Even if it looks like the real thing at first glance, it can’t be the real thing when the inside is fake.
Holding that thought, Charlize Ribecca bit her nail while looking around the empty room of the female protagonist in this destructive reverse harem game.
White curtains fluttered on either side.
One fine day, the female lead vanished. She had escaped through the window without a trace.
Charlize was a Ribecca, the eldest daughter of the ducal family and a fake. She was like the attached doll of the late Duchess of Ribecca.
She was the doll of the woman who underwent the adoption procedures as soon as the Duchess of Ribecca, who stopped by a nursery, insisted that Charlize was hers as soon as she laid eyes on her.
Irritant.
That word alone could explain Charlize.
The Duke of Ribecca’s family was a prestigious one, and although there were no adoptive lineage was passed down, Charlize was the first to live amongst them as an ugly duckling.
Actually, she was more shocked that she had become herself rather than the sister who had run away.
‘Let me go, please.’
She was the sole antagonist in this destructive reverse harem game, the villainous sister of the female lead who held so many complaints with this world.
She was a fake sister.
“Oh, my God…”
Charlize observed her own unfamiliar face in the vanity mirror hanging in her sister’s room.
A lady with eyes of gold and hair a dull black that did not match stared back.
Her dull sky blue dress, which appeared to be indoor wear, was blown askew from an open window and fluttered like waves rushing into a calm sea.
An old letter was placed on a round wooden table.
Charlize stared into the mirror for a moment then approached the table for the letter she found.
「I’m sorry.」
A short but sarcastic apology was written down.
Charlize’s hands, which held the paper, strained; the letter was crumpled beyond recognition.
“Of all things, I possessed her at the point where the female lead ran away.”
It just had to be the only villain in this harem game. Charlize had the beginnings of a headache.
Obviously, she had fallen asleep while watching the ending of this damn game. Then she possessed this character, waking up when it got cold.
That was all. The black hair didn’t change, but her dark eyes had turned into a striking gold as if they had been coated with the precious metal.
As if that wasn’t enough, she had to undergo the trouble of waking up in this colorful old-fashioned room, and not the studio apartment that barely scraped by with her small salary.
Charlize swallowed dryly.
A villainess who was removed by the male leads when the runaway female protagonist returned.
She had to disappear before the heroine comes back.
She had to run away to a place where no one knew her or else risk her life.
While thinking of how to run, she heard the muffled sound of footsteps in the hallway.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of feet in the hallway caused Charlize’s body to stiffen as if stone.
“… Why are you in this room? Charlize.”
“…”
He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. Her dull black hair fluttered in the air, drawing a graceful arc as she turned.
His purple eyes gazed down at her.
“I asked why you were in Tia’s room.”
He was the first handsome man in the Duke of Ribecca’s family to have brilliant silver hair and violet eyes.
But his fine face crumpled as soon as he saw Charlize’s numbness.
While Charlize remained mute, he happened to see the letter she was holding. He quickly took it, and lamented at the short and simple sentence written on the paper.
“… Tia suddenly ran away?”
His purple eyes gazed at the window where the white curtain fluttered, and he laughed in vain.
His beloved little sister ran away. Only yesterday, she had said that her older brother was the best. The bright child who laughed ran away.
Soon, his eyes burned, and his anger was conveyed to Charlize.
Charlize was silent. It would be annoying to get caught and try to make excuses.
Looking at her, who remained quiet, he tore the letter to pieces and hauled her up by the collar with anger on his face.
“Since you came here, we’ve had a series of misfortunes in our family. Now, Tia’s gone. How are you going to take responsibility?”
Charlize answered quietly, without blinking, in a bleak tone.
“I will go.”
“… What?”
Charlize’s empty golden eyes looked at him as she spoke again.
“I’m leaving this family.”
This would be Charlize’s first act of rebellion after being adopted into the family.
In the original version, Charlize’s motive as the villain was simple.
She felt inferior to this fake family who only saw her as an irritant, and lashed out at the easygoing female protagonist, even slapping the cheeks of the men who adored her.
By this point, it was possible that all the male protagonists had already given Charlize both their cheeks instead of one.
Charlize sighed inwardly, lowering her gaze to the large hand that gripped her collar, and placed her hand atop of it.
She knew this man was hostile to her. He was the first son of the Duke of Ribecca, a madman who would risk his life for anything to do with Tia.
Of course, the other male characters were even crazier.
Charlize sighed quietly and then began to speak.
“Eugene, my brother, I do not want to remain in this family. After I was adopted, my mother and father suddenly committed suicide. And then Eugene’s beloved youngest sister also left. So I’m also leaving this family.”
For some reason, Charlize’s gentle voice was as dry as land in drought.
It was obviously a beautiful voice, but it was blank and inflectionless.
Charlize roughly yanked Eugene’s hand off of her collar, looking at his puzzled face, and slightly curved her lips as she passed him by.
As if she was someone who had no attachment.
A momentary smile appeared on Charlize’s rosy lips as she came out to the hallway, but it quickly vanished as soon as she saw the passersby.
‘For now, all the male leads would have to give up. Charlize’s brother had no answers, and there’s no one who would help me leave.’
Charlize looked around the barren mansion and quietly strode away.
***
She found the room with Charlize’s memory. Entering it, she looked through the unfamiliar room and found a desk with a drawer. When she opened the drawer, she found some white papers inside.
Charlize leaned against a chair’s backrest, tapping the paper with the tip of a quill pen then resting her chin on it.
“But I don’t remember all the names of the people I’ve met in this game.”
The names of the people who would help her leave.
Let’s write down the male characters first.
Charlize scribbled down the names of the four male protagonists from the game that she had finished yesterday.
“Johan Titus, Harrison Reese Ivickney, Louis Jude, and Elliot.”
The game ended last night for me, so I could remember the names of the male characters.
And below those, I wrote down the names of the brothers of the villainess, Charlize..
「 Eugene Ribecca Jeremy Ribecca 」
Charlize stared at the names on the paper, a miserable look on her face, and tore it apart.
‘With their dislike for Charlize, would they help me escape? They wouldn’t let me get away. Rather, they’ll either torture or kill Charlize with their malice.’
She had a headache and furrowed her brow.
What to do, was the internal dilemma in her head.
Then, someone knocked on her door.
“Ah, miss. I brought food.”
“Come in.”
Before the maid came inside her room to bring her meal, Charlize hurriedly hid the torn paper in her drawer.
She was a maid with brown eyes and hair, an impressive amount of freckles on her pale face. This was her first time seeing her maid’s face. In the game, only the main characters were visible.
On top of a brown tray laid a bowl of thin porridge alongside a spoon.
The maid in charge of her meal placed the bowl on Charlize’s desk and placed the spoon in it.
“I heard that the young lady was not feeling well, so I prepared porridge…”
The maid’s voice, confident at first, gradually stopped because of the frightening aura coming from Charlize.