BVWG 03

chapter 03

Regaining my senses, I opened my eyes wide and checked the mission notice.

[Main Mission] Accept a Marriage Proposal!

The infamous villainess, Asha Esperanza.

Rumors of your misdeeds have spread far and wide, and your notoriety has soared.

The Duke is worried about how to find a suitable match for his only daughter.

Thus, your special order is to completely rebuild your reputation and secure a good marriage partner by the time you come of age.

Reward: A happy marriage
Failure: The realization of your worst fear

Rule 1: You must accept a proposal that comes from genuine feelings among the candidate men.
Rule 2: You cannot reveal to anyone that this is a game.
Rule 3: You cannot propose first.

Even the text color was a bright, playful pink.

I read the mission content with a solemn heart, thinking it was some game with the devil. I was even prepared for a survival game.

But it turned out to be a dating simulation game!

“Why are they making such a fuss over someone else’s marriage partner?”

It was clear that I had fallen into one of the devil’s nasty pranks.

I spat out a few choice curses, rare enough to exist in my personal vocabulary, directed at the devil’s bad taste.

At that moment, light shone from the demonic mirror again, revealing the devil’s face.

“This reminds me of those video calls welfare workers used to do in my previous life.”

The otherworldly-looking devil, who looked like he could seduce any woman, smiled temptingly.

“You seem to have slept well last night. Your complexion looks good.”

“…….”

“Let’s speak freely between us. You probably don’t remember, but you’ve said everything you wanted to say to me before.”

“……Really, can I speak freely?”

“Of course.”

The devil’s laughter grew louder.

Feeling the relaxed atmosphere, I also loosened up.

“What does it matter to you whether others receive proposals or not? Why is this game like this?”

I wasn’t brave enough to curse a being beyond human, so that was as toned-down as my words got.

“Everyone misunderstands me, but I love love. Especially messy and dangerous love. I’m a romanticist.”

“What kind of nonsense romanticist! If you’re a romanticist, then all the romanticists in the world must be dead.”

Annoyed, I let my sarcasm slip without filtering it. I guess being angry makes me bolder.

The devil seemed to enjoy my reaction.

“You probably don’t remember, but you agreed to participate in this game. Of your own free will. I didn’t force you.”

I couldn’t actually recall, but surely I had no real choice.

A mere human like me couldn’t have refused the devil.

I cursed the devil inwardly even more as he talked about free will and fate.

“It’s time for me to go. If I stay too long, the incubuses will go crazy. And then the nobleman from your land wouldn’t let me be.”

“Which nobleman from my land?”

To the devil with eyes like obsidian, my words didn’t matter.

“Then go on and participate in my game wholeheartedly. Make it as enjoyable for me as possible. I’m looking forward to your efforts in many ways. Personally, I don’t care which way this game ends.”

The damn devil said his piece and vanished.

The demonic mirror lost its light and looked like an ordinary hand mirror again.

“What the hell does he expect me to accomplish?”

I could have brushed it off as the devil’s whim, but for some reason, it bothered me.

Fragments of my incomplete memories faintly warned me that the devil had a specific reason for involving me in this game. It wasn’t just for his amusement, as he implied.

Just then, the mirror gradually shrank, seeped into my right hand, and disappeared without a trace.

I looked at my right palm in amazement. It seemed that, for the time being, the mirror and I had to stay connected.

Unable to take my eyes off my hand, I reflected on the mission left by the devil.

Then I realized the crucial problem.

“I don’t even know who the candidate men for proposals are!”

I didn’t even know how many there were.

“They should at least give me that basic information if they want me to play the game!”

At that moment, the mirror reappeared in my palm, and a sub-mission popped up.

Sub-Mission 1
Find the guide for the game.

Hint: In the darkest times, a meaningless stone that roamed the darkest places is still buried in darkness but is destined to become a bright light.

Reward: Accompaniment of the game guide
Failure: ????

“The game guide? What’s that supposed to mean?!”

I grabbed a handful of my useless lavender hair in frustration.

Since encountering the devil, I hadn’t had a single nightmare in the past year.

Now, at seventeen, I stood in the imperial palace’s grand hall with countless officials.

The Duke, who had been barely restraining my misdeeds for a year, had finally lost his patience last night.

“Asha! I can no longer tolerate your misdeeds. If the heir of the Esperanza family behaves like this, there will be no future for the house. You must attend the imperial ceremony tomorrow.”

The deep blue flames seemed to flicker in the Duke’s dark gray eyes as he spoke.

He was angry because I continued to torment my maids for reasons I no longer remembered.

Though he had repeatedly warned me gently, my disregard had led to this mistake.

It was premature for someone like me, who hadn’t even debuted in high society, to attend the imperial ceremony.

But the Duke had obtained permission from the palace at dawn, using the family’s influence.

It seemed he wanted me to witness the responsibilities of the head of the house, hoping I’d grow up.

Whether the Duke’s orders would improve my attitude remained uncertain.

Even a headstrong only daughter of a noble house has no justification to defy the family head.

“As I’ve heard, you are indeed an outstanding beauty!”

The court ministers praised me with empty flattery.

Ignoring them, I hid in the back, away from the Duke’s gaze.

Today, I would likely waste my time pondering the sub-mission again.

“It’s been a year since I’ve wrestled with the sub-mission.”

Surely, there must be a way to discover the identity of the candidate men in the game.

Since the first mission was to find the game guide, I guessed that the guide would reveal their identities.

The reward mentioned the guide’s “accompaniment.” After much thought, I concluded that the guide was a person.

Perhaps the “meaningless stone” in the hint referred to the guide.

But my analysis ended there.

Failing to secure even the first step of the mission, I grew increasingly impatient.

“At this rate, I won’t even clear the sub-mission, let alone the main mission before the coming-of-age ceremony…”

I couldn’t understand my obsession with clearing the main mission, given my usual lack of will to live.

Yet my heart told me to give my best in this game.

So I decided to follow that instinct.

At that moment, a gentle voice broke my thoughts.

“Lady Asha, have you been well under the protection of the White Dragon? It is refreshing to see you here.”

The Count Kairus, my personal tutor appointed by Duke Esperanza and the most knowledgeable genius in the empire, spoke.

It was no surprise to encounter a royal official here.

When I first arrived in this world, Count Kairus was the first person I truly trusted. I couldn’t open up to the Duke or my nursemaids as I had to him.

He seemed to be the only one who cared for me as I truly was, not the previous Asha.

Since becoming my tutor last year, he had never met the previous Asha.

Having never received proper affection in my past life, I struggled to let down my guard even with the Duke or my nursemaids.

But through continuous meetings with Count Kairus, the walls crumbled.

Like a hatchling following the first being it sees as a mother, I followed him.

I greeted the man with eyes like the sky and a fairy-like appearance warmly.

“Teacher, have you been well under the White Dragon’s blessing? I regret missing your class today.”

He carefully selected subjects most useful for me.

If not for today’s ceremony, I would have been studying economics with him in the Duke’s greenhouse.

“I will prepare an even more fruitful lesson next time,” he said, his sky-blue eyes sparkling as he smiled. His tied-up sky-blue hair swayed gently.

Thanks to him, I had been able to adapt even slightly to this world.

And even now, this unfamiliar space felt bearable because of his presence.

Noticing my discomfort, Count Kairus handed me a long fold of his garment to hold, like comforting a worried child.

“Today, you will meet His Majesty the Emperor for the first time.”

He smiled reassuringly.

“Ah, the tyrant emperor?”

At that moment, a guard shouted:

“His Majesty the Emperor enters.”

Just as the devil appears when mentioned, the emperor seems to work the same way.