Episode 1. A Pointless Thing, You Say?
What would you do if you opened your eyes and found yourself inside a romance-fantasy novel?
And worse, if you possessed the villainess who’s destined to be brutally disposed of by the male lead after tormenting the heroine?
It’s fine.
I can overcome a bit of hardship like this.
In short, all I have to do is not torment the heroine like in the original, right?
Actually, the person I’ve possessed—Helena—was in a pretty decent situation.
She’s the daughter of a prestigious duke family, and she’s the empress of an empire.
No in-laws to torment me.
Sure, there’s a husband who hates me and another woman he loves, but—
I can just ignore that, right?
It’s not like he’s my real husband anyway.
There’s no reason to give up the power and wealth I now hold just because of those people.
If the original couple wants to shoot a tragic romance or a rom-com together?
That’s their business, not mine.
The villainess is clocking out of this fiery melodrama!
I confidently informed Jerome, my husband on paper and the original male lead, of my new mission.
“I won’t torment the heroine—no, the imperial consort—anymore.”
“……”
Jerome furrowed his perfectly straight brows instead of replying.
Expected reaction.
I looked him straight in the eyes.
Silky platinum-blond hair that shimmered faintly.
Alluring red eyes.
A sharp nose bridge and jawline—need I say more?
He was, without question, a stunning man who deserved the title of male lead.
From the look on his frozen face, I could guess what he was thinking.
With suspicious eyes—”What’s this trick now?”—that’s what you’re thinking, right?
“I know it’s hard to believe.”
Of course it is. Who believes someone’s changed overnight?
“But I hope you’ll believe me. I’m being sincere.”
Jerome still didn’t say a word.
Fair. That’s reasonable.
Helena had committed way too many misdeeds.
Asking him to believe me with just words—it would be tough even for me.
Naturally, I planned to prove it for real.
“If you want, I’ll even draw up a contract. I’ll stamp it with the imperial seal.”
He stared at me for a while, looking like a painting, then finally opened his mouth.
“Why?”
“…Sorry?”
Why, he says?
I momentarily lost my words.
Wait a second.
Is he asking why I would do something so pointless…?
But the confusion didn’t last long.
No way. That can’t be it.
He’s probably just sharply questioning why the villainess is suddenly acting nice—
“Why would you do something so pointless?”
“…Excuse me?”
—Oh. So he really did just say that?
Wait, hold on. Is he actually serious?
“Did you maybe misunderstand what I said?”
At my question, Jerome’s expression became strange.
“Well…”
He tilted his head slightly and spoke.
“You mean things like pouring tea on the consort’s face, humiliating her in public, or threatening her through others—”
Bombshells dropped casually from between his red lips.
“You’re saying you won’t do any of that anymore, right?”
“Y-yes…”
Okay, hold on.
Why do you know all the details so accurately?
“So…”
Jerome stood up.
Towering a handspan above me, his oppressive gaze made me instinctively step back.
Before I knew it, my back hit the wall.
Still looking down at me, Jerome asked in an emotionless voice,
“So why would you do something so pointless?”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Pointless thing, you say?!”
The more I thought about it, the less it made sense.
The novel I possessed was one my friend had recommended.
A typical story where the heroine saves the male lead in a forest and they fall in love as they grow closer.
‘The base setup is typical! But the development is totally shocking. Their love is so intense—’
My friend rambled on all night about it.
Yeah. It really was intense.
‘Try running away to the end of the earth.’
‘Even if you scream and cry, I’ll never let go of this hand.’
To keep the heroine by his side, the male lead Jerome used any means necessary.
‘That’s why Helena became the empress.’
Exactly. It was practically impossible for a commoner heroine to become empress.
So the emperor, wanting to at least make her an imperial consort, hastily appointed an empress.
That chosen person was me.
Lady Helena of the House of Schvaben.
A noblewoman with dazzling golden hair and enchanting violet eyes—famous even in high society for her beauty.
The empire celebrated their marriage.
People called them the perfect match.
But contrary to expectations, Helena’s arrival was the beginning of disaster.
Falling for the emperor at first sight, she tormented the consort madly.
Eventually, her extreme jealousy enraged the emperor to the point of no return.
Helena met a miserable end in front of everyone.
And right now in the story, Helena’s jealousy and meddling with the consort were already well underway.
The emperor knew about it, and the consort—the heroine—was terrified of Helena.
“That’s why I told the emperor I wouldn’t torment her anymore. So why did he react like that?”
It would’ve made sense if he’d suspected I was up to something.
But instead, his reaction was—
—Why would you do something so pointless?
—so cold it left me dumbfounded.
It felt like I’d just hit a rock I didn’t even see coming.
What now?
After a whole night of agonizing over it, my final conclusion was to just behave properly going forward.
“Come to think of it, I just need to not do bad things, right?”
All the problems in the original story stemmed from Helena’s love and obsession with the emperor.
Her jealousy came from that.
But I don’t love the emperor. So I won’t be jealous of the consort either.
Surely, if I don’t do anything, nothing will happen. Right?
＊ ＊ ＊
Next morning.
“What is this?”
I asked as I looked at the document handed to me by Marie, the imperial palace’s personal maid assigned to the empress.
She opened her mouth stiffly.
“A-a report, Your Majesty!”
Hm? Why is she so nervous?
Now that I think about it, I heard she’s the youngest among the maids.
Maybe she’s just not used to her job yet.
Still, a report first thing in the morning?
Isn’t that a little harsh for someone who just woke up?
Being empress isn’t easy.
Swallowing my tears, I slowly began reading the report.
[5:30 a.m. His Majesty woke up. Asked about the imperial consort twice.]
…Huh?
Did I read that right?
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
But it didn’t stop there.
[5:35 a.m. His Majesty took a light shower. (Presumed cold water, as usual.)]
[5:55 a.m. His Majesty reviewed schedule with Minister of Finance. Showed interest in consort’s security.]
[6:02 a.m. His Majesty…]
His Majesty this, His Majesty that…
The rest of the report went on in the same vein.
I skimmed through the document, baffled, and asked Marie,
“…What is this exactly?”
“Eep!” Marie’s face turned ghostly pale.
“T-that is… um…”
Her lips trembled as she welled up with tears.
Finally, another maid answered for her.
“It’s the report you ordered, Your Majesty.”
It was Countess Chloe, head maid of the Empress’s Palace.
But I never ordered anything like this.
I tilted my head.
“Have you been doing these reports before?”
“We try to prepare one every morning.”
Every morning?
But I’d never received anything like this since I possessed Helena.
“Then why haven’t I seen them until now?”
“Due to Your Majesty’s condition, we held off. Previously, when you were in a poor mood, you refused them as well.”
“Ah.”
So they just took the hint and didn’t hand it over when I looked unwell.
Well, I was mentally out of it for a while after arriving here.
They must’ve assumed it was just a mood swing.
“And today you thought I seemed fine, so you handed it over as usual?”
“Yes. We’ve also been keeping the previous reports in storage. If Your Majesty wishes, we can bring them right away—”
“No. That’s okay.”
I shook my head.
‘So Helena really did order this kind of thing, huh?’
Only now did the situation become clear.
I set the document down and said,
“Don’t do these kinds of reports anymore.”
“Pardon?”
Countess Chloe and the maids were visibly shaken.
They looked utterly surprised at my sudden change in attitude.
But I’m not like the real Helena—I don’t care about Jerome.
“Understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Countess Chloe bowed her head.
Whew. That bizarre report jolted me awake more than coffee.
Who would’ve thought the empress’s maids were monitoring the emperor’s every move?
This wasn’t in the original story.
Still, it’s fine now.
I gave clear instructions for them to stop!
Thankfully, the rest of the day passed uneventfully—until…
“Your Majesty!”
Marie ran up to me with a bright smile.
The same maid who’d given me that report this morning.
She seemed to have recovered her energy.
“You look cheerful. Something good happen?”
“Yes!”
“What is it?”
“I finally succeeded!”
“Succeeded?”
Marie looked proud and puffed up.
“Fufufu, Your Majesty knows I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity!”
Something I know about?
No matter how hard I thought, nothing about Marie came to mind.
Did she confess to someone she liked?
Or get praised by the head maid?
Earlier, she looked down in the dumps, so I’d been worried.
Seeing her this happy eased my mind.
“Seeing you this delighted makes me happy too.”
“Of course! I feel so relieved. You should’ve seen her shocked expression, Your Majesty.”
“…”
Relieved? Shocked expression?
A sudden sense of dread crept up.
“Lady Marie, could you tell me what good thing happened?”
“You know there’s a big banquet at the palace soon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe because of that, the consort’s palace brought in all sorts of new dresses. So I…”
“So?”
Marie pulled out a huge pair of scissors from her dress. Comically oversized scissors.
“I cut them all to shreds! You wouldn’t believe how much work it was!”
“Wait.”
“?”
“So… when you said ‘success,’ you mean… surely…”
With a pale face, I asked hesitantly.
“You don’t mean you just ruined all the consort’s dresses, do you?”
No way.
There’s so many things you could’ve used scissors for.
Like opening packaging, or cutting some ribbons…
I tried hard to ignore the ominous feeling creeping up on me.
“Yes! I turned them into rags!”
“…!”
No. Don’t say that with such a bright smile!!
