Must read!

A reposted version of the 2019 original novel of the same name.

Whats new:

Banners, 

fixed grammatical errors (ig),

 clear plot to make it ready for the readers to follow,

more untold story, 

side stories, 

and well fixed epilogues.

Whats the same:

Plot line

Characters

Chapter story line

The entirety

Alright, let me get this straight... Did I just reincarnate into an otome game?

Who would have thought that I would end up inside the very game I finished playing yesterday? And what is even worse is that I became the villainess of that game.

That is right. The villainess. I, Sumi, have been reincarnated into the game Sweet Romance as the infamous villainous character Rachel Vallemont.

For some reason, I tripped inside the carriage and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I had regained all my past memories. Because of that unlucky event, my visit to meet the king was cut short. Although, thinking about it now, I would say I was lucky. I have a very good idea why we were headed to the palace, and it was surely to discuss marrying me off to the crown prince.

Goodness gracious. I do not want to be engaged to that devious prince. In the game, there were three routes I could not finish because I always died in them.

I never even bothered to try the crown prince's route because he was impossible to capture and far too manipulative for my liking.

But now that I am here, I should have at least tried to learn more about him. Or watched some walkthroughs. Who knows what is going to happen to me, especially if I cannot decline the engagement they are about to announce.

Come on, Sumi. Do not just think. We need to act. We all know the consequences of making the wrong choice. It will either be execution or exile that eventually leads to death anyway.

I looked around the very old fashioned room. It barely registered what situation I was in. Questions filled my mind, but none of them had answers. Where am I?

A loud bang echoed as the large wooden door to my bedroom opened. My father entered, followed by my mother who rushed toward me with a worried expression.

She gently cupped my face. Concern was written all over her features as she asked softly, "How have you been feeling, my dear? Do you feel any pain? Why are you not eating the food I sent you? Are you really alright?" Then something seemed to hit her, and she quickly pulled her hand away.

"I am sorry. I know you do not like being touched, but I only wanted to check on you..."

I stopped her from speaking further and hugged her tightly. Ahh. What a sweet and caring mother. I have always wished for a mother like this, and now it feels like that wish has been granted. Even though the old Rachel always ignored her and gave her the cold shoulder, she remained gentle and caring. What a waste. If it were me, the new Rachel, I would accept her wholeheartedly.

"Everything is fine, Mother," I whispered as I snuggled deeper into her warm embrace. I am not a pervert, alright. She is my mom. And I am straight.

I felt her stiffen, probably shocked by my sudden affection, but then her arms slowly wrapped around me too. Her warmth was comforting. I could feel genuine motherly love, something I had longed for in my past life. Something I wanted to hold onto.

I looked up when I heard my father's footsteps. He stood there quietly, gazing softly at us. This was probably the first time he had ever seen a scene like this. Normally, Rachel would push her mother away and glare coldly.

And honestly, part of that was his fault. Rachel hated her mother because she was not her biological one. Her real mother, Hera, died when Rachel was three. When she was five, her father introduced her to Charlotte, the woman hugging me right now.

Charlotte was not her biological daughter, but she treated Rachel as her own, even to the point of being willing to risk her life for her. Sadly, Rachel believed she acted kindly only to impress Father.

Now that I have regained my past memories, I will not waste this chance. I will treasure those who truly care for me. Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Father finally spoke.

"How are you feeling now, Rachel?" He tried to sound serious, but the worry in his voice was clear. He was worried about my health, and also worried that I might respond coldly just like before. How he must have missed seeing his daughter smile. Ever since Hera died, Rachel never smiled again. She only showed cold glares and a harsh personality.

Seeing my blank expression, Father seemed to lose hope. Then something unexpected happened. I slowly lifted the corners of my lips into a gentle smile.

A smile. He had dreamed of this moment for so long.

"I feel much better now, Father. Thank you for your concern," I said softly.

Elliot trembled. He did not know whether the emotion swelling inside him was joy or sadness. He looked like he might laugh or cry, or maybe both.

That night, I talked with them for a long time to learn more about them, since the game barely mentioned our family relationships. I was surprised by how many details were completely missing from the game. Honestly, everything feels so unreal.

I am simply speechless.

This feeling, the feeling of having a family that truly loves me, is overwhelming.

My father and mother were laughing at a silly joke my father made. I laughed too, but I could not shake the thought that in this life, I finally have a family that loves and cares for me unconditionally. But am I willing to let go of my past?

In my previous life, my parents did not care about me at all. They were always busy. Sometimes I would get beaten for no reason, especially when my father came home drunk and angry after losing at gambling.

I shivered at the memory. All I could do back then was curl myself into a ball, close my eyes, and silently cry while being hit. Even imagining it now makes my body ache again.

Maybe that is why I devoted myself to playing games, to falling in love with fictional characters, and crying over their stories while imagining what it would be like to have loving parents.

"Let us build our own world, just you and me." That was my favorite quote from Sweet Romance, spoken by the second prince, Louis, in his route.

My thoughts were interrupted when my father mentioned something I wished I had heard incorrectly.

"Rachel, we are heading to the royal palace in a few days," Elliot said.

"The palace? Again?"

"Yes. The king has something to discuss with us, and it would be good if you could come as well."

I knew exactly where this was leading. This must be the proposal, the engagement between the crown prince and me, Rachel Vallemont. As much as possible, I want to avoid that. More interactions with His Highness mean a higher chance of encountering the heroine.

And meeting the heroine is basically digging my own grave.

I do not want to be caught in their love story. I would rather avoid those routes entirely. If possible, I want Louis all to myself. Hehe.

If only I could cancel the engagement, maybe I could live a carefree life. That would not affect the game too badly, right?

The heroine is talented, attractive, and very charming. That alone is enough to make all the love interests fall for her. Meanwhile, I will simply support them quietly from the sidelines and avoid any death flags attached to me.

Or so I think.

✰ ✰ ✰

It has been a few days since I regained my past memories and even though my parents were skeptical about my sudden change of attitude and style, I actually got through it by consecutively lying and telling them my feelings about then and now. They easily took the bait when I told them that I wanted to get to know them more and slowly accept them.

I lied smoothly there, with no flaws.

The thing they were most skeptical about was the fact that my taste in dresses changed. Instead of wearing heavy jewels and frilly clothes, I wore a much simpler but elegant look. Thinking back, I am surprised I never died from suffocation when I wore such heavy outfits.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Back then I was a fifteen year old high school student who always needed to wear baggy clothes just to hide the injuries my father caused. My once black hair was now a very pretty long silver hair. My brown eyes were now replaced by a deep and alluring shade of blue, like a sapphire.

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with my new body, except for the fact that I am the villainess of the game I reincarnated into, and also the fact that I am going to die in the near future again.

I found myself staring at the mirror for what seemed like an hour, just gaping at the pretty facial features I had inherited.

But I still think the heroine had the most attractive features. I have a theory that the heroine could have been a daughter of an aristocrat because of the immense power she had, but in the end it was never stated.

This world consists of four elements, and we all know them as fire, water, air, and earth.

The heroine, a commoner named Rosetta Plattes, possesses both water and air elements, which is considered a very rare potential since there is only one in every billion people who can carry two elements.

Well, as the heroine, she needs to be straight up powerful from the beginning for the sake of the plot and for her to be enrolled in the academy.

There are seven main bachelors for the heroine to choose from, and I will try to explain them as briefly as possible.

The first one is the crown prince himself, James Graceheart.

In this route, if you choose the crown prince, you most definitely have to go through Rachel Vallemont, the villainess, also known as me, since Rachel and the crown prince were officially engaged.

In my opinion, the crown prince feels dangerous. He does not hold back. How could he, when he has the backing of all the officials as the next king, and he also excels in earth magic?

To be honest, I never tried any of his routes, but I heard that he personally beheads the villainess. I do not know much detail, but he is also the one who always initiates the plan to kill Rachel.

Next is Louis Graceheart, the second prince and James' little brother. He is a month older than me, and he excels in fire magic that he inherited from his father, the king. He originally hoped to become the next king, but that changed when he met the heroine, Rosetta. At first he seems cold and distant, but he slowly falls for her kind personality and her clumsy charm. I do not know why he fell for her clumsiness, but I was definitely a fan of Louis when I first played the game.

All his interest in stealing his brother's position faded as he fell for her. He is the quiet type, mysterious, cold, and distant. He never opened up to anybody because of how his parents treated him, but that eventually changes when he meets Rosetta.

Though the king and queen wanted to show their love to their second son, it was still James who would inherit the throne, so Louis drifted apart.

He was very intelligent and was also the one who planned how to exile Rachel, which is pretty much the worst thing that could happen. He was good at collecting evidence, but since he did not want to kill or dirty his hands, he left the dirty work to others. To be clear, he is my favorite bachelor in the game.

I wheezed remembering the sweet interactions in his final route. It was very wholesome.

But then I remembered that he was also one of the reasons why Rachel, meaning me, would get killed.

The third one is the son of a bureaucrat, Leon of the Beucaire family. He is a funny guy who loves teasing the heroine. I did not take his route because I died before I could continue it.

He loves to flirt, but he is not just playful. His flirting is often a way to gain advantages, meaning he uses it as a way to blackmail, restrict movements, and manipulate others. I do not know exactly what part he played in killing Rachel, but I know he helped Prince Louis gather evidence and he is pretty dangerous.

I think he was also the one who told the others about the scheme Rachel had for the heroine, making the bachelors wary of her.

I will take a mental note not to mess with him. He is a pure threat, especially since I have not played his route.

Now for the fourth bachelor: Syd Vallemont, my little brother. We are not blood related, but my father officially adopted him and gave him the family name. My brother wanted to be the next heir of the Vallemont family and always saw me as nothing but an obstacle.

He felt he needed to get rid of me to achieve his goals, since I am the illegitimate daughter of the Vallemont family.

He also tried to sabotage me, but I threatened him not to. Of course he still helped in killing me. He feared that if I were only exiled, I might return later and take the position he wanted. I hope we can try to get along now. I am not a bad person anymore. Unless he tries to kill me first.

I do not even want any responsibilities anyway, so he can have them. Sibling peace is better than a bloodbath.

The next one is my butler, Sebastian Camp, a two-faced bachelor. He appears loyal and emotionless when he is with Rachel, but for the heroine he is a softie and smiles often.

There is not much to say except that Rachel loved to torture Sebastian. Since he was a lowly servant, he could not fight back and just endured it. Poor Sebastian. I swear in this life I will never hurt him if he becomes my butler.

But to be safe, I will try not to make Sebastian my butler.

I never played his route either. He is hard to get and difficult to approach, but he is cool and only wants to heal from the trauma caused by Rachel.

The sixth is Philip Auckland, son of a minister. He is energetic and childish. He does not appear much unless he is the targeted bachelor, but he won the most adorable character poll in Japan and ranked fifth in the top ten best bishounen otome characters.

I would be lying if I said I did not fall for his charm when he first appeared. He is adorable and cute, but be warned, he is sly like a fox. He can make your life miserable with a big smile on his face.

The reason he ranked so high was his innocent and welcoming attitude toward everyone.

Lastly, since this is a fantasy world with magic and kingdoms, there must be a knight.

Alaster Hilford always wanted to be a knight, following in his father's footsteps. Their name was not established at first, but once his father returned from a mission, their family rose to fame because of his father's leadership.

His admiration for becoming a knight only grew. They made a name for themselves through accomplishments without relying on any particular leader.

He does not have an arrogant personality. He is quite soft inside, especially toward Rosetta.

Overall, he had the most votes for the most popular character in the game. He is not dangerous, but avoiding all these characters is the best way for me to live a carefree life.

And hopefully, I will have it.

Days passed quickly, and the sudden change in Rachel's behavior became the main topic in the Vallemont residence. Nobody realized that the old Rachel had already passed away and was replaced by an otherworlder. At first, they were skeptical and wary, but as days went by, more of them grew fond of the new Rachel.

"Ugh. How slow. I really hate..." I stopped mid sentence and looked at the maids who were dressing me, smiling sheepishly at their widened eyes.

"I mean, it is good to be slow. That way, I can find more time to look at myself in the mirror for some retouches. Ha... ha... ha..."

This outburst was one of my acts.

I tried my best to show small flaws and bits of attitude that the old Rachel might have shown to signal that I was trying to change.

I was turning over a new leaf. This villain was always met with harsh comments behind her back, but now, thanks to the complete twist in my behavior, everyone in the household had begun to take a liking to me.

The plot revolves around the academy, and my only connection to the heroine is my engagement with the crown prince. That is why I will try to avoid getting engaged to that devious boy.

We were riding in the carriage toward the castle. The engagement between me and the prince had already been decided even when I was still in my father's egg.

For royalties, these arrangements are normal, but they want to officially talk about it again and set a date to announce it.

I will try my best to avoid letting it happen. Who knows when I will meet my doom if I make one wrong move.

Our carriage came to a halt, and we stepped out, greeted by the magnificent view inside the castle. The place was huge. Everything seemed grand and valuable, but what about the food.

A group of maids and knights arrived to escort us with polite greetings. Although I was familiar with the place after replaying Louis's routes repeatedly, seeing it in real life was far more breathtaking. It felt like a fairy tale. The graphic designers had done an excellent job.

I noticed a familiar hallway where the Palace Walk scene with Louis was unlocked. How dreamy.

I was so engrossed in taking in all the details that I did not notice we were already standing in front of the king until my father gently called my attention.

I let out a small "oh" and immediately regretted it.

Everyone's attention was on me. Panic rose as I tried to compose myself to greet the king and queen.

"G greetings to His Royal Highness the King and to Her Royal Highness the Queen. I am deeply grateful to be in the presence of today's meeting," I said, stuttering as I bowed.

"You may rise," the king said in a flat voice.

I kept my head up as we began a small conversation with the queen. I tried to control my nerves as much as possible. Although I wanted them to think I was not worthy of their child, I did not want to bring shame to my family.

"Let us get straight to the point," the king said as he sat comfortably on his throne. The warm atmosphere quickly dropped, and I froze at the shift.

Thankfully, my mother excused me, saying they wanted to discuss something personal.

A maid led me to the garden for tea. I thought no one was there, but to my surprise, another child was sitting at the table.

The maids left to bring snacks while the knights stood nearby to watch over us.

I slowly approached the boy and curtsied, introducing myself. When I raised my head, I froze in shock.

"You are..."

His Highness the Crown Prince, James Graceheart.

The garden was so silent that a single word could shatter it.

After a quick greeting, we did not exchange another word. The awkward silence was killing me. I closed my eyes tightly as I sipped the tea. I was never a fan of tea. The inner me was shouting for sodas and coffee, but the cookies... well, they were tasty. Still, potato chips tasted far better in my heart.

"How I missed those times," I thought as I sipped from my empty cup and swallowed an entire slice of cake.

Prince James was staring at me intently, his eyes peeling me alive. His gaze snapped me back to reality, and I quickly set my empty teacup down for the maids to pour more. Cold sweat formed on my back. This was making me uncomfortable.

Stop looking at me like you want to skin me alive. I screamed internally.

"You know the purpose of your being here, right?" the crown prince asked.

No, I do not. I do not even know why I am still breathing.

I glanced at him, then at the cookies in front of me, and gave a quick nod. "I do know, your highness."

He grunted and crossed his arms.

"Just so you know, I have no interest in taking you as my fiance. Ever," he said straight to my face. As expected. He would only be mesmerized by the heroine after all. But this was a good chance to make a deal.

I motioned for the maids to leave us alone. They hesitated, but the prince excused them himself.

Once they were gone, I carefully placed my empty cup down and looked straight into his eyes.

"Are you sure you have no interest in me as your soon to be fiance?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. I will never see you as such," he said with a smirk, probably waiting for me to cry in embarrassment.

"Should we make a deal?" I said as I sipped my tea.

"A deal?"

"We both do not want this engagement. Why not plan to destroy it?"

He was shocked, but he agreed.

I was mentally screaming and dancing. The prince leaned in to listen, surprised by my boldness but not complaining.

The plan was simple. We would tell our parents we did not want this. They would try to convince us otherwise, and that was when the drama would start.

I explained the plan. The prince listened carefully, his eyes glistening.

"Do you think about things like this all the time?"

"If you only knew what I have in my mind," I said as I refilled my tea, dropping my noble composure and acting like my old self. The prince noticed but said nothing.

"Then what is in your mind?"

"Sodas and chips," I exclaimed.

"Sodas and what? What does that mean?"

"I mean... umm... it means a lot of stuff you do not know." I laughed awkwardly.

"Interesting," he muttered.

Soon, it was time to carry out our plan. We entered the room gloomily as our parents greeted us with smiles.

"You two are here. Come, have a seat. We have a big happy announcement for you," my mother said.

No, mother. I have a bigger surprise for you.

I smiled and obeyed.

They began talking about our engagement and the date they planned to announce it.

Our cue.

"Mother, I have something to say regarding this," James said.

"So do I," I added.

"Oh? Do you have any contradictions about the plans we have set for your future?" the king asked.

Time to cry. Sad thoughts. Sad thoughts. I am hungry. I am starving. I am going to die of hunger. Wow, that is sad. Tears gathered.

I am really hungry.

"Oh, nothing, Father. I just wanted to tell you that I am more than willing to have Rachel as my future wife. Right, my lady?"

"Yes, yes, of course... I..." The tears I gathered instantly dried up.

That was not the script.

"What?" I whispered, confused. Weren't we trying to break the engagement?

I turned to the crown prince. He was smirking deviously.

I knew I should not have trusted him. To think he would help me break the engagement so easily.