Chapter 2 - 2

"Oh, no!"

What?! I jumped up from my seat.

'No, my coin! I need to go back!'

The Duke looked slightly surprised but soon had a cold face that said 'of course'.

"Heh, that's why I told you to behave properly."

"Oh, no, Grandfather. Absolutely not!"

A refined savagery crossed the Duke's expression.

I could almost hear the voice saying, 'How dare you be rude despite having nothing...'

"I have no intention of allowing the engagement to be broken. Stop talking nonsense and just keep your fiance in check."

"Yes, yes!"

After saying this to me, the Duke turned his head and spoke to the person beside him who had been looking at me disapprovingly.

"The Duke of Lemut must have a background that allows him to confidently demand a broken engagement. Find out immediately."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Regardless, only one fact was circling in my mind.

Just one year. I just need to maintain the engagement with that man for one year...!

But the other party strongly wants to break it off.

'First, I absolutely must meet that man.'

As I made this decision, the Duke's gaze turned to me.

It was a gaze full of disapproval.

"Do as you please as usual, but don't even think for a second about falling for that man's handsome face and accepting the broken engagement. Of course, you wouldn't have the money to pay him back anyway."

I felt his will to never tolerate a broken engagement, no matter what.

Will? This is amazing.

In my eyes, he looked like an angel with wings.

Oh my, you look like an angel who will return my coin to me.

I nodded resolutely.

"Yes, Grandfather!"

Then, the Duke paused for a very brief moment and looked at me with a bewildered expression.

* * *

Life as a villainess was quite lavish.

It was only natural.

Charlize was basically the heiress to the greatest fortune in this world and a beloved, precious Countess.

Moreover, as far as I knew, her relationship with her brother, the male protagonist and tyrant, was also good.

Therefore, she was a selfish, extravagant tyrant who had to do whatever she wanted to feel satisfied, and had to obtain whatever she desired to sleep soundly.

'I couldn't spend tens of billions and died, then woke up with a diamond spoon.'

That sounds like a great proposition, but...

Only if this villainess wasn't on borrowed time.

Once the female lead appears, this villainess will definitely die because of the karma she's accumulated!

Simply put, she's earned way too much resentment.

On top of that, the point I woke up is not long before the female lead appears.

'One year... Even if I avoid the karma this body has accumulated, I'm in a situation where I also have to work hard to maintain the engagement with that man.'

But my fiance, not even showing his nose, only demands a breakup.

And the karma this villainess accumulated could appear before me at any time.

This was the reason I couldn't enjoy the few days of waking up with this amazing diamond spoon.

Fortunately, as the days passed, Charlize's memories came back here and there, and by now, quite a few have returned, so living as Charlize isn't a big problem.

I'm just amazed at how she could have lived accumulating so much karma.

I fiddled with the necklace in my hand.

"Our daughter, son. Siblings should get along well, right? Otherwise, Mommy will get angry."

This was a necklace left to Charlize by her mother, the late Empress, who is now deceased.

For some reason, she earnestly asked Charlize to wear it always, anywhere, and Charlize, keeping this one promise, was wearing it the day she opened her eyes.

'Anyway...'

I turned my head.

"..."

As soon as my gaze reached her, the maid who was standing there hiccuped.

"I-I'm sorry, Countess!"

The maid sister plopped down on her knees.

In my hand was an envelope and letter handed to me by the maid.

"Please, just spare my life, Countess!"

I turned this letter over in my hand.

Speaking of this letter, my fiance, whom I haven't even seen face to face once yet.

It was an invitation sent to the man who demands a broken engagement but whom I absolutely cannot let break it off, asking him for just one meeting.

It came back as is.

Without even being opened.

'Wow, what a crisp rejection.'

And the maid sister who brought this letter was kneeling, trembling.

I have no intention of blaming this sister since it's not her fault, but I kept my expression blank.

"...Was there no other answer?"

"I was driven away from the front gate..."

Wow. He even turned me away at the door?

Sighing at my fiance's situation of hating me more seriously than I thought, I sighed.

As a reader who read this book, I understood very well why my fiance, Askin Lemut, hates 'Charlize'.

Charlize loved beautiful things very much, and in her eyes, along with her own older brother, the most beautiful man was Askin.

So, she took advantage of Askin's situation. When he needed a large sum of money, she pestered her maternal grandfather to lend a huge amount using the family's power, and demanded an engagement.

On top of that, the Duke of Altsbeit added a huge interest rate.

It was a slave contract: either pay interest for life or dedicate his martial prowess instead of interest.

Askin accepted the engagement and simultaneously signed the debt contract. The reason this was possible was as follows.

First, this man is the strongest swordsman in the empire, but his own family is on the brink of extinction!

So, to overcome the family's crisis, he had no choice but to accept Altsbeit's offer.

He took on a huge debt, using as collateral both his excellent subordinates who stayed with him despite poor pay and his own abilities, considered the best in the empire.

The reason this man's family was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and needed a large sum of money was because of his one and only younger sister.

'Because his one and only younger sister has an incurable disease.'

Moreover, with no particular treatment available, maintaining her life required a constantly huge amount of medical expenses.

The money received through the engagement with Altsbeit was also used for treatment to help his sister overcome a crisis when her health deteriorated rapidly.

"Should I go find him directly..."

"S-s-shall I prepare the carriage?"

The maid sister who perked up her head looked a bit pitiful.

Right, strike while the iron is hot. I need to at least see his face first.

Just as I was about to get up.

There was a knock, the door opened, and another maid sister came in with a pale face.

"C-Countess! His M-Majesty the Emperor has come to visit!"

I paused mid-stand.

Hmm? The Emperor? Then, the tyrant?

The Emperor. The main male protagonist of this book and Charlize's older brother.

Strangely, many of Charlize's memories came back, but unfortunately, memories of her tyrant brother or her fiance were still hazy.

'What do I do...'

I rested my chin on my hand, pondering, then turned my head.

"Say I can't meet him right now."

"...Pardon?"

"Grandfather?"

"Th-the Duke is currently out for important business."

Great. I can't use Grandfather as an excuse.

"Then just say I won't meet him."

I still don't clearly remember how Charlize treated that tyrant brother.

I don't want to act awkwardly and arouse suspicion.

I absolutely must get my coin back.

"B-but, Countess, that is..."

"There's no need for that."

At that moment, a low voice was heard.

I turned my head in surprise.

"Because I came myself."

Leaning crookedly against the doorframe was a man.

Jet-black hair and deep red eyes the same color as Charlize's.

The Emperor and my older brother.

And the male protagonist, Roxidian.

'Why does he look so fierce?'

Charlize is this beautiful, and since he's the male protagonist, naturally he's an incredibly handsome man, but he felt more like a wild beast than a person.

Seeing me, he grinned, baring his teeth.

"Hi there, little sister?"

Hey, your eyes aren't smiling at all, are they?

At that moment, memories exploded in my head.

They were Charlize's memories, so clear it was strange they hadn't surfaced until now.

"Princess?"

"Don't call me that!"

Oh, now that I recall, Charlize didn't particularly like being called Princess.

Technically, she was a princess, but she probably disliked not living in the Imperial Palace.

"Don't call me that."

As soon as I said that, Roxidian strode in.

Then, still grinning, he pointed his sword at me.

...A sword? You crazy!

"Haha, how dare you talk back to your elder brother, who's like the sky? Shall I fix your manners again today?"

And then everything came flooding back.

For some reason, unlike in the book... this man wasn't showing any signs of being a doting older brother. Why?

Fortunately, he brought it to my neck still sheathed, but would a tyrant from a book seem calm doing this?

'...Wow, he was insane in the book too, but this guy is truly crazy.'

He was a character who, even in the book, acted crazier and more villainous than most villains, making you ponder why on earth he was chosen as the male protagonist.

I didn't expect him to show his crazy antics even to his own blood sister.

And judging by the memories just surfacing, Charlize's personality wasn't one to lose to him either.

Roxidian chuckled and withdrew his sword.

Then he casually plopped down on the sofa.

As if it were his own home, he stretched his legs out and even rested his chin on the table.

"Oh my, that's stiff. So stiff."

Seeing him lounging lazily, instead of admiring his tall stature and face, I involuntarily felt exasperated.

'...What is this? This sense of deja vu.'

It felt like something was about to surface from my chest, no, my head.