Prologue
rdia Embergreen.
The noble lady born of the Empire’s only ducal bloodline.
An heiress of the sole ducal house in existence.
Yet due to her unusually kind disposition and the countless disturbing rumors that swirled around her, no one could easily approach her.
And now, she was quietly grinding her teeth as she stared at the man who should have just been carried out—poisoned—from her tea party: her betrothed.
“I’m terribly sorry for the fuss. It seems there was poison in the tea?”
“......”
“Luckily, I managed to revive myself. Things could’ve ended quite badly.”
Black hair, black eyes, dressed in a pitch-black suit—and yet, he introduced himself as a white mage.
His eyes made it hard to tell whether they were open or closed, and his face was the kind you’d expect to hear shady rumors about—any passerby would say he looked like the kind of person hiding sothing or waiting to betray soone.
And this man, who the Imperial Family had forced onto her as her fiancé to keep her in check, was exactly the type of nuisance that considered rdia—a strong contender in the ducal succession—a thorn in their side.
That very man was now calmly wiping the blood from the corner of his lips and speaking in a soft voice to the person who had just poisoned him.
“Imagine the scandal, had people started to say the noble lady tried to poison .”
If anyone, even for a mont, had seen the eerie smile on his lips, it would’ve sent a chill down their spine.
And at that mont, rdia realized.
The boy standing before her, radiating danger, might be the sa kind of person as her.
‘The benevolent noble lady would never do such a thing, of course.’
No... he might even be worse than her.
“Isn’t that right, Lady rdia?”
And it seed she had just walked straight into his trap.
“So, could you please stop looking at like that?”
As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, he narrowed his already narrow eyes even further, giving her a look as if she were prey caught in a trap.
“It’s scary, you know, that expression.”
The expression that should’ve been on his face... was now slowly settling into her own.
For the first ti, rdia, the hunter, found herself in the shoes of the hunted.
***
Whitney Lingarden.
Eldest son of the Lingarden family, a humble house of counts near the capital of the Empire.
He had never done anything truly wrong in his entire life. Yet, thanks to his suspicious appearance and misleading speech, he had unintentionally accumulated a long and embarrassing history.
Now, staring at the platinum-blonde noble lady who once had been his favorite character—but now was very much alive and threatening him in real life—he was calmly organizing his thoughts.
‘...She’s seriously terrifying.’
The only way to escape his now thoroughly twisted fate was to save this dreadful villainess from her inevitable ruin.
He believed it wasn’t a coincidence he regained mories of his past life just monts ago. Perhaps a divine force was lending him a hand.
“Well then, shall we return to our previous discussion?”
He forced himself to smile, drawing upon every last drop of courage he had.
“We still have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”
***
It seems I’m living my second life.
I realized it the mont I lifted the teacup during my first eting with my newly assigned fiancée—an engagent arranged just one day prior—and woke up monts later, having collapsed.
‘...Rather than picking up where we left off, maybe we should first check your condition.’
“Hm.”
“We urgently need to investigate how poison ended up in the tea. So, we’ll have to postpone our conversation for now.”
Once I acknowledged that, the face of my awkwardly silent fiancée began to look oddly familiar.
Amidst the panicking maids, only one person stood calmly, her gemstone-like eyes fixed on .
She was none other than rdia Embergreen—the sole heir of the Empire’s ducal house.
And according to the mories that just returned to , she was the main villainess of Blacktail Fantasy 3, who appeared as the final boss in nearly every route.
“But that expression of yours... what is it supposed to an?”
No matter the route, she always t a tragic end.
And because of that, I had stayed up countless nights trying to save her—my absolute favorite character.
“Do you have a problem with my proposal?”
Now, that very character stood before , alive and breathing.
The poison in my teacup was just a bonus.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“You vomited blood and collapsed... of course you must feel unwell.”
“I’ve called for the court physician. If you co with us now, we’ll have you examined imdiately...”
I was quietly organizing my thoughts, eyes closed, when I heard the flustered voices of the maids beside .
Well, it’s not just who should be shocked.
They were the ones who had to witness a man nearly die, suddenly revive, and then act like nothing happened.
As far as I know, Whitney Lingarden—my current identity—is nothing more than an annoying obstacle in rdia’s grand plan.
But from what I recall, they didn’t intend to kill . They were just trying to scare with so sleeping poison.
Now that I’ve woken up, they’ll probably use “treatnt” as an excuse to drag sowhere secluded and try to intimidate .
Still, no matter how terrifying rdia might be, I have no intention of doing as she says.
No—I'll do everything in my power to survive this bad ending.
Even if it ans staying by the side of the villainess rdia herself.
The reason was simple.
It wasn’t just because I felt sorry for her.
If this engagent fell apart, my own fate would go up in smoke as well.
The Lingarden family, which I currently belong to, may look fine on the outside, but it’s hanging by a thread both internally and externally.
If the engagent with rdia were to break off, it’s likely we wouldn’t last a few more years.
We’d end up as fallen nobles—or worse, holess in the streets.
That’s why this engagent had to succeed—not for the sake of the family’s prestige, but for my own survival.
No matter what people said about her reputation, the fact remained: being engaged to the sole daughter of the Empire’s only ducal house was an advantage that no one could ignore.
Honestly, my mories had just awakened, so everything still felt awkward. I wasn’t even sure if I could pull this off.
The only silver lining was that my personality and temperant hadn’t changed at all from my previous life to this one. I was still .
So let’s take comfort in that. I’ve set a goal, so now I just have to do everything I can to achieve it.
The first thing I had to do was clear.
I had to let her know—without saying it outright—that soone had tampered with her plan from the start, trying to actually kill .
There were eyes and ears everywhere, so I couldn’t say it directly, but rdia was smart. With a little hint, she’d understand.
“I promise the ducal house will investigate this matter thoroughly. For now, I’ll take my leave—”
“Please wait a mont.”
I really hoped this little performance of mine would prove that I was useful, that I wasn’t just so deadweight—and above all, that I was on her side.
“I’d like to show you sothing useful I can do.”
...But if she just brushed off and told to go ho because she wasn’t interested, what was I supposed to do then?
That... would be a problem.
***
“Sothing interesting...?”
“I’m certain it will pique your interest, Lady rdia.”
Even before Whitney opened his eyes again, rdia had had no doubt that her plan would go off without a hitch.
She was soone who took it for granted that the world would move according to her will.
So it was only natural that the current situation felt especially unpleasant—and downright humiliating—for her.
“If you don’t want to see it...”
“Oh dear. That would be unfortunate.”
The eldest son of the Lingarden Count family, who should have already been unconscious and carried out by the staff she had prepared ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ in advance, was instead sitting there calmly, leisurely holding a teacup.
Speaking as though he’d known everything that was going to happen here today, wearing that irritating smile that made even the composed noble lady flinch.
“If you really thought this would go your way, then you’ve underestimated the ducal house.”
“Ah, I wasn’t referring to you, Lady rdia. I ant .”
Her brows furrowed at his blatantly provocative tone. But his response was so ridiculous, she could hardly believe her ears.
“Just like you said, why would you be the one getting into trouble? I’m the one who’d be in danger here.”
“Ha...”
Whitney’s tone was calm, but what he held in his hand was the teacup that rdia had spilled.
And on the other end, rdia’s patience was reaching its limit.
“...Well, if you put it that way, I suppose I’m curious too.”
But rdia was not soone who would show weakness or fall apart over sothing so trivial.
In fact, Whitney didn’t know this, but the teacup he was holding had already lost its value as evidence.
The terrifying poison she had crafted—her own masterpiece—was the result of countless layers of trial and error.
It was designed so that, after a certain amount of ti, no matter what thod was used, the poison would beco undetectable.
So whatever “interesting thing” he planned to show her, there was no way it would prove her cri today.
‘And even if he does sohow uncover the truth... it’s not a problem.’
Of course, considering who he was, it would take considerable skill—but even if he succeeded, nothing would change.
“Then, shall we see it?”
With that certainty in mind, she mirrored the smile of the man seated across from her.
“Haha. Thank you for giving the chance.”
“Don’t ntion it, fufu.”
Ti passed.
A lot of ti passed.
“Don’t tell ... this ‘interesting display’ you promised is just you sitting there doing nothing?”
Leaning on her hand and staring at him for quite so ti, rdia finally broke the silence with a cold smile.
“...If that’s it, then I must say, I’m disappointed.”
“......”
It had been a while since Whitney had confidently made his declaration.
But all he’d done since then was sit still with the teacup in hand, seemingly ditating.
If he’d attempted to detect the poison with magic, it looked like he’d failed quite miserably.
“Escort Sir Whitney to the infirmary. And—”
Silently sneering to herself, rdia gave the signal to the attendants who had been standing by at her sides.
—Fwoooosh!!!
“...What!?”
Just as her attendants moved to drag Whitney away, black flas suddenly erupted from the teacup in his hand.
“You’d best step back.”
“That...!?”
Seeing the scene, rdia instinctively stepped back from her seat, her eyes wide, lowering her slightly trembling right hand.
Because what was now blazing in his hand was nothing less than the manifestation of black magic.
It was a sign of a grave cri—punishable by death regardless of status or rank, even for soone of imperial blood.
Naturally, it had never been part of today’s plans to use such a material in her “small incident.”
“I could’ve died, you know.”
“...Heh.”
Apparently, this man had no intention of letting this end as a re ‘small incident.’
“Of course, I an .”
“...You’re bold.”
It was the mont the trap faintly set around rdia—finally—snapped shut.
—Though only in her thoughts.
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