The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 2

Chapter 1. The Circumstances of Becoming Contract Friends with the Villainess

The moment I first realized something was unreasonable.

It was at a picnic where Seraphina was monopolizing everyone’s attention.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, I blinked my eyes.

The gentle spring breeze blowing softly.

Lush greenery and brightly bloomed flowers.

On the table covered with a pretty tablecloth, colorful tea foods and fragrant tea were laid out.

And in that picturesque scenery.

I was watching my fiancé and my close friend flirting with each other.

“Oh my, Sera.”

My fiancé, Gregory Gusto, personally placed several fluffy cushions behind Seraphina’s back.

…Those cushions seem to have been taken from other people’s portions.

As evidence, the gazes of the guests looking this way weren’t exactly kind.

“Aren’t you tired from sitting for so long?”

Regardless, Gregory only cared for Seraphina with his sweet voice.

Seraphina opened her eyes wide and looked at Gregory.

And.

“Ahaha, thank you!”

A refreshing laugh spread into the blue sky.

“Gregory, you’re really so sweet!”

“…”

Watching that scene blankly, I was suddenly seized by an intense sense of discord.

Even though the three of us had been childhood friends since we were young, calling a friend’s fiancé by a nickname so casually in front of other people was one thing.

But affectionately placing cushions behind a friend of the opposite sex’s back in front of his fiancée…

Isn’t this a bit wrong?!

Meanwhile, Gregory looked at Seraphina with dreamy eyes.

“Sera likes refreshing snacks, right? Would you like to try this?”

He personally served a slice of lemon cake and placed it only in front of Seraphina.

For reference, I also know how to eat lemon cake.

But Gregory only looked at Seraphina with honey-dripping eyes.

I was treated like a complete invisible person!

“You know, Gregory.”

Seraphina looked at Gregory while prettily blinking her eyelashes.

“Sitting like this reminds me of the old days.”

“Right, when we were young, we used to go on outings like this too, didn’t we?”

Excuse me, I was there with you too, you know?

Could you not drift off into your own little world together?

“That’s when Lari fell into the water.”

“Right, when I saved Larite back then, I even got a scar on my pretty knee…”

Gregory, who quickly agreed with Seraphina’s words, glared at me reproachfully.

“Larite, you’re only alive today thanks to Sera. Be grateful. Got it?”

“Y-yes.”

I reflexively lowered my eyes and hunched my shoulders.

How should I put it, it felt like my body reacted automatically.

Even so, there was a question that kept circling in my mind.

‘I keep groveling to Seraphina and Gregory… is this really right?’

The story goes like this.

When we were young, the three of us were playing near the Pond when I fell into the water.

Seraphina extended a long stick and pulled me out of the water, and in the process, she slipped and injured her knee.

As a result, a small scar remained on her knee.

Well, now you can’t even tell if there’s a scar unless you look closely…

Anyway, because of that incident, I tried even harder to be good to Seraphina.

Both Seraphina and Gregory.

They always told me, drilling it into my ears, that ‘you owe your life to Seraphina.’

‘But you know what.’

The reason I fell into the Pond back then.

‘If we’re being precise, it was because of Seraphina!’

At the time, Seraphina kept throwing a tantrum, saying she absolutely had to have the flowers blooming around the Pond.

Gregory said he was scared to go near the Pond and pushed my back, telling me to go.

So I fell into the water while picking flowers for her.

…In that situation, wouldn’t it be more inhuman not to try to save me?

At that moment.

Crack.

It seemed like I heard a loud cracking sound from deep within me.

‘Why have I only been grateful to Seraphina all this time?’

I slightly furrowed my brow.

Until now, I had simply thought of Seraphina as my life’s savior and felt only gratitude.

But an intense sense of discord struck me.

Why haven’t I harbored any resentment toward this absurd situation until now?

As if someone had forcibly set my limits…

But then.

Seraphina, who had been chattering away with Gregory, glanced back at me.

Then she drooped her eyes and said to me.

“Lari, I think my shoelace came undone. Could you tie it for me?”

“…”

There wasn’t even a formal apology or request like ‘sorry’ or ‘please.’

Honestly, since she was sitting in a chair too, couldn’t she just bend over and check her shoes herself?

Yet I obediently got up from my seat and crouched down in front of Seraphina.

As if it was predetermined, my body moved on its own.

At the same time.

I heard blatant mocking laughter from behind me.

“Really, does Lady Ansi have no pride at all?”

The voice sounded somewhat unclear as they struggled to suppress their bursting laughter.

“Even though she’s the heir of House of Ansi, she’s sitting on the ground just to tie Lady Lopez’s shoelaces?”

Yes, right. I agree. I don’t know why I’m doing this either.

“My goodness, she has no awareness as the next head of the family.”

“Anyone would think she’s Lady Lopez’s maid.”

The whispers criticizing my attitude quickly shifted to my appearance.

“And that tacky dress. What era’s fashion is that?”

“What about her hair? I don’t understand why she lets her hair hang down so messily like that. Can she even see properly?”

“Well, that’s probably why Gusto Youngshik only dotes on Lady Lopez.”

“She can’t even properly manage her fiancé, what a sight.”

It was familiar mockery.

At the same time, Seraphina’s usual words flashed through my mind.

“You have a plain face, so darker colored dresses suit you much better.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to let your hair hang down long? Since you’re very shy, you can avoid other people’s gazes by covering your face with your hair.”

“Jewelry? Hmm… isn’t that a bit too much for you? It would suit me better than you!”

One of the ladies opened her mouth with a giggle.

“With Lady Ansi standing next to her, Lady Lopez’s beauty seems to stand out even more. Don’t you think so?”

At that moment.

All the discomfort I had felt until now struck my mind as an intense question.

Why am I crouching here like this?

Why did I think I absolutely had to make a good impression on Seraphina?

Because I owed my life to Seraphina?

‘No.’

A lightning-like realization struck me.

‘Because… this world is inside a book I read in my previous life!’

<Lovely Seraphina>

As clearly stated in the novel’s title, the female protagonist of this world was Seraphina.

The story went roughly like this.

Seraphina, a lower-class noble without even a territory.

Seraphina debuts in high society with the help of her close childhood friends Larite and Gregory.

And with her natural beauty and lovely disposition, she receives everyone’s affection and rises to success.

Though there are interferences from the wicked villainess, Lady Claudius.

Seraphina doesn’t yield to that and monopolizes the love of two male protagonists.

By the way, Gregory doesn’t become a male protagonist.

Since Seraphina had very high standards, a second son of a count’s family who couldn’t even inherit a title wouldn’t catch her eye.

Ah, so who am I, you ask?

‘Seraphina’s close childhood friend, Larite.’

Starting from when my life was saved by Seraphina in childhood.

A character who treasures Seraphina more than her own body and envies her friend who becomes more beautiful each day.

Thus, Larite willingly does anything for her dear friend.

Even getting scolded by the villainess instead of Seraphina, getting slapped, getting doused with water…

‘As long as you’re happy, Sera, I’m fine’ – saying that while smiling foolishly.

A frustrating fool shaped solely for Seraphina’s happiness.

That Larite was me!

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