The Perfect Villainess desu wa!

The afternoon sunlight filtered softly through the lace curtains.

Koleha and Summer stood in the room wearing their academy uniforms, with her maid Emma looking on.

Koleha Nyarlathotep was now fifteen years old.

Her beautifully lustrous purple hair was like a bouquet of balloonflowers (though aconite might be more fitting), and her sharp eyes gleamed like a masterwork blade (though poison needles might be more apt).

And without any special styling, her sidelocks curled into perfect ringlets.

She was the spitting image of the villainess Koleha from the game's 3D model.

Standing before the mirror, Koleha swished her academy uniform's skirt, raised a hand to her lips, and laughed grandly.

"Ooh-ho-ho-ho! A good day to you, Heroine… Fufu, don't make that face. I don't concern myself with the likes of you in the least, you see? You're no more than aphids clustering on flowers, aren't you?"

When she finished, she studied her own expression. The angle of the brows, the cold curl of her lips, the height of her gaze. Everything was calculated, but Koleha still wasn't satisfied.

"Is it a bit too sticky? Maybe the laugh needs a longer wind-up… Ooh-ho-ho-ho-ho! A good day to you, Heroine. Oh my, with the prince? Pressed so close, how indecorous. Are you unfamiliar with the manners of nobility?"

This time met Koleha's standards.

She nodded and reached for the tea set on the table.

"Good work, Ojou-sama!"

"Yes, Summer. With this, rehearsal is perfect. I can torment the Heroine and His Highness Harks any time, desu wa!"

"Cheaters deserve death. No mercy! Yeah!"

There was Summer, the former orphan who had risen from maid to lady's maid.

Summer, like Koleha, wore the academy uniform. She had successfully secured admission through the academy's lady's maid slot.

"Summer. Do not encourage Ojou-sama's rampages. I'm serious. Truly."

"Yes, Emma. Ojou-sama's joy is my joy! I will serve her at the academy with utmost devotion!"

"That's not the point, and you know it. You're doing this on purpose."

Emma, the senior maid, cut in with a sigh.

"We'll be relying on you at the academy, so you must keep a proper eye on Ojou-sama, Summer."

"But I want Ojou-sama to enjoy a wonderful academy life as her heart desires."

"Ojou-sama will be the future queen. It's time she tightened the reins."

"It's the opposite, Emma! Now is the last time she's allowed to cut loose!!"

Meanwhile, Koleha watched their bickering with a fond smile.

In any case, once she got her serves-you-right, she had no intention of becoming queen; she would live at ease on medicinal herb income. Supporting herself was simple, and she had more than enough passive income to hire two or three assistants.

Someday her younger brother would inherit and she would have to leave home, so perhaps she should start looking for a place to rent.

… Yes, Koleha was no longer the Nyarlathotep family's daughter and sole heir.

Thanks to efforts only parents could manage, a younger brother seven years her junior, Motomoto Nyarlathotep, had been safely born.

At eight years old, Motomoto had already begun education as the next lord, and he even had a fiancée.

What's more, she was a young lady whose life had been saved by Koleha's medicinal herbs, so both the brother and his fiancée greatly respected Koleha.

Yare yare. Being a capable villainess is such a burden! Or so she thought, not displeased in the slightest.

"Summer! Time for one more practice run before next week's entrance, desu wa!"

"Yes, Ojou-sama! So Emma, let's end the debate here!"

"… Haaah… What exactly does His Highness Harks see in this Ojou-sama…"

Her engagement to Harks continued, and he visited regularly.

There were birthday gifts, and he escorted her at her debutante ball.

Each time, Koleha would sneer at Harks.

The prince would make a vexed 'grr' face whenever she did, but for some reason his affection never dropped.

Koleha assumed it was because the game had not yet begun.

… In that case, she would laugh as much as she pleased and use him for stress relief, growing increasingly unrestrained.

Lately, Koleha had been losing more often at board games and getting teased back a bit, but in the end, she still always won. One might say she played until she did.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!! I am the marquis's daughter, Koleha Nyarlathotep, desu wa———!!!"

Today again, the young lady's laughter resounded through the manor.

It was such a daily occurrence that family and servants alike leisurely took it to mean, "Ah, it must be about lunchtime."