I became an obsessive Villain from a novella who secretly stole the protagonist's heart and sold it to a neighboring country.
If I am caught as a criminal, I will surely die.
After all, that's how the real Villain met her end. So I secretly tried to get the main character's heart back.
And my plan would have worked perfectly… if I hadn't picked up the main character on the street.
'Damn it!
What in this world could have happened to you?!'
*****
To tell the truth, I do not know how I managed to take possession of the body of the Villain from this novel.
After my subordinate killed me for my demands, I woke up and found that I had become a different person.
About three months after I took possession of this body, I gave up trying to find the reasons for this.
During these three months, there were several reasons why I decided to just adapt to this body and become a real Villain.
The most important reason is that my body was already dead in Korea, and the Villain whose body I occupied was quite busy.
In fact, I was so busy that I hardly had time to think about anything else.
It had been a year since I had been reborn in this body, but now I was facing a completely different problem.
I found the main character lying on the street.
The man I had to avoid at all costs, the very man who was going to kill me in the future.
'What a ridiculous coincidence… and this is the third time.'
– …Ugh.
The man, covered with wounds, lay on the ground and moaned painfully.
'I'm so glad he fell in a dark alley where no one passes by,' – sighing, I took a handkerchief out of my bag and tied it over my face. Then she put on her gloves and looked at the man lying on the ground.
The same as last time: every time he gets hurt, I find him. And every time he wanders around, I treat him.
Probably, these collapses happen because of his lost "heart".
That's why I couldn't leave him to die.
After the first time, I didn't know when this could happen again, so I got used to always carrying special things with me.
And all because this man's blood is like lead and extremely toxic. It was extremely dangerous to touch his wounds with bare hands.
'But then again, he's the main character, so he won't die if I just leave him here, will he?' – this thought flashed through my mind for a moment, but I immediately shook my head, dismissing it. 'If I just leave him like this, I will most likely die of guilt.'
Although it was difficult enough to help.
Because in the past, Countess Edina, the Villain whose body I occupied, had already tried to kill the main character. And two years before I was reborn in her body, she was able to steal the heart of the main character, a member of the Imperial Family.
It's been a year since I took control of her body, so a total of three years have passed.
The previous owner of the body hoped that the main character would die before anyone found out that it was she who took his heart.
'But… if the main character had died, she would have been suspected of murdering a member of the Imperial Family, so why did she decide to do this?
Was she really so sure that she wouldn't be caught?
I don't know for sure, but considering what she managed to do before my rebirth, if the main character had died, then I would have become the most important suspect.
I won't allow it!'
– Hey, are you okay? – I pointed a gloved finger at the man's chin.
'Probably because of his wounds, he lost consciousness… You're not going to wake up anytime soon, are you?'
I've never encountered the main character when he was conscious. It's because every time I find him, he's always injured and on the verge of death. After stopping his bleeding, I dragged him to a safe place and hid him from prying eyes, and then ran away before he came to his senses.
– His face is really incredibly beautiful … – I leaned over to the man, admiring his face.
'If someone had told me that he was an angel, with his blond platinum hair, I would have believed it.
And although he looks thin, he is actually quite strong and skilled at fencing.'
– Hey, I'm going to help you, so I hope you don't mind… – I grumbled, taking a disinfectant and gauze out of my bag.
And then I tore open the collar of his shirt to see the wound, but… suddenly his big palm grabbed my hand.
– Ah! – I was so surprised that I jumped up and fell on my ass.
The wounded man frowned and slowly got up.
'And he looks relatively good…'
A soft moan escaped from the lips of the protagonist, and then he looked at me in amazement and, after some silence, calmly declared:
– As I thought, I was not mistaken … – the man frowned. – Countess Edina, what are you up to?
'Oh my God, did I get caught?' – I was so excited that I immediately turned around, intending to escape.
And I would have been able to do it safely if this man hadn't grabbed my hand again:
– Where are you going?
– Let me go! Step back… from me! – in a hurry, I hit him in the face with the bag I was holding in my other hand.
The only problem was that there was a stone in the bag. And, of course, the stone was much more deadly than it seemed at first glance.
– Oh, shit! I saw the stone in the bag hit the man's head and he fell, hitting the ground hard.
'It looks like he really lost consciousness this time…'
*****
My assistant, Edward, came to the alley to find me. Most likely, he just got tired of waiting for me.
I met his gaze when I was trying to lift the unconscious protagonist.
In the first moments, Edward looked a little dumbfounded, but then he put on his usual serious look:
– Countess… Are you going to kill him?
– Can you just help with this misunderstanding? People will definitely come for him, so you need to hurry.
'If the Imperial family finds out about this, I will be falsely accused of being the one who inflicted these wounds.
It's better to just take him to the estate, treat him, and then claim that I saved him.'
Edward grumbled something under his breath, and then came over, helping me carry the man.
Charles, my coachman, looked surprised, but calmly helped Edward and me to drag the main character into the carriage.
– Now let's go, – getting into the carriage, I wiped the sweat that appeared on my temples.
But as soon as Edward got into the carriage and closed the door, someone knocked on it. I immediately hurriedly pulled up my dress, hiding the main character from view.
Edward looked at me in amazement, but I ignored his gaze and opened the carriage window.
A middle-aged gentleman dressed in a stylish black suit stood outside stroking his mustache.
He seemed familiar to me, and when I opened the window and he saw me, his face also reflected surprise.
I mean, anyone would be surprised to suddenly see the so-called "Villain of the Century".
Lowering my voice as much as possible, I spoke:
– Haven't seen you for a long time?
Only then did the gentleman relax and smile harshly:
– Oh, please excuse me. I haven't seen you since the Cabinet meeting… – and then he held out his hand to me through the window.
This man, Winston, was not close to me, and we only met during Cabinet meetings.
And, in addition to this, he was the uncle of the main character and was a true villain who mocked him since childhood.
Despite the fact that Lirien, the protagonist of this novel, was treated like an abandoned member of the Imperial Family, he was still a Prince of this Empire.
However, Winston continued to insult him, no matter what.
'He may be considered a Devil, but there is someone who is even more cunning than the Devil.
And this is me,' – I looked at Winston Zarchak's outstretched hand and slightly tilted my head to one side:
– You have the nerve to stop my carriage like that. Is there anything you want to tell me?
Winston looked at his outstretched hand with a blank, puzzled expression on his face.
I quickly added another remark, noticing how his eyes wandered, studying the accessible interior of the carriage:
– Viscount Winston? Don't you have anything to say? Speak up.
Winston raised an eyebrow at my last words. Good.
'I managed to make him lose his temper and put pressure on his nerves.'
Frowning, Viscount Winston looked at me with a rather unpleasant look.
I would have pointed out this rudeness if it weren't for my position and my already well-known reputation.
Viscount Winston gritted his teeth, and then, with a quick smile, said:
– I'm looking for someone who happened to be in the area you just came from. This is a handsome young man with blond hair… Countess, have you seen anyone like this?
– I haven't seen anyone like the blond you're looking for, Viscount Winston. Has His Highness Prince Arnold run away from work?
At these words, Viscount Winston forced himself to smile again, but this time it was an angry smile.
'I assume that he also started insulting Prince Arnold, but the Emperor stopped this situation, so Winston is forbidden to do anything.'
I could feel the anger coming from the Viscount when I pointed this out.
– God, why are you so worried? It doesn't look like someone was stabbed or anything like that… – smiling smugly, I waved my hand to the Viscount. – Are your questions over? I'm an extremely busy person, so please don't waste my time, – and slammed the carriage window right in front of Viscount Winston's nose.
And Charles seemed to be just waiting for this moment, because the carriage instantly began to move.
Putting my hand on my chest, I took a deep breath:
– Dealing with this Winston is really hard. I almost ran away from fear… – and looked at Lirien, hidden by the hem of my dress.
'Fortunately, he hasn't woken up yet.'
– For a man who wanted to escape, you mocked him very well, – Edward shook his head and approached to check Lirien's pulse.