I, the Female Lead, Ruined the Original – Chapter 4

Author: alyalia

* * *

Michi is a 13-year-old girl who worked as a laundry maid for the Count Rondel family. She wore large glasses to hide her beauty, but her honey-blonde hair and azalea-colored eyes clearly showed she was the female lead.

“I’m… in a reverse harem. No, this is a reverse harem.”

Michi’s eyes rolled in bewilderment. Perhaps because she had lived in this world for 13 years, it was difficult for her to speak informally even though she was a commoner.

“By any chance… Is Lord Rondel one of them?”

“Yes. And the young master plans to bring his academy friends over this winter vacation…”

“No way.”

As Selleana blinked her eyes, Doloret responded. “The third prince of Laten, the son of knight commander Orelli, and the heir to the Marderung business group…”

“Oh, yes, that’s right!”

The girls had cold eyes.

“It was about the academy’s four superstars being obsessed with you…”

Michi laughed awkwardly. “I deliberately only took on chores, so they don’t know my existence yet. However, just like in the original, I was scared because his academy friends were coming…”

It could have been scary. There are many disturbing people in Harley Quinn, but there are 4 of them in her story. Moreover, she’s not a daughter of a duke or baron but a commoner maid. And her opponent is a young lord, a prince, the future sword master, and an heir to the leading business group.

“Welcome.”

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“Ugh, anyway, those b*stards…”

The girls held Mitch’s hand tightly.

“Even though we’re nobles, our life is also frustrating.”

“That’s right. It must have been harder for you.”

Sniff… Tears welled up in Michi’s bright pink eyes. Her eyes were as bright as a rose tone, worthy of the female lead who could enchant the four superstars.

“It’s okay now because we’re here.”

“Yep. We’re all twisting the original story.”

“Except for Selleana here.”

Keugh, Selleana became upset at the arrow that suddenly flew at her. Who doesn’t want to twist it?

It has been a year since they ran all kinds of advertisements searching for another transmigrator. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that no one in the empire hadn’t seen the advertisement, as the laundry maid even saw their advertisement on the sacks of fruit and vegetables.

What we have in common… In the background of ‘Empire,’ they were all transmigrated as the female leads. So, it’s highly likely that Selleana’s plan to do a contract marriage with another transmigrator was impossible from the start.

Both Rosalli and Doloret say it’s embarrassing to reveal their fated partners. So now, it’s time for a two-track strategy. While waiting for a partner worthy of choosing instead of the prince in this tough pre-modern worldview, she also needed to prepare for the future where she became the crown princess. So, for now…

“Michi,” Selleana said solemnly. “You, become my exclusive maid.”

“Yes?”

“Doloret already has a lot of things to take care of, and Rosalli can’t hire servants as she wants. You don’t want to be a priestess, don’t you? More than anything…” Selleana’s amber eyes glowed. “I need someone on my side to accompany me to the imperial palace later.”

“B-but, I’m a commoner… A commoner can’t be an exclusive maid.”

“You just need a foster parent.”

As if waiting, Doloret poured out documents with portraits of middle-aged people.

“Choose one.”

“C-choose…? Anyone?”

“It’s a list of Elard’s vassals. I selected people who didn’t have much connection in the imperial palace, and Doloret selected them again.”

It meant that only those who had never had an accident in Doloret’s original story had gathered.

The person Michi chose was Baron Branto, who owns an estate famous for its vineyards. Both the baron and his wife had blonde hair.

“Actually, I liked wine in my past life…”

It was the moment when the 13-year-old girl’s hobby was determined for the next seven years. Baron Branto had no reason to refuse this. Thus, Selleana had a friend who would be on her side completely even if she went to the imperial palace in the distant future.

* * *

Transmigrators Club. That’s what her friends called their group, although they never said that name out loud. Externally, it was said to be a scripture study meeting conducted by trainee Agnesia.

It was natural for friends to come together from time to time and become independent. And the more it happened, the more interesting each person’s life became.

Duke Glen gave Rosalli more allowance, and many families rushed to invest in Benichi because Benichi’s youngest daughter is known for her close friendship with the two ladies of the ducal family. Furthermore, the Great Temple promoted Agnesia, who was favored by the two ladies, as an official priestess. Not to mention the happiness levels of Selleana and Michi, who were together 24 hours a day, rose sharply. However, the tea party with Pavellian also came regularly.

“Rumors are spreading about Lady’s scripture study group. I heard you commanded Lady Glen, Baron Benichi’s youngest daughter, and the priestess as your limbs.”

Ah, that again. The moment the word ‘limbs’ rang out of Pavellian’s mouth, Selleana lost all her strength for today.

“Although the Benichi family is appreciated by the imperial family, I’m worried that the youngest daughter, who is quite ignorant about the world, might act rashly without understanding the influence of Elard.”

Today too, he’s earning 1 point of recklessness. There’s probably no one in this world who knows the world better than the female lead in the childcare story.

“There is a saying that when women gather together, even the plates break ^[1] . So I believe Lady should be careful. Since this is a scripture study group, everyone probably thinks modesty is the best…”

Does this mean he knows what modesty means?

* * *

“Ah! It’s hard to make a living!”

“Ssh, ssh…! Someone could listen!”

It was after the tea party was over. In the deserted part of the imperial palace, Michi became contemplative as Selleana screamed her words. Michi, who accompanied Selleana as her maid, still wore her large glasses because she didn’t know where and how the reverse harem would be triggered, so she had to be careful.

“It’s all right. There’s no one here.”

Selleana, who had been visiting the imperial palace since she was eight years old, was well-versed in its place. So around 16 o’clock, she knew that no one would hear her even if she screamed there.

“There’s a building next door…”

“This is the West Palace. The fifth prince’s residence. Don’t you know the abandoned prince?”

“I think there’s someone in the window…”

“No way… Huh?”

Selleana’s brows narrowed. At first glance, the silhouette looks like a tall boy… No, she didn’t need to worry about it.

Is he the fifth prince? There was a time when I thought I would be better off if I became his friend… Selleana was well aware that such assumptions were meaningless as long as Elard pushed Pavellian to be the crown prince. So, the unknown prince, who wasn’t blond, had nothing to do with her for the rest of her life.

“…It doesn’t matter.”

What’s the matter if he’s a prince? He’s an extra among the extras who has never appeared in anyone’s original story. Even for me, the fate of that prince is also pitiable.

“Let’s go to the hideout. I need to get some modern healing.”

The hideout was Doloret’s private office, which had succeeded in various businesses and built Benichi Company in an expensive building located near the imperial palace.

“So, what was the first prince’s outrageous remark today?”

“3 about imperfections, 2 audacities, and 5 instances of modesty.”

The girls’ shoulders trembled at Selleana’s report. Until now, her friends have actively advised her on how to deal with Pavellian because Selleana was the only one who couldn’t twist the original story.

“He even gets flustered when you talk back to him?”

“XXX, as expected, those people…”

“For now, let’s use the ‘Oh, really?’ tactic.”

“That’s right, it won’t be a fundamental solution, but I heard things will improve if you get married…”

It has been several years since the fundamental issue remained unsolved, and every time Selleana met Pavellian every two months, she would become low-spirited, just like today.

“Anyway, Michi said my hairstyle looked like a puppy’s. She’s just making fun of me, right?”

Selleana’s hair, tied in half next to her ears, was curly. Even though the color was different, it reminded you of a dog with fluffy ears, like Golden Retriever or Shih Tzu.

That’s right; that’s true. Michi, who was listening next to her, smiled proudly at the ladies’ approval.

“But how dare you tell someone you serve that you look like a dog…? I probably should scold you harshly so you won’t do something stupid like that next time.”

“B-but Michi is now a noble…”

The girls were stunned. It wasn’t unusual for the nobles here to scold their servants harshly, even to the point of whipping them and throwing them into the basement. Michi, the person involved, had a very pale face.

“And today, among the tea-time refreshments, there were pink macaroons.”

“N-no way.”

“He conceded, saying that girls like pink and sweet things.”

“Oh my, how broad-minded of him,” muttered Rosalli with a cold look in her eyes.

The girls of the Transmigrators Club have an ambitious plan to find the same variety of peppers as in their previous lives and introduce the fiery taste to the people of this pre-modern world.

“Plus, today we had floral tea.”

“Really? Did he say you’re prettier than those flowers…?”

“No. But he said beautiful people should only drink beautiful things.”

“…XXX.”

“I’m disappointed. Virtue… No, modesty… no, what’s the use of all that?”

The girls’ faces, which had turned pale, now reddened with anger. Selleana felt a weight lifting off her heart as she saw her friends’ reactions.

“…As expected, I only have you guys.”

Thanks to this moment, the girls’ bond only deepened day by day. They understood the subtle discomforts that other Nepelsian societies might not grasp.

At that time, Agnesia asked quietly. “… Are you really going to marry that b*stard if a decent guy doesn’t show up?”

A decent guy… or rather, a man. This referred to Selleana’s ideal type, someone who perfectly matched her preferences and had the suitable conditions to replace her political marriage with the imperial family. It seemed unlikely that such a person would appear.

“I guess so…”

Although she suddenly remembered her past life when she was ten years old, Selleana grew up learning many duties and responsibilities as the lady of Elard. The risk was too great to give up everything just because of her preference.

Because she was born as a lady of ducal and grew up like that for 10 years, she couldn’t really marry just anyone. No matter how much Selleana was the lark of Elard, in Nepelsian, the daughter was a person who contributed to their family through a political marriage.

“…I’d rather be a fake lady. But since they’re my biological parents, I can’t run away.”

“You can’t take refuge like me.”

“Like adopting me, you could find a handsome, obedient commoner and make him a noble… Well, that might be a problem with the vassal families.”

“Being part of the same imperial family, the abandoned fifth prince might be a better choice. He doesn’t act arrogantly. Plus, I’ve recently acquired some information that Lea might find interesting.”

At that moment, Doloret continued in a subtle voice with a significant smile. “It’s about the fifth prince’s hair color.”