Things that exist in romance fantasy. The female protagonist and the male leads.
And one more thing. Something that must never be missing.
The villainess. Another woman who stands opposed to the protagonist.
Perhaps they had never gotten along from the beginning. Or things went awry midway.
Perhaps the man she loved one-sidedly had fallen for the protagonist.
Perhaps she believed the protagonist had stolen all the praise that should have been hers.
For reasons like those, the villainess inevitably opposes the protagonist.
Some repent and have their relationships restored.
But most live as villainesses until the end and die miserably.
Good rewarded, evil punished. If you fed them frustration, there must be catharsis.
Whatever the reason, that is the ending a villainess meets.
“I’m sorry, Margrave Evan. Will you forgive me?”
“Ahem.”
“If there’s anything wrong with your clothes, our ducal house will compensate you for everything.”
“It’s all right, my lady. More importantly, I heard you nearly fell.”
At that, the black-haired villainess covered her lips and laughed.
It seemed bewitching. It also seemed spiteful.
Indeed, it was the very image of a typical villainess from a romance fantasy.
“Thanks to your concern, Margrave.”
“That’s fortunate.”
The murmuring around them grew louder and louder.
Along with it, Evan’s face grew redder and redder.
He had taken a shower in wine in front of countless eyes.
So much had been spilled that even the inside of his clothes was damp.
A margrave of the empire had been reduced to an unsightly state.
He wanted to burst into anger, but it was difficult when his opponent was who she was.
Kiara Marcello. The young lady of House Marcello. What people commonly called a ducal lady.
For a ducal lady, she was an unusual figure who rarely appeared in society.
But Evan knew. He had his own sources.
‘She’s a woman I need to be careful of.’
She possessed a twisted personality that drew blood the moment one clashed with her.
Hadn’t there been more than ten maids she had driven to quit so far?
Every one of them had said they couldn’t do it anymore. That they wanted to be spared.
She was no mere young lady. She was none other than the daughter of a duke.
By lineage, House Marcello was a distant relative of the imperial family.
He might be a margrave. He might be a successful noble.
But in many ways, the burden was too great. For now, it was right to withdraw.
“I shall take my leave first. Enjoy the party, Lady Kiara.”
“You too, Margrave. From what I saw earlier, you were already having fun.”
She glanced at Estelle. It was the gaze of someone who had found an amusing toy.
Wariness surged up in him. Nothing good would come of that ducal lady taking interest in her.
Evan quickly moved to block her line of sight with his own body.
“She is a noble from another country.”
“We’re an alliance, aren’t we?”
“Even so—”
“I can at least greet her later.”
It meant, This is my business, so stay out of it.
He could not stop a ducal lady from acting in society.
They were not engaged.
They were complete strangers.
He had no reason whatsoever to restrain Kiara.
In the end, Evan retreated without gaining a thing.
All he could do was roughly take the jacket his attendant hurriedly brought him.
Afraid Estelle might see him, he quickly disappeared from the party hall.
“They said he was capable. Turns out he’s a total idiot, doesn’t he?”
Watching Evan leave, Kiara giggled.
Then she looked at Cain, who had been standing blankly beside her, and spoke.
“You.”
Me? Cain subtly pointed at his own chest.
“Yes. You. Is there anyone else here besides you?”
A villainess. She was a villainess. From her appearance alone, she was villainy itself.
Black hair. Red eyes. A smile with a strange air about it.
She made anyone who looked at her feel wary.
Even her expression gave the impression that she was looking down on the other person.
She was completely different from Estelle, whom he had seen a moment ago.
A woman who stood at the perfect opposite point from the protagonist.
‘Little sister. I don’t know about anything else, but your characters really are perfect.’
No matter who looked at her, she was the very model of a villainess.
If she laughed “Ahaha!” right there, she would be perfect itself.
“You. You were about to kill him just now, weren’t you?”
What was this villainess saying now?
“That idiot who just left. You were going to kill him.”
“No.”
Just because he said he would half-kill someone didn’t mean he would really kill them.
Even if he performed some mental reformation, they wouldn’t die, so it wasn’t killing, right?
So there was absolutely no problem with answering no.
“Heeh. Lying in front of a ducal lady?”
“I have never spoken a lie.”
“Don’t be like that. I can tell everything, you know.”
The villainess abruptly stepped forward and stared straight through Cain.
Bright red eyes. An atmosphere that was utterly inhuman.
It was enough to make her words that she could tell everything feel true.
‘…Is she a demon?’
Cain’s hand momentarily clenched into a fist and began to rise.
A demon disguised as a human. It was certainly possible.
But a villainess must not be that. It was right for her to be human like everyone else.
Only then could she serve to elevate the heroine in many different ways.
It was a kind of law. A demon was a demon. A villainess was a villainess.
“How were you planning to kill him? Were you going to kill him in front of that woman?”
“Your joke has gone too far.”
It was a warning to stop there. The mad dog was about to start its engine.
He could at least distinguish between those he could bite and those he could not.
That was why Cain had survived just fine despite being called a mad dog.
But if someone kept provoking him, his eyes might roll back and he might overturn everything.
This was the stage right before that. His head was slowly beginning to tilt.
At that, Kiara stepped back as if nothing had happened.
“If not, never mind.”
As expected of a ducal lady and a villainess, her way of handling herself was impressive.
When the other party backed down, Cain also withdrew the madness inside him.
This was not something good to use anywhere, anyhow.
It existed only for demons and those who followed them.
“I liked how you threw your fist first earlier.”
“He was a contractor.”
“A commoner assaulting a noble. Aren’t you scared?”
“I’m more scared of letting a demon in front of me get away.”
“Wow. You’re really interesting.”
Then Kiara approached his side again and whispered.
I’ll praise you. I like that kind of extremity more than anything in the world.
Just look at that foolish young lady earlier. I was about to go insane from frustration.
What kind of bastards do you think have made the continent such a mess right now?
Things that have fallen to demons should be killed first, and dealt with afterward.
If you have time later, come by our ducal house.
I’ll personally brew you a cup of tea and pour it for you.
If tea isn’t enough, I can give you something else too.
Something far sweeter and hotter than mere tea.
‘A real villainess really is different.’
He had fought demons and heard their temptations until he was sick of them.
Every one of them had been disgusting, nauseating things.
Other humans could not endure them and became slack-jawed.
But Cain had answered simply with one phrase. Fuck off.
If anything, Kiara’s whisper was more dangerous right now.
It was extremely sticky. Blatant. And hot.
It made the heat in the listener flare up at once.
“Do you plan to come?”
“If a demon appears in your ducal house, anytime.”
“Boring. Can’t you at least pretend to be tempted?”
“I’ve heard it so much from demons that I’m afraid I can’t.”
Kiara circled once around Cain.
Then she rose slightly on her toes until she was just beneath his chin.
The scent of a woman, so thick it made his head dizzy, wafted over him.
His hairs stood on end. His survival instincts sent a warning.
Dangerous. This woman was truly dangerous to men.
“I should go. Enjoy the party, Cain.”
In an instant, she vanished naturally among the people.
Like someone who had never been there from the start. Like a hazy nightmare.
Looking at the empty space left by the villainess, he asked Yuris beside him.
“What was that just now?”
“Indeed.”
If the protagonist Estelle was a bright sun and warm light,
then the villainess Kiara was a dreamlike moon and a dense shadow.
She knew her own charm well. She could enchant anyone.
The original work was now something he could barely remember,
but with those weapons, she must have put Estelle in quite a difficult position.
‘But a villainess is ultimately a villainess. One fated to lose.’
Let’s see. How had Kiara ended up becoming an irredeemable villainess again?
At some point, she had a rather major clash of opinions with Estelle.
There, the people, including the male lead, took Estelle’s side.
In the end, every situation flowed in a direction that suited Estelle.
A villainess could not win. Resistance was useless.
Because this was a world that existed solely for the protagonist.
But the villainess, like a villainess, struggled until the very end.
And fell even further. She was completely buried.
In the end, the jealousy that reached its limit caused the Seven Deadly Sins to descend.
‘At first, I tried to kill the villainess the moment I saw her.’
There was one reason. The villainess was the signal flare that summoned the Seven Deadly Sins.
He had thought that if he got rid of her, everything would be solved.
‘Though in the end, it was a fucking stupid idea.’
Before transmigrating, he had worked as a web novel producer. He had experience.
That was how transmigration stories went. If you tried to change things, they always got tangled.
What was meant to happen would happen no matter what means you used.
Especially if it was something that formed the main current of the story.
The villainess was the signal flare that summoned the Seven Deadly Sins into this world.
From Cain’s perspective, she was a flare standing plainly in front of his eyes.
He could wait beside Kiara and launch a surprise attack.
He could uphold the time-honored tradition that the first strike decides victory.
Conversely, what if someone else ended up summoning the Seven Deadly Sins?
There was no telling how badly, or in what way, things would get tangled.
It was safer to guide the story along a confirmed route.
There was a reason all transmigrated protagonists obsessed over such things.
People did not go on adventures into the unknown for no reason.
Stability was always better than taking risks.
And in truth, Cain had one more reason.
“Yuri.”
“Yes, Lord Cain.”
“The Seven Deadly Sins. Do you remember them?”
“The name demons used to spout when they were about to die.”
Keeek! If you kill us, the Seven Deadly Sins will be angry!
So spare us! I’ll go back and talk to them properly!
Each time, Cain had killed the demon with a smile.
Please, I’m begging you, go and bring the Seven Deadly Sins here.
Honestly, I’m starting to get sick of this, you know? I’m tired of clearing out small fry.
Give me one! A stronger one! Give me one! A more powerful one! I said hand it over!
Don’t I have to catch the Seven Deadly Sins to go home?
Let’s have a bout. I’m so curious which of us will die.
Do you lot scream too? Will you beg me to spare you?
Let’s be sure to meet someday. Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins!
“Captain.”
A unit member approached Yuris and waited.
It likely meant he had something to report only to her.
But Yuris’s face twisted fiercely.
“Just say it. In front of Lord Cain, no less.”
“My apologies. It is for reasons of security.”
The Special Unit operative took a breath and delivered the report.
“They say demons appeared near the border a few days ago. They appear to be remnants, but their numbers seem considerable. They have broken through the defensive line, burned several villages, and are harming the people.”
“And?”
“The border guard began engaging them, but they were hopelessly outmatched. The nearby knight orders sortied, but far from subjugating them, they are only maintaining the defensive line. They say they need more reinforcements.”
At the operative’s words, Yuris looked at Cain.
Cain also shook his head as if he understood what it meant.
Even the knight orders had sortied. And yet they couldn’t subjugate mere remnants?
Demons were strong, but humans who had awakened mana were no easy opponents either.
A knight was a kind of superhuman. Something beyond human itself.
And yet this was happening even after knight orders made up of those knights had sortied?
“They sent them half-heartedly.”
“Or they’re fighting half-heartedly.”
They sent rookies and had them merely get a look at how the field worked.
Or perhaps they sent real forces, but were avoiding involvement in battle as much as possible.
It was a remnant subjugation. It was not a place to build glorious military achievements.
There was no benefit. It would be a waste, so they saved their strength from behind.
Even though they were fighting against an enemy trying to swallow the world.
As if to prove this was a romance fantasy, honor and power struggles came first.
“Good.”
“Lord Cain? Surely—”
“I’m going.”
If it was the border, then fortunately he could use the magic circle.
Not just anyone could use it, but Cain was not just anyone.
He only had to go there and swing his sword a little in front of the administrators.
“Still. There is no reason for you to go personally, Lord Cain…”
“They said demons appeared.”
I can’t yield the job of killing those bastards to anyone.
“And. In truth, I have one more thing to do on the way.”
The villainess from a moment ago had given him a wonderful inspiration.
Whip! Cain turned and ran toward the exit of the party hall.
—Thwack!
As a bonus, he slammed his foot into Evan’s back on the way.
Since Evan still had some use, he spared him from being half-paralyzed.
“Guh?!”
“Ah. My apologies. I stepped on a dress and nearly fell.”
“A d-dress?!”
If not, never mind.