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Chapter : 01
Prologue
Letter of a Villainess
To my dear friend, young lady Nanari Dryan.
I received your letter, which was filled to the brim with “k”s and “h”s. I’m glad my misfortune brings you so much joy.
It seems you wanted to mock me to your heart’s content for being dragged around by that worthless man. But what should I do? That incident wasn’t misfortune for me either.
Rather, I had been looking forward to that day.
It was the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet. The Crown Prince appeared with my younger sister, Georgiana, on his arm, and instead of greeting me, he shouted:
“Viviana, I am breaking off our engagement!”
You should have seen his triumphant face as he shouted. I had a hard time suppressing the corners of my mouth from curling up.
“A… a breakup…?”
Still, I’m glad my voice came out decently sorrowful. It was worth pinching my arm beforehand.
The Crown Prince, full of arrogance, continued:
“That’s right! I cannot make a Crown Princess out of a woman who is so cold even to her own sister!”
“I see.”
Ah, I truly felt relieved. Even though the wedding was just around the corner, he had been dragging his feet about the breakup, and I was worried I might actually end up marrying him. I was glad he finally broke it off in time.
“Understood, Your Highness. I accept your request to end the engagement.”
After dabbing at my eyes with the back of my hand and nodding, I immediately said everything I wanted to say to the Crown Prince.
“However, since this is a unilateral breakup, I assume you will be paying compensation, of course?”
“W-well, yes!”
Perhaps because he was conscious of the many onlookers, he shouted confidently before even calculating the amount. I smiled faintly.
“The standard compensation is twice the originally agreed dowry between our families.”
“What?”
Lady Nanari, as you know, my father prepared a diamond mine as my dowry. Can you imagine how enormous twice that amount would be?
“W-well… it can’t be helped.”
I could almost hear the Crown Prince’s brain working. He probably thought that even doubled, Georgiana’s dowry would offset it to some extent.
But since Father had already promised that the compensation would be given to me, I felt quite generous. Generous enough to show mercy to that worthless Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, I would like to inform you of one thing out of our past connection.”
But the Crown Prince was more short-tempered than I expected. He recoiled as if I were some insect and shouted furiously:
“Don’t come any closer! How can I trust a villainess like you?”
“Then may I speak loudly so everyone here can hear?”
“Yes!”
If he insists on refusing kindness, there’s nothing I can do. So I spoke loudly.
“The Georgiana by your side is not my real younger sister! I recommend you cut ties before you become a laughingstock when the truth comes out. That is all.”
“What? What are you talking about, Viviana!”
After that, a huge commotion broke out, but I clutched my skirt with both hands and ran away without looking back. It was the first time I had run since I was twelve, and it was quite fun.
After that, well… I’m now writing this letter to you, my friend Nanari, in hiding.
Isn’t it strange? We haven’t even met properly since childhood, and among all my correspondents, you are the most distant one—yet I find myself writing so freely about my situation to you.
You once asked me what I would do after stepping down from my position as the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
You might think it’s unpleasant to say this, but I’m honestly tired. The luxurious life, the intense social battles, the boring routine of sitting properly and elegantly—I’ve grown weary of all of it.
So I’ve decided to live simply, doing what I want.
For example… cooking.
Lady Nanari, do you believe in reincarnation? In my past life, I was probably an extremely ordinary person who quietly worked in whatever position I was given. But even ordinary people have their own dreams.
In my past life, I would wake up early and rush to work, and when I saw shops just opening their lights, I would suddenly stop walking. Thoughts would bubble up like soap bubbles:
“I wish I had my own shop.”
Not working for someone else’s company, but my own work. My own shop. And perhaps I would have opened a restaurant.
…Yes, this sounds like the delusions of a noble lady who grew up comfortably in Goldwarde, doesn’t it? Please forget I said that.
Anyway, I will now do what I want. Farewell to the days of being chased only by work.
At least it will be far more enjoyable than being pointed at as a villainess and called the foolish Crown Prince’s fiancée.
To my dear friend, descendant of the beautiful dragon who soars through the skies, Lady Nanari of House Dryan, one of the oldest pillars of this nation.
I had no idea you were so interested in my cooking skills.
Yes, I will run a small restaurant.
A place where you can wake up leisurely, stroll in slowly, and have breakfast that doubles as lunch.
A place that sells only tea and simple snacks.
I’ve decided to call it a café.
To Lady Nanari Dryan, who succeeded in astonishing me with your persistent letters.
You are quite kind to ask so eagerly for the address of my place of seclusion. Not even my family asked where I was going. Well, technically, I ran away before they could ask.
It’s a real secret, but since you are my precious friend, I will tell you specially.
You must absolutely not tell anyone.
Absolutely! Absolutely! Absolutely! If you break this promise, I will challenge you to a duel befitting a lady. That’s how secret it is!
To Nanari.
Hey?
Why is your brother here?
I told you it was a secret!
Tell him to go back to the capital immediately!
To Lady Nanari, who seems desperate to duel with me.
Hey! At least reply! Are you serious?
Did you think my talk of dueling was a joke?
Even if you are a descendant of dragons, you’ll be kneeling before my kitchen knife!
I grabbed my pen and scribbled on the paper.
<Please tell your brother to go home! I’m scared!>
After writing only that much, I crumpled the letter.
“Tch, what’s the point of writing if she won’t even reply anyway.”
Still, letters were my only means of protest, so I picked up the pen again.
<This is your last chance, Lady Nanari. For the sake of our friendship…>
And in the end, I crumpled it again. Friendship, my foot.
“If that existed, none of this would’ve happened in the first place.”
I sighed deeply and stood up. Then I started walking.
Step, step.
The creaking of the old wooden floor mixed with the sound of my footsteps.
“I chose this shop because I liked its vintage atmosphere, but I didn’t expect it to be this noisy.”
Even though my footsteps would already reveal my presence, the black-haired figure standing at the edge of the window did not move at all.
For a full week, he had remained there like a dead tree. Because of him, customers turned away in fear, and my sales had plummeted off a cliff.
“What a troublesome man.”
I placed my arms on the slightly open window frame and leaned out.
“…Excuse me.”
At my call, silver-glinting metallic eyes looked back at me.
I bit down on my lip to suppress a gasp and forced myself to stay silent.
“What kind of eyes are those…”
Still, I had gotten somewhat used to them. The first time I saw him, I almost collapsed on the spot just from meeting his gaze.
“Would his eyes turn that color if you sharpened a kitchen knife on a whetstone for ten hours?”
Indeed—Cal Dryan. Among the Dryan family, descendants of dragons, he was said to be the man closest to a pure-blooded dragon.
I never imagined I would meet him face-to-face in this quiet countryside after leaving the capital.
Even though I mustered the courage to call out to him, once our eyes met, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him to leave. Just looking at him made my legs tremble. I squeezed my eyes shut.
“I don’t care how scary he is—I have to get rid of this man somehow.”
After all, the reason I left the capital after the Crown Prince’s broken engagement was because of the man in front of me.
“Why are you standing in front of someone else’s window early in the morning?”
At my bold question, the man slowly blinked his silver eyes. Even that motion felt like a reptile blinking, sending chills down my spine.
Cal Dryan. A man who, through many recessive generations, still possessed a body closer to a dragon than a human.
And the villain of the original story who would one day go berserk and become a true dragon, bringing about the empire’s destruction.
