Chapter 1: I Was the Villainess’ Stepmother
My conviction solidified after the wedding.
I had been reincarnated into the world of an Otome Game.
And the small, adorable, beautiful girl before me—my husband’s child from his previous marriage—was destined to meet a tragic end in that Otome Game, as the Villainess.
And I had become the stepmother of that Villainess.
Honestly, I don’t even remember my name from my previous life.
Or rather, I don’t remember much about my past life at all.
My current name is Selene.
Just Selene.
Even if I were attached to my previous surname, now that I’m married, I won’t be using it anymore. But I’m not familiar with my new surname either.
Ever since I was born and became aware of things, I often felt a sense of déjà vu.
‘I must have superpowers that let me see the future! Am I the chosen one!?’
I used to get caught up in those kinds of thoughts and come up with different fantasy scenarios when I was a teenager.
But that wasn’t the case.
I really just remembered things, damn it.
What I do remember about myself from my previous life is that I desperately wanted children, but after getting married and trying everything, I couldn’t have any. And I went through a lot of unpleasant experiences because of that.
And the only thing that healed my wounded heart was Otome Games.
The reason I remember Otome Games so clearly, even though my memories of myself are vague, is because I constantly immersed myself in that world when my heart was broken, diving into that swamp with the force of swimming a personal medley.
Thank you, Otome Games. I love you, Otome Games. I’m so grateful that you healed this old woman’s heart.
As for now.
I was born into a poor noble family, and all I was blessed with was a healthy body, a brain brimming with fantasies, and proper upbringing and education.
Thanks to my appearance, which wasn’t too bad, I was able to get married, even though I was called a tomboy, a wild horse, a Raging Stallion—why are all the metaphors about horses?
In a poor noble family, marrying off daughters who can’t inherit the house is the only way to get a large sum of money and make life easier for the people of the territory, so it can’t be helped.
I didn’t have any objections to that. My sisters were sobbing, saying they were being married off to men they had never even seen before, but whatever.
After all, unlike the world of my previous life, marriage is the only way for a woman to live without any rights. Even for noble daughters. So, just having food, clothing, and shelter guaranteed through marriage is a good deal.
When I was still at home, my whole family would go hunting to prepare for winter before it started, those were nostalgic times. I thought I was going to die when I encountered a bear alone.
Well, even though my appearance isn’t too bad.
I got married—but I got divorced once and came back home!
Well, that can’t be helped. Compatibility is something everyone has to deal with. Yes, it was a matter of incompatibility. It can’t be helped.
It’s definitely not because of my nickname, the Raging Stallion of the North. It’s not.
When my sickly twin brother died, the younger brother who was supposed to inherit the family next was still a baby.
So, I helped my father with his work in my brother’s place. And because going to the royal capital as a woman would have been looked down upon, I even cross-dressed as a man.
I might have even pretended to be my brother and participated in the noble sons’ sword tournament in his place, but that’s not relevant. Not at all.
It was a Marquis who took a liking to me, a middle-aged, divorced, poor Countess’s daughter with a failed marriage. I don’t know where he took a liking to me, but when I heard about the offer, the house was in an uproar as if someone had kicked a hornet’s nest.
They were saying whatever they wanted, like, is the Marquis a weirdo, a mature woman lover, someone with strange tastes, or a masochist?
—Wait, aren’t you indirectly dissing me too? Do my family hate me? I’m not fully ripe yet. I’m still fresh, still fresh.
I could roughly guess what the Marquis was thinking.
That Marquis is in a position involved in the core of the country. If he tried to get a new bride from the nobles around there, there would be all sorts of troublesome things like power struggles and conflicts of interest. But a wife is a status symbol. He can’t not have one. He only has a daughter, so he needs an heir too.
So, the daughter of a Count’s family who had been pushed out of the power struggles long ago and didn’t belong anywhere (because they’re poor and have no power), and who only had an old history and title to boast about, was convenient for him.
I came to be married without knowing the face of my partner.
Because I wasn’t interested in who he was.
Honestly, I might have been slightly jaded and given up on my dead-end life.
So, naturally, I didn’t know the face or name of my remarriage partner’s daughter, the memento of his late wife.
Ati Eulalia Karamanlis.
When I heard her full name, it immediately clicked.
It was the same name as the Villainess who appeared in the Otome Game I used to play—
—The woman who, to the Otome Game’s protagonist, did all sorts of terrible things, so many that I thought, ‘How can you come up with so many ideas? You should open a class and make money!’ and who met a tragic death no matter what ending you got.
When I was playing the Otome Game, the Villainess (that woman) was just annoying. I had played it so many times that I knew all her tricks. Dealing with her was really troublesome.
She was full of pride but had an incredibly strong need for self-approval, and her self-love was twisted into being mean and persistent. She was good at schoolwork but short-sighted and impulsive. She was dependent on her fiancé and emotionally unstable.
Really, she was an empty woman with nothing but her status and appearance going for her.
But.
This child in front of me—her platinum blonde hair, which looked soft and fluffy but had a silky sheen, her clear violet eyes were so big they looked like they were about to spill over, and her eyelashes were thick and fluttery. Her fair skin and the pink-tinged cheeks were so soft and squishy.
Clinging to the Marquis’s leg and glancing up at me, she was truly an angel. An angel. Angelo. Engel. Tintan. And, um…
“New… Mother?”
Oh no. Even her voice is cute.
This was heaven.
Not only is food, clothing, and shelter guaranteed.
It was paradise. Utopia. Arcadia. Paradise. Paraiso.
Eh? What? I can be the mother of such an angel? What reward is this?
The angel gently reached out to me with her fingertips, which were tipped with pink and had small, cute, seashell-like nails.
The moment I saw that hand, a certain phrase came back to my mind.
—I was never loved by anyone! My father, my stepmother, they all rejected me!! My stepmother (that woman) slapped my young, innocent hand and said, ‘Don’t touch me with your dirty hands’!!!—
Which ending was that from?
The Villainess’s last words when she was being condemned.
I firmly grasped the angel’s hand and pulled her close, then put my hands under her arms in surprise. I lifted her light-as-a-feather body high in the air once, then hugged her tightly and rubbed my cheek against her pink, squishy cheeks.
“That’s right! I’m your new mother! Cute Ati! Angelic Ati! Let’s be together forever! Let’s play a lot, read books, and sleep together!!”
That’s right.
The reason this child became that most terrible and evil Villainess in the future is because her stepmother and real father were cold to her. Even though she’s so cute. Even though she’s so angelic.
I certainly never liked the Villainess (that woman) until the end, and I didn’t have much sympathy for her, but this child is different.
She’s not that nasty woman yet. She hasn’t become her yet.
That’s right. Since she’s so cute, if she grows up honestly, she’ll just become an incredibly beautiful girl. Her appearance is perfect, so all I have to do is make her personality perfect too!
Besides.
She’s cute.
She’s simply cute.
She’s just an angel.
How can I be cold to such a child?
No!!!
In my previous life, I wanted children. When I heard stories about the hardships of raising children, they seemed difficult but happy, and I was envious. I wanted to try telling stories about my hardships with a smile too.
So, I will!
In this world! I’m going to raise an incredibly beautiful girl!!
I feel like this is becoming a different game than the Otome Game, but I don’t care!
Because I loved raising simulations too!
As I savored the mochi-like cheeks that clung to my skin, her gleeful giggles tickled my ear, sending me into a blissful reverie.