The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 0

Prologue

Lillian Tillard was a lost cause.

She was also something like emotional insurance for everyone else—the kind of person who made you think, Well, at least my life isn’t as bad as hers.

You know the type.

“The only incompetent member of the Tillard family.”
“A failure who can’t stop an esper rampage.”
“Even her fiancé is sick of her.”

If you went looking for the owner of any unflattering nickname, it was usually Lillian.

Her birth was rare and noble, yet it was as if she had a hobby of collecting trash.

But today—on the day the competition to choose the Crown Prince of the Perniès Empire was held—

“Lady Lillian! Lady Lillian!”
“Your Highness Ebren!”
“Lady Lillian is the best!”

“Waaah—!”

The stadium erupted in cheers.

Shockingly, they were chanting the name of Lillian—the very woman known for all those awful nicknames.

A noblewoman watching from the stands clenched her fist in excitement.

“I saw it with my own eyes, and I still can’t believe it…!”
“Her awakening alone was a miracle, but purifying that many people’s mental contamination at once…!”
“I’m so glad I came today!”

Worth every coin of the ticket price!

As she cheered, the woman glanced at her companion with envy.

“Oh, but you’re wearing Mariposa earrings.”
“Mm-hm. You noticed?”
“How could I not?”

They were an artifact praised throughout the capital—beautifully designed and even capable of treating Esper Syndrome.

“I’ll definitely buy them next time… Lady Lillian has to release another batch, though.”
“Heehee. You have to buy them immediately. They sell out fast. Honestly, it’s better than buying from the Tillards—”

Mid-conversation, the women glanced discreetly toward one side of the stadium.

The House of Tillard looked like it was attending a funeral.

Even the once-celebrated “Perfect Tillard Siblings” looked pale and lifeless.

“…To think Lady Iris’s business was actually run by Lady Lillian—”
“Shh.”
“But everyone already knows, don’t they?”
“Well… still.”

They looked back again.

Who would’ve guessed?

That discarded, useless Lillian would rise as the brightest star in the Empire.

Or that she would return as the fiancée of the infamous First Prince.

A fated romance between members of rival houses!

They said today’s competition itself was held because of the power of that love…

“But where did Lady Lillian and His Highness go?”
“The competition’s still ongoing…”

The two people everyone was searching for were currently trapped in a lounge inside the stadium.

…Bang. Bang.

BOOM!

A massive hole was blown into a wall harder than diamond.

Lillian—pink-haired, green-eyed, golden particles shimmering in her gaze—had only one thought:

This is bad.

“Your Highness.”

She whispered to the man clutching his chest in agony.

“Your Highness, stay with me.”

“Hah… ngh.”

When Lillian touched his hunched back, the First Prince groaned in pain.

Ebren, First Prince of the Empire.

An S-rank esper—and the villain of the original story.

A man known as the Imperial Family’s mad dog, in a country that didn’t even have rabies.

Once upon a time, Lillian had jokingly called him things like Warm Iced Americano or Silver Puppy—silly nicknames for someone genuinely terrifying.

Because little by little, he had started to feel… human.

But now, cold sweat streamed down his face beneath his shining silver hair.

A red spiderweb pattern spread across his left cheek.

Is his rampage really about to start here—?

“Ren!”

“…Lilly. So you’re leaving after all.”

He smiled faintly. He had always been dangerously beautiful.

Now, with the symptoms of an imminent rampage, he looked outright lethal.

“Ren, snap out of it. We need to go back out there!”

“You made me someone who can’t live without you.”

“Wait—where did you even learn to say something that misleading—”

“So where exactly do you think you’re going?”

He reached out and grabbed her hand.

His lips pressed against her knuckles—burning hot, almost painful.

Seeing Lillian flustered, he laughed.

“If my life’s already ruined… you might as well ruin yours with me.”

“…Ha.”

Lillian thought bitterly.

Anyone who tries to twist the original plot always pays the price.

But this really wasn’t the time.

How did things even end up like this?

It has to be that damned phytoncide…

And then his face drew closer.