Chapter 36: The Villainess

“Good morning, Milady! Are you excited for the party tonight?”

“Yes, I am,” I said those words with a wide grin because, for the first time in ages, I actually meant it. This was it. This was going to be the day I escaped. I had spent the last six months repeating this day over and over, checking every variable dialogue option to ensure optimum efficiency. Before I rose from my bed, I took a minute to repeat my schedule to myself. It was tight, ridiculously tight, so I couldn’t make a single mistake.

Eight hours later, I was back in my room, so mentally and physically drained that I’d needed to ask Sally to slap me awake. She did, by the way, and it seriously hurt. Still, everything had gone as planned, and I had somehow managed to pull off everything on my list. All that was left was the party itself, which started in just a few minutes, but I was in no rush. After all, a true villainess was always fashionably late, and wasn’t that exactly what they accused me of being?

I had nearly had a panic attack in my first loop when I realized that my deep red dress, black fan, and blonde drill curls were the hallmark of a villainess, but now it felt right. I laughed at my image in the mirror, not as a simple giggle, but as a haughty cackle, appropriate for my role. In my first loop, I had been little more than a puppy, dressed in the guise of a wolf, but I had spent these countless days sharpening my claws and fangs. Now I was ready to make this a true hunt, and even if I fell, I’d make sure to bury those fangs in their necks as I did.

“You look lovely, milady,” Sally said from beside me.

“It’s all thanks to you,” I said before wrapping her up in the strongest hug I could muster. She seemed surprised, after all, we had never been particularly close before the loop began, but she had been an invaluable constant in my life. Really, she was the only reason why I didn’t immediately choose the bad ending. I couldn’t do that to her. “I owe you more than you could ever know.”

With those words, I departed my room and headed to the party. I was exceptionally late, and I knew from past experience that the prince would be leaving any minute to come track me down. That was fine. I wanted him to be as ticked off as possible, and based on his expression as I sauntered in, he already was, though I didn’t stop there.

This little play of his began as soon as I reached my mark on the stage, but despite being fashionably late, I was in no rush. I made my way around the room, greeting and sharing some laughs with several of the people I had interacted with that day. I even fetched myself a drink and took my time savoring it before finally standing exactly where the prince wanted me. Despite his anger, he seemed a bit relieved that things were finally going as he’d planned. Unfortunately for him, waiting for me was going to be the highlight of his night.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the...”

“Leo Hendrickson Passio the 42nd,” I shouted back, interrupting him midsentence. “I have tolerated your cheating long enough, but no longer. By my power as Saint of Eros, I am ending our engagement here and now.”

With those words, I tossed the engagement ring that Leo had given me onto the ground, and almost immediately, the crowd began to murmur excitedly at my bold move. Meanwhile, the prince just stared at me in utter confusion, though I couldn’t really blame him, as even I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to do that. The saint had a great deal of power and authority within the kingdom. Still, it was pretty unclear, even after reading every law book I could find, whether she actually had the power to end her own engagement with a prince. There were past records of her ending the engagements of other, lower-ranked individuals, so they could pursue their own true loves. However, none of those stories involved a crown prince or even a royal. Roman might have known, but I wasn’t going to let him answer.

“However, even greater than the betrayal from my fiancé is the betrayal of the church that I have sworn undying fealty to,” I exclaimed before pausing for dramatic effect, as I attempt to seem overcome by emotions. It seemed to work, too, as the crowd quieted in anticipation of my next word. “This was not merely an affair of passion, but an effort by key figures within that very church to weaken the authority of the four dukes.”

The crowd no longer looked amused. While the crown prince’s cheating was drama they could enjoy and possibly benefit from, the Church of Eros going after the dukes was no laughing matter. During my training sessions with Aster, I had learned that the two groups were far less friendly than I had initially thought. The four dukes were primarily responsible for running the country, but despite this, the Church of Eros received far more love from the people as a whole and regularly exploited that affection for their own benefit. If the church was making a move as bold as personally selecting the next queen, which it technically was, that was a problem that needed to be addressed immediately. Of course, right now it was a little more than a wild claim from a woman that, before today, almost no one in the room had ever heard her speak. This alone wasn’t enough to win them to my side, but now I had their attention.

“While this was only the work of a small number within the church, I can no longer stand on the side of such an organization. Thus, as of this moment, I am relinquishing my title of saint.”

With that, I tore off the silver necklace that Roman had given me, marking me as saint, and threw it next to my engagement ring. Then, just to be a bit extra, I struck them both with a Fireball. Of course, they were both antiques that had been in the church and royal family, respectively, for countless generations, but I needed a big boom to conclude my speech and hint at my own magical abilities. Now, the ball was in the court of a prince who was still struggling to comprehend how I ended our engagement and Roman.

Roman had done little more than raise an eyebrow after hearing my claims, but he had scowled upon seeing the necklace he gave me go up in flames. It was an antique after all, though I’d later learn there was another reason for his anger. Still, he was far more composed than the prince, so he spoke first.

“Lily,” he began.

“It’s Liliana,” I corrected. “We are not children anymore, and given your role in what has transpired, I would rather you not use such a familiar nickname.”

Roman seemed taken aback both by my words and the coldness of my tone, but he pressed onward.

“Very well then. Lady Liliana, you have made a number of rather bold claims here, but do you have any evidence to back them up?”

“You mean besides my former fiancé’s pregnant mistress clinging to him as we speak,” I asked while glaring at the two idiots. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever even heard Holly speak, but she was always there at every condemnation, clinging to the prince’s side like she might fly away if she ever let go. Even in my old world, such behavior would have been frowned upon, but here, it was downright scandalous. However, only upon hearing my claim did people really start to look at her, and with such intensity that she ended up burrowing herself even deeper into the prince’s arm.

“Again, a bold claim, but do you have any proof she is pregnant?” Roman asked, doing his best not to sound unsettled.

“Well, we could try asking them,” I replied with a shrug. “Sure, they might lie, but if they do, things will be very awkward for them in about five and a half months.”

That timeframe wasn’t a random guess. I’d repeated this scene numerous times, continually guessing a different due date until I found the response that elicited the biggest response from them.

“How could you possibly know that?” the prince asked aghast.

“So you’re admitting it’s true, then?” I asked calmly.

“Even if it is, that does not excuse your constant bullying of Holly,” the prince shouted back, finally ready to try and turn the tables on me. Unfortunately for him, we had already had this conversation a dozen times.

“What possible reason would I have to bully her?” I asked dismissively.

“Jealousy!” the prince shouted excitedly. “You were jealous of Holly and thought you could scare her away.”

I laughed. Just as I’d done in my bedroom, I let out a haughty cackle that seemed to mock the prince’s very existence.

“Oh, that is funny,” I said once my laughter finally stopped. “However, jealousy requires that the person has something I desire. What then could Holly possibly have that I want?”

“Me,” the prince responded, seemingly flabbergasted by the very question.

“Tell me, your highness. Did your heart ever stir or skip a beat when you saw me? Did you ever love me? I’m going to assume no since you so easily decided to cheat on me, but you’re not alone. At no point in the years that I’ve known you have I ever felt the slightest bit of attraction towards you. You’re an arrogant, self-obsessed mama’s boy, and I dreaded a future with you. Still, I allowed the engagement to continue out of a sense of duty to my family and my country. So answer me this. If I never loved you and never desired the throne, what possible reason would I have to bully Holly?”

Those words broke him. I saw it in his eyes. His spirit shattered. Of course, he had never loved me. However, his own hyper-inflated ego told him that I must have been desperately and madly in love with him, despite me never showing the slightest interest in him. If that wasn’t a game and he wasn’t programmed to kill me, I’m pretty sure things would have ended right there, but after a minute, the light returned to his eyes. He had just found a new way to justify my execution.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the crime of insulting the royal family, I hereby sentence you to immediate death.”

He wasn’t technically wrong. It was a crime to mock the royal family, though the punishment was very rarely more than a public whipping. However, as a royal, he could make the punishment whatever he wanted. Still, he wasn’t the only one with the law on his side.

“Then I request execution by combat.”