The Villainess’s Guide to Winning the Male Lead

“It is an honor to meet you, Lady Erpeso. My name is Shailo. I am a priest serving Lady Venecia.”

Venecia? A priest?

I didn’t fully understand the situation, but I knew I had to start the broadcast. I couldn’t be the only one witnessing this event.

As soon as I turned on the broadcast, the manager’s chat popped up first.

[Manager: Are you okay?]

“Uh… Yes, I’m fine.”

Then, chats from other viewers rapidly followed.

[LLoading: You looked so surprised!ㅠㅠ]

[OnlyFinley: Are you really okay?]

[asdf has donated 1,000 points!]

[Gold2: That was chilling, for real]

[PleaseShakeACarrot: Don’t push yourself, take a restㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[FlowerFlute: Jiha, you okayㅠㅠ]

“No, I’m really fine.”

“……?”

As I murmured to myself looking into the air, the surrounding priests looked at me strangely.

Now that the broadcast was on, I needed to focus back on the conversation and grasp the situation.

“What happened exactly?”

“We received an oracle and the priests gathered to use their divine power. Thanks to that, you were revived, Lady.”

Shailo explained calmly.

I whispered quietly to myself.

“What, these people know I was dead?”

[Manager: It couldn’t be helped]

[asdf: Resurrection is indeed a temple thing]

“Don’t worry. All the priests will keep this a secret. There was an oracle from Lady Venecia, so no one here would dare to disobey.”

It seemed like Venecia was the name of the deity worshipped in this world.

“…….”

I just stared intently at Shailo. He was a character who didn’t appear in the original story, so he was unfamiliar.

Feeling my gaze, Shailo interpreted it differently and gave an order to the surrounding priests.

“Lady seems uncomfortable, it might be better if the rest of you leave.”

Following Shailo’s words, the priests quietly left the room.

He looks young, but seems to hold a high position.

As the people staring at me disappeared, it became easier to start a conversation.

“I’m sorry, but I’m having a hard time understanding the situation. How did I end up at the temple?”

“You didn’t come here, you were reborn.”

“……?”

“I don’t know exactly what happened either, but I believe it’s thanks to the divine power and Venecia’s intervention.”

“Is this for real?”

I naturally addressed the chat window during the conversation.

[asdf: Yep]

[Isaac: Who’s in charge of gods in that world?]

[Poppopo: Yep, that person]

[PleaseShakeACarrot: Lolㅋㅋ]

[asdf: Yep]

As expected, it seems that angels are in charge of the deities. If I die again, I’d like to ask about this matter.

‘Then there must be no corpse at the Grand Duke’s mansion.’

Otherwise, it would be troublesome. If there was a corpse and my actual body, things would get complicated.

First, to understand the situation, I needed to hurry to the Grand Duke’s mansion.

I quickly opened the purchase window.

Before, a teleport scroll was only 100 points, but now it had become 5,000 points, just like during the tutorial.

“Expensive…….”

[Manager: If you have a complaint, don’t buy it, customer]

I only had 100 points on hand.

Just as I was wondering if I should buy on credit, the sound of crisp coins rang out.

[asdf has donated 5,000 points!]

“……?”

[OnlyFinley: What, when did you save up that many points?]

[Gold2: 5000 points ㄷㄷ]

[PleaseShakeACarrot: As expected, bro…….]

[NyamNyamoo: Wow, the best…….]

The other angels were also surprised by the large donation.

He was usually generous with points, but donating 5,000 points at once was something else.

asdf just casually dropped a word.

[asdf: Buy]

“Ah, yes…….”

I immediately pressed the purchase button.

[Manager: Set the coordinates to your room at the Grand Duke’s mansion]

“Thank you…….”

I was still stunned by the large donation.

Soon, a small light leaked out, and a scroll popped out of thin air.

I casually received it.

“How did you do that?”

Shailo immediately asked in a surprised voice. It was unclear how he saw it with his eyes closed.

How should I explain this? I scratched my head and vaguely answered.

“Lady Venecia gave it to me.”

It wasn’t a lie. I bought it thanks to asdf.

“Can you communicate with Lady Venecia?”

“Well… something like that.”

Here, asdf was said to be in charge of the deity. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant yet, but I was indeed communicating in real-time.

Shailo said with a bright smile.

“We have another divine maiden!”

“Huh?”

I looked at Shailo in confusion.

“To be able to communicate with Lady Venecia and even receive something directly…! Even the existing divine maiden wasn’t capable of that!”

Shailo looked extremely excited.

Seeing things get noisy, it seemed best to leave quickly. The temple wasn’t a place mentioned in the original work, so the viewers wouldn’t be particularly interested either.

Just as I was about to close the shop window, I noticed something.

The shop still only had teleportation scrolls and resurrection tickets. It seemed that they would add items only upon request.

Then I noticed something odd.

The price of the resurrection ticket had risen to 20,000 points.

[Manager: The price of resurrection tickets doubles each time they’re used]

“That’s too much……”

[Manager: What; can’t just throw resurrection tickets around, there has to be a penalty]

That made sense, but the thought of having to gather 20,000 points if I died again was daunting.

First, I said goodbye to Shailo.

“Anyway, thank you. I should get going.”

“Yes, please feel free to visit anytime.”

Was that his way of suggesting I might die again? His twisted personality made it sound that way.

I tore the scroll. Instantly, the scenery before my eyes changed.

As the manager said, the coordinates were set to my room in the Grand Duke’s mansion.

Strangely, there was no sign of bloodstains, despite the amount of blood I had coughed up.

[Manager: Took care of the cleanup]

[PleaseShakeACarrot: As expected of the manager…….]

[Poppopo: Does the job well]

[Gold2: Only the jobㅋㅋ]

[Gold2 has been muted in chat for 5 minutes.]

It seems the manager took care of everything. That was a relief.

As I was feeling relieved, the door burst open.

There stood Eric, drenched in sweat.

“Lady!”

“You look hot.”

“Is this the time to say that?!”

Eric exclaimed, as if he couldn’t believe it. His anger suggested he must have been looking for me.

“I was shocked when you suddenly disappeared!”

“Sorry, I just tried using the magic scroll that was in my pocket.”

“Please……. If something happens to you, I’m the one who gets fired.”

I should have been fired already. It was a relief I didn’t make Eric unemployed.

Eric wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed deeply.

“Glad you made it back before dinner.”

“The Grand Duke doesn’t know?”

“No one knows but me. Really lucky you came back so quickly……”

‘Lucky’ was an understatement; I was practically in a dangerous situation.

Someone tried to kill me, right here in this mansion.

‘Thrilling.’

Although I had died once, there was no pain, so instead of fear, I felt a sense of excitement.

Who could it be? A character from the original story? Or someone else? My heart began to race.

The day when the male and female leads met wasn’t far off, and now this incident had occurred. It was like a blessing for my otherwise dull broadcasting life.

* * *

The Grand Duke’s mansion was bustling. It was to be expected, as the future mistress was arriving.

The day when Kabir and Selena would finally meet had come. I was already excited to see how Kabir would react to Selena.

Kabir and Selena were scheduled to meet during this evening’s dinner.

I had skipped the afternoon tea to welcome Selena.

Selena stepped out of the carriage.

“Lady!”

Noticing me, Selena greeted me with a radiant smile. She was dressed more beautifully than ever, almost like a halo around her. I squinted against the brightness.

Selena immediately approached me and said,

“It’s a relief to see you looking healthy.”

Even though she had been the one being tormented by Anais, she seemed genuinely concerned about her. Truly, being too kind can also be a problem.

Meanwhile, Kabir hadn’t even come out to greet her.

Last night, when I asked Kabir if he would join me in welcoming Selena, he had responded,

‘She’s your sister, you should be the one to go.’

Such a heartless person.

“Let’s go, Selena. I’ve arranged for your room to be next to mine, I’ll show you.”

“Thank you so much!”

Selena answered energetically. It seemed she was not uncomfortable with staying next to my room.

In the original story, Selena seemed quite averse to Anais. Maybe the grudge against Anais had dissolved thanks to the kindness I showed just before leaving for the Grand Duke’s mansion.

‘If that’s the case, she’s very easy to handle.’

It’s better if the female lead is on my side. It was a good development.

After the long journey, I left Selena to rest in her room and returned to mine.

‘How will dinner go tonight?’

I was curious but decided not to interfere.

It wasn’t a matter of conscience. If I was caught spying, I’d surely be thrown out. This time, I decided to play it safe.

As I was chatting with the viewers in my room, there was a knock at the door.

The one who entered, with my permission, was Eric.

“Lady.”

Eric, who takes care of all my miscellaneous tasks, said,

“His Grace, the Grand Duke, is asking why you are not at the dinner.”

“……?”

I looked at him as if he was speaking nonsense.

It was indeed dinner time. But I couldn’t understand why they would call me to that particular dinner.

“Why would I intrude on a dinner between the engaged couple?”

“Exactly.”

Eric seemed to give up on understanding. He laughed as if he had achieved enlightenment.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Could it be?’