Here"s is the last chapter in Lily"s pov of the prologue. Next 2 chapters will be in Al"s pov.

TL: clover

ED: clover

"Al."

"Father, I decided to get engaged with Lily."

Seeing his son who was reporting while grinning, the King opened his eyes wide.

"Is that truly alright with you? Although this was my suggestion, I do not intend to force you. You don"t have to rush your decision. You should think about it more slowly—"

"This is a decision I made after thinking about it carefully. Father, is Father against this engagement?"

"No, I told you before. From the start, this is something I was appealing for to the Beltran Ducal House. So there is no way I am against it. If you are fine with it, I will make the engagement official. ……Are you really fine with this?"

"Yes. Please make it official as soon as possible."

"I see, I understand. —Lady Liz, was it."

"……yes."

His eyes turned this way for the first time. The charming gaze closely resembles Prince Alan rather than Prince Wilfred.

"Do you really not mind getting engaged with my son? Getting engaged with a prince is not only sunshine and rainbows. Of course, since you are the daughter of a duke, I think you would know about that, but you should reconsider if you are only agreeing due to a momentum."

I thought about saying something like "Well then, I will think about it again" but I held back.

Because Al who is next to me is casting a sharp glance at me. Those eyes are obviously saying "I didn"t know you want to be a villainess that much."

……yup. I"m terribly scared. There is no way I can say "No" here. Besides, Al"s cooperation is indispensable to me who doesn"t know what a villainess is.

I have to suppress my tears and nod quietly this time.

"Y-yes. ……I am also glad that I can get engaged with Alan-sama."

"See, Lily also said so."

I feel like glaring at Al who was smiling brilliantly, but I also smiled elegantly. The King nodded while looking at mine and Al"s face.

"If both or you are determined, then I have nothing to say. Al, this is the engagement that you wanted. You must cherish Lady Liz."

"Of course."

"It"s fine if you understand. I still have work left. You may go back."

"Yes. Excuse us. ……Lily, let"s go."

"Yes."

He resumed the work we interrupted. Alan and I left the room as we were told by the King.

When I got out into the corridor, perhaps I was unconsciously nervous, I exhaled deeply.

Al didn"t miss it.

"Are you tired? Would you like to have some tea in my room?"

"No……since my business here has finished, I would like to go home now."

Al"s room. I didn"t say that I"m not interested, but my tiredness and confusion won.

And at any rate, I want to compose myself by spending some time alone and think about the "villainess" matter.

When I declined, Al looked disappointed.

"I see……I understand. Today is tiresome so I guess it couldn"t be helped. As for me, I want to know more about you. I will escort you to your carriage."

"Eh? It"s alright. I can go there by myself."

"I can"t let my fiancée go there by herself. Here, let"s go."

He offered his hand. I took his hand without hesitation.

I"m too tired. There were too many bothersome things.

"……thank you very much. Well then, I will accept your kind offer."

"Yeah. Ah, right. Is it okay if I visit your house tomorrow afternoon? See, I"d like to discuss various things about the future……"

"Ah, yes. It"s alright."

What he meant by "future" had to be the discussion about "villainess".

I want to know about the detailed story as well and I am sincerely thankful that we can talk about it as soon as possible, so I immediately nodded to Al"s offer.

"I will also tell my father about Al."

"No, it"s fine. I will send a letter to the duke. It"s also about our engagement."

"I understand."

If Al is fine with that, then I will follow his lead.

As we were talking, we arrived the place where the duke"s carriage had been waiting in no time.

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

"Yes. I will be waiting for you."

I got into the carriage and said goodbye to him.

The door is closed. The horse-drawn carriage began to move quietly and headed home.

Alone at last, I feel spent.

"Haah……I"m tired."

Really tired.

I thought today would be a fun day, and although it turned out to be a good say, I have to say this is the most exhausted I have ever been in my life.

It is the day when Prince Wilfred completely denied my personality, and the day when I got engaged with Prince Alan.

Even though I was trying to get rid of any thoughts of marrying him, before I knew it, my engagement with him was settled.

"I wonder why this happened."

Even though I thought Al wouldn"t want to be engaged with me who is the worst.

I don"t understand what he was trying to do.

It may be true that it would be more convenient for us to cooperate if we get engaged with each other, but it"s not like we couldn"t contact each other even if we were not engaged. I wonder if we couldn"t just cooperate normally.

"Well……I think Al is a very wonderful person, but……"

The engagement with him is too heavy for me who has my hands full with things about myself.

But……I realized there.

"If I became his fiancée only for convenience sake, I wonder if it"s better to treat Al as a friend."

That"s it. If he became my fiancé only in order to cooperate with me, it would surely annoy Al if I act as a fiancée. When I realized that, I breathed out deeply.

"That was dangerous……I almost made a blunder again."

Because I was honest to a fault, I was about to behave like a fiancée.

That"s right. Al is only there to cooperate so that I won"t become a "villainess".

He is only a collaborator. I should never forget it.

Al will be happy with a different woman other than me.

If I think about it like that from the start, I will not get hurt feelings.

"Yes, yes, that"s right. Let"s think of it that way."

I only asked him to cooperate about the "villainess" matter.

Thinking like that many times as though casting a spell, I nodded firmly.

"That"s it for the matter about Al…….the problem is Prince Wilfred."

Just as I have calmed down at last, now, thinking about Prince Wilfred made my heart simmer with fury.

Aah, even remembering it made me angry.

"He kept saying whatever he likes. Certainly, what that prince said may have been true, but he didn"t have to say it so plainly like that. Even if he is a prince, I can"t forgive him. Disgusting."

Those insults run through my head over and over.

Somehow, I can"t help but wanting to prove myself superior to Prince Wilfred.

He didn"t insult me directly, but my pride is not low enough that I will let him say whatever he likes, back down and say "Yes, that"s true."

One day, I will definitely sneer at him and say "I wonder which part am I supposed to be a "villainess"?"

That"s right, that way, I will be able to recover my dignity.

To do that, I have to listen to Al"s stories tomorrow.

"Fufufu……you can say whatever you want about me right now. But someday, I will make you regret having made fun of me!"

I declared it loudly inside the carriage.

Just watch, Prince Wilfred.

I will cooperate with Al, do my best, and become a perfect lady that you will be lost for words.

I will astonish him as much as possible. And at that time, my revenge will be fulfilled.

Did he think I will cry myself to sleep over this?

Having decided my future policy, I sat back on the seat of the carriage.

Yes, I"m looking forward to tomorrow.

I chuckled to myself inside the carriage.

—Did he think that I would be depressed? Did he think that I will cry and complain? Please.

I"m not that weak.

By the time I arrived at the mansion, I have completely recovered.