The Villainess Wants to Indulge in 'Moe' to Her Heart's Content! - Episode 1.16

In the original scenario, Licht would have chuckled at the protagonist’s carefree boldness, saying, “I suppose I have no choice,” before personally guiding her around the academy.

During this tour, the protagonist would meet princes from other nations and their attendants—essentially, Licht would introduce her to all the potential love interests as he showed her around.

As a result, the protagonist wouldn’t just be known as “the unprecedented transfer student in the history of the academy” but also as “the unprecedented commoner personally guided by the Crown Prince of Strahl.” This would make all the love interests take notice of her.

Which means—

(W-Wait a second? If His Highness doesn’t guide Marina, won’t the game fail to start? What does that even mean?)

Avoiding her downfall as a villainess was an absolute priority. But if the game itself failed to progress, wouldn’t that cause a whole new set of problems?

(Because wouldn’t that mean… I’m smoothly advancing down the path to becoming the Empress of Strahl…?)

Licht wouldn’t fall in love with the protagonist.

Letizia’s engagement wouldn’t be annulled.

Everything would continue exactly as originally planned—quietly and without issue.

“…!”

A chill ran up her spine.

(T-That’s bad…!)

Very bad. Incredibly bad. This isn’t just a minor problem!

(L-Look, I’ll say it again—whoever decided that I should reincarnate as not the protagonist really understands me well! B-Because! Because I…!)

Letizia shivered and let out a deep sigh.

(Falling in love with my favorite character—basically, a self-insert romance—is my ultimate deal-breaker…!)

For her, a favorite character was something to be admired from afar.

Favorites were precious simply by existing. They were a gift to the world.

All she wanted was to quietly watch over her favorite and see them find happiness.

She didn’t want anything beyond that. She couldn’t even imagine it.

Of course, she had no intention of criticizing self-insert romance fans who enjoyed fantasizing about relationships with their favorites. That was a perfectly valid way to enjoy a story.

But she wasn’t that type. It simply wasn’t for her.

(The reason I wanted to be in the same world as my favorite wasn’t to romance him—it was so I could watch over his happiness from up close.)