I Thought I’d Reformed the Villainous Heroine. But Their True Nature Remained Unchanged, and They Were Still Being Doted On—I Just Don’t Have Enough Lives. - Chapter 3

Individuality Is Important (While Looking Away)

That day, the sky had been scary-clear since morning.

Instructor Bakudou was away for mercenary work, so the brutal training where he practiced “if it doesn’t hurt, you won’t remember” was on break. Thanks to that, my bones weren’t broken and I was full of energy.

Instead, the basic training without magic got doubled, but it was way better.

In my free time I studied governance, mostly about defense.

I was also doing magic training on Instructor’s orders. The time spent on magic had decreased, but apparently it was necessary to make the most of being lower high.

My days were completely different from my plain salaryman life—super busy.

By the end of every day I was always totally exhausted.

All of it was so I could live an ordinary life. The arrogant little brat Gant was gone, and the people around me thought better of me now.

Well, except Myris, who still acted like she was looking down on me.

“Well… I guess she was like that in her own scenario too…”

I muttered to myself at the study desk in my room and stretched my back with a big “uuun.”

I was just starting to feel like I was slowly walking toward a safe and peaceful future.

“Young Master Gant~, a message from your cute cute Myris~. Master will be back soon~. He wants you to come greet him at the entrance~.”

“I accept everything except the cute part~.”

“What the heck~! Cute is the one thing you have to admit no matter what!”

Thinking it was a weird request, I waited at the entrance together with the servants.

Then the heavy door opened. The servants forgot to say their greeting to the head of the house and just let out breaths of admiration.

Because right next to the head was a really adorable little girl.

“Gant, let me introduce you. This child is going to be your little sister from today.”

Dad—Dust Zie Eisenburg, the frontier count—smiled gently.

Every single servant had their eyes glued to the girl.

“――I’m Ilza. Nice to meet you all.”

Her voice sounded fragile, yet it clearly stayed in your head.

Her long silver hair sparkled like flowing stars.

She looked straight at us with deep blue eyes, wearing a cape that seemed to wrap her in night itself, and her clothes were all black. Everyone’s heart was stolen by a beauty that looked like a top-class dollmaker had spent his whole life on it.

Even Myris was staring with a soft “H-hwaa…”

If an angel had descended to earth, this was probably the reaction it would get.

Except for one person—me.

“Ugo…”

Ugooooooooooooooooooooo?!?!?

Ilza Zie Eisenburg?!?!?

Why is Ilza already in the mansion?!?!?

She wasn’t supposed to show up yet in the original story! And wasn’t Dad supposed to bring her because he got fed up with his arrogant son?!

While I felt like I was about to throw up my guts, Dad clapped his hands.

“Hahaha, everyone~ what’s wrong? I wanted you to welcome the new family member with smiles~ …whoa?!”

I closed the distance and glared up at Dad with everything I had.

I mixed a bit of anger into my words.

“Dad, what is the meaning of this?”

“Nahaha~… s-she’s not an illegitimate child, okay?”

“I know you’ve always loved Mom. So why adopt someone?”

“She… Ilza is a distant relative of ours. I found out she has no family and has been living all alone. See, being alone is lonely, right?”

Dad tried to cover it up with some typical-sounding words.

“…………Dad. How much magic talent does she have?”

“Out of this world~.”

“…So before another house could snatch her, you decided to take her in. That’s your plan, huh?”

“I-Ilza’s talent is amazing… o-of course there’s also the sense of responsibility!”

Dad’s eyes were swimming.

Even if he was my real father (in my head) I still wanted to say it.

You… idiottttttttttttttttttt!!

Depending on the scenario, you and your son both get stuck onto a painting, you know?!

And it’s Ilza who does it!!

“…It seems I’m not very welcome here.”

Ilza smiled quietly and said it with a lonely look.

Feeling the servants’ piercing stares and remembering Gant’s death-end collection, I forced the biggest smile I could.

“No way~! I’ve always wanted a little sister, so I’m super happy!”

“See, see~ I told you~! My son will welcome her!”

Dad laughed foolishly. This moron…!!

Ilza Zie Eisenburg.

She was the vicious villainess who appeared in [Yggdrasil Defense Battle Chronicle].

In the early part she stayed hidden in the shadow of her arrogant step-brother Gant.

Thanks to her lovely and fragile appearance, first-time players formed a big “protect Ilza-chan” squad, saying things like “Poor Ilza-chan,” “Gant go die. Die right now,” and “Ilza-chan rescue team.”

But once she showed her true nature, the evaluation flipped completely.

“Fufu, big brother Gant is so cute. How can such a tiny existence be this adorable?”

The face she made while looking at the teddy-bear-ified Gant was way too delighted.

Gant met a gruesome end almost entirely at Ilza’s hands. As a cannon-fodder villain, he existed only to bring out her true nature.

Born evil. Broken view of life and death. Terrifying desire to dominate.

Ilza was far too much of a villain for her angel-like looks.

Players said stuff like “The black clothes suit her too well, it’s scary,” “I said Gant go die, but not this far…,” and “Team getting dominated by Lady Ilza.” Some weird fans appeared, but overall she got the评价 she deserved as a villainess heroine.

In the original she reigned as the most insane villain to monopolize the world’s mana, but…

Ilza smiled like she felt relieved.

“I’m glad. I was really worried what I’d do if everyone hated me.”

“N-no, hate you? There’s no way we’d do that!”

Her girlish reaction made me a little flustered.

In the original she kept pretending for a long time, but right now her face really looked like she had been worried. Maybe her rotten core hasn’t fully developed yet?

Then Myris noticed something.

“Hm? Is that a bird?”

A blue bird flew in through the window and fluttered around the entrance hall.

It landed lightly on Ilza’s shoulder and chirped “chi chi chi.”

“I’m sorry for startling you. This child is one I control with my magic. It kept me company on the way here.”

Ilza got tickled by the bird’s feathers on her cheek and looked a bit shy.

Voices of surprise rose up.

“She’s younger than Young Master but she can control animals?” “Not many people can control them with that much precision.” “What an incredible talented girl.” Everyone was full of praise.

I wasn’t surprised by something like this.

I just noticed that the bird’s belly was bright red.

“…Ilza. Um… that bird, isn’t blood coming out of its belly?”

“Yes, it’s blood. This child is a corpse, after all. It’s dried now so it’s fine.”

I had no idea what was fine about it.

The air in the room suddenly felt ice-cold.

“A corpse? You were controlling a corpse?”

“I had it fly around freely with my magic. A bird’s meaning of life is to fly. Even if its wings are torn or broken… don’t you think so?”

Ilza smiled adorably.

Everyone lost their words. They either realized it was magic that made a corpse move like a living bird, or they understood she wasn’t just a beautiful girl. Probably both.

She was twisted. A glimpse of evil was showing.

But I kept smiling.

“…What a unique sense! Individuality is important, I think!”

Scaryyyyyy! I don’t wanna poke the bush snake!

Dad must have felt the chilled air because he laughed foolishly and tried to smooth things over.

“Tahaha~ now that the two of you are getting along, maybe Gant can show her around the house!”

“Huh? Me?! Guh… y-yeah, I’ll show you around the house~!”

I ended up laughing foolishly too. I felt the blood connection with Dad.

Damn it! Dad, when you die I’m going with you, okay?!

Ilza watched our father-son exchange and smiled.

“I’m so happy… To think someone like me, who’s basically an outsider, would be welcomed this warmly… I’ll do my best so I can become part of the family soon.”

“Y-you don’t have to try so hard! From today this is your home! Just relax!”

There’s no way I’m gonna relax though!

While keeping a flattering smile on my face, I carried Ilza’s travel bag for her. Just that made Dad look happy, like we had already become close brother and sister.

And so I started showing her around the mansion.

Ugh… this is way more tiring than training… Ilza keeps looking around curiously at everything in the house…

In the original… Ilza ends up taking over the Eisenburg family…

While I was staring at her beautiful side profile wondering if she was already making plans, she noticed.

“Is something wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“N-no, I just can’t believe such a wonderful girl is becoming my little sister~, I mean, this isn’t the time to be embarrassed!”

“…Fufu, big brother Gant is so cute.”

Fragile, modest, and really adorable.

There was already a glimpse of that delighted original-story smile, and I almost fainted—