The Reincarnated Villainess Whose Romantic Trauma From Her Past Life Is Too Strong Is Sweetly and Painfully Doted On by the Prince of the Neighboring Country - Chapter 8

“What the hell is with that woman!?”

Thump! Lily hurled a cushion at the floor with all her might.

This was the royal waiting room prepared for Lily or to be more precise, it was the room originally intended for Cherie.

“So annoying! So annoying! I said it’s annoying! Why is that woman with Salute!?”

She ground her heel into the fallen cushion, trampling it viciously. If this cushion were Cherie, she might feel a bit better, but since the object of her rage remained silent no matter how hard she stomped, her frustration only mounted. The servants standing by in the room looked the other way, pretending to see nothing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

“Haah… haah…! That… damn woman…!”

After that farce at the ball, Wraith had been summoned and led away by the King. Lily had whined and begged to go with him, but the King had flatly rejected her, saying it was a “discussion for royalty only.”

(If the King told Wraith to break up with the ‘Maiden of Flower-Binding’ because of this…)

The road to becoming Queen, which had been progressing so smoothly, would go up in smoke. Lily gnawed irritably on her thumb nail and continued to stomp on the cushion as she thought.

(If I could just capture the King—no, that’s no good. Even if I could, I have zero interest in an old man.)

In that case, she needed someone with authority equal to or greater than the King’s.

With that thought, Salute suddenly flashed into her mind.

(That’s it! Of course! I just have to capture Salute instead!)

She would make Salute her main target and keep Wraith as a plaything on the side.

If she won Salute over, she could become the Princess Consort of Trigea, a nation even more powerful than Dortmund. Furthermore, if she worked hard to push Salute onto the throne afterward, Lily would finally be the Queen of a great empire.

(What do you know! It’s simpler and easier than I thought!)

Until now, even if she wanted to capture Salute, she couldn’t because he hadn’t even appeared in the story yet, giving her no chance to approach him. However, as infuriating as it was, his appearance on the public stage alongside Cherie had created an opening.

(That woman. She really pisses me off, but in that sense, she might have actually done a good job for me.)

While recalling the hated Cherie, she pictured Salute standing beside her. Unlike Wraith, who had a somewhat cynical and cool vibe, Salute’s face was that of a gentle and elegant “beautiful youth.”

(—That character. Despite being a hidden character, I’m pretty sure he was the most popular one.)

She imagined that innocent, pure, beautiful young face becoming stained with lust for her, desperately begging for her love. Just the thought of it sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

(…Wow. That’s amazing. This might actually get fun.)

Now that she had decided, Salute would be the target of her morning prayers starting tomorrow. In this world, just like in the original game, the Heroine’s daily prayers increase the “Affection Level” of the target she prays for. It doesn’t skyrocket from a single prayer, but doing it steadily every day adds up to something significant. Until now, she had spread her prayers among the various capture targets before narrowing it down to Wraith, but from now on, she would focus entirely on Salute.

As she was planning this, there was a knock-knock at the door.

“Lily, are you in there? It’s me.”

—It was Wraith.

“Lord Wraith…!”

The moment she opened the door, Lily transformed from her state of rage into a seemingly fragile and lovely young lady.

“Lord Wraith, are you okay? Did the King scold you…!?”

Lily clung to him, even conjuring a thin veil of tears in her eyes as if she had been worried sick.

“…No, I’m fine. His Majesty understood everything.”

Wraith said this and patted Lily on the shoulder.

“Is that true? I was so worried that I had left a bad impression on His Majesty.”

“Haha, not at all. No one would speak ill of you, the Maiden of Flower-Binding.”

(—Thank goodness.)

Seeing Wraith’s demeanor, Lily breathed a sigh of relief. For now, it seemed his affection level was stable, which gave her a great sense of security.

“…Then, is it okay if I don’t keep my distance from you, Lord Wraith?”

“Of course. His Majesty even told me to continue assisting you as a [Knight of the Flower Basket].”

The [Knights of the Flower Basket] Wraith mentioned were the equivalent of the “Capture Targets” in this game.

Originally, the game followed a heroine chosen from the commoners as the Maiden of Flower-Binding. She would enroll in Saint Grossis Academy and progress through the story by cooperating with the Knights of the Flower Basket to purify miasma and solve various problems.

“…Still, I wonder where Lord Salute and Lady Cherie met.”

When Lily murmured this, Wraith seemed to recall the earlier farce and frowned in displeasure.

“…Truly. But Cherie is something else, too. She didn’t have to bring up the annulment in such a way, making a public spectacle of it.”

Wraith spat the words out bitterly. However, since he was the one who had first declared the annulment in the very public setting of the academy garden, blaming Cherie for this was completely hypocritical. Regardless, Lily continued.

“Lord Wraith. I wonder if I could apologize to Prince Salute?”

“Apologize? For what?”

Wraith knit his brows at the sudden suggestion. Lily played the part of a timid, weak woman as she replied.

“As things stand, Prince Salute will continue to think you are a bad person who unilaterally called off the engagement. But you didn’t do it because you’re bad; you did it because you were thinking of me. I thought if I told him that myself, I could clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Lily…”

Moved by Lily’s claim that she was doing this purely for his sake, Wraith spoke up.

“…You’re right. In any case, I need to introduce you to Prince Salute as the Maiden of Flower-Binding. I’ll see if I can arrange a formal meeting.”

As he told her this, Wraith had no idea she was gloating inwardly.

(Great. Now I have a connection to Salute. If I have that, then surely, the Salute Route will open up for me.)

The “alpha-type” hero Wraith wasn’t bad, but Lily personally preferred the orthodox, “refreshing prince-type” like Salute. Recalling Salute’s appearance at the ball, delusions of him began to bubble up in Lily’s mind.

‘Lily. Don’t look at other men. Look only at me.’

‘Lily. Tell me, how can I make you mine and mine alone?’

(Ooh… so good…!)

Delusional thoughts of Salute surrendering to her filled Lily with an irresistible sense of triumph.

Hiding her exhilaration behind a mask of gratitude toward Wraith, she played the part of being deeply moved. “Lord Wraith, thank you!” she cried, throwing her arms around him.

(Ah, this is fun. Being the heroine is the best.)

Everything.

Lily had no doubt that this world existed solely for her sake. To her, this world was not reality, but merely an extension of a game.

Without realizing that the countdown to her own destruction had already begun.

The clock was ticking, second by second.