She couldn’t go on as she had before. To die miserably again was unthinkable. Time had been turned back for her sake. Surely this was a chance granted by the gods. Since her mother’s death, she had closed her heart and lived in solitude. Now Heaven itself had given her an opportunity to start anew.
If she wasted it, she would deserve to be murdered again.
Looking back, it’s frightening. If time hadn’t rewound... Imagining that possible future, Milly lowered her eyes. If the world had gone on without Angelina killing her, she would have lived on, stripped of family, title, and fortune, until she hated the world itself. Her only confidence had been magic and her studies. Perhaps she would have lashed out, become something out of a story.
The final boss?
The word flashed suddenly through her mind, along with Angelina’s screams of: “The whole scenario’s already played out, but it can’t end happily because you, Final Boss, are still alive!”
Lost in thought, she fell silent.
Gilbert leaned forward. “Milly? What’s wrong?”
From the moment Angelina had called her that in the garden, Milly had turned the words over and over. The final boss. The enemy who waited at the end of a story, the evil that had to be defeated for the tale to reach a happy ending.
Milly had never thought of herself as Angelina’s enemy. Yet Angelina had cried it out as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She still didn’t fully understand, but perhaps Angelina hadn’t been entirely wrong.
After all, the Milly of the present was willing to use others if that’s what it took to survive. Of course she intended to take her revenge on Angelina. And if that required using anyone at hand, she would. Seen objectively, she couldn’t imagine anyone better suited to be cast as the antagonist.
Heh. Yes, put that way, I suppose I am the final boss.
To live for revenge was exactly the role of a villain. Milly gave a small laugh and ignored Gilbert’s puzzled look.
As though to mirror her newfound clarity, a spring breeze brushed Milly’s cheek. When she tucked her windblown hair behind her ear, some not-quite-dry blood smeared faintly across her face. Gilbert started to offer his handkerchief with a worried “Here,” but Milly didn’t care.
She had made her decision.
If that’s what you wish to call me, then I’ll become the wicked final boss you desire.
She would use others and do whatever else it took to show Angelina her place.
“All right, then. The first step is making friends. Gilbert, that girl I left with you at the entrance ceremony, the one with chestnut hair. What was her name?”
“Her? It’s Sierra Restreive.”
“Sierra. Very well. This time, I’ll befriend her for sure.”
Her fighting spirit blazing in a new direction, Milly already envisioned the years ahead. In her imagination, she stood at the climax of the story, laughing like a proper villainess, surrounded by friends who served as her allies, and at last enacting her revenge on Angelina.
The image training was complete. All that remained was to make it real.
Why, why, why, why?! After the party, Angelina Grey sat in her carriage, repeating the unanswerable question. Why was Milly with Gilbert? Those two were supposed to be distant, so how...?
She thought back to what had happened only half an hour earlier. She had spent the party searching for Gilbert, and at last, she’d found him, but at his side was that detestable Milly Asteara.
That alone was incomprehensible. Worse, Gilbert had scolded her. Gilbert! The very one she adored.
This never happened before time rewound! Her nails dug into the fabric of her skirt. Today was wrong from the very start. Nothing followed the game’s script. Grinding her teeth, she slammed her fist into the carriage seat. Her maid’s frightened glance was just one more irritation.
The truth was, ever since the rewind, Angelina had shut herself up in her room. She hardly ate, and when she ventured out, it was only to snatch a few rolls before hurrying back. In the end, she hadn’t truly emerged until the morning of the ceremony.
The Grey family maids had their hands full. After nearly a week of refusing to wash, she had to be scrubbed down in the bath before being dressed in a rush.
While the household bustled, Angelina calmly pored over the notebook in her hands. The entrance ceremony was when Sierra first met Gilbert. For Angelina, who remembered this world as an otome game, the course of events should have been certain.
She had replayed Gilbert’s route countless times. During her isolation, she had poured every scrap of memory into that notebook: events, character profiles, affection choices. With that in hand, failure was impossible.
Maybe I should play it safe. If I can simply ruin Sierra and Gilbert’s first meeting, that would be perfect.
But thanks to her maids’ delays, she had missed her chance.
It would be fine. She still had time. With her knowledge and her notebook, the world would unfold as she wished. Neither Sierra nor Milly could outpace her...or so she had thought.
“What?” Angelina stepped into the church and froze. Why were Sierra and Gilbert together?!
Impossible! Their next encounter isn’t supposed to be until after classes begin. Her memory was flawless. And yet here they were, happily walking together. Something was wrong. Something irregular was happening. I can’t let Sierra steal Gilbert from me.
Clenching her fists, Angelina bit her lip. Gilbert was hers. She could not allow the protagonist to snatch him away. So even as the organ played and the headmaster spoke, Angelina forced herself to dredge up the events yet to come.
The next would be in two weeks: a tea party. There, Sierra would meet Nicholas, the student council president. That was when she would be invited to join.
In the previous timeline, that had never happened to Sierra because Angelina had blocked it. She would do the same again.
The worst outcome would be letting Sierra join the council and gain more chances with Gilbert. As for Milly Asteara, who hadn’t even appeared in the game until the final act, Angelina could ignore her for now. She would kill her again later.
After all, she was Angelina Grey, the villainess. Unlike the common rabble, she had the true right to be with the love interests. The happy ending would not go to Sierra. Nor to Milly. It would be hers alone.
Letting that conviction boil up inside her, Angelina curved her lips into a smile.