IVPCB 02

Chapter 02

I stared blankly at the door through which the young master had left, then turned my gaze to Count Fosha. His drooping shoulders looked pitiful.

‘I’m sorry, Count Fosha. But this is for your sake too. Of course, I know this will tarnish the family name. But if I stay attached to this family, the House of Fosha will be completely ruined and you’ll end up on the gallows. I don’t want innocent people to die because of me, so even though it’s painful now, please understand.’

I conveyed with my eyes what I could not say aloud.

‘You probably can’t stand the sight of me right now. It’s only right that I leave.’

And as I quietly closed the door behind me and stepped out of the room, a series of blue system windows appeared before my eyes.

[Your occupation has become <Apprentice Gardener of Heliweka Castle>.]

[The achievements you accumulated as a <Villainess> will now be converted to ‘Notoriety.’

―Your Notoriety Level: 54

―Your notoriety has spread throughout noble society and among some gossip-prone commoners.

―The ‘Underworld’ has begun to take notice of you.]

[Your Notoriety Level is sufficient, so the unique passive skills ‘Bold-Faced,’ ‘Tongue of Ruin,’ ‘Sarcasm,’ and ‘Provocation’ will be maintained.]

[Because this is a special class, you cannot revert for 10 years, and if you quit the occupation within that period, you will receive a penalty.

―Penalty: The Wrath of the Entire Empire, Your Death.]

—

Unfortunately, it seemed the karma I had built up as a villainess would not be erased. However, after many twists and turns, it was fortunate that I had obtained the title of gardener.

I looked down with satisfaction at my new job title floating above the system window.

Because being a ‘gardener’ was exactly the way to survive until the ending in this damn game.

Everyone’s life has its own story.

There are probably very few people who would wish for their own story to be used merely as decoration to brighten someone else’s life.

I, who had lived an ordinary life working part-time at a flower shop in the Republic of Korea, was no exception.

I loved romance fantasy, sweet desserts after meals made me happy, and the scent of fresh flowers at the shop where I worked gave me a thrill.

What snatched the pen from my hand as I was ordinarily writing a book called ‘Life’ was an accidental traffic accident and the death that followed.

After death, I was reincarnated into a reverse harem romance fantasy game I used to play often.

The title was ‘Do Whatever You Want, Saintess!’ (Hereafter, Do.Wh.Wh.)

The plot was not complicated.

There was a girl named Luna who lived with her single mother in a rural village in the Berg Empire.

While living her ordinary daily life, she happened to encounter the Pope of the Agnes Church, who was on a pilgrimage to holy sites. And the Pope recognized at first glance that she was his long-lost daughter.

Oh, and for reference, the doctrines of the Agnes Church permitted marriage between ordained priests, saintesses, and holy knights.

After many twists and turns, the Pope persuaded Luna and took her to his holy temple.

Luna, who possessed divine power, became an apprentice saintess of the Agnes Church, and later saved the Berg Empire from crisis, eventually receiving recognition for her divine power and succeeding her father as the next Pope.

Of course, as a dating simulation game, the highlight of ‘Do.Wh.Wh.’ was the romance with the various male lead candidates.

In the world called ‘Um,’ which served as the game’s setting, there were three gods who protected the world: the Sky God, the Earth God, and the Sea God. It was fun that Luna could end up with one of the male leads associated with each god, and it was interesting that the way to save the world varied slightly depending on the chosen route.

The lineup of male leads was quite substantial as well.

A gentle sweetheart, a cheerful crown prince, a sexy mage with a tragic past, and even a mysterious reclusive master gardener.

If I had been reincarnated as the protagonist Luna, my life in the game would have been on easy mode.

I had played ‘Do.Wh.Wh.’ from Luna’s perspective many times, and I had already achieved happy endings with each of the male leads at least once.

But I was reincarnated as the villainess who tormented Luna. And not even the main villainess, the ‘Grand Duchess of Ortega,’ but one of her followers, the Count’s daughter ‘Anais del Fosha.’

Anais was a petite beauty with crimson hair and vivid green eyes, lively and cute, and having grown up under a wealthy father who doted on her, she was what you’d call a ‘silver spoon’ kid.

But she had no sense and was stupid. In a word, she was exactly the supporting villainess.

The reason I had my life’s reins stolen and became a component of the story was because I had been reincarnated as this Anais.

This game had designated me as a ‘villainess’ and given me not romantic affinity but only ‘villainess achievement points.’

From the moment of my reincarnation, I was already a spoiled villainess who had committed numerous evil acts against Luna, accumulating ’50’ villainess achievement points, and my reputation was rock bottom.

Of course, since I was a modern person with common sense, living as a reckless villainess was not easy. Moreover, as I recalled, there was only one route for Anais, who had lived as a villainess in the game.

‘She just dies a pathetic death, that’s all.’

The manner of death and the person who killed her varied, but the conclusion was always the same: the House of Fosha would fall and she would meet her end.

‘If I turn over a new leaf, maybe I can avoid a pathetic death.’

So in my first run, I came to that conclusion to overcome the situation. I decided to restore my ruined reputation and escape my predetermined death.

I donated to the poor, prayed daily at the Agnes Church’s holy temple, got along with Luna…

But whenever I did good deeds and my ‘villainess achievement points’ decreased, the system would shove warning windows in my face.

And the moment my ‘villainess achievement points’ hit zero, I died of a heart attack, and the story moved on to the second run.

In my second run, I faithfully accumulated evil deeds as the system commanded. I diligently carried out the quests given to me as a villainess to torment Luna.

The moment my villainess achievement points exceeded 100 and I transformed from a ‘low-level villainess’ into a ‘full-fledged villainess,’ I lost my sanity and fell completely under the system’s control.

Having lost my mind, I fell passionately in love with the crown prince, the male lead Luna had chosen, and stalked him with obsessive behavior. The Grand Duchess of Ortega encouraged me.

I hated Luna and plotted to kill her. I studied black magic and researched poisons that could kill people discreetly.

When I came to my senses, I had handed Luna a poisoned wine glass at the Grand Duchess’s command, and Luna, after drinking it, collapsed and barely survived.

After that, I became a criminal and was executed.

My family’s property and titles were confiscated, and my father was executed alongside me.

Remembering the chilling sensation of the blade flying toward my neck, when I opened my eyes again, I was given a third life, and I had returned to being fifteen-year-old Anais once more.

At the beginning of this third life, my third regression, I made an excuse that I was sick and didn’t leave my room for a week.

I was worn out from two consecutive failed regressions. Especially the feeling of losing my sanity and being controlled in my second life was truly horrifying.

“What on earth did I do wrong?”

I demanded of the empty air, but the system gave no answer.

I felt wronged. I had only committed the sin of trying to live diligently.

As a reasonable person, I tried to live kindly to avoid a bad ending, and when that didn’t work, I simply acted as the villainess the system told me to.

‘Should I just die like this?’

In my despair, I even thought that.

But what snapped me out of it, having consumed only water, was a warning window that appeared on the seventh day.

—

[Warning! You are in a state of severe malnutrition. If you continue like this, you will die soon.]

—

Seeing that system window, my despair lifted and irritation surged within me.

‘Despicable and disgusting.’

It was the one who had thrust me into this damn game, yet it kindly informed me of my malnutrition.

As I fumed with resentment, a stubborn resolve formed. It was too unfair to die like this.

I tore at my hair in frustration, but no answer came, so I slightly opened my door.

In front of the door was a large tray covered with a silver lid. When I lifted the lid, I saw steaming soup, bread, apple juice, and fruit puree.

‘This must have been arranged by Count Fosha.’

Anais had a terrible temper, and when things didn’t go her way, she would sometimes lock herself in her room and go on a silent strike.

Then Count Fosha, while outwardly losing his temper, would instruct the maids to prepare a meal for Anais and leave it in front of her door.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve really grown fond of this old man.’

Even for a delinquent like Anais, he always cleaned up her messes, and though he scolded her, he did it for her sake.

‘Wait.’

Thinking of Count Fosha, something flashed through my mind. After suffering heartache because of Anais, he would drink and sometimes say this to his daughter:

—

“This father will support you no matter what you do. Please, just stop the bad deeds and live happily doing what you want, can’t you?”

—

“A normal life, doing what you want.”

Come to think of it, ordinary people did not define themselves by the dichotomy of good and evil.

That is to say, when introducing themselves, they would say, ‘I am so-and-so, the crown prince,’ not ‘I am so-and-so, the villainess.’

It was an extremely common-sense thought, but I had been so fixated on the title of villainess in the game that I hadn’t realized it.

I had been stupid.

‘Come to think of it, don’t regular games have a job system?’

Even Luna, at this very moment, was an apprentice saintess, and even Count Fosha had occupations like chef, butler, and maid.

With a glimmer of hope, I called out softly.

“System, change occupation.”

Then the system gave me a surprising answer.