Looking for a Backer for the Betrayed Villainess — Chapter 01

In the end, life is about living alone. Friendship? Love? Give it all to the dogs.

I couldn’t believe that I met such a terrible end by being swayed by useless things like friendship or love.

“Does the accused admit to their crimes?”

Focus returned to my blurry eyes.

My field of vision was filled with the interior of the crowded courtroom and the gallery. And there sat the people I had trusted and cherished so much.

Bastards. Are you satisfied now?

“Violetta Sigline.”

“Why?”

Jeers and taunts burst out from all around.

But I didn’t care. Because I really hadn’t committed any crime.

Looking back at the judge who was staring at me in disbelief, I opened my mouth once more.

“I asked, why?”

“Violetta Sigline!”

“Why!”

At my confident stance, the judge’s face flushed red with anger. As if his blood pressure was rising, his mustache above his lips twitched furiously.

“Do you truly not repent?”

Out of habit, I tried to touch my left wrist, but I was currently wearing only a thin, ragged convict’s robe. The cold touch of my bare wrist made my heart feel even emptier.

With a hollow heart, I burst into laughter.

“I told you I have no crime to repent for.”

“The potion you made caused people to vomit blood and hover between life and death. His Highness the Crown Prince of this kingdom suffered the same fate! Is it true that you really didn’t know the subjugation of the Monster Trench failed because of that?!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? That wasn’t a potion I made!”

The judge clicked his tongue and turned his head away, as if he was fed up.

Hmph. I scoffed at him and looked around the courtroom.

Far away, sitting tall and looking down at me, were the faces of the traitors. I had no idea what they were thinking.

They were all people I had considered my friends. People I thought I could even give my life to.

Leonhardt wrapped his arm around Vanetta’s shoulders—who was staring at me without even blinking—and held her close.

‘You’re acting your money’s worth.’

Vanetta, Leonhardt, Calix… and…

“Will the witness please step forward and take the oath?”

…Even you, Rigel.

With silver hair that looked as if stars were pouring down and blue eyes, he was the most beautiful among the things I had considered mine.

Dressed in the clothes I loved most, he stepped forward as the witness, and with a beautiful face, he testified to each and every one of my “evil deeds.”

“Violetta… No, the accused has committed evil deeds since long ago.”

“I loved you,” those lips had once said, but now daggers poured from them, completely severing my breath.

While doing so, he never looked at me even once.

There was no way I couldn’t know. That this was our end.

Our end was even more pathetic than I had thought.

“Does the accused have any final words?”

There were countless things I wanted to say.

But what would be the use of saying any of it? Those sitting over there had already made up their minds to cast me out.

If so, there was only one thing left for me to protect.

I pulled up the corners of my mouth. I felt a sharp, tearing pain in my dry lips.

“My potion was perfect, you fools.”

Gavel clicks.

The judge solemnly pronounced the verdict.

“Ugh, damn it. It’s raining like crazy.”

It was a day just like that one.

All day long, the sky had been gray, and now a heavy downpour was cascading down.

It had already been two years since I was trapped in this dreary hut.

After the judge—wearing that ridiculous wig—yelled, “Violetta Sigline’s nobility title is hereby revoked, and she is sentenced to 500 years of exile!”, two years had passed like a flash.

“How on earth did my life end up like this…?”

Well, the problem was there right from the very beginning.

My life had been a bit twisted from the start.

It all started on the day I was born as the villainess of a novel, living a life of wickedness, when I suddenly remembered my past life out of nowhere.

Why did I have to remember such a thing?

Of course, thanks to that, I was able to spend my foolish childhood a bit better. I gained a lot, too.

But still…

No, wouldn’t it have been better if I had just stayed foolish? Rather, that might have been better for me.

“Ah, Young Lady! Are you awake?”

“Ah… What is this situation?”

“Sob, Young Lady, you woke up after a whole week… Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My heart hurts a lot… I just want to explode.”

“Oh my goodness, Madam! The Young Lady is sick! She’s seriously sick!”

When I realized that my life was nothing more than a minor villainess who would bully the female protagonist—the savior of the world—and then get banished to a remote place, my world completely collapsed for a moment.

However, I didn’t give up. Instead, I tried and tried again to survive.

I stopped doing evil deeds, stopped annoying people, and could even pride myself on living a quiet and upright life.

It meant that I changed my trajectory to stand on the side of the main characters.

For the record, apologizing to those I had despised and bullied, suppressing my personality, and living quietly was by no means an easy task.

“The character of Young Lady Sigline has become much gentler lately, right?”

“I heard she even apologized to Young Lady Vanetta. Duke Stella’s face brightened up completely.”

“Is that right? Young Lady Sigline really reformed herself.”

However, I ultimately pulled it off. In fact, I even gained upgraded abilities compared to the original work, so my life was practically a success!

Damn it. But why is the ending exactly the same as the original?! What did I do wrong!

“I should have just kept committing villainies and quietly gotten banished…”

I felt so pathetic standing up for myself only to end up with these results that tears almost came to my eyes.

Clatter, clatter! The window shook noisily in the wind.

If the window of this already dilapidated hut blew away, things would get even more troublesome, so I grabbed a hammer and some nails.

I still had to live here for another 496 years. Of course, as an ordinary human, I wouldn’t even last 100 years before dying, but still.

Frowning deeply, I stood up and found a place where the wooden frame had loosened.

Bang! Bang! As if pouring out my rising anger, I hammered the nails in with all my might. The window frame shuddered violently before slowly fixing into place.

Bang!

‘I wish there were someone I could trust and share my heart with by my side. Just one person.’

Now, it was a story told by an acquaintance whose name I couldn’t even remember from my past life—someone who was too awkward to call a friend, yet too close to call a stranger.

On a day when the rain poured down heavily just like today, that acquaintance died suddenly at a young age.

The funeral was quiet. With no parents or relatives, I was the only one who guarded the funeral home for quite a long time.

Not because I held that person particularly dear, but because we were such similar people.

We were lonely. That’s probably why I couldn’t walk away from what that person said.

Bang, bang!

The nails went in smoothly.

‘Bi, Violetta. Run.’

‘Leon, Leon! What is this all of a sudden… No way, Violetta, did you…?’

Bang!

Nasty bastards.

‘Have you been deceiving us all this time?’

‘It was a matter of life and death. How could you, knowing that…?’

Don’t make me laugh.

The things I thought were friendship and love threw me away just like that.

As a surge of boiling rage welled up inside me, I stomped over to the door and kicked it violently.

“Aaargh!”

I also kicked a stone that happened to be rolling around in front of the door with all my strength.

“Aaaaaah! You motherfuckers!”

Swooooosh.

The sound of the loud wind and rain was swallowed up by my scream. I stood there blankly for a moment, watching the scene.

As if it was going to wash everything away, the fierce wind and rain made my frustrated and miserable feeling clear up a little.

Feeling much refreshed, I closed the hut door again. The sound of the rain was heard softly.

Actually, it was better this way. Since it meant not even wild beasts would be around, turning this desolate forest into a crazy place.

“……Forget it. I should just do what I need to do.”

Shaking off my clothes that had gotten damp from the rain, I headed to the workspace on one side of the hut.

My ‘own space’ filled with old bookshelves, a desk, and a few scattered sheets of paper.

After stacking the papers neatly and tucking them into a corner of the desk, I brought out the materials I had been researching.

An object shaped like a black iron hook emerged from the inventory. At the same time, a semi-transparent blue window floated up in front of my eyes.

[Grasp of the Mad Wind]

Effect: ???

Description: Once the weapon of the leader of the Dragons, but now the cursed Grasp of the Mad Wind.

A status window.

The moment I remembered my past life, a new ‘unique ability’ was born within me. It was the essence of blood, sweat, and tears of Graduate Student No. 17, who had rolled around like a slave for her professor.