⟨1. The Extra Troublesome Villainess⟩

A hazy drizzle scattered about.

And a gloomy scene perfectly suited to this damn weather unfolded. The field where unknown flowers bloomed was defiled by the footprints of sword-bearing knights, and in a large pit, a massive monster lay sprawled disgracefully. Black blood continued to gush from the neck of the dead monster with its yellow eyes bulging wide. Blood flowed from its blunt nose, and one severed arm thrown far away twitched as if making a final struggle before soon stopping its movement.

The knights, covered head to toe in dark red blood, stabbed the monsters’ vital points in preparation for any possibility. Greg Otwin, the commander of the Imperial Knight Order who had just beheaded the monster, wiped the blood from his forearm-thick longsword with a white cloth, erasing the traces of battle. It was nothing short of carnage.

I was breathing heavily in a dazed state. I’m inside the romance novel ‘The Saintess’s Flower.’ I had worked overtime until 11 PM, was hit by a car on my tired way home, and when I opened my eyes, I was inside a romance novel I had been reading recently. And in the form of an extra troublesome villainess who torments the female lead out of jealousy and eventually dies at the hands of the male lead.

Without time to grasp the situation, I boarded a carriage heading to the Arepe Empire, and only after being attacked by monsters did I realize I was on my way to the imperial palace to hold a wedding ceremony with the crown prince. After the wedding ceremony with the crown prince, the sequence would be dying at the crown prince’s hands while being jealous of the female lead. Recalling the novel’s content, I quickly looked around. This chaotic moment before arriving at the imperial palace is my only chance to escape.

Just as I was trying to sneak away to avoid people’s gazes, the ground shook and simultaneous thumping sounds came from all directions.

“Princess! Please enter the shield quickly!”

At Greg’s urgent shout, the moment I turned my head, five or six massive monsters appeared all at once from below the hill. The monsters that appeared in an instant mercilessly struck down the knights with large wooden clubs. I was so shocked I couldn’t move at all. Greg, who had approached before I knew it, blocked my view and pushed me urgently.

“Princess! Hurry!”

Greg pointed to the shield with his blood-stained leather-gloved hand. Attendants were entering the round barrier that shimmered with a pale blue light. In the brief moment I alternately looked at Greg and the blue shield, a dark green monster entered my field of vision. The yellow-eyed monster’s target was Greg.

“Oh, what should I do. Hey, over there!”

“Please go quickly!”

Greg didn’t seem to notice the monster behind him and didn’t listen to my words, shouting once more. Then the monster swung a wooden pillar at Greg.

“It’s dangerous!”

From somewhere, courage surged up, and I threw my body to push Greg away. But instead, Greg caught me with one hand, turned me around, and stretched out his other arm to cleanly cut the wooden pillar the monster had swung in half. Before I could even let out an exclamation, Greg released me and gripped his sword with both hands.

“Please go quickly!”

At the same time, the monster’s thick forearm was cleanly severed by Greg’s blade.

“Kraaaah!”

When a bizarre groan burst from the monster’s mouth, chills ran all over my body. If this were a movie, I would have admired the thrillingly vivid CG, but being directly inside this, it was so terrifying I couldn’t breathe as my heart shrank. The thick-skinned monster with a greenish tint was overwhelmingly larger than the knights. So scary that even looking up at it was frightening. Not to mention, how big were its clenched fists? When the monster swung its arm once, a whooshing sound could be heard.

It was only fun when reading it as text, but in reality, it was deadly. No matter how I thought about it, I had to quickly escape from this crazy novel world, so I ran toward the blue shield. But I couldn’t go far. The shield was already packed full of people. Next to it, I could see attendants who couldn’t enter, stamping their feet anxiously. It was a safe place just one step away, but seeing them looking at the inside so pitifully made my feet stop automatically.

This was the problematic starting point that earned her the reputation of being a troublesome villainess, wasn’t it? Princess Arnica, who kicked out the attendants to monopolize the shield. She eventually survived the attack, but the princess who lost the people’s hearts earned the crown prince’s hatred.

Damn it! What should I do.

Then, from inside the shield, my eyes met with someone looking at me. Dazzlingly beautiful golden hair. Gem-like sparkling green eyes. A woman with a slender body yet upright posture, looking at me. The female protagonist of this novel.

‘Biella!’

While everyone was trembling with fear, only she showed no fearful look and maintained a dignified appearance. Such a woman reached out her hand toward me. As if telling me to come in quickly. I was about to be drawn in as if enchanted when I saw the blue shield barrier gradually changing to a lighter color.

Shielding this many attendants was already beyond the capacity of one mage. If I tried to enter there in such circumstances, even if they didn’t kick me out, the people inside would give up their spots first. Honestly, having died and come back to life, I didn’t want to die again. But……

How can I enter that shield just to save myself! Knowing full well that others might die or get hurt because of me.

Knowing the original content, I turned my steps and changed direction. Let’s quietly escape during this chaos and go to a very distant place. I’ll live anonymously as a very ordinary citizen who won’t die according to the original story.

As I ran in the opposite direction of the shield, Biella’s eyes, which I glimpsed, wavered roughly. I turned my head, cutting off her persistent gaze. The dense forest visible ahead was optimal for temporarily hiding. I ran with all my might. If there was an opportunity, it was while Greg and the knights were busy fighting the monsters.

The thumping sounds of the monsters’ footsteps and the chilling noise of blades cutting flesh continued to be heard. However, I ran and ran without looking back. When I reached the front of the forest, the ground shook heavily. For a moment, chills ran down my spine and I stopped right there. The moment I turned around to check the source of the sound, a huge green monster in front of me reached out its hand.

“Eek.”

I screamed and staggered backward. The knights were too busy dealing with other monsters, and I was the only one who could protect myself. But I had neither magic nor a longsword to face the monster. All I could do was pick up a long wooden stick nearby.

“Get away!”

I tried swinging the wooden stick, but the monster paid no attention and tried to snatch me with its large hand. This time, I didn’t miss the moment and struck the monster’s hand hard with the wooden stick.

“Kreoook.”

Damn it! Far from giving it a shock, I only made the monster angrier. The angry monster picked up a wooden crate nearby and threw it at me. I tried desperately to dodge but ended up tripping over something.

“Oh?”

Someone caught and embraced my body that was floating in mid-air. At the same time, my body landed on something solid. When I looked up, a man with moonlight-like gentle silver hair and deep blue eyes furrowed his brow and pulled me into his arms.

“Get down!”

He covered my head with one hand and thrust his sword toward the air with the other hand. The series of agile actions happened in the blink of an eye, and when those movements stopped, dark red blood poured down in all directions.

On the man’s spotlessly clear face, on his silver hair, and on his dark blue uniform adorned with various gold ornaments, I was entranced, staring at the man’s alien yet beautiful appearance when suddenly a musty, strange smell stung my nose.

“Ugh.”

The disgusting smell made me feel nauseous, and then tremendous pain followed. As my eyes closed in agony, I could see his deep eyes swaying greatly as if swept by waves. Eventually, darkness came.

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