The Villainess Is Too Difficult

Matilda, who had been staring at Muriel’s retreating figure as she quickly left, carefully stood in front of the room.

She had mixed feelings about Ariel in many ways. The Duke who was indifferent to his children, and the eldest son who frequently left the house even before understanding his father’s heart. Matilda had clearly seen how Ariel changed between them.

At first, Ariel also did her best to approach them. Perhaps due to not receiving affection from her mother, she constantly tried to approach her family members.

Not only during meal times, but whenever she had free time, she tried to talk to them. Of course, the result was always the same, and it was always the servants’ job to comfort the disheartened Ariel. Until then, Ariel was a pitiful but beloved girl in the mansion.

However, it didn’t take long for Ariel to change.

Knock, knock.

Matilda carefully knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Matilda… the head maid, Young Lady.”

Earlier, Muriel, who had been asking the kitchen to prepare a meal, had roughly reported Ariel’s current condition. It seemed there was no major physical problem, but she might have lost her memory.

“Come in.”

And that report seems to be true. Matilda hadn’t heard Ariel speak in such a gentle voice for the past few years.

For Ariel, Matilda had always been a nagging critic. When she was young, Ariel had relied on her to some extent, but after she changed, she always spoke with a sharp tone and didn’t listen.

To think that Ariel would speak in such a voice again. Matilda opened the door with complicated feelings.

“Excuse me.”

What she saw when she opened the door was the usual scenery of the room. A room that barely maintained the minimum dignity of a duke’s daughter. At this level, even a count’s daughter might have a more splendid room.

Even this much should be appreciated for at least having the complete form of a room. Usually, it would often be in a mess due to Ariel throwing or breaking things on a whim.

It was a neat room that she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

On the large bed that stood out compared to the other furniture, a silver-haired girl was sitting up, staring in this direction.

When their eyes met, Matilda almost lost her composure without realizing it. Those eyes carefully blinking while looking this way. That pure appearance was Ariel’s true nature that Matilda had so desperately wanted to recover.

“How are you feeling? Is there anything uncomfortable…”

“No, no. I’m fine.”

Matilda’s lips twitched slightly at the sight of Ariel answering somewhat flustered.

“Young Lady Ariel.”

“Y…yes.”

A slightly slow response. If she really had amnesia, she probably hadn’t properly grasped who she was yet. If so, there was a need to gain certainty here.

“Do you perhaps not remember anything?”

Since there was no need to beat around the bush anyway, Matilda went straight to the point. Ariel looked blank for a moment at that question, then carefully nodded.

“Not your name, not about this place, nothing at all…”

“I’m, I’m sorry…”

Matilda was inwardly startled, though she didn’t show it, at the sight of Ariel reflexively shrinking and apologizing. Good heavens, Ariel apologizing! The great Ariel apologizing! This was a tremendous event that could turn the mansion upside down.

“Ah, no. There’s no need for you to apologize anywhere. Rather, I should be sorry.”

“Ah, no… I’m fine…”

As Ariel lowered her head, showing an unusually flustered appearance, Matilda quickly caught her lips that were about to curl up. Goodness, wouldn’t even the great Duke Walpurgis be shaken if he saw Ariel like this?

After all, Matilda is the head maid who has worked here for decades. She had considerable attachment not only to this mansion but to the Walpurgis family itself.

And for such a Matilda, improving this father-daughter relationship that was only drifting apart was one of the things she wanted to accomplish before she died.

“Do you want to regain your memories?”

To Matilda’s question, Ariel thought for a moment and then answered that she wasn’t sure.

“You don’t necessarily have to try hard to remember.”

Perhaps Matilda’s words were very unexpected, as Ariel’s eyes widened round.

There was no doubt that she had lost her memories. It was hard to imagine in one’s right mind that Ariel, who always spoke venomously with cold eyes, would make such a cute expression.

“You are you, Young Lady. If you want to regain your memories, I will help you with all my might, but if you say it’s not necessary, you don’t have to try to find them. Do as you wish, Young Lady.”

“Um… thank you.”

The sight of Ariel smiling slightly and expressing gratitude was difficult to watch in many ways.

“Then rest well. If you need anything, please call anytime.”

“Yes, yes…”

The door closed without making a sound. As Matilda left, I let out a deep breath I had been holding.

“Wow, this is really tough.”

I tried to use a young lady’s manner of speaking that didn’t suit me, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Without realizing it, I just used the ordinary polite speech I usually use. I hope she didn’t think it was strange…

By the way, it’s significant that I properly conveyed the amnesia. I could roughly imagine what the original Ariel was like, and I didn’t want to live like that, so I claimed amnesia, but now that I think about it, this was quite a big mistake.

“Don’t I have to become a villainess…?”

The Chronicle of Arsian is basically close to a romance novel. Although the author didn’t explicitly state “This is this genre,” all readers recognize it as a romance novel between the protagonist and the crown prince.

As such, the dynamic between the protagonist, the crown prince, and Ariel was essential, and to follow the original work, I need to become a villainess just like Ariel did.

But come to think of it, if I claim amnesia and completely change as a person, wouldn’t that not work? Wouldn’t all the developments that appeared in the original work fly out the window?

If this was a typical romance novel, I wouldn’t have cared. I could just let the two of them lovey-dovey as much as they want and quietly munch on popcorn in the background.

But The Chronicle of Arsian can’t do that. Because while it has romantic elements, it also depicts the battle against the demon race. And the protagonist isn’t just a position to be protected, but actively goes to the front lines to fight. And the one who made the protagonist strong was none other than Ariel.

Because of anger at Ariel’s bullying, because she didn’t want to lose to Ariel. Ariel occupied a large share of the driving force behind the protagonist’s efforts. But what if I claim amnesia and live peacefully?

The protagonist will put in less effort than in the original work and become that much weaker. And if things go wrong, she might be brutally killed by the demon race, leading to various messes caused by the enraged crown prince.

In fact, if the protagonist doesn’t do her job properly before the crown prince steps in, the empire itself could be in danger. The protagonist isn’t a character created just to be the crown prince’s partner. The title she gets in the latter half of the work is Saint. And not just any saint, but the strongest saint in history.

The holy power she emits was so powerful that even high-ranking demons were affected, with low-ranking ones disintegrating just by looking at her, and middle-ranking ones essentially neutralized. Thanks to the crown prince’s sword and the protagonist’s holy power, the empire wins the war against the demon race and… is able to cut down the fallen Ariel.

Of course, I have no intention of being cut down… but for the sake of fighting against the demon race, the protagonist needs to become stronger. And for that to happen, I need to do bad things to the protagonist. In other words, I need to become a villainess.

“Ah, you idiot…”

I wanted to slap my past self, or more precisely, myself from about 5 minutes ago, who couldn’t see the bigger picture. No, how could such an idiot make such a move without reading the overall situation? Tsk, tsk, tsk! Back in my day…

“Wait, hold on.”

Come to think of it, this doesn’t seem to be irreparably ruined, does it? I’ll have to ask for details separately, but judging from the fact that Ariel is in the mansion, she probably hasn’t entered the academy yet. In the original work, it was described that Ariel never returned home after entering the academy.

In other words, this is still before the original work begins. That means I still have plenty of time to create a villainess image when I go to the academy.

The image at home doesn’t matter much. After all, both Duke Walpurgis and his son Theodore were people who didn’t give Ariel even a speck of attention.

But at the academy, it’s a different story. If I thoroughly act the villain at the academy while provoking the protagonist and becoming a stepping stone for her awakening, regardless of how I act at home…

“Perfect.”

I smiled slightly at the plan that seemed so perfect even to myself. The protagonist and the crown prince will take care of the fight against the demon race anyway, so I can just watch from behind and eat rice cakes. There was a description in the original work that Ariel’s fall made the demon invasion easier, but who cares, it doesn’t matter if that gets twisted. It’s not like they won’t come just because I don’t step up.

The Academy Villainess Project. Unanimously passed in the brain conference.