Prologue
“STAY back, you monster!”
The man’s screams echoed in the night as he fled deeper into the church. Gripping a knife in his hand, his silhouette flailed its arms wildly, as if trying to cast away the darkness that surrounded him.
“Don’t come any closer!”
As the man stumbled forward, he spotted a figure standing at the other end of the sprawling hallway.
It was a young girl in a black dress standing in front of a door. She was holding a dark parasol, despite being indoors, and staring up at a portrait of the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus in her arms.
“Hey, you! Get inside! Hurry!”
The man pushed her into the room and slammed the door behind them.
He was jamming his knife through the handle to seal it shut when the door suddenly began to rattle violently. “It’s here!” yelled the man in a panic as he held the door closed.
The handle jiggled fruitlessly until the pursuer appeared to give up, and all at once the room fell to a hush.
“What’s the matter, mister? You’ll wake the sleeping angels, making so much noise in a church like this.”
As the girl peered up at him from under her parasol, the man asked, “Are you a nun here? I’m being tailed by a demon’s underling.”
“A demon’s underling?”
“They’re people who’ve been branded with a demon’s stigma to show that they’re going to hell. I’m just lucky I found a place here that demons despise. I don’t believe in God, but maybe this means I should start praying to someone.”
Seeing him break into a smile, the girl curled her lips into a smirk as well.
“Don’t you know, mister? Anyone who goes to hell is a sinner.”
She lowered her parasol. Behind the brim was a pair of blood-red eyes staring back at the man.
Her lustrous, straight red hair fell down past her hips, while pale skin peeked out from behind the choker around her slim neck and the lacy cuffs of her dress.
She was like a doll without a trace of stitch or seam.
The man gulped at the sight of her otherworldly beauty.
“When a human commits an evil deed, ‘they’ are the ones who chase down those humans to deliver punishment. Tell me, are you really unaware of your own sins?”
With a calm, refined expression on her face, the girl reached into her bag and removed a small pistol. As she pointed the weapon at the man, he was all at once aware that the person before him was anything but a nun.
“You’re one of them!”
Just as he cried out, the door suddenly rattled again.
The motion knocked loose the knife that had been jammed through the handle.
“There’s nowhere left to run. It’s time for your repentance!”
“NOOO!”
The girl curled her finger around the trigger, and in the same instant, the man leaped forward to attack.
Though she was able to dodge the first blow, the girl’s head connected loudly with the wall behind her.
“Ow!”
As she let out a grown of pain, an image of approaching headlights suddenly flashed in her mind. Their blinding glare was a familiar sight, but she knew that nothing from her world could produce such a vivid light.
This was…my previous life…
Rain was pouring down from the night sky.
On my walk home from work, I was staring at my phone in one hand and waiting for the light to change at the crosswalk. While checking on a new update from my favorite otome game, I heard a faint meow nearby.
I looked up from my phone and saw a black lump curled up in the street. It appeared to be a kitten, but it was completely motionless. Worried that it might be injured, I checked for approaching cars before rushing out into the road.
Just as I took the kitten into my arms, my vision met with a sudden bright flash. It was the headlights of a truck that had just turned into the oncoming lane. The driver slammed the brakes as quickly as he could, but it was too late. The hood of the truck collided with me and sent me flying into the street, and that was when…
“I died and was reborn…into Evil Alice’s Lover…”
Only after sixteen years of living as the main character “Alice” did I realize I had reincarnated into my favorite otome game. I turned to look at the window and instantly recognized the girl staring back at me, reflected against the city nightscape.
“Check me out! I’m totally a cute anime girl now! Do you see these huge eyes and this smooth, porcelain skin?! My waist is so thin, it’s like I don’t even have organs! Is this real life?!”
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re creepy!”
The man visibly recoiled upon hearing me rambling like some kind of fangirl. Realizing that I was acting unbecoming of “Alice,” I promptly regained my composure and gave the man a glowing smile.
“Ahaha, pardon the delay. The next twist should come at any moment.”
With the knife dislodged from the handle, the door flung open, allowing black shadows to swarm the room from every direction in the blink of an eye.
A pair of blond twins separated to each side of the room. In the back stood a young man with a light-pink shawl wrapped around his shoulders.
Blocking escape from the front was a boy dressed in black from head to toe.
With a cold look in his eyes, the boy plunged his blade toward the trapped man’s throat.
“Your time has come, Dodsley. We know you set the Tower of London on fire. The gates are open, and hell is waiting for you.”
“I-I’m the eldest son of a duke! Scotland Yard can’t lay a finger on nobility. You lot should know that much at least!”
“We’re well aware, Lord Dodsley. Your father pulled a few strings to make this all go away. You may be a free man, but the British Empire has no need for those who refuse to atone for their sins.”
Alice’s lines slipped from my mouth with ease. I’d played this same scene so many times in my past life, I had it all but memorized. The “Tower of London arson case” was the common route at the beginning of the game.
The choices I made in this route would allow me to access the story routes of each love interest character. In other words, the player had to repeat this scene over and over in order to unlock each route and fully complete the game.
“This is for you.”
From inside my bag, I retrieved an envelope sealed with bright-red wax. Each side of the envelope was enclosed in a black frame. It was a formal announcement of death.
Dodsley grabbed the envelope with a confused expression on his face. His eyes went wide upon seeing the words In memory of Daniel Dodsley printed on the letter.
“Why do you have my obituary…? Who the hell are you people?!”
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Alice, head of the Liddell family. We are tasked with executing the sinners that threaten Great Britain, although there’s no need for you to remember that fact. After all, you’ll be dead very soon.”
“Damn you, demon child!”
He pulled a hidden knife from his breast pocket and lunged at me, but before the blade could reach as far as the fabric of my black dress, the man was hit with attacks from all sides. He perished there, without so much as a dying scream.
“Farewell, Lord Dodsley. May we meet again in the depths of hell.”
I said my final line and quietly came to a decision.
Okay, I’ve made up my mind!
Alice was someone who used evil methods, not righteous ones, to punish wrongdoers. Her unique characterization as a dark heroine made her so cool in my eyes, and that was why I adored Evil Alice’s Lover so much.
Now, this is where the romance starts to happen!
With a smirk on my face, I put away the pistol and opened my parasol. As the puddle of blood at my feet slowly expanded, I turned in the opposite direction and started to walk away. My next move would be to wait for the other four people in the room to follow me, and then I could choose which character’s route I wanted to pursue.
I already knew exactly who I wanted. He was my absolute favorite character in my previous life!
However, as I continued farther down the dark hallway, I suddenly realized no one was behind me.
“Huh?”
Finding it strange, I turned around and retraced my steps, only to see the four of them busy cleaning up the room.
This housekeeping had been mentioned in the game. It was never shown directly, but it was only natural that it would cause everyone a lot of trouble to leave dead bodies and puddles of blood behind after a job.
I was proud to see my clever partners in action, but at the same time, how could my potential love interests just leave the main character alone like that? I couldn’t help but wonder where their priorities were.
“Hey, guys. Aren’t you forgetting something?”
All four of them turned toward me with blank stares on their faces. By the look of it, they’d truly forgotten about me. One of the boys cocked his head in confusion as he tied up the body bag.
“We’ll clean things up, so go on and head home.”
“That’s not what I meant. Isn’t anyone worried about me being alone in that dark hallway? Don’t you guys want to chase me down and say ‘I hope you weren’t too frightened…’ or ‘Are you okay, our poor Alice?’ or ‘You’re very brave, Miss Alice’ or something? If you don’t, I can’t trigger any character routes!”
When I rattled off some choices that could appear in the story, he sighed as if I’d annoyed him.
“What exactly is a character route? Sorry, but I’m beat. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
“Huh?! Hey, wai—”
I struggled in vain as he grabbed my arm, pulled me away, and forced me into my carriage. The ride home after that was rough and bumpy, but eventually, I arrived at my mansion—all alone, of course.
Standing in front of the property, I pounded my fist against the iron gates in frustration.
“I’m an otome game heroine! How can they treat me like this…?!”
Just like that, despite my newly acquired memories of my reincarnation as Alice, I failed to score points with any of my potential love interests that night.