That’s How I Became a Villainess - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 1

A hushed dawn, before everything began.
I made my way to the Study and found a book titled Villainesses of the Ages.
Within its pages lay the stories of women history had branded as villains.

The first villainess: Katrina Bay.
Renowned as a beauty of her generation, Katrina had received what amounted to a threat—not quite a threat—from a suitor: marry me, or I shall take my own life. She refused his proposal, and the grief-stricken man chose death instead.
And so Katrina became a villainess in the eyes of history—a woman whose beauty had lured a promising man to his grave.
She bore that stigma for the rest of her days, pointed at and condemned.

The second villainess: Margaret Libena.
A beautiful princess of a great empire, Margaret despised the prospect of a political marriage and fled with a knight of the palace guard—only to be captured while heavy with child.
Furious at his daughter’s recklessness, the emperor branded her a villainess who had birthed a demon’s child and locked her away in a tower.

The third villainess: Elliot Moritz.
Known for her beauty even before her debut in society, Elliot married a wealthy man to lift her impoverished family from poverty—only to discover he was a profligate with six illegitimate children scattered across the realm.
After enduring a decade of his relentless infidelities, she erupted when she saw him making advances toward her own young sister. She poisoned his food, but the attempt failed.
She stood trial as a woman who had tried to murder her husband.

Three women who refused unwanted proposals, who chose love over their parents’ commands, who would not tolerate philandering—and became villainesses for it.
‘All things I never dared to do.’
According to the record, each of them had declared: “I do not regret my actions.”
I believed them.
I, who had always chosen the path of safety, never played the villainess—and look where it left me, drowning in the regrets of my own life.
A question rose unbidden in my mind.
‘Will my name find its way into someone’s book in this lifetime?’
Perhaps it will.
Because this time, I mean to do what I could never do before.
Even if the world calls me a villainess.

* * *

The Mansion thrummed with activity from dawn onward.
Winston, a viscount, was returning home after three years abroad—years spent on business and travel.
The servants had watched the viscount’s wife pacing the Entrance Hall for hours beforehand.
She carried herself with composed elegance: honey-colored hair arranged with meticulous care, eyes a steady blue that gleamed like pearls, radiating an air of quiet refinement.
Her beautiful peachy cheeks flushed with emotion—whether anticipation or anxiety, none could say.
“And here she waits for a husband who abandoned her the moment they wed.”
“For three whole years, no less.”
“Had she been my wife, I’d never have left such beauty behind.”
“The Carriage is here!”
“Already?”
The servants, bustling with the excitement of welcoming their master home, quickly hid their mops and cleaning tools, then hurried toward the Entrance Hall.
Bridget, the viscount’s wife, was the first to step outside.
The Carriage curved around the opulent Garden fountain and came to rest before the Entrance Hall.
But when the door opened, it was not one person who descended.
“A woman?”
“He’s brought a woman with him!”
“Good heavens—who is that lady?”
The two figures emerging from the Carriage moved with an ease and intimacy that spoke of eyes long accustomed to meeting.
The intensity in their gazes, the unguarded smiles they exchanged, the casual touch—it all seemed a deliberate exhibition of something improper.
The wide-eyed servants, whispering among themselves, needed only a moment to comprehend what they were witnessing.
The viscount had brought his mistress home with him.
And this mistress was none other than—
“That’s Penelope Bellingham! The mistress’s longtime friend!”
“Good Lord above…….”
The servants’ faces hardened.
Those stationed in the Entrance Hall watched Bridget carefully, gauging her reaction.
They wondered if their mistress, so gentle and guileless, might faint from the shock of it all.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Bridget smiled gracefully and approached her unfaithful husband and her friend.
“Welcome! How wonderful that you’ve both come together!”
Her voice was genuinely delighted.
“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see the two people I love most at the same time.”
The maids gasped.
“She doesn’t seem to understand the situation.”
“It’s because she’s so innocent.”
“Poor mistress…”
The servants whispered amongst themselves, sighing with pity.
It was difficult to watch Bridget’s beautiful smile.
At last, her personal maid Anna stepped forward and hinted at the truth to Bridget.
“Madam, there are baby supplies in the Carriage!”
It was her way of saying that this woman was carrying her husband’s child.
But Bridget showed no surprise upon hearing this.
Instead, she smiled and turned to her friend.
“Congratulations, Penelope. Is it my husband’s child?”
“……!”
Every person froze mid-motion.
Even the coachman, who had been unloading luggage from the Carriage, went rigid, still gripping the trunk.
Isaac Winston himself—shameless as he was—felt the blood drain from his face in that instant.
Bridget’s reaction was far more shocking than the arrival of her unfaithful husband and her closest friend together.
Penelope, caught off guard by this unexpected congratulation, looked between Isaac and Bridget uncertainly as she spoke.
“Listen, Bridget. There’s something I need to tell you. So this is…”
But before Penelope could confess the truth herself, Isaac stepped in.
“You must be exhausted from the long Carriage ride—why don’t you go rest inside? I’ll speak with my wife.”
“But…”
Isaac issued orders to the servants without hesitation.
“See that Mrs. Bellingham is shown to the Guest Room. A room with good sunlight would be best.”
His tone was so commanding.
‘Anyone would think him a triumphant general,’ Bridget thought.
No matter how much the servants depended on their employer’s wages, none could defend him.
They all wore the same expression of disgust.
Their eyes turned toward their pitiable, lamentable mistress.
Bridget merely stood watching, expressionless, as her husband shielded his lover before her.
‘The shock must be too great. She can’t believe this is happening. Poor woman,’ they thought.
If only Bridget had raged at them, wept and screamed, thrown a fit and torn at Penelope’s hair, they would not have pitied her so deeply.
But to remain so composed throughout.
As though she had foreseen this very situation and steeled herself for it.
What’s more, Bridget was kind about it.
“Since Penelope appears to be with child, let’s give her the Guest Room on the second floor as my husband suggests. Fewer stairs will be easier for an expectant mother.”
Isaac stared at Bridget as if she were incomprehensible, while Penelope wavered uncertainly, on guard.
The two who had come determined to act brazenly now stood bewildered.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what she’s thinking,” Isaac murmured.
He shook his head in suspicion, regarded Bridget with distrust, then wrapped his arm around Penelope and led her into the Mansion.
Bridget watched the two of them disappear into the depths of the house.
Her eyes held no anger, no sorrow.
Rather, her cheeks flushed with color—as though this situation genuinely pleased her.
“Send word to Mrs. Bellingham’s family to fetch their daughter, Anna. Tell them to put her in a convent.”
Anna spoke with barely contained fury.
“They need to know how shameful this is! Barely widowed and she’s already clinging to another woman’s husband! A friend’s husband, no less! How dare she set foot in this Mansion while you’re here? And the master—bringing her here took real audacity. Unbelievable!”
Bridget quieted her agitated maid.
“There’s no need for that, Anna.”
“No need? How can you say there’s no need!”
“The Mansion has been so quiet. Now we’ll hear a child’s laughter. Children’s voices bring life to a home.”
Anna’s eyes went wide.
“Surely you’re not thinking of letting Mrs. Bellingham stay? My goodness, Madam—are you in your right mind?”
“Of course I am. I’ve never been clearer.”
Bridget smiled at Anna before stepping into the Mansion.
Anna stood frozen in the Entrance Hall, her mouth hanging open as she watched Bridget disappear inside.
‘She’s lost her mind. The lady has to have lost her mind.’
But Anna’s thoughts were far from singular.
The whole world seemed to agree: this was the beginning of an extraordinary cohabitation, one that defied all reason.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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