Transmigrated as the Villainess Fake Young Lady, Please Spare Me, Female Lead Sister - Volume 1 Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Unpredictable Stage of Fate

***

Silent, peaceful night.

Deep night.

Moonlight poured like quicksilver, simultaneously illuminating the window frame of another young lady of the Grendel family.

However, Claire was restless, with no time to appreciate the moonlight.

Because she had a nightmare.

In her dream, she was on a street shrouded in mist.

The fog was almost tangible; she couldn’t see the buildings around her, couldn’t see the surrounding environment. People came and went all around, but she couldn’t see their faces, couldn’t see anyone’s expression…

Gradually, Claire in the dream felt like a drop of water falling into the ocean, completely merged into the crowd.

Unable to find the direction forward, she almost forgot her own name…

Suddenly, someone passed by in front of her.

In such an unsettling chaos and confusion, only this person’s figure was so clear.

She had silver hair, wore black clothing, her eyes only looked forward as she firmly parted the crowd, forever moving forward.

Like a sword cutting through the mist, or a fish swimming upstream against the waves…

Claire knew who that was.

That was the story’s protagonist; just by standing there, she was the center of the entire world…

She would overcome all difficulties, endure countless setbacks, yet fortunately receive much help, and finally, with the assistance and support of numerous friends, achieve her wishes…

This was Lavendia’s story.

Lavendia…

“Sister…”

Looking at Lavendia, Claire suddenly remembered who she was.

An insignificant villain character, a fake daughter who had occupied her identity for too long, a tragedy, a small role destined to be defeated and ignored by all.

“Even so, I…!”

Claire struggled to take steps, following far behind that glowing figure, wanting to go to the center stage together.

Lavendia was someone who had a future.

She, she would surely lead herself to a better ending…

The path extended through the mist, extended, seemingly endless.

Just as Claire’s consciousness was becoming increasingly blurry, Lavendia stopped.

Claire also stopped, and suddenly realized she had unknowingly walked onto a high pile of firewood.

The next second, raging flames carrying rolling smoke mercilessly engulfed her.

Lavendia stood one step away in a safe place, her gaze cold and indifferent, like the god of fate impartially bringing down the iron hammer, announcing her verdict:

— You no longer have a chance.

“No!!”

——

Claire cried out, awakening.

What met her eyes was the pink canopy of the princess bed, the night light at the bedside glowing warmly, everything peaceful and serene.

No mist.

No fire.

And of course, no death ending.

“…huff, huff…”

Claire was still shaken, breathing heavily, her nightgown already soaked with cold sweat, uncomfortably sticking to her body.

It felt just like actually dying once.

『Detecting host’s heart rate has reached 120 beats per minute, please remain calm, host.』

The system, which had been on standby, also woke up, but this cold electronic voice couldn’t provide Claire comfort from any dimension.

“…the next task…”

『What?』

Claire gently sniffled.

Her voice was somewhat hoarse from the earlier scream, and even carried a slight crying tone.

She said pitifully: “Could the next task… be a little simpler?”

『…This side will try to apply for that.』

『However, since the truly important plot point is at the banquet five days later, these few days we basically just need to stay put.』

『The system predicts there won’t be any demanding plot tasks these few days, host.』

Hearing the system’s response, Claire let out a relieved sob.

“System…!”

『Host, thanks are not necessary…』

“You finally learned to speak like a human, I’m so moved!”

『…』

『Thank you for the compliment, host.』

“I wasn’t really complimenting you though.”

Claire lay back down in the soft bedding.

It was now 3 AM, with a 4 AM wake-up schedule, she could still sleep for another hour…

Damn it.

What a difficult transmigrated life.

No, it could almost be summarized as life-and-death uncertainty…

But the story has just begun, everything is still unknown, it’s too early to lose spirit now!

It must be because Lavendia’s favorability rating fluctuated too much, putting too much pressure on herself, that’s why she had such a nightmare.

Although Claire was timid, she wasn’t the type to be completely discouraged by small setbacks.

She lay with her eyes open in the darkness, completely awake, thinking seriously.

After all, favorability rating was just a number, it’s normal to have fluctuations… it’s fine if it drops, just need to find ways to raise it back up.

Five days until the banquet.

The system said the banquet was the important point.

Might as well use this time to recall the important plot.

First, in the original game, Claire didn’t attend this banquet, only Lavendia went alone representing the Grendel family.

The reason it’s considered very important should be because this was Lavendia’s first appearance before the noble families, where she met several good friends, making a good start for her future path.

Then, this banquet was for the coming-of-age ceremony of the Aldrich family’s youngest son, Perin Aldrich.

The Aldrich family had been training Imperial Knights for generations, while also bearing the responsibility of training knights for the king.

And Claire’s family, the Grendel family, was a family that had been training chief magicians for generations.

One training knights, one specializing in magic, they sound well-matched, and their social status seemed about the same…

This Perin Aldrich was Claire’s childhood friend in the game. At the same time, he was also one of the five male protagonists that Lavendia could choose to pursue.

If the player chose Perin as the target, then later when entering the magic academy, Lavendia would team up with Perin to practice swordsmanship together.

While the original Claire would accelerate her descent into villainy because her childhood friend was stolen…

…Wait a minute.

Claire suddenly thought of something.

“System, system!”

『What is it, host?』

Claire felt her just-calmed heartbeat speeding up again.

She organized her thoughts for a moment, carefully confirming:

“My overall task is to do various bad things as a villain character to help Lavendia advance the plot, right?”

『Correct.』

“But in the original game, there were five male protagonists for players to choose from.”

“The key events corresponding to each male protagonist are different. Choosing different male protagonists would lead to different plot lines, and the ways to provide support for Lavendia’s revenge plan would also be different…”

“Now without a player making the choice, which line will Lavendia choose as the main line?”

The system remained silent, displaying a “loading” spinning icon.

After quite a while, it finally replied slowly:

『This system has no authority to predict the female protagonist’s choice.』

『Host only needs to complete the tasks given by the system and follow your script step by step.』

『Repeat: This system has no authority to predict the female protagonist’s choice…』

…Why say it twice, is it because it’s very important?

Well, not surprising.

In other words, which male protagonist to choose depends entirely on Lavendia’s own thoughts.

It really is an unpredictable stage of fate…

Ah!

Claire suddenly thought of something else.

If that’s the case, then when the time comes, she just needs to carefully observe which character Lavendia is more interested in, and at key moments, help bring them together and give them a push!

This would both advance the plot and make Lavendia develop good feelings toward her, right?

Who wouldn’t like a wingman? Who would send an enthusiastic matchmaker to the stake!

The plot is still traceable, and there are still many ways to survive in the cracks!

Anyway, no matter what, the one Lavendia likes and will choose in the future must be one of the five male protagonists, right?

Anyway, she certainly won’t suddenly like me, right?

Right!

Claire felt she was truly a genius.

Having confirmed her future approach, she completely relaxed, contentedly closed her eyes, and sweetly fell back into her morning nap.