I am Late so I am the Villain? - Chapter 2

Miryu sighed and shook her head.

She had done crazy things on purpose in order to gain sympathy from Seir-nim, but her symptoms look worse today.

She felt terrible for her.

“And Madam Elijah, the one standing next to him, is Seir-nim’s wife.”

“Oh, wait a minute! You said he was my husband. Then, why is his wife Elijah not me?”

Riya tilted her head in confusion.

“I mean, Madam Elijah is his first wife and you, Madam, are his second. Are you doing this on purpose? Or are you truly unable to recall anything?”

Concerned, Miryu asked.

“So, are you saying that I am his concubine?”

Riya’s fists clenched in surprise.

‘I haven’t been married in my previous life, but here, not even his wife but concubine? How could this happen?’

Riya gathered her thoughts and asked again.

“Then who was the man who rescued me in the basement?”

That was what piqued her interest the most.

Her attention was drawn to the man’s enticing eyes.

“He is……”

Miryu’s face flushed red for a moment.

It looked like the charismatic man was the one most popular in this world.

“Prince Yucal Brian, the most popular man in the Empire, Seir-nim’s second hyung-nim.”

“What? Hold on, he’s a Prince? Then……Seir as well……?”

“Yes, Seir-nim is the third Prince of the Hernian Empire, Madam.”

Miryu looked at Riya’s face with an anxious look.

Did something really happen to the Madam’s head?

“Miryu, then, what about me…… What status do I have?”

“You are Princess Riya Lisburn of the Annabelle Kingdom and Seir-nim’s second wife.”

Suddenly, Riya felt as if her body was floating in the air.

As she lay on the bed, she asked Miryu again.

“Miryu, what kind of medicine is this? Why am I drowsy?”

“This is the antidepressant you’ve been taking since you got married, Madam. It’s a medication you take whenever you feel violent or depressed enough to commit suicide, Madam.”

At the end of those words, Riya Lisburn fell into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

Riya awoke after a long time and was dazed for a while.

As she vowed never to take the medicine again, she reorganized the thoughts she had before falling asleep.

For now, it was evident that she was possessing a woman named Riya.

‘How should I live now?’

Looking back, the situation didn’t look very good.

She might die if she doesn’t get her mind together.

She pondered it for a long time but couldn’t come up with an answer, so she ate the breakfast that had been set out on the table.

Breakfast, consisting of a cup of fresh milk, chicken salad, mushroom soup and a piece of steak, was delicious.

After finishing, Miryu served a fragrant herbal tea.

“Oh, looks like the breakfast is to your liking this morning.”

“Yes, it’s delicious. I wish there were more food options.”

“Madam, there are ten times as many different kinds of food as this at the breakfast table for Seir-nim and Madam Elijah.”

“Really?”

It was at this point that her ears, which were unusual in gluttony, opened.

“But as soon as you got married, Madam turned the table upside down at your first meal together, so Seir-nim declared that he would never share the table with Madam ever again.”

“Oh…… I see.”

Riya swallowed her disappointment and then took the fruit and herbal tea.

“By the way, madam, should I throw away all the books from the library today, as you had previously requested?”

“Books?”

“Madam Elijah enjoys books, so you asked Seir-nim to bring them in as well. But you changed your mind later and told me to throw it away, don’t you remember?”

Immediately, she dashed to the library and saw the books on the shelves.

The titles sounded vaguely familiar.

She was taken aback as she read the title one by one.

Everything was a romance novel.

‘Aren’t these the same kinds of romance novels set in the Medieval Ages that I used to read in Korea?’

Looking through the titles, they were novels that she would enjoy, such as [The Secret Diary of The Count’s Daughter Clara], [The Prince’s First Love] and so on.

She immediately sat on her stomach on the bed, engrossed in her reading.

“Hiya, this is very interesting. This is more fascinating than anything I’ve ever read in my previous world!”

While Riya read with a burst of admiration, Miryu stood with her eyes wide and observed her.

“What brings you to read? You bought it because you heard Madam Elijah liked books, but you never thought about reading it, Madam?”

“Do you happen to know who the authors of these novels are, Miryu?”

“The majority of them are the daughters of noble families. The most famous person in this area is the Duke of Hedren’s daughter.”

“Well, is that so?”

Riya gathered her thoughts.

‘Rather than living this boring life, why don’t I get a job?’

Henceforth, she had no idea how to get back to her world. So, rather than being stuck in this world without doing anything,, why not debut as a writer by borrowing the concepts of romance novels that were popular in her previous world.

“How much money can you make if you write a book like this?”

“I heard that Lady Sophia bought a lovely castle with the royalties from her books.”

“What?”

Riya sprang from her seat.

“Are you sure you are able to earn that much?”

Miryu stared blankly in surprise when Riya shouted in excitement.

Her Madam, who was normally uninterested in money and was only obsessed with Seir-nim, had certainly changed.

“Miryu, could you get me some papers and a pen?”

Her heart was pounding furiously.

In her previous life, her dream was to become a romance novelist.

But since the competition was so fierce, she gave up achieving her dream.

‘But wouldn’t it be less competitive here than there?’

Riya began writing a synopsis as soon as she received a pen and papers from Miryu.

The title she had chosen was [the prince’s secret love].

The story begins with the youngest daughter of a fallen family playing by the stream and meeting a beautiful boy.

The boy gave his necklace to the girl and left at the end of the day, while the girl who admired the boy spent her time holding the necklace.

It was later revealed that the boy was the prince of a vast empire that had invaded and taken over the country.

After many twists and turns, the girl sold into slavery meets the prince again and goes into the palace, where they spend their first night together.

It was supposed to be extremely lewd R-Rated material.

‘In this world, there are many secret readers in comparison to the fewer writers. Furthermore, no one is considering writing an R-Rated novel. Now that I’ve read them, I realize they’re all just innocent love stories.’

If these were popular novels in this world, wouldn’t her R-Rated novel be a smash hit?

Then she might not have just one castle, but dozens.

‘Oh, my God, that’s great! I really love it!’

She rolled around on the bed, made a fuss and indulged in the delights of her dream.

She considered herself fortunate to have fallen into this world rather than living a dull and dark life as a retaker.

Of course, the voice that she heard as soon as she opened the academy door was still vividly remembered, so she felt a little uncomfortable.

‘Yeah, I can’t help it, you’re being late. Good luck with your cursed life as Riya Lisburn.’

When she thought about it, she remembered being called Riya Lisburn, her current name, even back then.

But she chose to ignore the curse words.

‘Well, what’s wrong with that? After all, I’m the pioneer of my life, aren’t I?’

Riya made the decision to revert to her former brave self, Cheon Yoo Jin, and live hard here.

It wasn’t that she didn’t think of her parents at all, but when she did, all she could think about was banging her head on her desk to study, so she decided to forget about them for the time being.

After a while, Miryu returned with another cup of tea and hinted at her.

“In fact, Madam Elijah writes, too. But rumor has it that her writing style is very childish and terrible. Still, it seems like she’s sticking to it. But I heard she has a lot of finest pens. And she’s so kind, so why don’t you borrow some, Madam? Because buying a pen, for now, is just……”

“Is just……?”

“Actually, Madam, you’ve spent all of your allowance for this month.”

“How am I spending my allowance?”

Miryu’s eyes widened as she heard Riya’s words, which sounded casual, as if someone else was speaking.

“You had spent your entire allowance buying dresses. So, you can gain Seir-nim attention.”

Riya frowned at her words.

‘Oh, that’s pathetic. She must have thought that clothes were the only way to attract men’s eyes. Stupid Riya Lisburn.’

In her opinion, Riya didn’t look that bad.

She had a lovely appearance with coveted hair and had a fairly big chest for her size.

Her skin was pale but she had an attractive face.

However, due to a lack of exercise, she was overweight and short in stature.

Furthermore, she had a bad temper and was stubborn, so she was bound to be inferior to Elijah, who was always elegant and angelic.

‘This isn’t going to work, Riya Lisburn. I will undoubtedly upgrade you.’

“If that’s the case, I’m afraid I’ll have to borrow from Elijah. She is kind, right?”

“Madam, you’re supposed to call her hyung-nim, and don’t you remember that you’re not supposed to approach her? You’re going to get in trouble with Seir-nim. So, I’ll……”
(T/N: 형님 is also used to refer to a sister-in-law on the husband’s side.)

 

“Why would a maid stand in for me? I need to write, but one pen isn’t enough, and buying a few is out of the question, so I’ll have to borrow a few more. I’ll go on my own. I can leave at night without being noticed.”

Riya pushed Miryu out of the room, began writing the synopsis and the entire plot.

In fact, she didn’t need to write the synopsis at all.

She intended to concentrate on the scene in which the two characters make love in the forest or the stables.

These lewd novels will undoubtedly pique the interest of those young ladies.

She rolled on the bed again, thinking about her flowery path debut as a writer who owned several beautiful castles.

After roughly deciding on the plot of the two volumes, she headed to Elijah’s place to borrow a pen.

As Miryu had taught her, she passed through the small detached house where she lived.

Riya opened her mouth wide when she arrived in front of a mansion surrounded by flowers.

It was a mansion that was incomparable to her own.

There was a garden in front of the mansion with huge statues and a magnificent fountain.

As expected, as Seir’s wives, they were treated too unfairly.

Riya sighed and took a step inside.

This was obviously big discrimination.

‘Prince Seir, you son of a bitch! No matter how much you favor your first wife, I’m a Princess from another kingdom, yet you treat me so discriminatingly. Just you wait, I’ll walk on my flowery path as a writer and kick you.’

As she walked into the mansion, servants and maids poured out and surrounded her, as if she were a criminal.

“Lead me to Madam Elijah, please. I’m here to borrow something.”

But they didn’t budge, still surrounding her.

They looked determined to protect their Master.

‘I am alone here without a single maid but there are around ten of them! Wow, there’s a lot of discrimination here, too.’

Riya became enraged and yelled even louder.

“Elijah hyung-nim! Elijah hyung-nim! Come out and see me!”

“What’s going on? No, Princess, what brings you here…… You all could leave.”

Elijah, who ran out of her library, calmly dismissed the servants and maids before leading Riya to her room.

“Please forgive their impoliteness, Riya.”

Elijah smiled brightly but Riya felt somewhat uncomfortable.

She had this strange aura around her.

Furthermore, she has cat-like gazes, which Riya appears to have seen a lot.

“But what brings you here?”

“Uh, um, I’m here to borrow a pen, hyung-nim.”

When the servants were gone, Elijah began speaking informally, which Riya didn’t mind.

In fact, Riya had no reason not to get along with Elijah.

She didn’t care for this man named Seir and she had no intention of meddling in other people’s affairs.

She only wanted to be a famous R-Rated novelist, to make a lot of money in this world and to live a happy life.

“What kind of pen? A writing pen?”

Of course a writing pen. Was there any pen for taking a shit?

Riya nodded her head, her gaze fixed on her.

Elijah took a pen out of the drawer and glanced over Riyah’s body.

Then suddenly she formed a meaningful smile.

“Riya? Hehehe, you really don’t know anything, do you?”

She took a quick look around and whispered.

Riya, on the other hand, pretended to scratch her head and frantically tried to read notes on Elijah’s desk, so she didn’t understand Elijah’s secret whisper.

[Shy Chelsea eventually accepted the Crown Prince’s lips. She felt like her whole body melted and turned into an octopus.]

Riya quickly covered her mouth with her hands to hold back her laughter.

It’s pitiful enough to use the word ‘octopus’ in a sweet romance story but this type of writing will not make money.

Elijah glared at her giggling face and whispered again in a low voice.

“Do you really don’t know anything?”

Ironically, her smile was close to contempt.

Riya, on the other hand, didn’t notice the subtle expression on her face.

“Huh? What?”

Riya asked back in bewilderment.

‘Why do you keep asking me questions about things I don’t know?’

“Then shall I offer you a special favor?”

Elijah took a book out of the drawer and handed it over along with a pen.

“Read it, Princess Riya.”

Her face was covered in a strangely twisted smile once more.

Riya’s heart sank when she saw the familiar smile.

Anyway, she took the book and pen she handed over, then turned around. Her smile, ironically, bordered on contempt.

Riya, on the other hand, didn’t notice the subtle expression on her face.

“Huh? What?”

Riya, perplexed, asked back.

‘Why do you keep asking me questions about things I don’t know?’

“Shall I then extend you a special favor?”

Elijah pulled a book from the drawer and handed it to him, along with a pen.

“Please read it, Princess Riya.”

Her face was covered in a strangely twisted smile once more.

Riya’s heart sank when she saw the familiar smile.

Anyway, she took the book and pen she’d given her and turned around, just as the door opened.

“Ugh!”

Seir came in unannounced.

Riya had no idea that Elijah was such a quick-witted woman.

She stabbed her arm with the pen she was about to hand over to Riya.

Then she cried out loud.

“Eugh, princess, why are you like this?”

“Huh?”

Riya stared blankly at Elijah’s face, completely unaware of the situation.

‘Why is she like this?’

Seir rushed in and hugged Elijah’s body as red blood dripped from her arms.

“Why……what’s wrong with both of you?”

Riya stood absentmindedly, held in both arms by servants who rushed in late.

With Elijah in his arms, Seir glared at her.

His eyes were cold and frightening.

“Riya Lisburn, if you keep coming out like this, I can’t stand it any longer.”

“No, why……? I didn’t do that! That foxy bitch……”

“Seir-nim, I’m scared!”

Elijah burst into tears in horror and dug into Seir’s arms like a cat as Riya raised her finger to her.

“Stop it now!”

Seir screamed and took a look around.

“Where is Charlson?”

“Oh, he’s been lying on his bed because he’s not feeling well.”

One of the servants responded, quivering.

Seir was usually quiet, but he had a fiery personality when he was angry.

“Bring Riya to my study. I’m going to punish her myself.”