I’m a Villainess, Can I Die?

Lukas remained standing alone, watching the two figures disappear with a lopsided gaze.

The Duke and Duchess…
Yes, those two had undoubtedly wanted this outcome.
And he had acted diligently to ease their worries.

But how had she known?
Just a few steps away, silvery-blue hair rippled in the wind. Then, a small, pale face turned back toward him.
“And you can stop acting now. It’s obvious, and it’s uncomfortable.”

With that single emotionless statement, she turned and walked away.
Lukas tilted his head, then smirked.
“She lost her memories to the point of having an empty heart…”

And yet, the way she looked at him now felt sharper, more precise than before.
She’s detached, but somehow… much more interesting.
Interesting enough that he might have watched her even without Aaron and the duke’s requests.

“Aiden.”
“Yes, my lady?”
Aiden looked deeply uncomfortable.

And yet, despite himself, his eyes shone with an unconscious excitement, his lips slightly parted, as if he was about to start drooling.
After the walk, I decided to indulge Lukas (or rather, the Duke and Duchess, who had undoubtedly put him up to it) by sitting properly at the tea table and having a proper snack.
For company, I sat Aiden down across from me—since today, I had finally learned his actual name.

“From now on, you’ll join me for walks and meals.”
“…Excuse me?”
Ever the seasoned professional in humble servitude, he didn’t look outright uncomfortable, but his tone betrayed his confusion.
“You do it. The others make me uncomfortable.”

“Um… But I’m not an expert, and if anything happens—”
“In exchange, we’ll have cake together every day.”
“…I will do my absolute best.”

Ah. Just as the book described.
Aiden was a man who loved material things.
At the very top of that list was money.

A close second? Cake.
He was a man who really loved cake.
Satisfied with his response, I nodded and focused on my strawberry cake.

Oh. This is good.
It was my first time having one.
I had never bought cake for myself, not as a child nor as an adult.

The only cake I had ever eaten was chocolate cake—because that was my younger sibling’s favorite.
Whenever their birthday came around in the hospital, I would buy a big chocolate cake, and we would share a slice each.
Come to think of it… In some distant past, I think I had my own birthday cake too.

But what kind was it?
I couldn’t even remember.
Could I really say I had eaten it if I couldn’t even recall the taste?

It struck me then—everything in my life had belonged to my younger sibling in some way.
Maybe that was why we even shared death.
Lost in thought, I mechanically scooped cake into my mouth.

That was when Aiden called my name softly.
“My lady.”
“What?”

“…No, never mind. My apologies.”
What a letdown.
He had called out, only to shake his head.

“What’s there to apologize for? Do you want another slice of cake?”
“Yes.”
“Alright.”

Aiden’s mind was a mess.
He had accidentally let his true thoughts slip out.
Normally, he would have said no out of sheer habit.

But lately, the young lady wasn’t acting like her usual self.
She wasn’t throwing tantrums.
She was oddly distant but also strangely kind.

Her behavior was so unfamiliar that his usual fear of her had faded somewhat.
Like just now—
She had been eating her cake expressionlessly, and for some reason, it had felt so wrong that he had called out without thinking.

But then, he realized he had no idea what he even wanted to ask, so he backed down.
If this were before, she would have exploded at me for that.
It was clear—

Something had changed in her since that day.
The day after she woke up.
When she had suddenly started talking about magic—

That had nearly knocked him flat.
Because nobody was supposed to know that Aiden could use magic.
So how had she known?

And even if she did know, how could she have brought it up so casually?
But that was it.
After that one moment, she never mentioned it again.

He had spent days tearing his hair out over it.
He had lost sleep, drowning in anxiety.
But she had never spoken of it.

She hadn’t even looked interested.
And then…
A few days after she had woken up, she did something.

He wasn’t sure what, but he knew something had happened.
Though Aiden didn’t know exactly what had happened, after that day, the Duke had assigned him to Lady Selina’s room.
It didn’t seem like it was just because she had amnesia and needed familiar company.

Maybe the Duke thought she needed physical protection.
Or perhaps… they needed someone strong enough to restrain her if something happened.
Either way, that soulless expression of hers kept bothering him.

And her detached, indifferent tone…
It wasn’t frightening, but in a different way, it was unsettling.
She asked me that day… if I could kill her painlessly.

Aiden glanced at Selina, still blankly eating cake, then shook his head and focused on his second slice.
No use thinking too hard about it. Cake is always the answer.
Aiden looked at me oddly for a moment but soon turned his full attention back to his second slice of cake.

Good. Simple. I like that.
I tapped the empty plate a few times and rested my chin in my palm, watching Aiden as my eyes slowly drooped.
I was always sleep-deprived.

“You don’t have to follow me.”
“I want to follow you.”
“Well, I don’t want you to.”

“There are things in life that can’t be helped, even if we don’t like them.”
I turned my head away from his brightly smiling face.
Fine. Do what you want.

Ever since I told him to stop acting, Lukas had stopped hesitating altogether.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
Instead of playing the polite, considerate gentleman, he had simply started appearing out of nowhere during my walks with Aiden—blatantly inserting himself into my business.

He had dropped the overly formal concern and replaced it with a blunt, dismissive “No. Just no.”
There wasn’t even room for negotiation anymore.
He had completely abandoned subtlety in favor of efficiency.

Like, “Why bother taking the long route when there’s a shortcut?”
I had hoped he would stop treating me like a pawn to be used for maximum benefit.
But somehow, my plan had backfired into something even more annoying.

Sighing, I pushed away the chocolate cake in front of me.
It was a slightly different kind from the one at my first tea time, but it still didn’t appeal to me.
“What’s wrong?”

“You eat it. I don’t think I like chocolate cake.”
For a brief moment, I considered taking another bite.
But then I shook my head.

Now that I thought about it… I had never actually enjoyed chocolate cake.
I had just eaten it because my younger sibling liked it.
I had choked down slice after slice, numbing my tongue with its overwhelming sweetness—forcing myself to pretend to enjoy it.

…Oh.
I didn’t like chocolate cake.
I never did.

I just didn’t realize it.
Because it didn’t matter whether I liked it or not.
I had to eat it.

I had to blend in.
I had to be a part of my family’s joy, had to force myself to belong.
I had plastered on a mechanical smile and swallowed every bite—even as my taste buds screamed in protest.

And now, only after coming to this world, did I realize it.
How stupid.
I didn’t know anything about myself.

I knew more about the characters in this story than I did about me.
I knew Aiden loved cake.
I knew Lukas was a cunning snake who used people to his advantage.

I knew that our future family member, Ariel, would eventually—
…Wait.
Nope.

Let’s not think about that.
That’s a dangerous thought.
The point is—

I don’t know me.
Because I was never a person.
I was a tool.

My life was never truly mine.
If there had been a book written about me, would I have learned anything from it?
…No.

Because who ever bothers to describe an ATM or a vacuum cleaner in detail?
And I was just that—a thing.
Not a person.

Enough.
No more of these thoughts.
The past is the past.

“Aiden, Aaron’s engagement is the day after tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
“…I see.”

I flopped onto the table, watching Aiden devour two whole slices of cake.
The engagement was in two days.
So simple.

And yet… what happens now?
Does the story just end?
Ugh. Life is so difficult.

The engagement day arrived sooner than expected.
Watching people rush about with preparations from my window had been surprisingly entertaining.
Even Lukas had been too busy to visit yesterday.

In this massive household, the only people not running around were Aiden and me.
But on the actual day, I was forced to move.
I was dragged out of bed early in the morning and into an overly perfumed bath.

Then, after covering my hair in some kind of mysterious treatment, the maids practically attacked it with brushes, combing through each strand like they were performing a sacred ritual.
By the time hours had passed, we finally reached the actual styling process.
“Lady Selina, we’ll assist you with your attire.”

“Mm. Go ahead.”
I let them handle everything.
Honestly, this was completely foreign to me.

Or rather… it had been a very long time.
Since someone had brushed my hair.
Since someone had prepared my clothes.

Since someone had put this much effort into me—whether externally or internally.
“Miss, which earrings would you like?”
A pair of silver earrings with green gems.

Another pair, covered in dangling purple jewels.
I had no idea which was better.
I hadn’t dressed up since I was a very young child.

“…Anything is fine.”
“Yes, my lady.”
A moment later, the purple earrings were hooked onto my ears.

My reflection in the mirror stared back at me, unreadable.
What would the real Selina have looked like right now?
I forced my lips into a smile—

And immediately dropped it when I saw how unnatural it looked.
The maids shrank back.
Oh, come on. You don’t have to react that dramatically.

The deep blue dress wrapped around my body, the cascading silver-blue hair, the matching purple necklace and earrings…
Selina, you’re really pretty.
I spun slightly.

My hair rippled like waves, the delicate lace of my dress fluttering around me.
“…Not bad. It looks nice. Good job, everyone.”
The maids froze for a second, then quickly bowed.

Right… Selina never gave compliments before.
And after I had taken over, I had spent most of my time holed up in my room.
They must have been confused.

As I sent the bewildered lambs away, I stayed in front of the mirror a little longer.
What did the real ‘me’ look like?
I couldn’t remember.

Because the real me was dead.
And the dead should be forgotten.