CATML Prologue

Prologue

“I thought you said you loved me.”

The man clenched his teeth as he grabbed hold of Katrina.

“Why did you do this to me?”

His golden eyes looked as though they could consume even her in flames.

“And after betraying me, this is how you end up.”

Silas Rockpenheim.

He was the male protagonist of the game.

Katrina had transmigrated into the reverse harem game she had played long ago.

As none other than the villainess.

Desperate to return home, she played the role of the villainess more thoroughly than anyone.

The system had promised that if she reached the villainess ending, it would send her back.

This was the final moment she had been waiting for.

Katrina stared at the system window floating before her.

[Game Progress: 99%]

Just one more percent.

Then she could go home.

“Silas.”

Katrina turned her head toward the man inside the prison cell.

“I never loved you.”

The man’s hand trembled where it gripped the iron bars.

“…Quite the opposite. I hated you.”

I hated you.

So, so much.

She repeated it over and over, like someone who knew only one phrase.

His eyelashes shook pitifully.

“…Why?”

“You’re asking because you really don’t know?”

She let out a strained breath.

How much longer can I stay alive?

She wanted to die.

If dying meant she could return, she would do it over and over again.

So even as a burning pain spread through her throat, she silently endured it and continued.

“You know already. I’m in love with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“……”

“I only used you because they said you were a nuisance to him.”

The corners of Silas’s lips twisted.

“…Don’t make me laugh. That bastard Raymond doesn’t even love you!”

“That’s fine. I love him.”

Love?

What nonsense.

She had only wanted to go home.

She was the villainess.

The woman who envied the heroine and loved the Crown Prince.

“That damned love…”

The prison bars in Silas’s grasp looked as though they might bend.

It was over now.

She only needed that last one percent.

Why isn’t it going up?

Panic welled inside Katrina.

What else did she have to do?

It had to increase…

Only then could she return.

“Then what about me?”

Suddenly, the man asked through gritted teeth.

“Didn’t you ever love me?”

For a moment, Katrina couldn’t answer.

She had never loved him.

…She had only pitied him.

“I already told you. The one I love is—”

“Take my hand, Katrina.”

“What?”

Caught off guard, she stared at Silas.

His expression was more serious than she had ever seen.

“You’re going to be abandoned by Raymond anyway.”

“……”

“Your family will abandon you too.”

Just as Silas said, Katrina no longer had anywhere to go.

The Duke of Abiche, who had taken her in as a child, would soon cast her aside now that she was no longer useful.

Because my holy power disappeared.

For the same reason, the Crown Prince would abandon her as well.

Everyone in this world was like that.

Even her own family had only taken her in because they needed her.

The moment she lost her usefulness, they turned their backs on her without hesitation.

But it didn’t matter.

She was leaving this world anyway.

“Don’t tell me you’re saying you’ll take responsibility for me?”

Perhaps that was why…

Silas’s foolish words made her chest tighten painfully.

“I will.”

“……”

Who did he think he was trying to save?

He was the one locked behind bars.

He should worry about himself.

“If you take my hand now, I’ll help you…”

“Don’t make me laugh, Silas.”

Katrina slapped his outstretched hand away.

Did this idiot have no idea what was happening?

“I just used you and threw you away.”

“……”

“Why would I ever take your hand?”

The person Silas should be reaching out to wasn’t Katrina.

If anyone, it should be the heroine.

“And I won’t be abandoned.”

Even if she were abandoned, it didn’t matter.

That had been her goal from the beginning.

She was exhausted.

All she wanted was to return to her original world.

“Hey. You really are…”

Silas stopped for a moment, as though trying to steady his breathing.

Then he finally forced out the words.

“…Do you really hate me that much?”

She did.

She hated Silas.

She hated the other protagonists too.

She hated everything about this world.

“I…”

Katrina bit down on her lip.

At that moment—

[Quest]

This will likely be your final quest.

Death is right before your eyes.

Your life will soon come to an end.

As your final act, behave as the villainess.

Success Reward: Qualification to Return.

[Game Progress: 100%]

The familiar system window appeared.

Its explanation was as unhelpful as ever, but Katrina instantly understood what she had to do.

She had been doing this for ten years.

How much crueler did her words have to become?

Letting out a faint, bitter laugh, she looked at Silas.

“Are you really that curious?”

Katrina, who had remained indifferent until now, suddenly smiled brightly.

Silas’s pupils trembled.

But in the end, she never gave him the sweet words he longed to hear.

“I hated you so much.”

“……”

“I hated you more than anything.”

His face twisted in agony.

“I always hated you, Silas.”

How dare someone imprisoned behind bars pity anyone else?

“What a shame you’re so pathetic.”

Katrina mocked the man clenching his teeth.

She didn’t feel guilty.

Not even a little.

You betrayed me first.

You and your friends.

Why should I feel sorry?

You tried to kill me.

I had no choice but to fight desperately just to survive… just to go home.

So this is all your own fault.

And yet…

For some reason, her chest had begun to ache.

Every word she spoke made it harder to breathe.

“Ha…”

Silas let out a hollow sigh.

But she couldn’t stop now.

…There was still one last thing she had to do.

“Hey, Katrina.”

Silas called out to her once more.

“If you’re really that confident…”

He slowly raised the head he had lowered.

His golden eyes gleamed brightly.

“Then let’s see whether everything really turns out the way you say it will.”

“……”

“I won’t be locked up here for long.”

Silas gripped the prison bars with relentless determination.

“We’ll see each other again very soon, Katrina.”

“……”

“And…”

His glowing golden eyes remained fixed on her.

“You’ll pay for locking me up.”

He bared his white teeth in a cruel smile.

“You’re going to suffer everything I did.”

What a joke.

Katrina simply laughed at his words.

We’ll never meet again.

Because today…

I’m finally going home.

[System]

Congratulations on reaching the ending, Player Han Seoryeong.

You will now…

The system window appeared before her eyes.

Katrina smiled silently.

At last.

She could finally return home.

…

That had been three years ago.

Blink.

Blink.

Katrina stared blankly as she slowly opened and closed her eyes.

[System]

Welcome back, Player Han Seoryeong.

You have once again been chosen as ‘Katrina Abiche.’

The familiar system window.

The familiar ceiling.

The familiar decorations.

The familiar furniture.

Everything was familiar.

And…

“Katrina Abiche.”

A familiar face looked down at her.

A man with jet-black hair and strikingly handsome features smiled faintly.

“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

…Why am I here?

She had clearly reached the ending and returned to Korea.

So why…

Had she transmigrated into this world again?