The Main Character Is A Villainess - Chapter 0 – Prologue

“I have someone I love. Elysia, you are suffocating me. Please let me go!”

From birth, Elysia was different from others. Born of an orthodox bloodline through the meeting of two historic families, she was the Count’s only child.

Her grandfather was the late Emperor’s teacher, and her mother was the eldest daughter of a wealthy household worthy of controlling the Empire’s capital. So, Elysia learned proper Noble behavior even before she could speak.

Just because she was a noblewoman, it didn’t mean she was the same as the others. Elysia’s family, the Hellen household, didn’t mix blood recklessly and was one of the few historically high-ranked families in the Britelbin Empire.

And perhaps because of that, it was only natural for her to become engaged to the only child of the historical Duchy of Rayden.

The two were promised to each other by the elders before they started walking and were like air to each other. Some were envious, considering they would still be inferior even if they were born again, but most were respectful, looking forward to the birth of a powerful family.

Elysia was smart, rational, and nobler than anyone else. At any time or place, she never lost her dignity; and as she was taught, she grew up with the proper mindset of a social leader.

“Please let me go! All of you, your family, and you! I’m suffocating to the point of going crazy. I feel I’m not Conrad Rayden but someone who was born to be your fiancé!”

So, even when she heard the contemptuous voices of her long-time fiancé and his first love, Elysia was not shaken. She wasn’t the weird one. As a noblewoman, she had learned to live her life in this kind of situation. As much as she had to enjoy, there was much to protect; therefore she must sacrifice her personal happiness.

And that way she felt joy.

Elysia didn’t like everything about him. However, the promise between the Rayden Duchy and Hellen County wasn’t a pledge that could be judged by such simple emotions.

“Conrad Rayden, I think you’re making a big mistake, but I’m not saying I want to date you. And surely, I’m not asking you to love me. Rayden and Hellens shared skills, distributed and combined capital, and signed a contract taking into account future loss of interest. Even if I don’t say more, you already know the countless benefits. Can you afford to impose such emotions in a huge contract between the two families?”

She thought it didn’t matter if he was shaken by another woman, the reason why she was upset was that his un-noble feelings interfered with such a great promise. But Elysia soon realized that he was able to feel shaken, but not her. He abandoned all and let himself be shaken. He abandoned not just the family’s promise but also the old memories. Just because of a passing Viscounty’s woman. Nearly twenty years abandoned at once.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to keep this engagement. As Lord Rayden confessed to me, you’ve got a crush on someone.”

Elysia maintained her dignity. Instead of crying and clinging to him, she tried to protect her life in her own way. Because love games couldn’t break an old promise. The benefits a Viscount’s young Lady could give him were not comparable to the benefits she could give him. Duke Rayden was a person who knew that too well.

“Why are you saying such important things without discussion? Have you really gone mad? Did you go insane because you’re jealous? That person is the only one I have. You’re the one who needs to step back. You already have everything!”

‘You were the only one I have, too. And I trusted you.’

However, instead of clinging to him, Elysia reminded him of reality.

“Look carefully from now on. You’ll come to realize what you have. In the end, you’ll have to place that woman and the things you hold in your hand on a scale and do the arithmetic. That love you praise so much will turn into a vain thing.”

Nevertheless, it also happened to Elysia. Someone who made her want to believe in such useless emotions.

A wretched Prince who was abandoned by the Imperial Family and wandered around the battlefield. And the Emperor’s illegitimate son, who soon became her elder brother, Havern Norton.

“Even after I left, I didn’t expect to see you as a family.”

A wanderer who did foul things to survive.

“You’re not even my real sister yet, so you shouldn’t be greedy. What if I look away and you break our father’s marriage?”

Only Elysia could recognize it. His light tone was just a mask used to escape the control weighing on him.

“Then bring it. Something attractive enough for me to hold her hand.”

Her fiancé of 20 years ravaged her heart, and Havern became Elysia’s support. It was a friendly hand that comforted her wounded heart. And when she was finally left alone, it was the only hand that reached out to her, who was abandoned after losing everything.

“If you don’t believe me, why don’t you trust my background? I’ll make you the mother of the Empire, not just a Duchess.”

“I will take revenge. Because I was taught that the nobility must properly pay back what they receive.”

Elysia willingly took his hand.

She couldn’t tell if she was truly vicious or just sick and tired of everything. Because in reality, the protagonist wasn’t a kind, innocent woman, but a victorious villain.

And Elysia had never imagined a world in which she was not the main character.