Chapter 1: Why is it pointless?
What should you do if you wake up to find yourself inside a romance fantasy novel?
Even worse, what if you’re the villainess destined to torment the heroine and then meet your end at the hands of the male lead?
It’s fine.
I can overcome this kind of hardship.
In short, as long as I don’t torment the heroine like in the original story, it should be okay, right?
In fact, the character I possessed, Helena, was quite well-off.
She was the daughter of a prestigious duke’s family and the empress of an empire.
I didn’t have a cruel in-law family to bother me.
Sure, there was an estranged husband and his other wife, but…
That’s something I can just ignore, isn’t it?
After all, he’s not truly my husband.
There’s no reason to give up the power and wealth that have fallen into my lap because of those people.
Whether the original protagonists have a tragic romance or a comedic love story…
That’s their business to handle.
As for the villainess? I’m clocking out of this burning love triangle!
I informed my on-paper husband, Jerome, who was also the original male lead, of my ambitious plan.
“From now on, I won’t torment the heroine—uh, the imperial consort—anymore.”
“…”
Jerome furrowed his neatly shaped brows instead of responding.
It was the reaction I had anticipated.
I looked him straight in the eye.
Silky platinum blonde hair with a soft sheen.
Captivating red eyes.
A sharp nose and jawline that needed no mention.
Indeed, he was a stunning man who truly deserved the title of male lead.
Judging by his stiff expression, I could guess what he was about to say.
With suspicion-filled eyes, he was probably thinking, ‘What kind of trick is this?’
“I understand that it’s hard to believe me.”
Of course, it would be difficult to trust that someone had completely changed overnight.
“But I want you to believe me. I mean it.”
Jerome remained silent.
Sure, I get it.
Given all the terrible things Helena had done so far, it would be hard to believe me just based on words alone.
Naturally, I planned to prove myself.
“If you want, I’ll even sign a contract. I can stamp it with the empress’ seal.”
He gazed at me for a long time, his striking appearance resembling a portrait, before finally opening his mouth.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
Why?
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
What is this?
It felt like he was asking why I was bothering with such a pointless thing…
But my doubts didn’t last long.
No way. That can’t be it.
He’s probably just asking a sharp question, like why the villainess is suddenly acting nice―
“Why are you doing such a pointless thing?”
“Pardon?”
―Or not?
Wait a minute. Are you seriously asking that?
“Perhaps you misunderstood me?”
Jerome’s expression turned peculiar at my words.
“Well…”
He tilted his head slightly as he spoke.
“You mean you’re not going to pour tea on the imperial consort’s face, humiliate her in public, or send people to threaten her anymore?”
Bombshell words fell from his crimson lips.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Wait a second.
How do you know so much about this?
“So…”
Jerome stood up.
Faced with his towering presence, I unconsciously stepped back.
Before I knew it, my back was against the wall.
Jerome was still looking down at me.
Trapped in his shadow, he looked down at me and asked in an emotionless voice,
“Why are you doing such a pointless thing?”
***
***
“Pointless?!”
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.
This novel I ended up in was a book recommended by a friend.
The story was about the heroine, who happened to pass through a forest, rescuing the male lead from danger. This sparked a connection that led to love… A fairly typical plot.
“The basic character dynamics are standard! But the progression is completely groundbreaking. The depth of their love is just―”
My friend had stayed up all night enthusiastically rambling about it.
Sure. It was groundbreaking, all right.
“Run away as much as you want.”
“No matter how desperately you cry, I’ll never let you go.”
To keep the heroine by his side, the male lead, Jerome, really pulled out all the stops.
“That’s why Helena became empress.”
Indeed, it would have been impossible for the commoner heroine to become empress.
The emperor appointed a random empress just to make her an imperial consort.
And the chosen person was me.
Helena von Schwaben, the daughter of the Duke of Schwaben.
The golden-haired, violet-eyed young lady was renowned in society as a great beauty.
The entire empire celebrated their marriage.
They were hailed as the perfect couple.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Helena’s arrival marked the beginning of misery.
Falling for the emperor at first sight, Helena relentlessly tormented the imperial consort.
In the end, Helena’s jealousy crossed the line, leading to the emperor’s fury reaching its peak.
Before a crowd of witnesses, Helena faced a tragic ending.
Currently, this was the point in the story where the empress’s jealousy and scheming against the imperial consort had reached a notable level.
The emperor was aware of the empress’s jealousy, and the heroine—the imperial consort—was deeply afraid of the empress.
“So, I told the emperor that I wouldn’t torment the imperial consort anymore. Why did he react like that?”
If he had simply doubted my motives, it would have been understandable.
But the emperor’s actual reaction was:
― “Why are you doing something so pointless?”
It was so cold and dispassionate that it left me flustered.
It felt like I’d encountered an unexpected obstacle.
Now, what should I do?
After spending the entire night agonizing, I concluded that I should simply behave well moving forward.
“Come to think of it, all I have to do is stop doing bad things, right?”
The root cause of all the problems in the original story stemmed from Helena’s love and obsession with the emperor.
Her envy and jealousy were merely the consequences.
Since I didn’t love the emperor, I wouldn’t have any reason to feel jealous of the imperial consort.
Surely, nothing would happen as long as I didn’t do anything, right?
***
The Next Morning
“What is this?”
I asked as I looked at the documents handed to me by Marie, the personal maid assigned to the Empress’ Palace.
She spoke with a stiff expression, barely managing to respond.
“It’s… it’s a report, Your Majesty.”
Huh? Why is she so nervous?
Now that I think about it, I heard she was the youngest among the maids.
Maybe she’s still not used to her duties and is feeling tense.
But still, handing me a report first thing in the morning?
That’s a bit harsh for someone who just woke up, isn’t it?
Being the empress sure isn’t easy.
Swallowing my tears, I began to read the document slowly.
_
[5:30 AM: His Majesty the Emperor woke up. Asked about the imperial consort twice.]
…
What did I just read?
I doubted my eyes for a moment.
But the contents didn’t stop there.
_
[5:35 AM: His Majesty the Emperor took a light shower (presumed to have used cold water, as usual).]
[5:55 AM: His Majesty the Emperor reviewed his schedule with the Minister of Finance. Showed interest in the imperial consort’s security.]
[6:02 AM: His Majesty the Emperor…]
_
His Majesty the Emperor… His Majesty the Emperor…
The report continued with similar content.
Feeling perplexed, I looked up at Marie and asked,
“What is this?”
“Eek!” Marie turned pale.
“Well, um, it’s… the report you ordered, Your Majesty.”
The person who spoke up was Countess Chloe, the head maid of the Empress’ Palace, standing nearby.
No, I never ordered anything like this.
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Did I receive these reports in the past?”
“We’ve been preparing them daily.”
“Daily?”
But since I possessed Helena’s body, this was the first report I’d received.
“Then why haven’t I seen them before?”
“Because Your Majesty was unwell, we held off for a while. Previously, you didn’t like receiving reports when you were upset.”
“Ah.”
So, they just avoided delivering reports when it seemed like I was in a bad mood.
Well, I wasn’t in my right mind after suddenly being transported here.
The maids probably thought I was merely feeling grumpy.
“And today, since you seemed fine, we reported as usual?”
“Yes. We’ve also kept all the previous records in case you’d like to review them.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I shook my head.
‘It must have been the real Helena who ordered this.’
At last, I understood the situation.
Placing the document down, I spoke.
“Don’t prepare these reports anymore.”
“Pardon?”
Countess Chloe and the maids were visibly shaken.
They seemed shocked by my sudden change in attitude.
But I wasn’t interested in Jerome the way the real Helena was.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Countess Chloe nodded.
Whew. Thanks to that strange morning report, I was fully awake now.
Who would have thought the empress’s maids had been monitoring the emperor’s every move?
This wasn’t part of the original story.
But it’s fine now.
I’ve firmly instructed them not to do it anymore!
Fortunately, aside from the morning report, the rest of the day seemed uneventful.
That was until…
“Your Majesty.”
Marie approached me with a radiant smile.
It was the same maid who had handed me the report earlier that morning.
It seemed she had regained her energy.
“You look cheerful. Did something good happen?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I finally succeeded!”
“Succeeded?”
Marie displayed a triumphant expression.
“You know, Your Majesty. I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity.”
Something I should know about?
But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t recall anything related to Marie.
Did she confess her feelings to someone she liked?
Or maybe she received praise from the head maid?
Either way, seeing her so bright made me feel at ease.
“It’s nice to see you so happy.”
“Of course! It was such a relief to let out all that pent-up frustration. Your Majesty should have seen their shocked expression!”
“…”
Pent-up frustration? Shocked expression?
An ominous feeling crept over me.
“Lady Marie, could you tell me exactly what happened?”
“There’s going to be a grand banquet in the palace soon, isn’t there?”
“Yes.”
“So, in preparation, the Imperial Consort’s Palace brought in various new dresses. So I…”
“Yes?”
Marie pulled out an enormous pair of scissors from her pocket. Ridiculously large scissors.
“With these, I snip-snip-snip-snip! It was quite the effort!”
“Wait.”
“?”
“Are you telling me… you didn’t…”
My face turned pale as I asked awkwardly.
“Surely, you didn’t destroy the imperial consort’s dresses, did you?”
No way.
There’s so much you could do with scissors.
Maybe she just helped unwrap packaging or cut ribbons.
I tried to suppress the foreboding sense of dread rising within me.
“Yes! I turned them all into rags!”
“…”
No. Don’t smile so brightly while saying something like that!
—
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