In the darkness.

A tall man wrapped his thick arm around my waist, pressing his hot body against mine without any gap.

With his other hand, he carefully held my hand and whispered, his lips close to the back of my hand.

“Ever since you died, I’ve always had dreams.”

That low voice, always pleasant to hear, fell heavily.

Every time his lips moved, a hot tickle spread across my skin.

“Of burning the entire continent and staining even the last handful of soil with blood.”

The man with soft platinum blonde hair and light green eyes was named Niel Alpenhayer.

The Emperor of the New Empire, and my former fiancé who had begged to break off our engagement, saying he had fallen in love with another woman.

I stared at him blankly before frowning and opening my mouth.

“…You lunatic. Your side is currently being stained with blood, you know?”

Indeed, the man had been stabbed in the side by an assassin and was bleeding profusely.

This empire’s emperor had taken the assassin’s blade meant for me.

“If it’s for you.”

The man’s cool lips curled up into a smirk.

“If I can finally save you this time, my life is nothing.”

Unable to understand his reaction, I frowned even deeper and asked.

“You, didn’t you hate me?”

“……”

“Didn’t you say you were going to kill me?”

“……”

In response to my questions, he seemed to smile faintly without a sound, and then…

Thud!

The arm around my waist suddenly went limp, and his large body collapsed to the ground.

‘Oh no, is he dead?’

For a moment, my eyes widened in shock.

Whether he lives or dies is no longer my concern. However, the Emperor dying in my bedroom was a slightly different matter.

I had finally finished my excellent duty as a villain, died, and obtained a new life. I absolutely refuse to die again, framed as the Emperor’s assassin.

“Tsk.”

At that moment, I heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue beside me.

A man with fluffy light pink hair and golden eyes had somehow entered the room through the window.

At that moment, I heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue beside me.

A man with fluffy light pink hair and golden eyes had somehow entered the room through the window.

The strikingly pure and beautiful man was Yupheon Arne.

He was the Pope of the Holy Kingdom, feared even by the Empire’s Emperor.

“Is he dead?”

Yupheon nudged Niel’s fallen body with his foot.

A small groan came from the collapsed Niel.

Phew, thank goodness. It seems he’s not dead.

Just as I was feeling relieved.

“How disappointing. He’s on the brink of death.”

Yupheon muttered in a genuinely regretful voice.

It was unclear whether he was lamenting that Niel was injured to the point of near death, or that he was still clinging to life.

“Just die already, will you.”

He kicked Niel’s body a bit harder while smiling brightly.

A ‘Keurgh’ groan escaped from the fallen Niel.

…It seems the earlier regretful muttering was meant in the latter sense.

“Well, I can’t let this bastard owe you a debt.”

Unlike his pure appearance, the words flowing from his lips were somewhat vulgar.

A golden sphere that bloomed from his palm seeped into Niel’s side, instantly healing the wound completely.

Color returned to Niel’s pale face, and his breathing quickly became as peaceful as if he were asleep.

Watching silently, I widened my eyes in surprise.

I knew that Yupheon, as the Pope of the Holy Kingdom, was called ‘the man loved by God’ and wielded infinite holy power.

But this gentle, reverent energy now emanating from Niel’s body wasn’t holy power, but rather…

‘Life force?’

My face instantly turned pale.

“Yupheon, you, you…!”

Life force was not within the realm of power that humans could handle.

Even Yuria, the saint who was the protagonist of this world, couldn’t handle this domain.

The only being who could handle life force was Arne, the chief god.

“How did you get this power?”

“Well, this…”

Yupheon trailed off with a strange expression in response to my question.

“I killed God.”

Then he smiled softly, his eyes forming crescents.

“The damn God who gave the oracle to kill you, I mean.”

Unlike his gently curved eyes, his once holy and pure golden eyes were now gleaming wildly.

“What? If you, as the Pope, killed God… then you are now…!”

“Yes, that’s right. Yuphe is now unemployed.”

“No, that’s not the issue…”

“With God dead, the believers will leave, and the priests will turn their backs. Poor Yuphe, left with nothing, will starve to death.”

Yupheon lowered his eyes sadly and pulled my hand.

Then he rubbed his cheek against my palm.

“So Jella should take responsibility for poor Yuphe. Okay?”

It was a lovable gesture, like a puppy wagging its tail, seemingly asking for praise.

Seeing this, I had a gut feeling.

It seems this world is doomed.

‘Emperor, Pope…’

An Emperor who wants to stain the entire continent with blood.

A Pope who wags his tail saying he killed the ‘damn God’.

This world is beyond hope.

‘I need to escape from here first.’

I swallowed hard and steeled my resolve.

“Zella?”

Sensing something odd from me, Yupheon tilted his head and called out to me.

Grin.

When I smiled back at him, Yupheon, not knowing why, smiled brightly in return.

And at that moment.

As my fingertips brushed against his hair, he suddenly fell into a deep sleep.

Thud!

Yupheon’s body fell next to Niel.

Immediately wiping the smile off my face, I quietly gazed at the two men lying face down on the floor before turning my body abruptly.

Just as I was about to leap out the window to escape from these handsome lunatics, now with added power to their craziness—

“Where are you going?”

I felt a solid man’s body embracing me tightly from behind.

Along with a fluttering breath, the smell of blood hit me strongly.

Thud! Thump!

The remaining assassins prowling outside instantly became corpses, falling to the ground below.

The man gently held me in his arms as he slowly landed.

Only when his toes touched the ground could I turn my head to see his face.

In fact, even before turning my head, I recognized who it was from the low, gravelly voice, the subtle scent beneath the pungent smell of blood, and the fluttering breath.

‘Cain Aleret.’

Silver-white hair gleaming under the moonlight. Cold and transparent blue eyes.

My noble knight who resented me until his last breath, the one who killed me.

Splattered across that cold, beautiful face was red blood that wasn’t his own.

He looked into my eyes and muttered in a bitter voice.

“You were trying to disappear again.”

His rough hand stroked my cheek.

“Uh, yeah. No? That’s not it?”

I awkwardly rolled my eyes, trying to change the subject.

He smiled faintly.

“Liar.”

He clearly didn’t believe a word I said.

“Really, I never tried to disappear…”

Thump.

His head fell onto my shoulder.

He buried his face against me, nuzzling his head.

“Please, don’t disappear again. Jella.”

Just as he whispered to me in a chillingly gentle voice.

Boom!

With a thunderous sound, a mountain behind him flew away…?

“Wait. Did a mountain fly…!”

As I exclaimed in surprise, I met his eyes as he lifted his head.

And in that moment our gazes met, I had to swallow my breath.

If you disappear again, this time I’ll surely strangle you with my own hands. You’ll die, and I’ll die too, Jella.

Cain was looking at me with eyes that seemed to say just that.

Unfortunately, covered in the assassins’ blood, his appearance felt even more brutal and chilling.

As I unknowingly stiffened, he gently covered my eyes with his large palm.

Then, he threatened me with the sweetest voice in the world.

“This peaceful world achieved through your death…”

“…”

“…Don’t make me destroy it with my own hands.”

Boom!

With a deafening noise, a flash of light pierced through the gaps between the fingers covering my eyes.

The ground shook with a fierce wind.

This was a warning.

If I tried to run away one more time, he would blow away not just one mountain, but this entire world.

‘Damn it.’

…I tried to escape from the crazy ones, only to find an even crazier one waiting.

‘Where did these bastards go wrong in the first place?’

I’m supposed to be the villain of this world!

You guys are supposed to be the male leads who help the female protagonist defeat me!

And you’ve already killed me once!

Despite hating and resenting me!

‘I was just trying to live peacefully for once, why are you interfering?!’

I swallowed my curses and ruminated on my connection… or rather, ill-fated relationship with them.

So, it all started with that damned destiny when I was reincarnated as the final villain in this cursed 19+ reverse harem novel.

***

The Imperial Princess who devoured her parents with overwhelming magical power from birth, Jella Shunaibel.

That was my name.

On the day I was born, an explosive burst of magical energy claimed the lives of my parents and numerous others in the imperial palace.

After my father, the Emperor, passed away, my uncle who ascended to the throne as the new Emperor feared me.

Eventually, unable to handle my magical power, the imperial family entrusted me, still an infant, to the Pope of the Holy Kingdom.

I spent my early childhood in the Holy Kingdom under the guidance of Johannes, who was the Pope at the time.

After I turned eight and learned to control the outbursts of magical power, I was able to return to the Empire.

It seemed like I was growing up as a normal imperial princess in the Empire, but suddenly, as the dragon residing in my heart awakened, memories of my past life surfaced.

So, I’m living my second life now, and I remembered that I had been reincarnated as ‘Jella Shunaibel’, the villain from the 19+ reverse harem novel ‘Three Heroes Visit the Saint’s Bedroom’ that I used to enjoy reading in my past life.

‘Even in a new life, I’m destined to die as the villain!’

The problem wasn’t simply being possessed by a villain who disrupted world peace and ruled with tyranny.

If that were the only issue, I could just refrain from tyranny and live kindly.

The problem was the dragon residing in my heart.

The ancient dragon Helasio, is said to have been sealed by the first Emperor of Shunaibel after receiving a divine revelation!

‘Jella Shunaibel’ was a doomed villain destined to go berserk due to the dragon, nearly bringing the world to the brink of destruction before being defeated by the protagonists of the original story.