The chandelier’s light sparkled across the gilded floor of the luxurious banquet hall.

While elegant music played, the nobles were enjoying their time with dance and conversation.

Until the ‘villainess’ appeared.

Creeeak… BANG!

The door, which had been smooth until just moments ago, opened wide with an ominous sound.

At the same time, the music cut off abruptly.

Everyone in the banquet hall stared at the newcomer with eyes like startled rabbits.

Flowing long golden hair.

Upturned eyes and ruby-red pupils.

Stubbornly pressed crimson lips, and a body as delicate as a paper sheet fluttering in a gentle breeze.

“Lady Calliphe Offensa?”

Someone muttered with an undertone of ‘why are you here,’ but the villainess, Calliphe, didn’t even glance in that direction.

She simply advanced forward without hesitation, staring at just one place.

Click, click, click.

The sound of heels at an ominous pace.

Finally, she stopped in front of a middle-aged man. It was Baron Abnormal, who donated yearly for poor children.

“Oh. Good evening, Lady Offensa. We met a few days ago. Do you remember me?”

“Of course.”

“This is an honor. But what brings you here today?”

“I have a gift for the Baron.”

“Oh, a gift?”

Just as the Baron wore a pleased expression.

Splash!

Calliphe poured wine all over Baron Abnormal’s face!

“Gasp!”

“Oh my!”

Sounds of people drawing in their breath could be heard everywhere.

Baron Abnormal, coming to his senses, raised his voice.

“L-Lady Offensa. What is the meaning of this!”

“Keep your cost-effectiveness in check, Baron.”

“What do you mean by cost-effectiveness?”

“The children.”

The Baron flinched. Calliphe’s eyes grew cold.

Feeling guilty, are we?

“When you came to the Duke’s mansion, you were examining the young servants very carefully.”

“Th-that was just because the children were cute…!”

“Ah, so cute that you send them to be mine workers?”

To extract ore found only in narrow mine crevices, they needed miners with small bodies like children.

And this bastard, Baron Abnormal, was the type who would only select orphans with no relatives to send to the mines, so he wouldn’t need to compensate in case of accidents.

‘In other words, my young protagonist could have fallen into this bastard’s hands.’

Drip, drip.

While pouring the remaining wine over the Baron’s head, her crimson lips whispered.

“Don’t touch the kids again. You piece of sh*t.”

“What…!”

“Consider this a warning.”

Calliphe tossed her handkerchief at the Baron’s face and turned around.

Only then did the Baron’s anger explode.

“How dare such an unruly ruffian!”

Having lost his reason, he charged at Calliphe’s back.

Compared to his thick build, Calliphe was like a dried twig. It seemed obvious she would fall ungracefully if he just turned her around forcefully.

Some people were already preparing to snicker.

But at the moment the Baron’s hand was about to grab Calliphe’s shoulder.

[‘Synchronizing with Calliphe’]

[‘Performing Calliphe’s role’]

A system window appeared before Calliphe’s eyes.

Simultaneously, pushed by an invisible force, Calliphe stumbled on her own, causing her upper body to tilt sideways.

The Baron’s grasp passed through where Calliphe’s shoulder had been.

“Huh…?!”

“…!”

Everyone’s eyes grew round like frogs’.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Though there was no more forced movement, Calliphe’s motions flowed like water. Her defensive instincts, triggered by the threat, moved to counterattack.

Calliphe planted one foot behind her for balance and spun around.

Her body rotated with fierce speed, and simultaneously her arm swung savagely.

At the end of that path was the Baron’s cheek.

SLAP!

A crisp, clear sound of impact.

The stocky Baron Abnormal staggered with his head turned to the side. In contrast, the slender Calliphe stood without a single tremor, her hand still raised.

If anything, she looked so elegant that observers couldn’t help but admire her.

“…!”

“…!”

A breathtaking silence descended.

Not just the Baron, but everyone else stood with their mouths agape.

So they didn’t notice.

The fact that the seemingly composed Calliphe was trying hard to hide her pounding heart.

‘Wow… They said Calliphe’s specialty was hitting people.’

She really hits well.

That wasn’t all. Years of accumulated experience in the body were showing Calliphe the Baron’s weak points. It was like the intuition of a veteran in their field.

In this case, a veteran villainess.

Following this instinct-like sense, Calliphe jabbed her sharp heel into the side of the Baron’s knee.

“What are you looking at? Kneel.”

“Ughh.”

The Baron fell to his knees with a deflating sound.

“Remember this. This is the eye level between you and me.”

Hmph. With an arrogant snort, Calliphe lifted her chin and left the banquet hall.

Immediately, a new system window appeared.

[Number 15. ‘Illegal Mine Worker’ route has been blocked.]

Good. I’ve eliminated one of Noah’s bad endings.

Since I did such a good deed, maybe…!

“Check available routes for me.”

[‘Routes available to Calliphe’:

―Villainess’s End (Death)

―Price of Neglect (Death)

―Family’s Shame (Death)]

Nothing changed!

“I did a good deed! Give me just one survival route, please!”

Calliphe clutched her beautiful golden hair in frustration.

* * *

Calliphe Offensa.

The only direct descendant of the prestigious magical Offensa Marquis family.

The golden rose of high society, famous for her brilliant and beautiful appearance and merciless hand.

But the most important fact was that she was a minor villain character appearing in the raising simulation game <My Little Noah>.

<My Little Noah>, or <Marino> for short, was a game where the player becomes a guardian to raise an orphan boy named Noah and aims to see various endings.

Before meeting his guardian, Noah spends difficult times at the Offensa Marquis household.

All because of the villainess Calliphe.

Despite being the only direct descendant of the Offensa Marquis family, Calliphe had been pushed aside from succession.

Obsessed with this, Calliphe brought in an orphan boy, claiming she would sponsor him to look good to the family head.

That was Noah.

But she couldn’t score points with such an obvious ploy.

In the end, Calliphe, who only earned public ridicule, blamed Noah and cut off all attention.

The details of what hardships the neglected Noah went through in the Marquis household weren’t shown.

It was all just backstory before the game began.

But evil must be punished.

Calliphe dies in every ending.

Sometimes by accident, sometimes by Noah’s hands, and sometimes by the hands of Noah’s caring mentor…

In other words, ‘Calliphe’ was a role destined to die.

That would be me.

‘To think I’d be transmigrated into such a all-show-no-substance character!’

What’s worse, when I first transmigrated, my body wasn’t my own.

Like being forced to become an actor, my mouth and body performed ‘Calliphe’s’ role on their own.

So I ended up rejecting Noah against my will.

“You filthy rat! I took you in from the orphanage, and you steal my earrings? How long are you going to deny it?”

“N-no. Sob. Please just listen to me once, please…”

“Shut up!”

Splash!

“Useless thing. You there! Get rid of this rat immediately!”

“N-no. I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Lady Calliphe!”

…And so Noah was driven out, drenched in cold tea.

Watching that, she was going crazy inside.

‘Thankfully, Noah didn’t leave the Marquis house completely. He just moved from the main building to the servants’ quarters.’

Anyway, from that day on, I strongly resisted whenever my body moved on its own.

As a result, finally, a few days ago I became able to move as I wished. Most of the time, that is.

“My lady. Are… are you sending another gift today?”

“Yes.”

Thanks to that, I could secretly send gifts to Noah like a Daddy Long Legs, or rather, a Mommy Long Legs.

‘Calliphe is 24, but to a child’s eyes, I must look like an old lady.’

Based on what I learned about Noah’s preferences from the game, I said:

“Six strawberry croissants with plenty of whipped cream, four cinnamon scones topped with strawberry jam. And eight crème brûlées garnished with strawberries.”

“Shall I send it anonymously again?”

“…”

I pondered for a moment.

‘Even if I send it under my name, it would only make Noah more wary.’

I had already accused him of being a thief and poured tea on him. That must have been a death flag, as I could confirm Calliphe’s death endings from then on.

It was too late to run away now. Among Calliphe’s endings, there was even one where she dies after running away.

If this were really just a game, that would be the end of it.

But.

‘This is reality now, isn’t it?’

Maybe I could change things. After all, hadn’t I regained control of my body after two weeks of desperate effort!

So first, I needed to make amends for what I’d done to Noah.

“Yes, anonymously.”

“…Again as ‘Supreme Golden-Haired Fairy’?”

“Yes.”

“…Very well. Then I’ll…”

“Wait. Add a card this time.”

I wrote a short message on a small card and handed it to the maid.

I’m always watching over you. Fighting!

The maid’s face turned pale when she saw the card.

“Does this mean you’re always monitoring him so struggling is useless…?”

What? Though I was dumbfounded, I ended this conversation politely instead of arguing.

“Get out quickly.”

“Yes!”

The maid ran away in a hurry.

I looked in the mirror. The Calliphe in the mirror was a beauty with golden hair like sunshine and sharp features like a rose.

At least she had an outstanding face.

‘With looks this good, I can’t die unfairly.’

While stroking my face in the mirror, I muttered,

“I will definitely survive.”

Until now, I had been carefully confirming whether I had truly regained control of my body. That’s why I only sent anonymous gifts.

But now that I’ve confirmed it’s okay.

“I need to meet Noah in person.”

It was finally time to make my move.

—

T/N: The POV for this novel is quite confusing and switches from time to time. But feel free to let me know if that would be a concern^^