Chapter 1

Prologue

“Annabelle! Get up right now!”

A sharp voice pierced my ears.

“Is this really the time for you to be like this? You’re supposed to get up at the crack of dawn and train!”

Rieard threw open the door and shouted.

“This is your last chance! If you fail to come in first place at the Imperial Swordsmanship Tournament this time, you’ll forever be nothing more or less than an abandoned illegitimate child!”

I sighed and turned my head while lying in bed.

My pale violet hair spilled down in long strands.

“Why haven’t you gone to the training grounds for days and just been lazing around? Are you ever going to get a grip?”

Of all the roles I could have been reborn as…

A few days ago, a tremendous change had occurred in the life I had worked so hard to live.

I suddenly remembered my past life.

And I realized that the world I was living in was actually the world of a book I had read in my previous life.

After learning that I had been born as one of the characters in the book—and becoming devastated by the future that had already been decided—I had shut myself in my room for several days.

At first, I refused to accept it and denied everything, but my memories gradually became clearer until the consciousness of my past life completely merged with my current self.

If I had at least been reborn as a villainess who was hopelessly in love with the male lead, things wouldn’t have felt quite this hopeless.

In that case, I could simply stop pursuing my unrequited love and live a different life.

Besides, if I had known about the novel from the moment I was reincarnated, that would have been one thing. But why did I have to suddenly remember everything in the spring of my twenty-second year?

For twenty-two years, I had faithfully followed the original story and accumulated every bit of bad karma imaginable.

“Are you really planning to lose to Ian Wadeiros again?”

Annabelle Nadit, the role I had been reborn into, was the male lead Ian’s rival.

No—Annabelle was the only one who considered Ian her rival. Ian didn’t even pay attention to her.

Because Ian was first place, while Annabelle was second.

The Empire’s Swordsmanship Tournament was a massive event held once every four years.

And just how massive was it?

The winner was granted a title of nobility.

The problem was that only the first-place winner received one.

The filthy world that only remembers first place is the same everywhere.

There was even an age limit of twenty-four.

It’s the same here, too. Once you’re too old, you don’t even get a chance.

I was twenty-two now, which meant that the upcoming swordsmanship tournament would be my last chance.

“You have to get that title by any means necessary!”

Rieard shouted again.

“You’re not seriously relying only on the groundwork I’ve been laying behind the scenes, are you? That bastard is a monster. You know better than anyone that even if all four of his limbs were cut off, he’d still be a formidable opponent!”

I was the illegitimate daughter of Marquis Abedes, one of the Empire’s high-ranking nobles.

For an illegitimate child to be recognized as a member of a noble family, they had to earn a title themselves.

After my mother died, my guardian became Rieard, my older half-brother, who had a different mother.

Ever since I had shown a talent for swordsmanship as a child, Rieard’s goal had been for me to earn a title and proudly become a member of House Abedes.

“How long are you planning to live this pathetic life?”

That piece of trash is acting up again because he’s dreaming of living comfortably by selling his little sister off.

What mattered to Rieard was the wealth of House Abedes.

If I became a member of the marquis’s family, I would gain inheritance rights and could receive at least an estate containing several mines.

Even though my mother had received a considerable amount of money from Marquis Abedes when she gave birth to me and had lived relatively comfortably, Rieard was still not satisfied.

“Rieard, if you call this kind of life pathetic, most people are going to beat you to death.”

There was no point in trying anymore. I already knew the outcome of the swordsmanship tournament.

Ian Wadeiros was simply unbeatable.

He was, quite literally, the strongest person in the entire world. Even if ten people like me attacked him at once, he could subdue us in an instant.

Because I refused to accept that fact, I had spent all this time desperately pursuing pointless schemes.

Even if I was confused, I had to accept reality now and live a different life.

It’s not like I was ever remotely comparable to him in the first place.

Ian Wadeiros, heir to House Wadeiros—the greatest noble family in the Empire—was simply perfect.

If I wanted to think about my future, I first had to acknowledge that fact and make a plan accordingly.

Of course, they say that if you wish hard enough, the universe will grant your desire. And maybe if I worked myself to the bone, there might be a tiny, microscopic chance…

I ignored Rieard’s incessant shouting beside me and quietly stared into the mirror, lost in thought.

Honestly, I can’t bet my entire life on that possibility. Besides, it’s not as if I haven’t already worked myself to the bone.

Now that I knew the entire future, I had completely given up on becoming the heir of a powerful noble family and living a life of luxury.

Even if I only received the property registered under Rieard’s name, I could probably live comfortably for the rest of my life without working.

And after my past-life consciousness had merged with my current one, I could see things even more clearly.

The desire to be recognized as a member of the nobility hadn’t actually been mine.

It had belonged to my family.

What I had truly wanted wasn’t other people’s envy, nor even first place itself.

It was actually…

“You can definitely win this time. I’ve been working hard behind the scenes, haven’t I? But if you’re the one who falls into a slump like this…”

Before I could dwell on my thoughts any longer, Rieard continued ranting angrily.

And apparently, because of all that behind-the-scenes work, our entire family is going to be ruined.

Just thinking about that future made my head throb.

“Rieard, could you please shut up? You’re noisy.”

“What? You’re calling me noisy when all I want is for you to succeed?”

“Yes. Exactly. So get out now.”

My mind was already in chaos. Having Rieard shriek beside me was making it impossible to think.

“How dare you!”

“Do you want to leave with your hair cut off?”

I spoke ominously while pretending to grip my sword.

“You never know. Since I haven’t been training according to your orders lately, I might accidentally cut off your head.”

I might have been the perennial second-place winner, but second place in swordsmanship throughout the entire Empire was still second place. Rieard was no match for me physically.

Rieard hesitated, then stormed out while huffing angrily.

Left alone, I flopped back down onto my bed.

I would quickly give up on winning first place in a swordsmanship tournament I couldn’t possibly win anyway. I already knew the future, so acting exactly as I had before would be something only a fool would do.

But there was still one problem.

After being thoroughly beaten by Ian in the tournament four years ago, I had realized that I couldn’t defeat him in a fair fight.

So Rieard and I had already devised all sorts of schemes to defeat Ian by any means necessary.

In the end, we get caught doing all of it. I must have been insane!

I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

The schemes Rieard had devised to harm Ian would eventually all be exposed, and we would inevitably lose everything.

When I was reading the novel, I had loved those scenes because they were so satisfying to read.

But somehow, I had been reincarnated as the very character who caused them!

At the very least, I have to protect whatever property we have.

Wait, forget losing everything.

Both of us would be sued, dragged into court, taught a harsh lesson, and end up in prison.

No, forget the property. First, I need to avoid going to prison.

But completely overturning all the traps we had already set was difficult because Rieard had personally handled all the arrangements.

There’s no way Rieard would ever cancel them himself.

Then there was only one way.

Before everything fell apart, I had to make sure Ian suffered no harm.

“You arrogant bastard. Just wait and see. I’ll defeat you no matter what it takes!”

“Come back after you’ve properly learned the code of chivalry.”

Those ruby-red eyes filled with disgust were still vivid in my memory.

“And stop coming at me with such underhanded tricks.”

Ian Wadeiros was quite literally a man who had everything.

Brilliant golden hair, frightening yet beautiful red eyes that looked as though they contained rubies, the prestigious Wadeiros family name, and extraordinary skill with the sword.

He had been born into a completely different world from me, an illegitimate child.

Perhaps that was why I had desperately tried to defeat him all this time.

There was nothing wrong with trying to win. Having determination was admirable.

The problem was that I had refused to fight fairly.

The schemes we had prepared before the final swordsmanship tournament were unquestionably criminal.

And that was why we would inevitably receive the fate that awaited criminals…

House Wadeiros was famous for its adherence to chivalry.

So when they discovered that someone had tried to harm their sole heir through underhanded means, they became more ruthless than anyone.

I absolutely cannot let them find out.

We had worked so hard on our schemes that plans to harm Ian continued one after another right up until the swordsmanship tournament.

I had already registered for the tournament, and withdrawal was only possible on the day itself.

I even considered abandoning everything and simply running far away, but there was one problem.

Swordsmanship was the only thing I knew how to do.

I couldn’t speak foreign languages, knew almost nothing about the ways of the world, and had no property registered in my name.

At the very least, I had to remain in the Imperial capital, where I could make use of my one qualification—being the second-best swordswoman in the Empire.

That way, even if the worst happened, I would still have some way to make a living.

So there was only one option.

Until then, I had to quietly prevent every danger surrounding Ian without giving him even the slightest reason to suspect anything, so that he wouldn’t even think about investigating.

Because the moment he started investigating, Rieard and I would be finished together.

And on top of that, I had to deceive Rieard as well.

If he found out that I was protecting Ian, he would simply come up with another scheme behind my back.

Today is the day the High Priest is scheduled to visit the Imperial Palace. Isn’t Ian in charge of the escort?

Rieard had planned to spray Ian with a poisonous substance that would paralyze him and leave one of his arms unusable.

Of course, thanks to Ian’s monstrous reflexes, he would only suffer a minor injury and temporary paralysis for a few days.

But even that couldn’t happen.

I couldn’t let him think there was a conspiracy targeting him and start digging into it.

Annabelle Nadit… what a waste of a life.

Everyone in the mansion was on Rieard’s side.

All this time, I had devoted myself entirely to swordsmanship without even taking a single trusted subordinate.

Which meant I couldn’t send anyone else.

I had to do it myself.

If Ian somehow traced the scheme back to me, I would have to pin everything on Rieard and survive by using all the goodwill I had built up over the years as a shield.

I made up my mind.

I may have been reincarnated into a god-awful role, and I may have only remembered the contents of the book halfway through my life, after things had already gone too far.

But I would somehow clean up this mess and live a new life.

To do that, I first had to stop playing the pathetic villain-rival who did nothing but repeat cheap lines like “Just you wait” and “I’ll defeat you next time!” before getting trampled into the ground over and over again.