The Villainess Hid Her Identity, and Now Everyone is Misunderstanding - Chapter 2

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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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The Villainess Hides Her Identity, and Everyone Misunderstands
Chapter 2

I calmly reread the options before me.
Options one through three were choices I’d attempted countless times before. They felt familiar, their outcomes predictable.
But what was this?
Blackmail…?
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
This was an option I hadn’t seen during all ninety-nine previous regressions. What on earth was happening?
Yet considering Evelyn’s typical nature, it wasn’t entirely impossible. While she couldn’t maintain composure, she had always resorted to blackmail over the most trivial matters.
While my attention was momentarily caught by the system window, Ludwig grasped the doorknob of the Drawing Room and opened his mouth.
“I hope we won’t need to meet again, Evelyn.”
The system window flickered rapidly, urging me to choose.
A new route was about to unfold—one I’d never attempted before.
…Well, I have nothing to lose.
Alternating my gaze between Ludwig and the system window, I finally spoke.
“Your Highness, won’t you regret this?”
He paused.
The strength slowly drained from Ludwig’s hand gripping the doorknob. I narrowed my eyes, observing his reaction carefully.
Ludwig answered without turning around.
“…What do you mean?”
What mattered was the system window that read ‘blackmail.’ It neither described nor specified the exact action.
Did that mean I could do as I pleased within that framework?
I pondered briefly before speaking.
“I mean, won’t you regret letting the Rosenthal Duchy slip away like this?”
The words and tone were utterly unlike the usual Evelyn.
After so long, speaking something coherent felt refreshingly satisfying.
Would this work too?
“This engagement is… Tsk!”
I bit my own tongue involuntarily.
Damn, that won’t work.
I’d been about to say something like “I wouldn’t do this engagement even if you paid me,” but it seemed dialogue that contradicted the overall flow was impossible.
It meant I couldn’t find any method beyond the given options.
I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad.
Ludwig, sensing something amiss, furrowed his brow and slowly turned to face me.
“You think I’ll regret it?”
“…Then you’ll end up making an enemy of my father, my brother, and me all at once.”
“How arrogant. I don’t dismiss the influence the Rosenthal Duchy wields… but I have many other options besides that.”
Must be nice having so many choices. Some of us can’t even speak freely.
I smiled deliberately as I spoke.
“Are you truly certain of that?”
“…I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
I actually agreed with him on that point.
Based on the ninety-nine iterations of data I’d witnessed, the easiest way to prevent Ludwig from becoming a tyrant was to keep him from falling for the Saint.
But I had no idea if acting this way would actually help.
“If you insist on breaking the engagement, then so be it, but I couldn’t say which families will remain at your side in the coming struggle for imperial power.”
I added with a gentle smile.
“My father has such a strong pride that even the smallest wound can make him… quite vindictive.”
Ludwig’s eyebrows twitched.
It was the first time.
In all these countless iterations, he had never shown displeasure toward me—only contempt or disgust.
But soon his expression returned to its usual cold composure.
“…Are you threatening me?”
“No, Your Highness.”
I lowered my head obediently.
“I was merely presenting a possibility.”
This alone was entirely unlike Evelyn. Though Ludwig, caught off guard by this unfamiliar displeasure, didn’t seem to realize it.
“…It seems you have nothing left once you strip away the Rosenthal name.”
So you’re only just realizing that now?
You only got engaged to me in the first place because I’m the Rosenthal heiress!
I won’t deny that Ludwig has suffered greatly from Evelyn’s outrageous behavior. But the fact that he’s never once treated his fiancée with warmth is entirely deserving of blame.
That’s why Evelyn grows more unruly with each passing day.
And aren’t you in the same position as me? What’s left of you if you strip away the Crown Prince title?!
“In any case, I won’t stop you, but you’ll have to bear all the consequences that follow. Whatever they may be.”
“Will you throw another tantrum like before? At every lady I treat kindly?”
“Of course, Your Highness. Don’t you understand me yet?”
I answered with an deliberately bright smile.
Go back to the Imperial Palace and tremble! I’ll make sure you never touch another woman’s hand again!
The muscles in Ludwig’s cheeks twitched. But deeming it not worth a response, he turned away.
“I’ll discuss the matter of the broken engagement separately with Count Rosenthal, so I’d prefer we don’t cross paths again.”
Drop dead.
Ludwig left without hesitation this time, opening the door and stepping out. Only after confirming he was completely gone did I spit out the blood pooling in my mouth.
“Blegh, disgusting.”
Am I insane? Do I even realize I’m a woman?
I wiped the blood from my lips with the back of my hand and collapsed into a chair in the Drawing Room. Only then did my sense of reality begin to return.
“Sigh…. What am I going to do about this?”
I lifted my arm and rested it against my forehead.
“How the hell am I supposed to see these cursed endings? At least change the character for me!”
Ding!
“I’m so sick of seeing the Crown Prince’s face I could die!”
Ding!
“Ugh! Quiet! What on earth is that?”
As I looked around trying to find the source of this incessant alarm, my eyes caught on a section of my vision that was distinctly discolored.
“Oh, a notification? There’s a notification button?”
A small bell-shaped button was ringing loudly and blinking. I instinctively brought my finger near it and froze in shock.

[A new ability has been unlocked to commemorate your 100th regression.]

“…What?”
The system window that had been floating immediately displayed the next message as I confirmed it.

[Tutorial is beginning.]

A tut… tutorial…?
‘Right, I saw a strange window earlier too.’
At the same time, the system window began frantically displaying multiple screens. It was a guide window explaining various things, just like the first screen of a game.
At first, I simply watched in a daze, but then I began pressing each button one by one. Memories from my original world came flooding back.
“This is absolutely insane… Then why couldn’t I see this the whole time? Wait, could this new ability that opened be the system window itself?”
As I opened and closed the system window to understand the situation, I witnessed something unbelievable in the stats window.
“What is this… Mental Fortitude at S++? My stats are at 3,259?”
This is insane… So my mind stayed intact even after 99 regressions!
It would have been better if I’d gone mad instead!
“Oh, Free Will!”
Only after discovering the stats window did I remember the system window text I’d seen when I was with Ludwig.
It said that choice branches are activated based on the Free Will stat…?
Then that means I gained a fourth option because of this.

[Free Will: Lv.0 (2/5)]

“…is far too little!”
My mental fortitude is 3,259, yet my freedom points are only 2?! Isn’t that completely unfair?!
“Sigh… No, wait. At least something appeared, right? Thanks to this, I managed to get through today without losing my mind.”
I scrolled through the other stats.
Memory, discernment, observation… Ah, there’s charisma too. Well, Evelyn does exude charisma.
But wait, if stats exist…
“Does that mean I can raise them?”

[Please complete Quests.]

“Whoa, you startled me. So this thing can have conversations too?”
It can even respond? That’s cutting-edge. Is this AI?
AI is really convenient….
“….”
It can respond, you say…?
“…Hey, tell me how I can escape this world! Please, let me out of here!”
Ding!

[Impossible.]

“What do you mean impossible? I don’t even know why I’m here in the first place! Who brought me here?”

[Unable to respond.]

“Enough with these useless answers! Give me a proper response! You people trap someone here and do what, exactly?!”

[Unable to respond.]

This, this…!
I reached out desperately toward the flickering system window before my eyes, but this translucent pane was untouchable. Having lost my target for anger, my throat finally erupted with a furious voice.
“Damn it, you lunatics! Do I look easy to push around?!”

[Unable to respond.]

No matter how many unspeakable curses I hurled, the response remained the same.
“And you call this a system?! Damn it, there has to be a customer service! Get me an administrator!”

[Unable to respond.]

I’m going to lose my mind.
I yanked at my hair and slammed my head against the table repeatedly. I thought I’d finally grasped some thread of truth, only to discover it was a rotted tangle of yarn!
“Argh! This is infuriating!”
The moment I screamed into the void and collapsed backward against my chair.
Ding!

[A Main Quest has occurred.]
[Quest Name: The Secret of the Rosenthal Duchy
Objective: Renovate the inner chambers of the Rosenthal Duchy.
Reward: 【Freedom】 +20]

“…What?”
Renovate the inner chambers?
“…So you’re telling me to remodel the Count’s residence?”

[Correct.]

“I just broke off my engagement and I’m about to be socially buried?”

[Correct.]

“Are you actually insane? Are you deliberately trying to drive me mad?!”

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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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