The Villainess Carries a Strategy Guide - Ch 2

The Royal Aristocratic Academy is a boarding school where the children of aristocrats live together for three years and learn what it means to be an aristocrat.
Enrollment begins in the year one turns 16, and from politics to magic, up to even etiquette, it is a place that makes it possible to cultivate various things. But it is not limited to classroom learning. The nobility of this country fight. In order to protect the people, to eliminate the enemies that threaten the king, in the event of war, they gather their soldiers and wield their swords themselves. Therefore, in this academy, combat ability using weapons and magic is also emphasized, and practical skills are heavily favored.
This academy, which is a hurdle that all nobles, from barons to dukes, cannot avoid, has two major characteristics.
First, the existence of sixteen “title holders”.
Second, the existence of four “events” that are greatly related to the acquisition of that title.
At the end of each year, sixteen students are given titles by the school. Across all grades, three each from men and women are titled “The Transcendent Three” ¹. In addition, “August Five“² is awarded to five men and five women.
Those who hold this title are granted all sorts of privileges both within the academy and after they graduate. The grace from the king, and the position they desire. It is a universal yearning for all two thousand or so students, to the point that they would vomit blood to earn it.
The title is presented at the end of the year. In other words, students in the third grade will graduate about two months after receiving the title.
Graduating with a title is considered a particularly honorable achievement, and in the last school year, two Transcendents and six Augusts earned that honor. Therefore, there are eight title holders currently enrolled in the academy.
In order to obtain the title, it is necessary to impress the teachers by demonstrating extraordinary talent in various fields throughout the school year.
The stage to show off, in addition to one’s performance in the usual school life, is at the four “events” that are held each in spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Although there have been minor changes over the years, the content has remained mostly the same. The 300-year long tradition is equivalent to the length of the history of the Kingdom of Phabaddon since its founding. For noblemen, it is a good conversation starter, an experience shared regardless of the generation.
The experiences gained through working hard with each other in this way is fuel to bring joy to all as nobles.
As per the words of the 116-year-old headmaster, “Aristocrats, help the weak, protect the weak, defeat the weakness of the weak.”
＊＊＊
My name is Rebecca Sultarque, and I will be entering the Royal Aristocratic Academy this spring. The territory I come from is large and wealthy, but it is far from the Royal Capital.
I lost my mother half a year ago. A gentle and strong mother, who battled illness for many years. It was the day before her death that I found out that the unusual atmosphere surrounding my mother, who was the daughter of a marquis, was not just my imagination.
“Calm down and listen, Rebecca. Mother is a reincarnated person. This world is something called an ‘otome game’³.”
She said, with this time’s setting of the the Royal Aristocratic Academy, the main character falling in love with ‘ikemen’⁴ is what makes an ‘otome game’ .
She said, this world is very similar to that game, and that the main character, «a commoner girl with a rare talent for healing magic» has also been discovered.
She said,――――“I” am the “Villainess” , or something like that.
Here my mother hugged me again. It was a behavior that had become a matter of course over the past year.
“Mother, father, brother, all of us love you, Rebecca. You’ll be fine. Mother will guarantee that you are not the same as the girl in the story.”
My mother never lies to me. No matter how absurd her mother’s story may be, once you see the strong glint in her eyes, you won’t suspect it’s a lie. Whether it was the ‘otome game’, or that my mother loves me, they were things I easily accepted.
When I nodded strongly and buried my face in my mother’s chest, her voice was choked up, saying that it was regrettable to die and leave me to throw myself into the game that begins at the school.
“When you were born, I realized the situation. I tried many things to change the scenario. I tried to give you a different name, I tried to refuse your engagement to the prince, I tried to live at least a little longer. But most things didn’t go well.”
I wonder if this is the ‘corrective force of the scenario’. Mother said with a wry smile.
I felt a chill run down my spine. If the story doesn’t change… After all, my mother told me about the end of that game.
“But there were certainly things that changed. Your relationship with your father and brother, your feelings for your fiancé, and the friends you made without even trying. And above all, Rebecca, you grew up to be such a wonderful girl.”
Mother laughed. She smiled as though she was glad from the bottom of her heart. Wiping my tears with the pads of her fingers, it was my mother’s familiar habit to soothe me when I was on the verge of crying.
Even though I desperately managed to hold back my tears, still, there was one thing I needed to hear even as my voice shook.
“Mother… do you not regret it? Giving birth to me?”
The game ends with the main character and the capture targets all condemning Rebecca’s evil deeds, the destruction of her engagement with the prince, and above all – the downfall of the Duchy of Sultarque.
It wasn’t just me. I feel sorry for my family, servants, even my ancestors. It was what I dreaded the most.
Mother squeezed my hand.
“Of course I don’t. And don’t worry. The ending will definitely change. I wrote this to help with that.”
My mother gave me a notebook. On the cover, there is a pattern drawn inside a circle.
“Mother, this is?”
“It is a ‘strategy guide’. I wrote down everything I remembered in chronological order. There’s nothing to be done about it being from the protagonist’s point of view… but I think it will help you get around well. On the cover is written ‘confidential mark’.”
It’s called ‘Japanese’, my mother, who was laughing mischievously, passed away the next day.
Even though we spoke so much yesterday. I guess that this was also something decided in the “scenario”. When I thought so, it was anger that I felt welling up inside my chest.
I will not lose. I won’t ever follow the scenario that killed my mother. For my mother, who loved me. I’ll be sure to grasp happiness. I swore so and wiped away my tears.
The next day, in accordance with mother’s words, “people might think you’ve gone crazy,” I told nothing of this to my father, who had rushed home from the capital and embraced me.
TL/N:
• ¹ written as 三強 (sankyou). Literally translated it is “three strong”. But, that sounds bad, so I made it sound as fancy and epic as it’s supposed to feel.
• ² written as 五高 (Gokou). Literally translate as “five high”. Same as above.
• Rebecca is NOT a reincarnated individual. The words her mother uses are completely foreign to her, so I will simply write them as romanized Japanese to preserve the foreign atmosphere. I’ll explain as needed in the TL notes. Cheers!
• ³ otome game – for you non-weebs, by literal translation it’s “maiden game”, referring to dating sims whose main demographic is (young) women.
• ⁴ ikemen – JP slang for cool, handsome hunks.