The Villainess Who Looks Like a Little Girl Is in the Arms of the Ice Prince (Who Is Sometimes Cute) - Chapter 1

“Are you saying I should become the Imperial Crown Prince’s fiancée? In place of Her Highness the Princess?”

“Not exactly in place. They want you to marry him while pretending to be Her Highness the Princess.”

Summoned to the Duke Logier’s study in our mansion, I—Yuliana Logier, daughter of Duke Logier widened my eyes upon hearing my father’s words.

Our kingdom of Chevran, though small, possesses rare gemstone resources. We’ve lived prosperously by exporting them to other nations.

However, the Barling Empire, growing in power to our west, has been flexing its immense military might while coveting our resources, creating tension along the border.

If they chose to take by force, a small nation like Chevran would be crushed in an instant.

But our kingdom has a legend. “The treasures of the sea are protected only by the royal family descended from the Sea God.”

Whenever our kingdom faced invasion and the threat of destruction, records show the Jewel Spring—a deep, transparent spring with raw gemstones at its bottom, whose location is known only to a select few would cloud over, making gem extraction impossible. Thus, we’ve survived as an inviolable territory.

Now, the Empire has made an offer to send the Princess as a bride.

Though called an offer, the military disparity is like heaven and earth. It’s closer to a threat.

Our ducal house is called orthodox for descending from the royal bloodline, but the king’s blood runs quite thin in us.

If the Empire wants Chevran royal blood, I hardly seem suitable. The Empire should want the Princess herself.

“Her Highness is four years old. I am eighteen. Pretending is impossible.”

“I know, Yuliana.”

I stared intently at my father, Duke Logier, his brow furrowed. The purple eye color appears only in this kingdom’s royal family, and our house has inherited it too.

The Princess has golden hair. I also have golden hair and purple eyes. Our features bear a faint resemblance, but it’s merely that of distant relatives, and above all, our ages cannot be hidden. As I pondered this, my father uttered another shocking statement.

“The Witch of Time, Castehelmi, will make you four years old, Yuliana. The ritual will be held on the next full moon night at the Sea King Temple.”

“Tha—That’s absurd!”

Though he didn’t say whose orders, I could infer it was directly from His Majesty the King, given it was already proceeding as a decided matter.

In that case, there was no room for me to protest.

“I’m sorry. When told it’s to protect the country, there’s nothing I can do.”

“I see.”

I quickly calculated in my head.

We cannot hand over our kingdom’s resources to the Empire. If they’re scheming to incorporate the Sea God’s bloodline, we must offer the most diluted blood.

Even if we deceive and delay, who knows how long we can escape? If the plot is exposed, someone like me would likely be beheaded immediately. But right now, it seemed the only way.

“Become four years old? Me?”

“Yuliana. Your memories and everything will remain unchanged. Only your appearance will change, they say.”

“Frankly, having my memories erased too would be easier.”

“…It’s your intelligence that made you the chosen one, Yuli.”

“A matter of phrasing, I suppose.”

There are indeed no other unmarried young ladies with the same coloring besides me. However, changing the coloring of a lady the Princess’s age would be far easier than turning back time.

“A glorified exile. That’s how I interpret it.”

“Tha—That’s not…”

My father’s attitude confirmed my statement.

Though it might sound presumptuous, I am more politically astute than the Prince raised in this small kingdom’s lukewarm atmosphere, and I’ve achieved more in diplomacy and social matters than the Marquis’s daughter who is the Prince’s fiancée.

‘The Salon run by Duke Logier’s daughter’ is famous for gathering scions of prominent families from within and outside the kingdom, meaning I also hold various pieces of information.

I am aware that my efforts to somehow support the kingdom from within were viewed unfavorably.

“Honestly. I’ve advised them before that studying would serve them better than pulling others down.”

“Yuliana.”

“Yes. This is truly what you call a ‘tongue calamity.’ My own doing, my own fault.”

Thinking of the Marquis’s daughter Iness, with her pale pink hair and blue eyes; I felt gloomy.

She constantly clung to the Prince’s arm, pressing her ample bosom against him while puffing her cheeks and yapping at me, which was irritating. While my family rank is higher, she acts superior, flaunting her status as the Prince’s fiancée.

(Ugh, bothersome.)

Perhaps this is a good opportunity, I shifted my mindset.

“Father. Thank you for raising me until now. For the sake of the kingdom’s resources, I shall offer myself.”

“Yuli… I’m sorry, but I’m counting on you.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t trust the Duke either, who looked at me with apologetically drooping brows.

Beneath this father’s surface swirls calculations of profit and loss. He’s the kind of man who would easily sacrifice his daughter to create a lifelong debt owed to him by His Majesty the King.

And I fully acknowledge that I’ve strongly inherited that blood.

“Then, I shall take my leave.”

After a proper curtsy, I left the room and returned to my chambers.

As the maid opened the door, my attendant Enzo was organizing delivered letters. He looked up quickly and greeted me with a teasing tone.

“Ooh? That face tells me it was quite the ‘yabai’ story, doesn’t it?”

“Enzo.”

With long black hair hanging by his face, tied back into one bundle, and eyes that always seemed closed—slits—the thirty-year-old attendant.

He is the one and only person in this house I trust.

“Hmm. Shall I make some tea?”

His peculiar way of speaking hasn’t changed since we met over a decade ago in a corner of the royal capital. The strange intonation and unique sentence endings aren’t from this country. According to Enzo, he is an ‘Otherworldly Transferee’ who came to this country from a nation called Japan in another world. This place is a ‘game’ world. Moreover, I have the role of the ‘Villainess Noble Lady,’ a character who, no matter what she does, is condemned and meets a ‘Nani Sore?’ (What’s that?) kind of ending.

In reality, Enzo saved me when I was about to be killed by robbers. Since then, things have happened just as he predicted, like a ‘scenario.’

“Please.”

Recognizing the signal for a private attendant’s talk, I instructed the maid to withdraw.

“Alright then, I’ll make it a strong~ Darjeeling~”

Seeing me plop down onto the sofa placed before the study desk, Enzo grinned, raising the corners of his mouth.

“You look tired, don’t you?”

“…Hey. In this ‘game scenario,’ was there a story where I become four years old and marry into the Empire?”

“Hah!?”

Enzo froze mid-motion, holding the teapot.

“That’s from the ‘Reader-Submitted Another Story’ contest winner, isn’t it? Sure was a messy development, that one. So, Master, that means it’s happening, right?”

“Messy… Yes. They say we’ll perform the ritual with the Witch of Time, Castehelmi.”

“Gugeh. Bullseye~. Never thought we’d head down that scenario. Wonder if crushing all other possibilities was good or bad.”

Enzo spoke with certainty, poured the contents into a cup, and handed me the saucer.

The aromatic tea leaves and the deep amber liquid looked delicious.

Enzo is also my guard, taught magic and swordsmanship by the Witch of Time, Castehelmi.

“‘Bad,’ you say?”

“Gotta handle this with full effort, or things could get dangerous again, you know.”

“Is that so?”

“Young Lady, you’ll trust me, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

As the villainess, I’ve faced life-threatening dangers many times, and each time, I was saved by Enzo’s quick thinking.

That is the biggest reason I trust him.

“What about you? Won’t you be in danger again? Don’t push yourself.”

He, who continued to help me even at risk to himself, laughed as if it were nothing.

“Haven’t I told ya many times? I’m a super fan of the smart and strong Lady Yuliana. Hee hee.”

Apparently, Enzo loved the character Yuliana from the story but could never accept her unfortunate fate. He wished for me to be happy.

“Thank you, Enzo.”

“No problem. Hmm, let’s see, the Empire’s Crown Prince was a ruthless, merciless, utterly wicked and heinous ice mage. No matter how you look at it, it’s a death flag~. As expected.”

“Hey. That doesn’t make me happy, you know?”

“Kekekeke.”

Yet another life-threatening crisis had arrived, but with Enzo, I believed we could overcome it again.

I took a sip of my tea and steeled myself.

“So, tell me about that utterly wicked and heinous Crown Prince.”