Circumstances of the Otherworldly Villainous Princess

Let’s reassess the current situation.

My name is Celestia Inkfield, the eldest daughter of a Ducal household in the Kingdom of Rastania. I was engaged to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom, Enrique of Rastania, who I loved dearly. I spent my entire life preparing myself to be the future Queen, studying statecraft, culture, magic, and even martial arts. I gave up my childhood, my chances to friendship, and even my own ambition, just to make myself worthy to be at my fiancé’s side — to be a Queen worthy of the country.

Yet, my own little sister, that scoundrel Alice stole the Prince’s heart away, despite my numerous warnings, and he was about to annul our engagement. Out of rage, I grabbed my sword — the heirloom of our family — and tried to challenge Alice to an one-on-one duel.

…No. That was a mere excuse. I had planned to brutally murder Alice. She was a civilian without any martial training, and she was not eligible as the target of a duel. The bystanders knew it, Alice knew it, and Enrique certainly knew it. Perhaps, I understood that deep in my heart too.

How pathetic I was, raising my sword against my unarmed sister.

I truly deserved death. Yet by the Goddess’ grace, I was given a second chance at life. This time, I will be a good person for sure…

“Ah, that story again.” A girl’s voice reaches my ears. Did I think out loud?

“Had you been reading too much ‘villainess reincarnation’ novels? I know those are all the rage right now, and I admit there’s a certain charm to fictional aristocratic lifestyles. But to think you was so deep in that rabbit hole that you can’t separate fiction from reality…” A man quips.

“Is your head really fine, Yuri?”

——————

I look at the two people in front of my bed. One is a petit girl, aged about 16 by her appearance, in a blazer and a white shirt, coupled with a dark blue skirt, not dissimilar to the uniform at the Kingdom’s academy. The other is her brother, several years her senior, wearing a sweater and what is called “jeans”. If I recall, his name is…

“Obviously not. Can you not see the bandages on my head, Mister Andrew Stratford?”

That’s right. To those two, I am not Celestia Inkfield, the Prince’s fiancé, or even a member of the nobility. I am Yuri Yuzuki, a foreign student who came to this country to study in one of its universities. Those two seems to be Miss Yuzuki’s friends, and they come almost every day to see “Yuri”; but due to my lack of strength, we did not have the chance to talk that much.

I looked out of the window. The surreal landscape, exactly as foretold by the Scriptures, did not change a bit since I woke up a month ago. This is not the Kingdom, not even the world where I once resided, but without a doubt another world.

By the Goddess’s grace — or perhaps her whim — I was saved from certain death. Or perhaps I did die, but I was reborn in another world, a world foretold in the Scriptures: Elysium, or as this world’s residents call it, Earth. But even then, given the highly literary and vague nature of the Scriptures, I felt I lack critical information about this world.

I glance at Andrew; he was signalling something to his sister. He obviously wants to talk, considering my odd behaviour since waking up as “Yuri”, but he and his sister must have been holding themselves back because of my still fragile health.

The girl seemingly made up her mind, and walked towards me.

————-

“Did you really forget us?” The girl asked with a sad expression on her face.

“…I remember you now, Miss Lilia Stratford. There is no way I forget someone who visits me every day.” I tried to change the topic.

“Then you did forget us. So it’s true that you lost your memories…” Lilia, despite her emotional and innocent appearance, seems to be a very perceptive person.

“It’s still hazy, but I am slowly starting to remember more and more now. I can even recall how to use a ‘computer’ now. Rest assured, I will make a full recovery in time—”

“Oh? Can you show that to me then?” Andrew interrupts me, “I happen to be still learning how to use it and I would really appreciate your help.”

“Sure.”

He pulls out a slab of metal, made of two panels connected by a hinge. Its surface is shiny and smooth with excellent rigidity, yet the metal is lighter than anything that the Kingdom’s blacksmiths could make. This is called a “laptop”, isn’t it? Elysian smithing surely is something else…

I opened the lid, then proceeded to press one of the keys in the corner, apparently called a “power button”. The screen turned on, with a loud noise indicating the machine’s activation. I typed in the “username” and “password” Andrew provided using what appears to be a miniature typewriter, and pressed the enter key. I need to show them how to connect to the “internet” where one can watch moving pictures of cats and read about the history of this world. Mostly moving pictures of cats.

Ah.

I glance at Andrew’s and Lilia’s faces. Disbelief. Fear. Confusion. Even grief.

I screwed up. It was meant to be a test.

“…Yuri was never good with machines. She couldn’t even log into the desktop without my help.” Lilia said, her eyes drifting away from the sick woman in front of her.

“I was too bored so I spent time learning computers —”

“Moreover, she was a dog person.”

Ah.

“Memory damage might explain your personality change, but that wouldn’t explain your skills handling a computer. The nurses were specifically instructed not to bring in any electronics into this room, because Yuri often broke them unintentionally in the past; you should have no chance to practice using a computer at all. Then…

“Who are you?” Andrew asks me, his usual carefree attitude disappearing into the tense atmosphere.

…I can hide my secrets no longer. Well, I did not intend to hide them to begin with.

“…As I told you before, I am a princess from the other world. Ex-princess, to be exact, because I think they would have stripped all of my titles by now after I attempted to kill my sister.”

…Andrew continued to glare at me. He still thinks I am lying. I need to be more sincere.

“…I am a disgrace that should have died right there. But by the Goddess’s grace, I was given a second chance. I do not want to let it go to waste.”

Perhaps my sincerity finally touched Andrew, his expression is starting to change again. The confusion and disbelief are starting to be erased from his face, and are replaced by… sorrow. I did something outrageous again.

“You know, Yuri was a dedicated atheist. She would never spend words praising a deity. So you really are…” Andrew said, finally coming to terms of the reality.

“Then, if you are not Yuri, then the real Yuri must have already…” Andrew’s little sister is as sharp as ever.

… I cannot squeeze out a single word.

The little girl, with her lovely hazel hair, jumped on me, tears in her eyes. For now, I could do nothing but watch it unfold.