The Unintentional Villainess

Chapter 1

Have you ever woken up and found yourself under a mountain of debt? Have you ever spent the entirety of your golden twenties repaying every single cent? I have. And not only that, but I had paid it all off, too.

Right as I was about to step forth into my new, debt-free life, I died. That’s how I ended up as the antagonist of a novel. You might pity me, sure, but this was just a simple case of bad luck.

However...

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⌁FLASH MISSION⌁

Anastasia Solen’s weakness is heat!

Douse her with hot water!

Accept / Decline

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I knew that I was the only one who could see the translucent window whenever it popped up. I felt so sorry for myself.

***

My death was a total letdown. Once I had paid off my ten-year debt, I called my parents, who I had cut ties with. I was going to let loose and cuss them out, and I was so focused on the dial tone that I didn’t even see the car that knocked me down.

My body felt like it had shattered. My breath slowed. As my vision blurred into darkness, I understood that I was dead. But somehow, things didn’t end there. The darkness suddenly lifted and I came to, almost as if I were being dragged out of water.

What? Before I could even orient myself, something smacked my palm and I heard a screech of pain.

“Ow, my hand!” I exclaimed.

The shattered feeling through my body was gone, leaving just the sharp stinging in my palm. I immediately rubbed the spot. It hurt like someone had struck me with a cane.

What the hell? Someone in front of me collapsed like a twig. I couldn’t believe it. She slapped my hand and then played the victim. How ridiculous.

You’d think that I was the one who slapped her instead! I was just about to say “How dare you act like a victim when you’re the one who slapped my hand?” However, the color of her hair left me speechless. It was silver, like those of characters I’ve only seen in movies, and her dress wasn’t one that people usually wore.

Wait, what am I even doing here? I was hit by a car just a few seconds ago. Where in the world am I?

“Lady Blair, what do you think you’re doing?” The low, deliberate voice rang through the chaos.

I turned my head to see a blond man dressed in a formal uniform.

Whoa. That’s wild. His eyes are crimson... They seemed naturally red, not from colored lenses. It was so shocking that I couldn’t speak.

The man stepped right up to the fallen damsel. “Anastasia, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Your Grace. Don’t worry about it.”

“Anastasia” and “Your Grace” were completely random words but somehow sounded familiar. I didn’t need a mirror to see that I was making a ridiculous face.

What is this? A dream? Nothing else could explain this situation. The man addressed as “Your Grace” turned to me. His deep crimson eyes were cold and flat. I’d had enough years of experience being pushed around to notice that he wore the same expression my boss often wore—that is to say, he looked at me as if he were looking at an insect.

I understood now. That man despised me. But seriously, what is this place? Who are you?

The man began to speak. “I’ll keep it short. Stop making a scene and go away.”

I was boiling over with anger at the way he’d just spoken to me as if I had done something wrong. But she was the one who slapped my hand! Even though I knew that it would make a rude first impression, I was so mad that I stared at the woman spitefully. However, my anger melted away like snow when I saw that her red cheek looked like it was about to burst.

Wh-why is her face all swollen? My throbbing palm... The woman’s swollen cheeks... With careful analysis, they pointed to two possible conclusions: Either she had hit my palm with her own cheek or I had slapped her.

I felt like someone had just struck me over the head. I had slapped a woman I’d never met before! I was so stunned that my legs started shaking. I didn’t know what to do. First off, I had to apologize...

“Excuse me, I’m—”

“Lady Blair.” The blond man interrupted me before I could muster up an apology. Was he insane? Why did he keep calling me a lady? “You heard me. Go.”

This time, it sounded like a threat, like he’d actually do something to me if I didn’t obey. Of course, I cowered. I turned around and started walking until a spacious, luxurious garden appeared before my eyes.

Things made even less sense. Where was I and who were they? I could have sworn that I’d fallen on concrete, so what was I doing here? To make matters worse, my heels and toes hurt with every step I took. As soon as I looked down, I frowned.

I was wearing a fancy dress and torturous heels. I stared in awe at my delicate hands and then used them to touch my face and my hair. Memories came to me like flashing lights. Anastasia. Your Grace. Lady Blair. I realized that these weren’t random words at all. They were... I had surely seen them somewhere in a novel.

“No way,” I mumbled incredulously as I pulled at a lock of hair from behind me.

To my surprise, it wasn’t black. It was coral, simply dazzling in the sunlight, like those things in the ocean. Then, my legs buckled either from shock or the stress of wearing heels. I heard someone shout from behind me, but that wasn’t important right now. I sprang up as if I had never fallen at all. I grabbed the hem of my skirt and scuttled back.

The man’s and the woman’s eyes widened in shock. If I was right about this, then those two... I rushed up to them and didn’t waste a breath.

“Anastasia? Anastasia Solen?”

“H-huh?”

“And y-you’re Aiden Burworth?”

“It’s Budworth,” the man said.

“Oh my goodness...”

Upon hearing the man’s words, I jumped up, screaming. It was something straight out of a novel, except it was actually happening to me in real life. I was so happy that my heart raced. I took Anastasia’s two hands in mine and started spinning around and around. The man was saying something, but I completely zoned out.

What really mattered was that I was in a novel. Yes, based on my calculations, I’d become a character in a novel. Judging by how he called me “Lady Blair,” I must have been the antagonist, notoriously the craziest b*tch in Conia.

Who cares! I could always start a beautiful new friendship with the protagonist, who was none other than Anastasia Solen herself, standing right before my very eyes.

I stopped spinning to take a closer look at her. Her hair was tousled from all the spinning, but she was beautiful, just as the novel had described. Her clear, golden eyes were especially striking.

“R-Renee?” Bewildered, Anastasia called the name of the villainess.

No. Uh-uh. That’s my name now. She called me. Yes, that’s my name. My heart raced alarmingly fast. I was so excited that I couldn’t resist the urge to hug her. I felt Anastasia’s body stiffen in my arms. I probably should have pulled away at this time, but today was special. So there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

I hadn’t realized back then that it wasn’t entirely a blessing to have become the antagonist of a novel. The next day, I would learn exactly how horribly Renee Blair had acted to deserve the title of “the craziest b*tch.”