“Ho? A performance, Jeord? I would like to see it too, oh yes.”
“Enough with the tomfoolery, Jeffery. We’re heading back.”
“Ehh...? You really are no fun, Ian. Actually, Ian... you’re heading back with me?”
“As I said, enough with the tomfoolery. There is no way I could return with you.”
Jeffery was currently being scolded by Ian, and I couldn’t tell which one was the older of the two crown princes anymore. However... the fact that they could speak like this suggested that they got along well. But... they wouldn’t return to the castle together? So they didn’t get along after all? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Well then, Lady Katarina. See you later,” the bewitching beauty said, with the slightest hint of a smile.
The cute, meek girl on the other hand lowered her head again, muttering a curt goodbye. “Farewell.”
“See you!”
“Well then. Do excuse us.”
And with that, the two crown princes and their fiancees were gone. It was perhaps worth noting that the two older princes did bring quite some gifts with them and had left them with Jeord. Despite all they’d said, I supposed they did intend to visit Jeord in some capacity. While I wanted to ask Jeord more about the crown princes and their relationship in general, it was already time for the play, and I, too, rushed off to the stage area.
By the time I had reached the stage, all members of the council except Jeord and Alan were already gathered. Some of the female students already had their costumes on.
All right! I’ll change too, into these light and casual clothes I had prepared beforehand to assist my friends backstage. That was when it happened — when I had my clothes bundled in my hands, ready to head off and change.
“It’s terrible! One of the actresses is unwell, and can no longer perform!” one of the students assisting the production backstage said. Apparently one of the girls who was due to play a part in the play had suddenly felt unwell, collapsed, and had to be carried off to the infirmary. Thankfully, the diagnosis was nothing to be alarmed at, she was simply a little tired, and with some rest would recover. However... the play was about to begin. The student in question was now unable to participate.
“We have no choice. We would simply have to find a replacement,” Jeord said, upon receiving the news from the assistant. He then turned to the gathered members of the council. With that announcement, however, all the other students assisting in the production of the play averted their eyes.
But of course they would. After all, the student council was wildly popular in the academy. All members of the council were highly attractive individuals, most of whom had a fair number of fans. To have someone who looked relatively normal stand amongst these dazzling individuals... While it was not exactly impossible, it was very hard to do. Following the crowd, I, too, averted my eyes, but...
“Well then... in that case, wouldn’t Lady Katarina be fit for the role?” one of the other students said. She was also one of the students assisting backstage. Although she didn’t announce her statement loudly, the area we were gathered in was now deathly quiet — and everyone heard her. And then...
“I, too, think that Lady Katarina would be fit for the role.”
“I feel that only Lady Katarina can stand with the rest of the student council members...”
“Yes, if it’s Lady Katarina, the audience and other students would be most satisfied as well.”
Voice after voice amongst my fellow backstage assistants rose up, almost all at once. W-Wait. I can’t do it! It’s impossible! After all, I’ve only played rocks... or trees... it’s impossible for me to play an actual person! To begin with... how could someone like me, with my villainess face, stand amongst the glamorous members of the council?
“I... I c-can’t...” I said, objecting to this sudden role thrust upon me.
The other students around me, however, refused to hear it. “I think it would be best for Lady Katarina to play this role,” they said.
U-Ugh... Someone, please! Stand with me and tell these people I simply couldn’t do it! Now that it had come to this... Jeord! Jeord would surely say that “It is all but impossible for Katarina.” I turned to Jeord expectantly... only for him to smile at me.
“Well then, Katarina. I leave it in your capable hands,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder — and that was the final say in the matter.
And so it came to be that I ended up unexpectedly performing in the student council’s play...
It’s impossible! There’s no way I can do it! I thought as I continued to fidget. Around me, however, the preparations were well under way. Before I knew it, I had been fit snugly into my costume and handed my lines. Fortunately... or perhaps unfortunately, the student who had passed out had about the same physique as I did, and I fit into her costume with no issues. I could no longer escape.
Although I had seen the council practice countless times, I simply had no ability when it came to memorizing lines. As such, I buried myself in my lines furiously.
“Do not worry, Katarina. You do not have many lines to begin with,” Jeord said, almost casually. I would prefer if Jeord didn’t put myself in the same boat as him, however. After all, I was hardly a high-spec all-rounder like he was. To begin with... even if I did somehow memorize these lines, I would simply forget all of them when I stood on stage — the gazes of the audience would simply make me too nervous.
Ugh... now that’s come to this, I have to rely on a cheat sheet! Yes, we shall do that, Katarina Claes! I started desperately copying my lines down on a tiny piece of paper. With this, my cunning but smart preparations were complete — and the play began.
“I am very happy to be able to stand on the same stage as you, Lady Katarina,” Maria said, smiling as she walked out onto the stage. She was, of course, playing the role of the protagonist. I could only silently see her off as I furiously wrote lines in the palm of my hand.
The contents of the play were much like the story of “Cinderella” that I was familiar with in my previous life. A play modeled off a folk tale of sorts, basically, chosen due to the fact that many younger siblings of the academy’s students were present in the audience. This play was consciously chosen so that even younger audiences would understand.
As such, even I, who usually distanced myself from difficult or complicated stories, knew of the play’s general outline. In fact, its plot was more or less identical to that of Cinderella’s. It was a story about a noble girl who was mistreated by her stepmother and older stepsister. She was treated like a servant. Even so, she was a positive and gentle girl, who got along very well with the servants of her family, as well as the townsfolk.
One day, a ball was held at a nearby castle. The girl’s stepmother and stepsister were busy with their preparations, fitting themselves into luxurious outfits. The noble girl could only look on, envious of her stepmother and sister. She was very sad indeed. The servants and townsfolk, being aware of this, thought to prepare a dress for her as well — and without her mother and sister finding out, did just that.
On the day of the ball, the servants dressed up the noble girl after her mother and sister had left, hence allowing her to go to the ball as well. When she arrived, a young man called out to her, inviting her to dance. The girl’s heart was captivated by the gentle and handsome youth. They danced until the ball was nearing its end — but it was then that the girl caught sight of her stepmother and sister. Panicking, she escaped from the ballroom, and in her haste left a single shoe behind.
The youth, a prince from a certain kingdom, had danced with the girl and fallen head over heels for her. He picked up her forgotten shoe and began searching for the girl that he had danced with. Word soon spread throughout the land: “She who is able to put on this shoe shall become the prince’s bride.” It was a shoe that only that girl could put on — and she would eventually marry the handsome prince... so went the story.
Well, other than the fact that there was
no magic involved, and that the shoe in question was not made of glass, it was more or less an identical story to Cinderella. Jeord was the prince, of course, and the protagonist was Maria. For some reason, Mary was playing the stepmother. My role was that of the mean stepsister, who would often bully and mistreat Maria’s character.
This really was a fitting role for Katarina, who looked every bit the part a villainess of a noble lady. No... impossible. Could it be? Although the events of Fortune Lover ended safely... I’m not forced into bullying Maria? I was filled with a sense of unease.
The stepsister character mainly appeared in the first half of the play to bully Maria. Once that was over, she would show up in a short scene at the dance ball, and finally when the shoe was fitted onto the protagonist’s foot. She didn’t have many scenes. All I had to do was somehow overcome the first half...
Shortly after Maria went out on the stage, it was my turn. The stepmother character that Mary played was calling for me. With a final series of letters scrawled on my palm, I swallowed deeply, heading out onto the stage.
And now... I was in the spotlight. On stage. I could see a seemingly endless ocean of audience members before me — they filled my field of vision. At this particular point in time, the worst scenario that I had envisioned came true... the lines that I had struggled so desperately to remember all disappeared from my mind.
To begin with, I hadn’t made much headway memorizing them to begin with, so I suppose there was no helping it. However, I had anticipated that this would happen — and that was why I’d prepared this little sheet of paper. How fortunate that I prepared a cheat sheet, indeed! Slowly, I began to withdraw the small piece of paper hidden in the folds of my dress... or at least, I tried.
Eh? Where... where is it? I can’t find it... I searched desperately in that particular fold where I had hidden the cheat sheet... to no avail. Wh-What should I do? I was overcome by a wave of despair. I looked downwards. Perhaps I had dropped it? But there was nothing at my feet. I turned ever so slightly... and there, by the curtains, was the small piece of paper that I had dropped.
U-Ugh! My cheat sheet! I dropped it by the curtains... what a terrible mistake! Now that I was on stage, it was all but impossible for me to turn back. I was in a bind. A most dire, life-threatening bind. In addition, due to my fidgeting, a strange pause had fallen upon the stage.
There was no other choice. I simply had to do it. However, I couldn’t remember my lines. Still... this scene was where my character bullied Maria’s protagonist character. That was all I had to do, right? Well then... I would have to become the villainess, Katarina Claes, here and now. There was no other way.
Up until last year, I had been desperately taking notes about Fortune Lover, and memorizing whatever I could at every opportunity. As such, I could easily recall how Katarina had bullied the protagonist. All right! Let’s do this. This stage now belongs to the villainess, Katarina Claes.
And so I used lines from Fortune Lover, mercilessly lashing out at Maria’s protagonist character. Things like “Honestly. Do you really not know your place?” and “Someone like you should just lie down in the dirt, and stay there. After all, that suits you best.”
Maria and Mary were both momentarily stunned at my lines — they did, after all, deviate significantly from the script. However, the two of them, being as capable as they were, quickly grasped the situation and improvised. After this scene, I made sure to subtly hide the cheat sheet in my hands.
With that, the curtains finally fell on the first play that I had ever participated in in my life...
“Lady Katarina... your lines, your acting when you bullied the protagonist... most wonderful.”
“Really! She had this terrifying aura about her.”
“To think that Lady Katarina is capable of such acting... it was almost as if she were someone else! How unexpected...”
“You must have quite the talent for acting, Lady Katarina! Truly splendid!”
For reasons unknown to me, my little performance won great praise from my classmates and friends. In fact, even acquaintances of mine praised my effort. Apparently, the first few lines that I had delivered were seen as intentional ad-libbing. Me using Katarina’s lines from Fortune Lover and role-playing as her was apparently very well received. Even Maria and Mary, who were thrown off by my strange ad-libbing, had nothing but praise for my performance.
At first, I was humbled by all the praise. All I did was copy what Katarina did in Fortune Lover... It really wasn’t anything special. However... now that everyone was congratulating me, I slowly felt myself riding on that wave of praise. I often got ahead of myself in this way... and my head was already in the clouds.
I should be aiming to be an actress in the future, then! Not just someone in the Magical Ministry. Upon returning to the waiting room, I started posing in front of the mirror — poses which the stepsister character had been taking on stage.
Still elated at my acting achievements, I struck a particularly impressive pose before the mirror, before stuffing my face full of the snacks that Jeord’s brothers had offered us.
It was then that one of the backstage assistant students called out to me. “Lady Katarina, you should be leaving for the ball soon. The other members of the council are calling for you,” she said.
I had simply intended to do a series of poses and eat some snacks, but I ended up taking longer than I had originally assumed. Quite some time had passed. The ball was the very last event of the School Festival — Jeord would be escorting me, and I had promised my brother and friends that I would dance with them too. They wouldn’t be happy if I was late.
The academy was somewhat dark at this point. The backstage assistant student who so kindly informed me of the time, however, offered to guide me. “I shall guide you to the venue, Lady Katarina,” she said, holding a lantern and leading me along. Under normal circumstances I would have returned to my quarters by this time, so I wasn’t used to seeing the academy in the dark.
It was fitting for a school festival at an academy filled with nobles to end with a ball. I supposed the equivalent in my previous life would be a school campfire and folk dance. Ahh... in the end, I couldn’t have my favorite yakisoba or okonomiyaki. In exchange I was able to eat all kinds of delicious food, but now that I got it in my head, I couldn’t give up now. I should ask the chefs to prepare some for me next time I’m back home.
As I continued to dream about what delicious food I could eat, the student leading me towards the ball suddenly stopped. Eh? This is where the ball is being held? There’s no lights anywhere... Upon closer inspection, we were now in a place somewhat removed from the academy. No matter how I looked at it, this couldn’t possibly be where the ball was being held... Did she get lost due to how dark it was?
“Um... excuse me...” I called out to the student leading me. And then—
Suddenly, an unseen individual grasped me by the arm, and placed what seemed to be a cloth over my face. For some reason, the cloth smelled... sweet. Shortly after I inhaled this strange sweetness, my entire body felt heavy, and soon, my consciousness faded away.
Before I fully passed out, I thought I heard Keith’s voice softly resonating in my mind. “I always tell you to be careful, Big Sister...”
Chapter 2: The School Festival — Various Vignettes
As a member of the student council, I, Keith Claes, was assigned to a display venue showcasing the history and magical research of our kingdom for the duration of the school festival. I smiled at a seemingly endless stream of students and their guardians. Although Big Sister said she’d come by soon, I still couldn’t see her. And so I waited.
“I’ll go have a look at the stands and then come back with gifts!” she’d said before heading off. It had already been a few hours since then. Even Mary Hunt, a friend of mine and fellow student council member who’d been assigned to this space, looked worried.
Well, if I had to guess, Katarina probably got distracted by all the food at t
he stands, started eating, and lost track of time altogether... As a result, it wasn’t until later in the afternoon that the person I’d been waiting for showed up.
Upon seeing us, she broke into a wide smile, quickly approaching us with her two hands full of bags of various sizes. In the end, it was just as I’d predicted — Katarina had ended up buying and eating snacks endlessly, and hence was late to our meeting.
“...I’m sorry,” Katarina apologized almost immediately. Mary, however, simply responded with, “Think nothing of it, Lady Katarina. I am only glad that you are safe.”
However... if I spoiled her here, she’ll simply keep doing the same thing over and over again. After all, this was my Big Sister we were talking about. “Really, Big Sister. Are you not being a little too careless? You do have a penchant for getting into trouble. Please be aware of that... and be more careful,” I said, looking at her strictly.
Katarina’s expression of remorse was almost pitiful. She had always been like this — she would often get into some sort of trouble or another, being the natural charmer that she was, ever since our childhood. Last year, the incident she’d been involved in could have very well cost her her life.
Even so... my amazingly dense and carefree sister had all but forgotten about it. As of late, she had been especially relaxed and careless. Although I had warned her repeatedly about Prince Jeord, who sought to make her his, my advice was not heeded, entering through her right ear and predictably leaving from her left. She would go into Jeord’s quarters on her own without a second thought.
Katarina was already a grown woman. However, she seemed incapable of realizing that there were some people who saw her as an object of desire. She was completely unaware of this fact. This was why I always had to be on my guard, day after day. I had to be constantly vigilant... all for the sake of protecting her.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Volume 3 Page 6