That “girl” was born to a sub-baron father who worked as a civil servant in the royal capital, and a commoner mother who was a maid in the royal castle.
While a baron’s family or higher might frown upon such a marriage, for a sub-baron, marrying a commoner is not that unusual. However, the paternal grandmother, who had married into the baron’s family, did not approve of the commoner daughter-in-law, and the girl was raised by her maternal family until the age of five.
“…It’s like a ‘maiden game’ (otome game).”
On her fifth birthday, after her mother told her about this country and the nobility, the girl looked at her reflection in the mirror and muttered the unfamiliar term “otome game,” suddenly remembering her previous life.
In her previous life, she was a female employee at a trading company in the countryside, playing an otome game while walking and looking at her smartphone. That’s when she was run over by a tractor driver who was also looking at their phone, and she was reincarnated into this world.
And now, with a noble father, living in a city resembling medieval Europe, and being born as an adorable little girl, she couldn’t help but think “I’m like the heroine of an otome game.”
“…No, that’s not it. I must have been reborn into an otome game world!”
The girl was quite prone to fixated beliefs.
She had already been someone with a strong tendency for fixed ideas in her previous life, and in this world, due to her young age, that trait had only been amplified as she eagerly pursued her interests.
From that day on, Martina began self-improvement using her previous life’s knowledge, while also gathering information about this world.
If this world was an “otome game,” there should be a prince around her age.
With Martina’s cute appearance, she was sure to catch the eye of the prince.
And the stage for an otome game is always a “school.”
Through this line of reasoning, she gathered rumors and found out that this Holy Kingdom had a Crown Prince in his thirties, with two princes as his children, one of whom was around Martina’s age.
And as expected, she learned that they attended the “Magic Academy,” so Martina began studying magic.
Fortunately, Martina had a talent for elemental magic. While her paternal grandmother wanted to send her to a local branch school, as the commoners were not welcome at the capital’s main school, Martina managed to persuade her father to let her attend the main school.
Even though she was just a child in this life, Martina had the “experience” of living until her thirties in her previous life, so manipulating her scholarly father was an easy task for her.
She paid attention to her appearance and cleanliness, and made sure to have a skin-nourishing diet. The water spirit, with whom Martina had the closest bond, helped make her skin wonderfully soft and supple.
With her carefully cultivated cuteness and coquettishness, Martina easily charmed her father, leaving her mother to sigh, wondering if she had raised her daughter incorrectly, and ultimately leaving Martina in the hands of her paternal family.
“I knew it, I’m the ‘heroine’ of this world!”
Martina, now convinced of her status as the heroine, spoke with a slightly affected noble tone as she entered the Royal Capital’s Magic Academy’s main school. True to an otome game, the two princes were beautiful young men who caught the eye.
The older prince had a gentle, sweet appearance, while the younger one had a proud, handsome look. Excited, Martina tried to get close to them, but as a mere lower-ranked noble, she was intimidated by the other young ladies and couldn’t even approach them.
Of course, in reality, not just in a game, security measures have to be considered. But Martina didn’t think that way, instead believing that some kind of event was necessary.
“…I wonder if I should just grab a bread roll and run around the corner ….”
Since there are no bread loaves in this world, She’ve been experimenting with making them from molds, when She heard the rumor that the princess of this country, one grade below Martina, was enrolling.
She was officially the princess of a grand ducal house with the royal bloodline, but even to a minor noble like Martina, she was a figure up in the clouds. And the rumor was that she was a girl called the “Saint”, who had saved the children from a demon summoning incident.
“…So that’s how it is. The ‘villainess’ has finally appeared!”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Martina concluded in her suspicious lady-like manner that the reason her own capture plan wasn’t progressing was because there was no rival villainess heroine.
But it was difficult for the minor noble Martina to have contact with the princess, and apparently she didn’t come to school every day. As Martina pondered how to make contact, she thought that if the princess was a student, she would surely come to the cafeteria, even if she used the seats reserved for the upper nobility. So Martina began staking out a seat near the cafeteria walkway every day.
And several months later, the day finally arrived.
Martina’s “plan to make contact with the villainess princess” went like this:
As the villainess princess passed by, Martina would drop her cutlery and let it roll. Then Martina would jump out to pick it up. If the princess was truly a villainess, she would surely admonish the actions of Martina, the heroine.
By being admonished and becoming the tragic heroine, Martina would gain sympathy from those around her, and the prince’s ear as well. In an otome game, it wouldn’t be strange for the prince to witness it directly.
“It’s perfect!”
But it was full of holes. Martina, who was assuming the princess would act as the villainess, was unaware of these holes, and finally, the princess of the Holy Kingdom appeared in the cafeteria.
“Eeek!”
Seeing her, Martina shrank back like a baby rabbit encountering a huge tiger.
(Seriously, that’s way too much!)
In the midst of overwhelming tension, Martina screamed internally.
Just the appearance of the princess silenced the bustling cafeteria. Even those who hadn’t directly laid eyes on her fell silent, which was eerily horrifying in a way.
Her flowing hair was threads of gold.
In her saddened golden eyes, peeking out from under her long lashes, was a melancholy air.
The cold, doll-like beauty, sculpted by the hands of a goddess of beauty…
If permitted, one could gaze at her forever. But the students continued to stare, having forgotten even to breathe, as touching this embodiment of beauty was strictly forbidden.
The cafeteria had students of different grades, and they were unaccustomed to her demonically alluring beauty.
If almost everyone hadn’t been seated, those who saw her up close might have knelt before her divine presence.
–Clink!
The cutlery fell from Martina’s trembling hand, rolling in front of the princess.
It was according to plan in a way, but Martina’s face instantly turned pale, and the people around her looked like they were facing the end of the world.
(No, no, this wasn’t on purpose!)
She screamed internally, but her entire body was paralyzed as if bound by a demonic pressure.
If this princess was the villainess, this was an absurdly cruel game. There was no longer any desire to beat her, as the difficulty level seemed to have gone straight into insanity mode.
At a critical moment, the water spirit who was supposed to protect Martina hid inside her clothes, trembling and muttering something like an apology to something.
[“…A worm…”]
Hearing that faint murmur clearly directed at her, Martina noticed the killing intent being directed at her from the princess’s attendants.
Those attendants were also impossibly beautiful, and the maidens and girl knights with golden hair gave Martina a look as if she were a mere worm, making her acutely aware of her own impending death and regret at being born in this world.
But Martina’s prepared death vanished with a sudden impact sound as the princess departed.
Martina couldn’t understand how she had been spared, but paralyzed by fear, having already wet herself, she had no strength to move even after the cafeteria had emptied. She considered it only natural that her closest friend, the water spirit, had returned to the spirit realm without responding to Martina’s calls, and she clutched the cutlery that had returned to her hand as if it were a precious treasure, swearing to the heavens like an enlightened nun.
“…I will live a humble life.”
And so, Martina, reflecting on her past life, resolved to pursue a modest, steady life and search for a marriage partner.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
