Villainesses Never Die

Villainesses Never Die 01

–

Duke Valentine, said to be the most powerful in the Canisha Empire’s dazzling dining room, unfolded in front of her.

“Oh…”

It was spacious, but the luxurious interior was of poor taste. Specifically, the hanging chandelier’s size.

“Albury, sit down.”

“Yes, father.”

I felt a sense of alienation as I admired my surroundings in awe. Duke Valentine, Eve, and lastly Rose. The silver roots of my hair were completely different from the golden streaks of everybody else.

“It must have been hard for you.”

“Hard you say… I just paid the price for my actions.”

I smiled as innocently as possible. The duke was aghast to see me like that. The duke wasn’t alone because Rose and the servants present had the same look. Their reaction was only natural. I’ve possessed the body of Albury Valentine, the villainess in a novel.

Albury Valentine.

A character who loved the crown prince so much that she tried to kill the heroine, but suffered a miserable end after getting caught by her brother. This was the beginning of the novel: The Valentine family’s only daughter, ‘Lily’ dies of an incurable disease and they adopt Albury. She was loved before the birth of her younger brother and second male lead, ‘Eve’ who the parents turned their affection towards.

‘She had a really terrible life, now that I think about it.’

Humhum~ I shouldn’t be saying that because I’m technically Albury now. After that she meets the Crown Prince and naturally—falls in love. Albury’s lack of love from the duke made her obsessive towards the prince. It was honestly understandable. But then the worst case scenario happened.

A woman who looked just like their dead daughter Lily appears. She was the daughter of one of the Duke’s maids. The duke unhesitantly adopts her as a foster child.

‘The heroine of the novel.’

Rose Valentine, the protagonist who won everyone over with her angelicness. The exact opposite of Albury. Albury was thrown off to the side and to make matters worse, her beloved crown prince began to show interest in Rose.

Albury pesters Rose out of jealousy and gets subject to probation.

‘I threw a vase at Rose.’

Blood was on my hands. It’s shocking, but that was what the emotional Albury did. The prince and Rose got engaged while Albury was on her best behavior (probation). Albury finds an opening upon hearing the news and attacks Rose with a knife, but Eve shows up like a heroic second male lead, and saves her. Thus Albury was put on death row.

The crown prince personally initiated her execution with a cold gaze. Her crime was

‘Harming royalty.’

So I thought, what can I do to escape death… support the Crown Prince and Rose’s love! I looked at Rose (the heroine) to fulfill that purpose. Lily was a name meant for beauties that had a neat and gentle atmosphere, almost as if it were a setting switch. The meaning of a name like rose wasn’t splendid enough to fit the heroine’s appearance… Why the author gave her the name ‘Rose’, I didn’t understand.

“Rose, I’ve been feeling really guilty.”

“Eh…?”

“I’ve realized how sorry I am over these last few days. Where are you hurt, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m okay… ”

Rose flashed me a beautiful smile. I returned the favor by giving her a wide smile.

“Haha. Yeah, that’s good. I worry a lot about Rose. So lets get along from now on. “

I nodded in assertion and took a sip of the stew in front of me.

‘Heuk[1], it’s so good.’ 

For someone like me who ate bread her whole life, stew was like heaven. I wanted to grab the whole bowl and chug it, but I resisted that urge and quickly swallowed the soup in my mouth.

“Sister.”

As I breathed in the stew’s aroma, Rose talked to me.

“Erm… speak. ”

“I actually have some really urgent news to tell sister.” I wanted to continue eating the stew, but I endured patiently.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Well, the Crown Prince and I…”

From the side, I sensed held breaths. The source of the sound were the waiters looking at Rose with tightened lips.

“Hmm, Rose. Can you talk about that later?”

Even the Duke dissuaded her. What story’s got everyone so shocked. Rose and I seemed to be the only people in the dark.

“But Dad… I want to be congratulated by my sister..?”

Rose’s charming way of talking made the duke cave in immediately. She opened her mouth and smiled broadly.

“Jeo[2], I’m going to hold an engagement ceremony with the Crown Prince.”

When Rose finished speaking, there was a chill in the room. The maids were all stiff and staring at me. The Duke as well. He never looked at me directly, but he flung his face over at Rose’s words. And, with a ting—my spoon fell out of my hand. I was so surprised that I couldn’t help but loosen the grip on my spoon. ‘It’s that easy?’

Throughout the meal, I was seriously contemplating on how I could show that my obsession with the Crown Prince dissipated and I was now an avid supporter of their marriage. But I couldn’t believe the solution to that problem was served to me on a silver platter. Rose has my utmost gratitude.

“Rose…….”

My hands started to tremble out of happiness. I clasped the object in front of me so that I could stop my shaking hand.

“Lady! Not the knife..!”

“Albury! Put that down…!”

“…!”

My cheerful and bright voice echoed through the room like a thunderbolt.

“Yahoo! Congratulations!”

I guess the item I grabbed on impulse was a knife. I placed it down right away and applauded her.

“…?”

Clap! Clap! Clap! My delighted applause was the only thing that rang out. Everyone stared at me with whimsical and outrageous eyes. Even Eve had a stupefied look on his face. But I didn’t mind at all. It was because my heart was too full. ‘I won’t die!’

I won’t go to hell if the two succeed in getting married. I clapped so loudly that my palms turned red and hot. I had the brightest smile on.

“Un…Eh? That… I’m getting engaged with the crown prince?”

“Yes, I heard right. That’s great! I think you’ll look really good together with his highness. “

Rose’s expression was not good even though I was smiling so heartily and blessing them. ‘Why that face?’ I mean, it was a smiling face, but it… It looked like she had just eaten a pile of shit.

“Father.”

I looked graciously towards the Duke. He was looking at me with his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. His strange face gave me a moment of surprise.

“This is a family celebration. It felt really special so I couldn’t contain my excitement on the way here. “

“N-Nicely said.” Hmm, hmm!

The Duke stammered at the end. Was what I said that surprising? It would be hard to digest after all, since Albury threw a vase at her sibling’s head because of a matter involving the crown prince. I accepted that fact in my heart.

“I can’t believe you’re bringing me such good news…”

I looked at Rose and said.

“Thank you very much, Rose. I guess you wanted to celebrate with me.”

“Haha, yes. I did.”

I smiled and looked at Rose. Rose was smiling shyly but looked like she had eaten shit a split second later.

‘What was that? Did I see wrong?’

I didn’t bother much with it and finished my stew. My goal was to get out of the mansion and live quietly. I didn’t care about anything else.

“I think Albury has reflected a lot.”

The duke gave me a pat on the back. 

“Of course, Father. I don’t know what I’ve been doing… I spent every night in regret. Now I’m going to offer my dearest sibling her blessing.”

“Haha, yes! Love your sister!”

The Duke smiled broadly at my words. In a friendly atmosphere, my eyes met with Eve’s again.

“…”

‘What’s with that burning gaze?’

His face was indescribable.

‘Don’t worry. l’ll disappear from your sight forever once everything’s organized.’ I used my eyes to deliver this sincere message. I don’t know if my message was properly conveyed, but it seemed to have made a slight impression.

“Sister.”

“Yes, Rose.”

Rose called me once again.

“If you’re going to bless us, why don’t you send your own congratulations to the prince?”

She spoke with a refreshing smile. But I didn’t answer. Instead of answering, I froze on the spot. ‘Meeting the prince in person.’ I hated the idea. I’m surely not obliged to see the man who will kill me in the future. I wasn’t curious about his heavenly face in the least. As I was carefully picking out my words, Rose turned to me.

“…!”

The corners of her mouth perked up to form a mocking smile. I was panicked for a moment at the unbelievable sight. Whilst I was blinking in disbelief, Rose had already thawed out her expression.

“Ah, maybe… It’s too inconvenient?”

This wasn’t the time to falter. I brushed off Rose’s strange face and answered in a hurry.

“Ah, no. I’ll congratulate him when we meet.”

That’s right, it’s not like I’m there forever so I just need to say whatever and leave. My life won’t play out so badly.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll make it so you can eat together tomorrow.”

The Duke’s tactless voice interjected as I exchanged glances with the increasingly suspicious Rose.

“Yes, yes! That’s great!”

I had no choice but to smile.

***

“Sister.”

It was the first thing I heard after coming back to my room from dinner. It was Rose.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been gifted good tea, from the crown prince.”

“Yes, come in.”

Every word was prince, prince. Mixed together with words that don’t need to be mentioned. Let’s check. Did Albury love the prince that much?

“It’s really fragrant.”

The maid put the boiled tea on the table and bowed deeply in a polite greeting.

‘It’s totally different from how they’re treating me.’

I laughed. She was loved by the people as well. Rose dismissed all of the maids outside in a practiced manner. And as soon as the door closed,

“Hey.”

She revealed her true nature.

“Why are you lying?”

“…!”

I had my suspicions a little while ago. Rose, who sat in front of me… wasn’t the angelic Rose in the novel.

[1] sound for when you’re choking on your tears

[2] happy exclamation