The Villainess’ Beloved Plan: The Struggles to Avoid a Doomed End

Sophia was in a good mood.

This was because she managed to live the ‘get-well-soon’ scene with Randall. Since it’s not a game, she can’t save it as a “scene”, but it’s already saved in a folder in her heart. It was too precious.

Three days passed since then, and Sophia’s cold was completely healed. During these three days, Sophia has been in such a good mood that she almost started humming, and Orion was exasperated by her behavior.

“Hey, if you’re satisfied with that, you’ll meet a disastrous end, you know? Even if you made progress, it’s only about a micron.”

“Don’t put a damper on other people’s happiness!”

As expected, Randall was still sleeping in the castle and did not return to this mansion. As Orion said, their relationship had hardly progressed. They just exchanged pleasantries.

“Ma’am, the head chef has asked me if I would like a fig tart or a cake for today’s dessert, what would you like?”

Isolte asked her when she came to her room, and before Sophia could answer, Orion replied, “Tart!”

“Hey, that’s my snack, so what are you deciding on your own?”

“It’s not a big deal, I’ll eat it too.”

While they were whispering to each other, Isolte chuckled.

“It seems like Lady Sophia and Sir Orion get along really well.”

It had been explained to the servants of the Duke’s house, including Isolte, that Orion was actually a woman. This was because she was sleeping here as Sophia’s bodyguard, and unlike when she went to the castle, it would be impossible to keep her secret. They were surprised, but on the other hand, they agreed that it was reassuring to know that Orion was a woman. Apparently, they were worried about leaving a man near her mistress.

Isolte was about to go back to tell the head chef about today’s snack menu when she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yes, an invitation arrived from the castle.”

“An invitation?”

“Yes, Johannes is currently confirming the details, so soon…”

Before Isolte could finish speaking, Johannes, the butler, arrived.

Johannes smiled gently as he handed Sophia the invitation.

“It’s a dance party.”

Come to think of it, the social season had begun. As Sophia checked the invitation, she nodded in understanding, and then let out a sigh when she suddenly realized something.

“That’s too bad, Orion, I can’t dance!”

Taken in at the age of fourteen and married at sixteen, she had only spent about a year and half in the castle.

It’s not like she didn’t have a teacher for her.

However, Sophia’s education was not completely satisfactory due to various interference from the Queen and her half-sister.

Sophia had memories from her previous life for seventeen years, so she had some knowledge at least to a certain extent. However, her knowledge of what was required to live as a princess in this country, such as dance, was disastrous. This was because until she got married at the age of sixteen, Sophia never attended a ball, and the dance teacher she was supposed to have was taken away by the Queen. At most, the only thing she could dance was the folk dance she danced in her previous life. It was totally useless.

The invitation to the dance party was addressed to Randall, Duke of Voltio, but if he attended, his partner would naturally be Sophia. Because Sophia was his wife.

At the very least, the King would be furious if Randall showed up at the dance party with a woman other than his wife Sophia, even though he was newly married. Unless Randall declines the invitation to the dance party, Sophia would have to attend. And Randall wouldn’t say no. Because as the King’s nephew, he was obligated to attend the royal dance.

After Isolte and Johannes left, Sophia cried to Orion.

“I have to do something! Teach me how to dance!”

“It’s impossible, isn’t it? I can’t dance either.”

“Then what are we going to do! The dance party isn’t…well, it’s in ten days!”

“It’s game over.”

Orion said it like it’s a normal thing.

Sophia thought about strangling Orion.

“Can’t I refuse a dance party…?”

“You can’t do it, can you?”

“That’s right…”

Sophia sank limply onto the couch, clutching the invitation.

Ten days. Could she learn to dance in just ten days? If Orion wasn’t helpful, she would ask Johannes to provide a dance teacher. And if she said that Randall would be embarrassed, she was sure Johannes would arrange it right away.

“When it comes to a dance party, there’s always a wine incident, right?”

“Ah, that incident where Sophia poured red wine on Keira’s dress, right? But that’s still not two years away. And I have no intention of pouring wine on Keira’s dress.”

“That’s true. But, you don’t know what will happen, so you just have to be careful so that it doesn’t turn into something dangerous. If you make a mistake, you’ll end up in ruin, right?”

“…I’ll be careful.”

Sophia shrugged her shoulders. Sophia was the “villainess” of this world. If she was careless, as Orion said, she would meet a bad end. Just because she was able to marry Randall didn’t mean she could let her guard down. She had to aim for being a loving couple with him. They had to be such a wee-matched couple that there was not room for a condemning event to happen. But, a loving couple… The road ahead seemed long.

“…If you dance well, Randall will look at you differently, you know?”

The moment Orion said that casually, Sophia exclaimed, “That’s it!”

Randall still saw Sophia as a “commoner impostor princess”. If she behaved like a lady there, he would probably change the way he looked at Sophia!

Moreover, when it came to dancing, men and women were very close together. This was her chance to see that beautiful face up close.

Sophia suddenly felt motivated.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: