NOVEL NEXT This Three Year Old Is a Villainess
Chapter 1
When I came to my senses, the first thing I saw was a luxurious chandelier.
A large chandelier that could never be hung in my palm-sized room. As soon as I saw it, I realized. ‘…Turns out, I’m still in this world.’ If I could, I wanted to hurl a bucket-load of curses until I was satisfied, but even that was impossible. Because this body was that of a three-year-old that couldn’t even pronounce words properly, let alone say swears! All I could do was curl up like a Hoppang and cry. (t/n: 호빵 [hoppang] is a filled steamed bun.) My name is Yoo Hyemin. No, I mean, Erylotte Astra. Erylotte, a three-year-old who possessed the villainess of a tragedy novel with the highest difficulty. ‘Please save me!’ *** Three years ago, I, who was an ordinary Seoul citizen, died from a disease. The disease was pancreatic cancer. When I realized I had it, I already missed the treatment period. I tried to hang on by myself for months, but I couldn’t bear it and died. And when I opened my eyes again… ‘I was in this body.’ A plump body that was wrapped in a baby blanket. With small and round hands like flour rice cake. The body of a literal ‘newborn baby’ that couldn’t even say words like ‘ah-ah’ or ‘ooh-ooh.’ No one explained to me, but I had a hunch. ‘So, it’s reincarnation!’ This was because it was a familiar setting for me, who once spent all my money on Kakao Page. For that reason, I grasped the situation quickly. ‘Considering that I was reincarnated as a baby, it’s definitely a childcare thing.’ ‘Looking at the luxurious room, my father is a noble.’ ‘…He’s either a Grand Duke or an Emperor.’ ‘You’re the cold Northern Duke, but it must be that you’re warm to your daughter, right?’ Anyway, since I had already become like this, I decided to prepare steadily for the moment I’ll meet my Father. The reason why I was not preparing to meet my Mother was because usually, in this kind of setting, there was no mother. And seeing that she didn’t come find me, I was sure that there was no mom. Anyway, I worked hard until an adult finally came. ‘Let’s practice not crying even when I see something scary.’ [It’s interesting that she’s a child that doesn’t cry after seeing me] I even practiced smiling for that development— ‘Aba? Baba? Dada? … Dwuke?’ [Father who is flustered by the friendly title] I even thought hard about the title for that development. And like that, with a pounding heart, I waited for Father, but… “Is it this kid?” “Yes, Duke.” …The one who showed up was Grandfather. ‘Shouldn’t the father of a childcare novel be young?’ Was it a modification? Still, he had a very terrifying aura, just like a duke. The Duke asked his aide who came with him. “You said she hasn’t revealed her ability?” “Yes.” “Damn it.” “What should we do with the Young Miss’ name?” The Duke glanced at me and said with an insincere tone. “Erylotte. Call it Erylotte Astra.” Strangely, it was a familiar name. ‘Erylotte, Erylotte, Ery… lotte?’ While I kept thinking about the name, I suddenly remembered. I’m sure there was a character with that name among the novels I had read. It was a romance-fantasy novel that was published on a free site. [I Possessed The Villain’s Granddaughter] This was the content of the novel that was simplified and called [IPTVG]. [I was an ordinary university student in South Korea. When I possessed an extra of a novel that I usually enjoyed reading. I had to go through all sorts of hardships as an orphan, but it turned out that I was the granddaughter of the Duke of Astra?! The Duke of Astra, one of the villains who could pressure even the Emperor?! I tried to run away because I was afraid, but I became attached to my family. ‘It can’t be helped now that things are like this.’ I have to charm my family members well and make them repent. Can I defeat the original female lead who took everything from me and change the future?] So, you’re probably thinking that Erylotte is that ‘main character who possessed an extra’. No, she is the ‘original female lead’ and the cousin of the main character, Dahlia. In other words, my role was to play the villainess who was pretending to be the original female lead. What’s worse was that this was a villainess role destined to die miserably for harassing the real main character… ‘So, the person who gave me my name just now wasn’t Father, but Grandfather.’ I tried to think calmly, but my heart was in total despair. To think that I possessed a character from a possession novel! What kind of nonsense was this? ‘Moreover, this novel… had long stopped being published.’ Yes, that’s right. This was a novel that failed and was stopped in the middle of its publication. The start wasn’t bad. There were quite a few readers who came because they were fascinated by the clichés and the familiarity of a plot that they knew was good. However, it all fell apart due to the poor development. The reason why the remaining readers clicked on the next chapter was because it was worth seeing the villainess, Erylotte, suffer. Perhaps the writer also knew that and tremendously harassed Erylotte. ‘To sum up, in the future, I’ll….’ 1. Be treated as an invisible person because I was not born with the power that Grandfather wanted. 2. Father went to the battlefield before I was born and died when I was around the age of four. 3. Since I had no proper guardian, I would be faced with all kinds of harassment in the household. 4. Blackened by my jealousy I would harass the female lead and my neck would go clang. Before I knew it, the genre of my life was already decided. It was a tragedy. *** Three years later, the present. I crawled up onto the chair with a gloomy look. ‘This time, too, I couldn’t return to my original world.’ Yesterday was the day of the lunar eclipse. I expected a lot, since I thought that it was the last way, but I failed again this time. ‘Let alone returning, I didn’t even sleep a wink.’ Thanks to it, I’m about to die from sleepiness. ‘No, don’t. Don’t.’ I shook my head and grabbed a crayon. I was taking classes at the ‘12th Tower’ where the indirect descendants from the Astra Family lived. Because I was born out of Grandfather’s sight, as soon as I was born, I was living in this tower, even though I was a direct descendant. If you were lazy for even a second, you’d be completely marked. I looked at the teacher while holding the crayon. Our table, which gathered all those under the age of 7, was currently learning letters. “Now. This time, shall we try to write a little difficult word? ‘Kka-ma-deuk’.” I wrote the letters on the paper as instructed. [Kka-ma-deuk] Since my small muscles weren’t developed yet, the writing was extremely crooked. ‘Hm, good.’ Turns out I can write the Imperial language roughly now. After thinking, I looked around, and the letters that were written by the children sitting around me were seen. [Gae-man-deo] [Kkyae-aet-deuk] [neo-it-j-ng] “….” I stealthily covered my paper and added letters. [Kkam-manh-deukt] This was a skill that I had developed over the past 3 years. I couldn’t perform too badly, but I also couldn’t perform too well. ‘Because I can’t stand out.’ Only then could I move freely. Being able to try various methods of returning to the original world was also something I could do because I was free. The teacher looked at the children’s writings and nodded. “Surely, it is a difficult word. Among the spellings we learned last time, we wrote ‘Wi’ and ‘Lot’ so, ‘Kka-ma-deuk’ is…” While the class was in progress. The door opened and a servant walked in with hurried steps. “A message came from the Main Castle. It was an order to take the children to the Main Castle by tomorrow at noon.” “They’ll be ready.” So that’s why it had been noisy ever since a few days ago, it must’ve been because tomorrow was the day we had to go to the Main Castle. ‘It’s already that day.’ The day when the children of the direct and indirect descendants of the main family gathered to take the test. The test was very important. ‘Since with this, it will determine one’s ranking.’ At Astra, the terrifying Villain family, everything was determined by one’s ranking. Everything, starting from allowance to the rooms we live in, and even future public posts. Therefore, everyone had no choice but to devote themselves to the test. ‘Although it doesn’t matter for young kids like me.’ How would kids who couldn’t even dictate properly, take the test? It’s just roughly assembling the number of people and then coming back. However, the young kids were excited. “Will I be able to see the direct descendants? Richmond, and Joshua…!” (t/n: the indirect descendants, except Erylotte, spoke about the direct descendants with honorifics, even adding 님 [nim] = a very respectful way to call a person/the title to the direct descendants’ title and name.) “I like Balzac the best. He’s so cool! The Youngest Aura User!” For the children who were indirect descendants, the direct descendants were just like celebrities. ‘They don’t know how scary they are.’ In [IPTVG], Erylotte almost died several times because of the direct descendants. It was so harsh that Erylotte, who was originally timid and easygoing, became crooked and darker in personality. I was thinking like that, when someone pushed the chair that I sat on. “Hey, Worthless Thing.” Looking back, a skinny boy was snickering. Skinny was the kid who had been harassing me lately. Because there was a rumor that I was neglected by the main family, it was something that he wanted to provoke. Just by looking at him, it was obvious that he was a typical extra. I could roughly predict what he was going to say. ‘I heard your mom was a commoner?’ “Your mom is a commoner, right?” ‘What a lowlife.’ “You lowlife.” It wasn’t any different from what I expected, so there was no surprise in my eyes, only dullness and boredom. Skinny snickered, raising his hand. This time it was my turn to press my head hard against his fingertips. I said, “Wait,” then grabbed Skinny’s index finger, and raised my other arm. “Tweacher, dat kid is hawassing me!” [Teacher, that kid is harassing me!] Immediately, the eyes of the adults looked at us. Skinny was extremely flustered. When this kind of thing happened, the standard was usually for me to hold the hem of my skirt and cry while trembling, but because I told on him, it was him instead who was flustered. The teachers approached right away. They looked at the situation and soon their eyes narrowed. “To think that you’re harassing a child who’s taking classes together with you? I’m really disappointed Timothy.” “I’ll take note of this matter. Please reflect on yourself.” Skinny was scolded, and he had to write ten pages of apology. I hummed as I watched Skinny sob while writing his apology. I knew what to do because I had been through everything when I was Yoo Hye-min and it was always best to tell on bullies at times like these. ‘Besides, I think I haven’t done anything for these past three years?’ Of course, returning to my original world was my top priority, but I had prepared various prevention tactics just in case. “How are you? Are you feeling alright?” The teachers asked with a kind look on their faces. “Ywes.” [Yes.] “That’s a relief.” “Der is, you know. Gwandfader. They say inbwesting in the Pena Commersyal Bwusiness makes a wot of money.” [There is, you know. Grandfather. They say investing in the Pena Commercial Business makes a lot of money.] The teachers picked up their notebooks with their eyes shining brightly. “Pena Commercial Business.” “Pena Commercial Business…!” For a child to survive, an adult’s help was essential. So, I won the teachers’ hearts by sharing the jackpot stock information. I’m glad that I remembered the contents of the novel. “How can you be so exceptionally smart?” “Candy. Would you like candy?” “Ywes!” [Yes!] Ah, right. There was one thing that I had yet to mention. When I was Yoo Hyemin, I worked as an aide to the National Assembly. I served a trashy boss, and there were only three things that I learned there. 1. If the faction you’re in falters, don’t look back and walk like migratory birds heading to another faction. Walk like you’re on a tightrope. 2. The way of speaking by finding fault in the other person’s words and turning them on themselves so they look like bastards. 3. A raccoon-like habit of pretending to be nice to the weak, pretending to be nicer to the strong, and making myself the most pitiful person in the world. As I used the skills that I learned from my garbage boss, I thought, ‘This is K-Politics, kids.’ A day after I completely failed to return to my original world. I made up my mind. ‘Since I’m already here, I’ll have to survive somehow.’ *** The next day, at noon. I arrived at the Main Castle together with the children of indirect lineage. As soon as the children entered the Main Castle, they all burst into exclamations. Sculptures of 11 Gods occupied the entirety of a huge wall. There was also a big and beautiful stone pillar. As well as an extravagant curtain that was fully decorated with gold. It was an overwhelming sight. ‘It’s surely a spooky sight, but–’ I glanced at the strange monsters that were wearing chains in front of the gate. Their eyes were so big and sharp that just looking made one feel afraid. ‘This is really uncomfortable.’ Suddenly, the immature and unsteady feelings of a child came. What was worse, I sometimes felt like I reverted back to being a child, not in body but in mind. ‘Maybe it’s a penalty because I’m not the main character.’ I guess it was normal for a kid my age to be scared of the monsters. I took a quick step to pass the monsters quickly. I ran after the kids in a hurry. A three-year-old’s body hasn’t developed all their muscles yet, so no matter how hard I ran, it was hard to follow the older sisters and brothers. ‘Oh my, I’m going to die.’ I barely followed the children to the test site. One indirect descendant child, who arrived first, muttered with a dull face. “What’s this, there’s no one except us…” In the room, there were no direct descendants like the children expected. ‘Of course it was like that.’ The direct descendants were ‘those who handle’. The indirect descendants were ‘those who were called’. The dividing line was clear, but it wasn’t good to let the direct descendants and the indirect descendants take the test together. That’s because the indirect descendants usually get scared and become unable to show their skills properly. ‘No matter how good the results the direct descendants get, people won’t bat an eye.’ That’s why, for me, a direct descendant who had to take the exam together with the indirect descendants, this was the worst situation. If even my father dies next year… I got goosebumps just thinking about it. ‘I have to get a good result on this test no matter what.’ Even if I don’t have the [ability] Grandfather wanted, I had to show that I could at least be helpful to the family. The older ones looked happy, perhaps thinking that it was a relief. On the other hand, the younger children were disappointed. Soon after, the executives entered the door. “The Lord is coming.” The children who were in their seats got up at once. The atmosphere quickly became quiet. Then, I heard the dull sound of feet walking from outside the door. Finally… ‘Whoa.’ Seeing the man who was entering the door, I took a big breath. There was a terrifying feeling of intense pressure every time one saw it. A black jacket made of beast fur. A dress suit decorated with all kinds of luxurious things. However, instead of the luxurious attire, the very first thing that stood out was the look in the man’s eyes. A terrifying look that seemed to contain a collection of all the wicked things in the world. That man was the villain of this world. The Duke of Astra, who was my grandfather. ‘It’s amazing.’ The younger ones and even the slightly older ones, turned pale. Although it was not an expression of excitement, the executives were familiar with this kind of reaction. The children and grandchildren were also trembling. However, that was natural. One executive said. “We’ll start the test.” Then the other people pulled out a trolley. On the trolley was a certain frame. The executive held the frame up and said. “This is an excerpt from a historical book written in ancient language.” “….” “I will give points to those who give the answer most similar to the interpretation that the scholars have revealed.” ‘It’s extremely difficult.’ The ancient language was extremely difficult to interpret, and there were only a few spelling and words that had been revealed so far. ‘And they want us to interpret that–’ It was impossible for small children, who had barely begun learning their native language, to solve it. The older ones also looked like they were about to have a mental breakdown. Even so, the test began, and they had to do at least something, whatever it was. The children grumbled as they transcribed the excerpts on the paper they were handed out. “So… this is….” “Uhm, since this letter has this pronunciation….” No matter how hard they tried, there was no way to pass this test. ‘Of course, it’ll be impossible for me, right?’ It was only last month that I started learning the imperial language. The ancient language was an alphabet that I had never seen before. Still, I thought it would be better to show signs of effort than to just stand still. I got on my tiptoes to look at the excerpt. The sound of the executives whispering, surrounded me. “As expected, this test was too difficult.” “Still, although it’s only a few sentences, the direct descendants could roughly… ” “About that, it’s because they’re the direct descendants. Don’t they have ancient language classes?” It seemed that no one was expecting anyone to get it right. Grandfather looked at the children with cold eyes and got up. It seems like he was about to leave because there was no result. At that moment. “The land, where da dwagon, fell asweep…” [The land, where the dragon, fell asleep…] The people’s attention was drawn to me, who was reading the excerpt stammeringly. Grandfather stopped and looked at me. The executives’ eyes grew big as if their eyes were going to pop out. They hurriedly opened the book and started flipping through its pages. “The land where the dragon fell asleep… The interpretation is correct.” “How ridiculous. How can such a young child…” Yeah, I know right. It was a ridiculous thing. ‘But– Why was the ancient language the Korean Alphabet…?’