Chapter 2

My current identity is that of 7-year-old Alicia, the Williams family’s oldest daughter. I’m now living in a fantasy world where magic is real and where much of the nobility can wield its power. Though in theory, only members of the aristocracy should be capable of using magic, due to the memories from my past life, I already know that a commoner with such abilities will appear shortly. Namely, the heroine… But let’s not talk about that particular subject for now. What’s important is that I, as a proud member of the aristocracy, am also capable of wielding magic power. My family, the Williams family, is a prestigious noble house known for our expertise in harnessing the power of darkness magic, one of the five main elements that sustain this world, the remaining elements being light, water, wind, and fire. And incidentally, the Kingdom in which I currently reside is known for its water magic. But even if that’s the case, that doesn’t mean every magic user excels in water magic. It’s up to each spellcaster’s efforts and talents to determine how well they’ll be able to use magic, and what magic they may have an affinity for. For instance, I am planning to show the world just how perfectly I can master darkness magic. After all, if I want to become the world’s best villainess, having top-notch magic skills is a must! From tomorrow on, I need to make sure that I wake up bright and early so I can hole up in the library and start learning how to use my magic powers. “Good morning, Rose!” I say to my paid, Rosetta, as I fly past her out the door to my room. Her eyes grow wide as she sees me already up and about before she had the chance to come in and wake me up. Her face looks almost as if she had seen a ghost; she’s so taken aback. Certainly, such an occurrence would have been unthinkable for the old me. I never once greeted her in the morning nor managed to wake up early on my own, after all. I was someone selfish and prideful who wouldn’t bother to open her mouth unless it was to complain about something. So even this much is probably enough to shock my whole family, let alone my maid. But it wasn’t entirely my fault that I turned out that way, you know. Looking back on it, everyone doted on me so excessively that it’s pretty natural that I turned into such a spoiled brat. But that’s all in the past now. From today onward, I’m going to start being more strict with myself. As I run through the halls, I see that my brothers are practicing their swordsmanship in the garden. I wonder if they practice like this every morning? I need to learn from their example. My oldest brother, Albert,1 is 12 years old. And then the twins, Alan and Henry, are 10 this year. These three older brothers of mine are the complete opposite of my old self: they are all extremely talented and hardworking. Though, considering the special education that Father has been giving them since they were young, of course, they would all turn out so well. And, since all three of my brothers were Capture Targets, all of them are extremely handsome. The reason that Alicia started bullying the heroine was that she thought her brothers were going to be stolen away from her. Unfortunately, this ended up backfiring since it only made her brothers hate her, resulting in them abandoning Alicia in the end. Ah~~ The wonderful woes of a villainess~ But, now that I’m thinking about it…. How did Alicia bully the heroine? No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to remember….. Well, if I can’t recall how Alicia did it originally, I guess I’ll just have to come up with my diabolical schemes to bully her with. As a devoted villainess enthusiast, I’ll show everyone that I can act out the role of the best villainous woman ever! Hearing a clang, my attention is once again drawn to my brothers’ sword-fighting practice. Seeing them working hard like this makes me want to try it too. I had pretty good reflexes back in my previous life. I loved playing all kinds of sports, too! Though I never had the opportunity to try fencing… But that just makes me want to try it out even more now. And if I want to become a great villainess, being physically fit is a must. “Brother! Please teach me how to use a sword too!” Hearing me suddenly call out to them, my brothers all stop practicing and turn to look in my direction. Hm? They’re all wearing stupid expressions while staring at me. Don’t give me that sort of look. You’re making it seem like I said something crazy. ……I wonder if it's taboo for women to learn how to wield a sword in this world. I feel like my memories from this life and my past life are getting mixed up. I can’t figure out what information came from which life. “Ali? Are you feeling sick?” His eyes still wide in disbelief, Albert takes a good look at my face. “I’m feeling great! Super healthy.” “…..Why do you want to learn how to use a sword all of a sudden?” he asks, giving me a kind smile. And that smile on his almost unbearably handsome face…. even though we’re related, the effect is still ridiculously powerful. Please be careful where you point that thing. Otherwise, you are going to reduce young women everywhere to tears. And while Albert is flashing his blinding pearly whites at me, Alan and Henry are still standing there, dumbstruck. “Because I want to grow stronger.” “No way.” ” Alan and Henry say simultaneously. As expected of twins, they’re perfectly in sync. I wonder if Albert was also surprised by my reason since his face seemed to harden when he heard my reply. I want to get stronger so that I can properly bully the heroine when the time comes…! It’s a perfectly natural reason, don’t you think? After staring intently at my face for another moment, Albert reaches out a hand to feel my forehead. How rude. I don’t have a fever; I already said I feel great. I’m being perfectly serious when I said that I want to learn. Alan and Henry come up to stand beside Albert, who’s still feeling my forehead. With their faces all lined up in a row like this, so close to mine, even though I’m their sister, to be stared at so seriously by three beautiful boys is still kind of embarrassing. “Al,2 what should we do?” Henry asks Alber, who closes his eyes for a moment, furrowing his brows in thought. He murmurs something to the twins in a low voice and then turns back to look at me. “Okay,” Albert says, smiling kindly at me again. But Albert, you can’t fool me. I heard everything. “She’ll probably just give up in a few days,” he had whispered. But I assure you, once I’ve decided to do something, I’ll stick with it to the very end. To become this world’s best villainess, I’ll overcome every obstacle that stands in my way. “Thank you,” I say, letting a huge grin form on my face, exuding confidence. Nevertheless, none of my brothers looks convinced.