“My lady, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s still too much for your body to go out…”

The concerned personal maid tried to dissuade her, but Raylin firmly lifted herself up.

“I need a change of pace.”

At her unusually resolute tone, the maid swallowed a sigh but quickly set about making preparations.

“Oh, did you remember to deliver the letter?”

As Raylin stepped out the door, she asked, and the maid promptly responded.

“Yes, of course. I sent it to the Crown Prince’s palace the moment you gave it to me, and his aide confirmed receipt.”

“Good. And was there a reply?”

“There wasn’t.”

At the expected response, Raylin simply nodded, as if she had anticipated it.

As the carriage made its way toward the central streets of the capital, Raylin once again recalled the conclusion she had reached after agonizing over it for the past two days.

Possession, then regression. This was the third life she had obtained.

Whether the fact that she had died twice and received a third chance was a blessing or a curse, she did not know, nor did she wish to dwell on such philosophical questions.

She only struggled with one thing—how she should live this life.

Before her regression, she had followed the original story faithfully.

She had hoped that once everything was over, she could finally live freely, but at the same time, she saw no real need to disrupt the original plot.

It wasn’t as if she was fated to meet a gruesome end or die a tragic death in the original. On the contrary, as the greatest ally of the heroine who had possessed the villainess, she was set to walk an easy path paved with flowers.

…She just hadn’t known it would end in catastrophe.

Her previous life had ended in a tragic death, and this new life had been granted to her like a gift.

Naturally, she had abandoned the idea of following the original storyline this time.

The first thing to verify was whether or not the original story exerted any kind of force over this world. However, upon reflecting on her past life, she realized that even if such a force existed, it was not particularly strong.

After all, how many people who get transported into a novel can recall every single detail of the original story with perfect accuracy?

Those who could must have some special ability—

For example, a flawless memory that never forgets anything they’ve seen, the ability to summon and reread the original story at will, or an obsessive dedication to the source material, having read it dozens or even hundreds of times until they could recite it in their sleep.

But Raylin was nothing more than an ordinary reader.

She only remembered the rough outline of the plot and a few key points. Even those key points were more like inferences based on her past life rather than direct memories of the story.

In her previous life, she had followed the original storyline, but she could never say that she had been exactly the same as the “Raylin Greuga” of the novel.

And yet, the story had still progressed smoothly along its major plot points, which meant that the original’s influence was neither absolute nor overpowering.

Having decided to disregard the original story, Raylin now had two choices.

The first was to escape from the original storyline entirely.

It wouldn’t be difficult. The original story was not on the scale of world destruction or continental war. As long as she left the Reinhardt Empire—the main setting—she would be free.

If she had already established ties with Catherine and gotten entangled in the plot, things would be different, but at this point, they hadn’t even met yet. She could leave at any time.

She might be the cherished daughter of Duke Greuga and his only direct heir, but due to her frail health, her parents had already decided to adopt the most capable of their distant relatives as the family’s successor.

In short, her comfortable life was already secured.

Under such circumstances, she could completely cast aside the original story, spend her days in leisure, and avoid any involvement with the major characters. Survival wouldn’t be an issue.

And yet, Raylin had decided to abandon that easy path.

No matter how luxurious a place she stayed in, no matter how exquisite the things she saw, heard, or ate, it was obvious that only her body would be comfortable.

Just a few days ago, in her previous life, she had given everything she had—her heart, her loyalty, even her life—to Catherine.

And in the end, Catherine had killed her.

How could she ever forget that?

The saying that “time heals all wounds” held no meaning for Raylin.

Moreover…

“Julia.”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The name had slipped out like a sigh.

The heroine of The Reincarnated Villainess Breaks Off Her Engagement.

Julia Everett.

She had done nothing wrong.

Unlike the heroines in other villainess-possession novels, who turned out to have vile personalities that were concealed through narrative tricks, or who were foolishly meddlesome and incapable of adapting to new circumstances, Julia was neither.

As the original heroine, she had clashed with Catherine and the male lead, Theron, several times. However, she was inherently kind and intelligent, so those conflicts had passed without serious issues.

That was likely why Julia had such a minor role in the book.

Even if she had not ended up with Theron, she would have lived well.

That is, if Catherine, driven mad by delusions of betrayal, hadn’t killed her.

In her past life, Raylin had never personally harmed Julia.

In fact, she had never been directly involved with any of the people Catherine had eliminated.

She had merely done her duty as Catherine’s most powerful ally and supporter.

But she could not deny that her assistance had led to the spilling of Julia’s blood—

And the blood of many others who had been entirely innocent.

When watching movies or dramas, there are often scenes where people who have harmed someone frantically wash their hands.

They scrub so intensely that their hands turn red or, in extreme cases, even peel, but their hands are already clean.

That’s because only they can see the blood that stains them.

Raylin clasped her hands together and quietly gazed down at her palms.

She couldn’t see any blood.

There was no metallic scent, nor did she feel any obsessive need to wash them.

And yet, she was well aware that her hands were stained with blood.

One may escape punishment, but never their sins.

To wash away that blood, Raylin had no choice but to intervene in the original story.

To dive deep into the world of Re.Vil.Bre, where the female lead had possessed the protagonist—

To ensure that Catherine could do nothing to Julia Everett.

Yes. The goal of this third chance she had been given was to destroy the original story.

Of course, since she couldn’t be sure such a golden opportunity would come again, she would have to do everything in her power to avoid dying along the way.

Raylin noticed the maid repeatedly parting her lips as if hesitant to speak since the carriage had started moving. She gestured with her chin.

“Just say it.”

“…Will you be all right?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me. I just feel a little sluggish.”

“I’m worried about your health, of course, but also… about His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Oh. That.”

Raylin’s indifferent response made the maid anxiously stomp her feet.

“What are you so worried about? Because of the rumors that His Highness is a bloodthirsty demon?”

“My lady!”

The maid paled far more than Raylin, who had uttered words that could be considered treasonous without a second thought.

“There’s no one here but you to hear me. Even the emperor gets cursed at when he’s not around.”

Resting her elbow on the window frame and propping up her chin, Raylin continued.

“As his fiancée, I have to meet him at least once a month. Today is the only chance I have this month, so I have to go. And has His Highness ever harmed me or treated me cruelly?”

“Uh… No.”

The trembling maid searched her memory, then shook her head with a puzzled expression.

“See? He’s not like the rumors say.”

Of course, she couldn’t say he was completely different, either.

The Crown Prince of the Reinhardt Empire.

The only son of the emperor and the late empress.

The villain of Re.Vil.Bre.

There were many ways to describe him, but the most striking was “genius.”

A talent bestowed by the heavens, yet an ominous calamity cast aside by them.

His brilliance, unparalleled not just in the empire but across the entire continent, extended beyond any single field.

He astonished the continent’s greatest scholars and defeated one of the top three strongest warriors, taking his place.

And he supposedly orchestrated an unimaginable festival of blood, beyond anything ordinary people could even conceive.

That’s right.

The stories about him reveling in stabbing people to death with skewers, or collecting children’s blood to bathe in or drink—

All of them were just rumors.

No one had ever verified them, yet at some point, they had spread so widely that they were treated as facts.

Since the Crown Prince neither denied nor actively refuted them, the malicious rumors surrounding him had only grown more exaggerated over the years.

But why had such nonsense spread so openly? And why didn’t the Crown Prince stop it?

Even in her previous life, Raylin had wondered about this, but she hadn’t looked too deeply into it.

After all, the biggest turning point that led her to become Catherine’s doormat had been her broken engagement with the Crown Prince.

Once that connection was severed, she had no reason to be involved with such a confirmed villain.

She had only ever assisted Catherine from behind the scenes, never taking direct action, meaning her interactions with the Crown Prince had been practically nonexistent.

Wait… a villain?

Wasn’t he the one standing in direct opposition to Catherine, the protagonist?

The Crown Prince, huh.

Could she use him?

For such a baseless rumor to spread so persistently and systematically, there had to be someone orchestrating it.

And with the imperial authority still strong, there was only one person who could pull off such a scheme against a Crown Prince with both noble status and remarkable abilities.

The Emperor.

The Crown Prince’s own father, a power-hungry tyrant who viewed his only son as a political enemy.

Their conflict was an open secret known to anyone with eyes and ears.

And between the two of them, the weaker one was the Crown Prince.

A desperate man will always have needs.

And she had exactly what he needed.

Yes. She could use him.

She might be able to take on Catherine alone, but she couldn’t guarantee a perfect victory.

So, just as Catherine had done in Raylin’s previous life, she needed to find an ally.

But an ordinary person wouldn’t be of much help.

Only someone of the Crown Prince’s caliber—Aiger Reinhardt, the imperial heir—could stand against that wicked lunatic.

Of course, if she based it on Re.Vil.Bre. and her past life, Aiger himself was no less of a lunatic.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—

And a lunatic for a lunatic.