[2]: Mastermind Moment

You've always felt sort of bad for the villainess character trope.

Sure, they were always kind of a bitch, but that's because they were designed like that on purpose by their creator. The author or developer wanted to make them as much of a pain-in-the-ass as possible, so they gave them a plethora of annoying traits in order to bring out the frustration from their audience.

Yet... you could only look at them with pity. Even though they were forced to act shitty towards the love interests for the entire story, the protagonist would never be interested in them. In fact, the MC would often loathe them for getting in his way. No matter how in love or desperate they were, the villainess was always destined to be thrown-away at the end. Where everyone had their happy ending, and they never even had a chance at one in the first place.

How humorous that you were now the subject of your past self's pity.

After all the memories that the actual Lady Corella went through drenched you in head to toe, it's no surprise that you fainted. For one, it way too much simulation for your groggy self that just died, woke up in bed with a random shirtless stranger, and had a maid pop up out of nowhere and claim to have served you for seven years.

Second of all, it only confirmed your suspicions that you were now in the world of Transcendental Savior.

Seriously... Out of all the games you've played in your past life, it had to be this one? Some shitty PC game you downloaded out of boredom, only to find it entertaining enough to go through most of the routes. You were planning on finishing the game, but you kind of fell off your apartment's balcony before that could happen.

Still, a part of you couldn't fully comprehend that this was your new life. You were now the twenty-one-year-old Lady [Name] Corella — not to mention the one that slept with every man in sight, and would eventually become the #1 simp for the incredibly generic protagonist of this game. You would have face-palmed if it weren't for the old guy checking your vitals at the moment.

"After careful examination," the doctor started, taking off his stethoscope and packing it away neatly in his briefcase. Claire stood next to him while nervously fiddling with her hands. "I have deemed that exhaustion was the cause of Lady [Name]'s sudden fainting. Have you not been getting enough sleep recently, my lady?"

Thanks to Claire's words and your newfound memories, you knew that was very-much-so the case since Lady Corella had a tendency to get... freaky, at night.

"I suppose I haven't," you replied with a shrug of your shoulders. You knew the actual reason for your fainting, though revealing that you weren't Lady Corella but actually some rando from another world and that this whole world was fictional would only made your head roll. "My bad, doc. I'll try to get more sleep then." You could see Claire look at you with puzzled eyes from your causal speaking.

The doctor stayed silent for a second, his brows knitted together with an incredulous expression.

"I... Ahem, yes, that was what I was going to recommend," He coughed into his palm, "A few consecutive days of good sleep should rejuvenate your body. In addition, I would like to prescribe a lavender tea brew for you to drink before bed each night."

"Ehhh, no need. I actually have a skill for knocking out on any pillow in under a minute. I'll be fine." You smiled. The old man's frown only deepened from your words. After taking a pen from his breast pocket, he scribbled something down on a piece of notepaper. Then he handed it to Claire.

"Here is the brand name you'll need to ask for, and the store it's sold at." The maid's grey eyes closely studied the scrap of paper while the doctor took his briefcase, trailing to the door. "That'll be all for today. I sincerely hope you make a swift recovery, my lady. Please do not exercise your body too much in the meantime." With a bow of his head, the door was shut with a soft click.

Claire quickly turned back to you. Now that you two were the only ones in the room, she could finally speak to you without holding back.

"M-my lady! Do you know how worried I was this morning? I've told you that you shouldn't fool around so much these days, yet you refused to listen to me..." She said tearfully, shattering any remains of the tranquil facade she had worn prior. "You nearly gave me a heart attack when you fainted! Please, I beg of you, let your body rest for a few days." At this rate, she would burst into tears in approximately five seconds if you didn't say anything.

You could only chuckle to yourself after hearing her outburst.

"Don't worry, Claire. I understand how scary this might've been for you, but I actually have no intention of ever getting into bed with a man again." You mimicked the smile of the Cheshire cat, resting your cheek on top of your left hand. "So, yeah. Rest assured!" your amusement only grew when you watched the confusion spread across her face.

"...Huh?" She paused, wiping away at the tears on the corner of her eyes. "My lady..." But instead of an expression of relief, imagine your surprise when her face warped into pure disappointment, like a mother staring at her child who drew on the walls for the tenth time. "I've heard you say this same phrase numerous times before, and not once have you done it. I shall not let you fool me again."

With a frown and a pout that creased her usual smooth chin, Claire crossed her arms and looked away.

You blinked. Whoops. Looks like Lady Corella already pulled this same trick a few too many times already. But it wasn't like you could just say you were only interested in women now, Lady Corella's body count would probably make any of Claire's remaining faith in you dissipate into nothingness. So, you raised your hands up in a harmless manner.

"Alright, alright… You got me," You cheekily grinned, "But I'm really serious this time, Claire. I promise—I won't sleep with another man again. And if I somehow break that promise, which I won't, you can... I dunno, punish me?"

With those words, you left the maid in front of you speechless. Jaw left hanging open even. She blinked rapidly for a few seconds, rubbed her eyes, blinked again, and then looked back up at you.

"My lady... pardon me, but did I hear you correctly?"

"Yeah?" you raised a brow. Your response only shocked her more.

"How—how could a mere maid punish her mistress?" Claire stuttered out, visibly shaken. Your e/c eyes widened.

"Hey, hey! When I said punish, I didn't mean cut off one of my limbs or hang me from the gallows! Just something fun, like I have to double your paycheck this month or I have to do anything you want. Harmless stuff like that, y'know?" you quickly cleared up, waving your hands around. Suddenly, a mischievous smile found itself on your lips. "Wait... What kind of punishment were you thinking to make you panic like that?" your grin only grew wider when you saw pink dye the maid's cheeks.

"M-my lady?!"

Safe to say, Claire didn't know how to respond to her lady's newfound teasing.

After Claire ran off due to sheer amount of embarrassment you caused her, you locked the door and flopped on top of your king-sized bed, already exhausted from this new life of yours. A sigh escaped your lips and you ran a hand through your hair, feeling your mind cloud up due to all the thoughts raging through it.

Gnawing at your lower lip, you had creases forming on your forehead from how knitted your brows were. What a truly shitty situation. You would've loved to deny reality some more, but that wouldn't stop any of your death flags from inching closer.

Like it or not, you were now Lady [Name] Corella, the main villainess of Transcendental Savior.

How cliché.

Taking in a deep breath, you filled your lungs with as much oxygen as you could before letting them out in one giant roar.

"THIS, SUCKS, ASS!!!"

Your voice vibrated off of the walls, and you could see a flock of startled pigeons flying away right outside your window. Downstairs, the servants of the Corella Estate were no doubt confused af. There's no way that their normally reclusive and moody lady just shouted that something was pure ass cheeks, right?

You raised your arm and pointed your index finger at the ceiling. Only white void stared back at you.

"After I'm done with this life, I thoroughly swear to beat the ass of whichever god isekai'd me here," you declared, hoping any higher beings were watching you right now. "I don't care if you're a stunning goddess or a freaky being comprised solely of eyes, I will go ham on you. That's a promise."

But to explain why being Lady [Name] Corella was so frustrating, you would first have to do a recap on the plot of Transcendental Savior.

One day, Goddess Elnea bestowed her blessing upon a quaint little village on the brink of falling to a deathly plague. Unlike the other great deities, she was the only one who refused to be idle while the people were suffering. With this blessing, not only did the villagers miraculously get better, but so did their living conditions. Lakes that were once dried up suddenly sprung to life, swarming with healthy fish waiting to be caught and eaten. The few scattered trees that were decaying turned into a vast forest overnight, sheltering the many animals that appeared out of nowhere. The once cracked and infertile land was now moist and rich with minerals for the crops soon to be planted and eventually harvested.

The villagers couldn't believe their eyes. To honor the Goddess' generosity, they henceforth named the village after her. And soon, the village of Elnea became the Kingdom of Elnea in just a few decades, blooming with life, laughter, and happiness. Eventually, they would become the number one most powerful and prosperous nation.

However, over the course of a few centuries, the monarchs that ruled Elnea slowly became more and more corrupt. Instead of having their number one priority be the people, they were blinded by greed and power — assured that Elnea would continue to stand as the most powerful nation for the rest of eternity. Over the decades, the monarchs would grow increasingly selfish to the point of imposing mind-blowing taxes and commanding the execution of any who dared to criticize them. They laughed in the face of those who were publicly hung with arrogance that could rival a god's.

With the blessing, they believed themselves to be invincible.

Upon seeing this, Goddess Elnea came to the realization that her act of kindness to save what was once a small village, had laid the foundation for the corruption of a now massive kingdom that affected the millions of citizens living in it. With this, she knew her only choice was to retract her act of kindness.

And so, she took away the blessing.

The effects weren't immediate. But when the people of Elnea finally noticed them, they didn't panic. Sure, the blessing had single-handedly made them OP for centuries, but most citizens believe it was due time for the blessing to disappear anyways. They had been free-loading off of the Goddess for too long.

Until, they realized that without the blessing, they were no longer as invincible as they thought they were.

And so, a flurry of mass panic spread nation-wide. People did whatever they could to try to earn the love of Goddess Elnea back. Huge, luxurious shrines were built, prayer time increased trice-fold, and people offered anything they could for just a simple response from the Goddess. They didn't succeed.

Finally, after months of this, the stressed and fed-up citizens stormed the palace to find their nation's leaders -- overwhelming the guards in the process, though most actually sided with the people. Completely cornered, the King and Queen called forth their best scholars to find a way to retrieve the blessing once again. After months of strenuous research, they finally found a hidden scroll in the restricted section of the Elnea library. Deciphering this scroll led to new information that mind-boggled those who read it.

In order to communicate with Goddess Elnea, they were required to use a medium, but not just any medium. They had to summon a savior from a different world, one who sympathized with their cause and wished to help them. Overtime, Goddess Elnea would then communicate to this savior in the form of dreams.

Meanwhile, on Earth, twenty-one-year-old and overworked college student, Kody Lam, was drunk from head to toe. He could barely see straight as he leaned on his town's bridge for support, staring into the waters below. Normally, the water would've been murky and dark, but tonight there was a full moon, making the the local lake appear like a vast ocean of stars. Then, a shooting star reflecting in the water caught his eye. He quietly muttered his wish then, the chilly breeze helped bring it up to the night sky.

By the time Kody realized he had passed out, he was already in a completely different world -- one that looked to be from medieval Europe. And in no time, he would be crowned the savior that would be the people's medium between them and their beloved Goddess.

The protagonist was then designated a room in the palace, and his title practically made him as influential as Elnea's Pope, hell, he was their pope now.

Forced to adapt to this new world, Kody would eventually come across four dashing young ladies who act as his designated love interests, including one secret love interest as well, who is later revealed to be Claire Eckens.

And in the middle of all of this was Lady Corella, the infamous seductress in high society, who could get her way with any man if she truly wanted, and was known for sleeping with a different guy seven times a week. But instead of doing that, she fell madly in love with the basic bitch-boy protagonist Kody, who looked as generic as can be. Dark hair, brown eyes, and average height — he was the object of affection for six ladies in Transcendental Savior.

However, only five of them had actual endings with him. The sole one left behind was Lady Corella, destined to a life of loneliness, alcoholism, and heartbreak — hell, in one of the endings, she even dies because of a sudden brain tumor. In the others, she's either punished through exile, execution, or by the hands of whichever love interest Kody chooses... or all of them, including Claire, if the player decides to go for a harem ending.

In hindsight, the game truly was idiotic. The protagonist could go for anyone, even the villainess' own handmaiden, but not Lady Corella herself?

And now that you were Lady Corella, you found this whole situation a lot more annoying than amusing.

You slowly opened your eyes, finding yourself tucked into the king-sized bed that you simply flopped on-top off an hour ago. Someone, most likely Claire, must've fixed your sleeping position and draped the bedsheets over you.

Yawning, you sat up and rubbed your eyes. You didn't expect to fall asleep while recounting the whole plot of Transcendental Savior, but thanks to your unintentional nap, you were now feeling a lot more awake. And a whole lot more pissed at your situation.

You were never truly going to get over this new world. Why couldn't the gods just let you rest in an empty pitch black void of nothingness? That would've been way more better than trying to survive as a horny 24/7 villainess who's destined to never get a happy ending. You scanned the room again.

Well, at least now you wouldn't have to worry about paying bills or working overtime at your part-time job. You could live in luxury, but at what cost?

"...Man, fuck this all." You mutter, flopping back down with your arms spread out. The bed cushions your fall as you engage in a staring contest with the ceiling.

Ideally, you wanted to spend the rest of your life abusing your power as Lady Corella to buy whatever you wanted, eat whatever you wanted, and flirt with whoever you wanted. But a month before Lady Corella's twenty-second birthday banquet is held, Kody gets isekai'd to the Kingdom of Elnea. You were twenty-one at the moment, meaning you had less than a year to decide what to do to avoid dying at the hands of any of the love interests, including Claire, and to stop yourself from falling in love with the protagonist. This world would likely force you into obsessing over Kody, but those feelings would never truly be real, as you harbored no romantic interest for guys.

Yeah, you could probably pack a bag and run away to the countryside, but you've read your fair share of villainess webtoons already, and that plan never works in the end. The world would either constantly cockblock or bring the protagonist and love interests to you. And you weren't sure if that would happen to you here as well. It most likely would've, so you mentally crossed that off on your checklist.

And out of all your pet peeves, not having complete control of your own life was the one that pissed you off the most. You hating being ordered around, and even more, you hated being forced into doing something you didn't want to, especially if it was some invisible BS visual novel power that was the one holding the pistol at your temple.

"I do not want to fall for Kody..." you mumbled, "That man is as basic as a pumpkin spice latte during fall season. If only I could just date one of the love interests instead. Or better yet, accumulate a harem with all of them and ditch the protagonist completely."

You froze.

Wait... what?

You shot up startingly fast, probably cracking your spine in the process. Your eyes were wide and sparkled with the fire of a thousand embers. A rush of adrenaline pumped your heart, increasing your heartbeat by the second. You felt like you were Benjamin Franklin when he flew his kite, or Issac Newton when he saw a crispy ripe apple fall down right in front of him.

Why the hell didn't you think of this before? Why should you have to work your ass off to avoid Kody and the love interests all together and live the rest of your life paranoid af, when you could just troll him and steal his harem before he ever meets them in the first place? Thus, you would avoid any bad endings all together while having the time of your life with all the girlbosses of this world.

A wide smile made its way across your face, and you cackled loudly.

"I'm a fucking genius!" you yelled a bit too loud, but you couldn't give less of a fuck since right now, you were on cloud nine. "Screw Kody! I'm going for all the pretty ladies instead and no one's gonna stop me, not when God fucked me over and isekai'd me here!" you grinned, high on the euphoria you were feeling at the moment.

You were very proud of yourself for having a mastermind moment just now.