who promptly offered me another glass. She’s so kind!

  “Thank you,” I said before starting to drink the second glass.

  ...Uh? What is this feeling? I’ve felt it before... Why is everything spinning? What’s going on?

  Those were my last thoughts as my consciousness started fading away.

  Just before I completely lost my senses, I heard a voice. It sounded like my friend, the perfect noble lady who was the star of the ball...

  ★★★★★

  A few weeks had passed since I, Marsha Catley, had confronted Katarina Claes at the ball. Seeing how she had grown into the villainess I expected her to, I became even more determined to punish her.

  I considered several options, but in the end, I settled on destroying her reputation, making her lose her position as Jeord’s fiancée and, eventually, destroying her position in high society altogether.

  Unfortunately, my father’s connections were not what they used to be before his countryside exile, and I also had fewer friends willing to collaborate. I had to work on my own to lead Katarina into a failure spectacular enough to ruin her reputation. This was possibly a quite... underhanded way to confront her. But since she was deviously holding Jeord hostage, I would just be fighting fire with fire.

  Of all the plans I had concocted, I chose the one that I could most readily execute and started working on it.

  First, I would have to find out which ball she was going to and attend it myself.

  Second, I would have to make her commit a catastrophic faux pas in front of everyone.

  When my father still lived in the capital, he used to employ the services of a certain pharmacist who specialized in... questionable substances. They were not outright forbidden, but they were too dangerous to be available to the public at large. For example, odorless alcohol and a drug that greatly increases the potency of any alcoholic drink.

  And those were the two questionable substances which I bought. If I mixed these two things and had Katarina drink them, she should become completely inebriated. Then I would just need to lead her in front of everyone and she would take care of the rest herself, entertaining the crowd with some unacceptable shenanigan.

  It was a good plan, but putting it into practice would be hard. Since she already knew my face, and I had openly declared my intentions to her, she was likely to be very cautious around me. However I had nobody who could help me, and even if I did, I did not want to risk my plan failing because of them.

  I put on a black wig, changed up my makeup, and went to the ball.

  I had changed my appearance considerably, but would that be enough? After all, we had met but a few weeks ago. And even if I avoided being recognized, it would not be easy to trick Katarina into drinking the drugs.

  Last time she was standing alone near the buffet, which would be ideal for my plan, but that was probably just a coincidence. There was no guarantee that she would be doing the same this time. My plan was unlikely to succeed, but at least it would be an opportunity to test how far I could go.

  I joined the ball very early, waiting for my target. Suddenly the crowd became noisy, hinting at Katarina’s arrival. Of course it was not her, but her escort commanding such interest from the attendees... Prince Jeord Stuart. Smart, strong, and handsome — perfection made man. Young, old, women, men... everyone revered him.

  I also took the opportunity to take a glance at him. There he was, after seven years! My prince, once a handsome boy, now an even more handsome man.

  Seeing my love after all this time sent my heart racing. However, next to him was a woman with the sharp eyes and thin lips of a villainess.

  Impudent! Detestable! I felt my brow collapse into an expression of hatred and disgust.

  While I was intent on staring at Katarina, I noticed that — lucky day! — Jeord was looking at me. I froze in awe, and then he smiled at me.

  Oh, my prince! I understand! You smile at me because you have been waiting for me, longing for me! I shall rescue you from that witch, fear not!

  As all guests had finally arrived, the ball finally began and the attendees started greeting each other. There was no one waiting to greet a lady who had been out of the capital for seven years, though, so I quickly made my way to the buffet to wait for an opportunity to strike.

  If only my father had not been relocated to the middle of nowhere. I could be the one standing in the middle of the hall right now, next to Jeord. Being better than her in every single regard, I am sure that I would be the star of the ball!

  And yet there I was, hiding in a corner... Thinking about it filled me with anguish.

  I saw a brown head of hair move in front of me, and, raising my eyes to take a closer look, I found that it belonged to Katarina. She was quickly approaching the buffet by herself.

  I thought that such an opportunity would never present itself twice, but the heavens must have smiled upon me. I took out the drugs that I had brought with me thinking that I would never have a chance to use them. I then poured them into a glass together with some grape juice, and I moved towards her.

  “If you like that, you should try the one over here as well.”

  “Mphh?”

  ...Wait, what is this? I was so shocked that I froze still.

  The girl who turned around to reply had something... in her mouth. Specifically, some kind of lettuce.

  Katarina, still chewing, stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I waited, confused, while she finished eating.

  What is going on? Did the rules of etiquette change while I was away from the capital? Why is she still eating nonchalantly? Am I just hallucinating?

  I get the feeling that... I have already seen this, somewhere... and recently, at that... No, that cannot be true... I must just be tired from all of this planning and thinking.

  ...Finally, she finished eating and I came out of my trance. She smiled at me inquisitively.

  That just now was nothing but a hallucination. I am positive. There is no way that the daughter of a duke would be stuffing her face with refreshments like that... I shall just forget about it.

  I mustered a smile and handed her the glass. “This drink is delicious. Would you care to try it?” She looked at me, and for a moment I feared that my disguise was not enough after the events of the last ball, and that she had seen through it.

  However, she thanked me and took the glass. I was honestly surprised by her obliviousness. Or maybe she found out who I am, and she just wanted to accept the glass to then throw the juice away?

  Katarina looked at the glass and sniffed it, obviously trying to discern its contents. She knows! I thought to myself, right before she gave me a smile and drank the juice to the last drop.

  Victory! I never thought that it could be so easy. It must have been my lucky day. And then she even asked for seconds. She really didn’t notice.

  I smiled and offered her a second glass, and she thanked me again. As soon as she started drinking, she started swinging from side to side. The drugs had started working.

  Now I only needed to bring her amongst the other nobles and watch her make a fool of herself. And if she tried starting something with me, all the better! I would just need to play the victim, and Jeord would no doubt come to my rescue.

  I reached for Katarina, trying to lead her towards the center of the hall, but someone beat me to it.

  “Katarina, are you alright?”

  Helping Katarina to stay upright was a rather good-looking girl with burnt sien
na hair, large eyes, and beautiful pink lips. I had never seen her before.

  She stared at me as if demanding an explanation. I did not like that arrogant stare, but I could not resist the silent pressure it imposed upon me.

  “I-It seems that this lady has drunk too much, and I was just trying to help her...”

  “I see. In that case, she must be brought to an empty room to rest. Could you help me, Miss Catley?”

  “Wh-Why do you know my name?!” I had never told this girl who I was.

  “We met each other a few times at tea parties many years ago.”

  Tea parties? Years ago? I had no memory of this girl and her intense stare.

  Seeing my confusion, she smiled at me and gave her name.

  “I am Mary Hunt, fourth daughter of the Hunt family. It is a pleasure meeting you again.”

  Indeed, I had met the Hunt ladies at various tea parties at their manor. In particular, I had become friends with the oldest one, Lilia.

  But... the fourth daughter? Mary?

  ...Right! That timid, sheepish girl!

  I looked at her eyes once again. Her hair and eyes were the same color, and her face was similar to how I remembered it... but she gave off a completely different aura.

  I remember her as constantly cowering, trying not to upset people. But the Mary in front of me looked dignified and commanding, a completely different person. Could someone change this much in seven years?

  As I was pondering her metamorphosis, she spoke once again. “Now help out an old friend, won’t you Marsha? I found an empty room where Lady Katarina can rest. And there is also someone who would like to meet you,” she said with a smile.

  I felt myself shivering. My instincts told me not to go... but I could not refuse Mary’s fierce eyes, and I ended up helping her.

  This marked the failure of my plan, and I would have done better to leave the ball and go home that very instant, escaping from a situation I would come to regret. However, I did not know that yet...

  During balls, it is customary to provide a few empty rooms for tired guests to rest, fix their dresses and makeup, or even enjoy a clandestine rendezvous.

  There are usually a couple such rooms near the hall, or the guest rooms could be used for that purpose... However, Mary Hunt led me and Katarina into a room quite removed from the heart of the ball.