The Villainess Pushed Everything on the Mob Character

Chapter 1

My name is Emilia Birmingham. I am the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Birmingham, a fairly highly ranked aristocrat.




As a so-called Marquis' daughter, I was raised with care from an early age, like a butterfly in a greenhouse, and at the same time, I received a strict education for a noblewoman.




I don't like to brag, but I consider myself a beauty.




My beautiful silver hair and purple eyes are dazzlingly bright even for me, who had dark curly hair and freckles in my past life.




Yes, you heard me right. I have memories of my previous life.

　

I remember living in a different country called Japan.

　

But that doesn't matter now.




My memories of that life are vague, and I can't even remember details like my name. Unfortunately, I only remember working as an ordinary office worker, so I don't have any useful knowledge to bring to this world.




Right after I remembered my previous life, I thought to myself, 'Is this the rumored reincarnation to another world?! Am I going to be overpowered?!'




But as expected, I was mediocre at best. It wasn't like I couldn't do anything.




I've read a lot of isekai novels, but I can't help but wonder how anyone can remember all these things.




I've only used retort curry1, and I've only drank canned beer or canned shochu. I don't know how to purify alcohol or salt!

(1 : Retort curry is basically instant curry.)




Therefore, I lived a relaxed life without making any use of my past life's knowledge.




It was only when I was thirteen that I had a turning point.








About eight high-ranking aristocratic ladies were invited to a tea party hosted by the Queen. They were all daughters of either a duke, a marquis, or a count. With only 13-15 year olds without fiances as guests, the purpose of this tea party was clear.




"This is my son Gilbert."




The Queen introduced us to the beautiful prince, who had just turned fourteen.




He was a beautiful young man with golden hair and emerald green eyes that reminded me of a lush forest.




Oh, as expected of a prince. He's so cool.

　

I heard that both his academics and martial arts were excellent. He still looked small because of his age, but he will no doubt become stronger in the future.

　

However, unlike me who was relaxed while saying, 'What luck, eye candy!' the other ladies switched attitudes and flocked to His Highness all at once.




To all appearances, this tea party doubled as a matchmaking party.

　

Therefore, unlike me who wanted to refrain from taking a troublesome and demanding position, all the ladies here were desperate to be liked by the Crown Prince.




"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness."




"I am the daughter of Count Essen."




His Highness grew stiff at all the dressed-up ladies who introduced themselves one after another.

　

Even though he was calm, His Highness was only fourteen years-old. It couldn't be helped that he was bewildered in such an unfamiliar situation.




Oh my, it's nice to be young.～

　

They were all refreshing and smiley.

　

I watched the scene like a neighborhood auntie.

　

In the midst of this, there was a lady, like me, who was not swarming around His Highness, but watched everything unfold.

　

She was Alicia, the Duke of Nottenger's daughter, who was also the top candidate to be the Crown Prince's fiancee.

　

However, unlike me, who sipped tea leisurely, she hardened with surprise.




"What's the matter, Lady Alicia?"

　

It didn't look like she was fascinated by the handsome prince, but her reaction was a little strange.

　

Frankly speaking, I was a little afraid of her expression with her eyes wide open, never blinking.




"Lady Alicia?"




"O-otome game..."




As soon as I called out to her again, she muttered something and vigorously fell down in front of me.




The moment I hurried to her, Alicia's maid and bodyguard rushed to her side.




She was soon taken to a guest room, and the tea party was canceled.








Four years after the tea party, I was now drinking tea with the Crown Prince in a room facing the courtyard of the Royal Palace.




"Emmy, I'm sorry for troubling you by calling you to the Royal Palace today."




"I am always happy to receive your invitation, Your Highness."




"Thank you..."




His Highness, who elegantly took a sip of his tea, has an unusually beautiful appearance.

　

As the years went by, his childishness faded away and he became more confident, and now that he was eighteen years old, he fascinated all with the charm of an adult.

　

No matter how many times I looked at him, he was a sight for sore eyes.




"By the way, what is this about?"




"...The Duke of Nottenger's daughter."




"Aaahhh..."




As soon as her name was uttered, a heavy sigh was shared between us.

　

Alicia, the daughter of Duke Nottenger was one of the most talked-about figures of noble society, and was the lady who collapsed at the tea party four years ago.




"Besides that, complaints regarding Baron Saliot's daughter are pouring in."




"Well..."

　

Again, the two of us sighed heavily and nodded.

　

If I don't drink delicious tea made by a senior royal maid, I'll want to go home right away.




"As for Miss Saliot, an ultimatum has already been given to the Baron. If she shows no improvement, the academy will expel her and she will not be able to participate in any official events hosted in the Royal Palace in the future."




"What did the Baron say?"




"He apologized repeatedly while looking very haggard. He probably never expected his daughter to be so insane. The Baron seemed to be watching over her very carefully, but she doesn't seem to listen and continues shouting, 'I'm the heroine!'"




'I'm the heroine!'

　

How many times have we heard that line?

　

She chased after all the heirs of high-ranking aristocrats, including the Crown Prince in front of me.

　

Even if I and the other ladies warned her every time, what she always says was a cringy line like this.

　

What's more...




'Why are you the villainess?'




'This is what happens because you don't act like a villain!'




She would say, entangling me and Alicia in trouble.




Alicia and I were able to react appropriately each time, so there were no major incidents, but it was still annoying.




"By the way, what about Alicia?"




"Yes, there was a report that she was following the neighboring Prince Alberto."




"Again?"




Prince Alberto was currently studying in our country. Not only His Highness Gilbert, but I was also close with him.




The country bordering ours was a country with a rich history of beastfolk, and Prince Alberto was a beautiful tiger beastfolk. He had a very strong physique, but contrary to his appearance, his personality was extremely kind and gentle.

　

However, the gentle Prince Alberto seemed to be troubled by Alicia, who pestered him to the point where he complained to us bitterly.




"It's the best~ May I touch your ears?'




"Please let me stroke your beast form."




She was perceived as a slut by His Highness Alberto.




Just think about it:

　

From his point of view, a strange woman suddenly said she wanted to stroke his body.

　

Moreover, if anyone says, "I want you to take off your clothes and stroke you naked (your beast form)," it would be disgusting.




"She's really so much trouble..."




"I warned him to be on the lookout. I'm sorry, but will you keep an eye on Alberto in case he gets into trouble?"




"Understood."




"Well, she'll be busy for a while, so I don't think there's much to worry about."




"............Has Lady Alicia started something again?"




"Ah... I heard she bought a blacksmith's workshop this time."




"A blacksmith's shop?"




"To make a comfortable carriage seat allegedly..."




"I see..."




I'm guessing she was trying to invent the spring.

　

It was true that horse-drawn carriages in this world were not comfortable to ride. I think it is only natural to want this if you have memories of your previous life.

　

So, for my part, I'll be rooting for her to develop a proper spring.

　

But...




"...The Duke of Nottenger seems to be in great straits."




"Well, if you've been opening so many businesses like him..."

　

As you can tell from our conversation, the two ladies we talked about have reincarnated. Moreover, they seemed to have been born in Japan in the same era as me.




Noelle said, "I'm the heroine!" and continued to hunt men in the academy.




And Alicia, the daughter of Duke Nottenger, collapsed at the matchmaking party.

　

Considering their behavior so far, it seemed that this was the world of an otome game.

　

I've never played an otome game in my previous life, so I don't know the details, but apparently Lady Noelle Saliot was the main character and Lady Alicia Nottenger was the villainess.

　

However, perhaps because Lady Alicia, who regained her memory of her previous life, was making moves that were not in the original work, Lady Noelle had been crying foul.

　

The prime example was my engagement to His Highness Gilbert.




'I'm too sick to be a princess!'




The day after the tea party, Alicia woke up and said so and removed her candidacy, but she was so energetic that she dropped all etiquette.




"Let's make distilled wine, Father!"




"If it's salt, why don't you make it from the sea?"




"I'll make cute clothes popular among the common people."




Developing various businesses was a number one reincarnation cliche.

　

However, this only worked in the novels.

　

If I can do well with my feeble knowledge, I wouldn't have had a hard time either.

　

At first, distillation and salt production were considered ground-breaking ideas. However, even though she knew the simple technique, there was no way that she, who was not an expert, could understand the finer details.

　

As a result of neglecting the rest of the venture, the business went downhill in no time.

　

As I have said before, these things only worked because of the talented people in the novels.

　

There were a lot of people who were excellent and enthusiastic about research, but no one could keep up with her, who was just coming up with ideas and starting businesses one after another.

　

As a result, the Nottenger Duchy gradually became impoverished by repeatedly constructing and closing factories.




"The Duke says that this time will work out..."




"I understand how he feels. It's true that her ideas are wonderful."




"But there's no follow-up..."




It was only her successful clothing business that has kept them afloat.

　

Under these circumstances, the Duke of Nottenger begged for help, and my Birmingham Marquisate bought a couple businesses in the form of support.

　

They were the salt business and the fluffy bread business.

　

The idea of extracting salt from seawater was not bad since people in this world didn't understand what salt was.




Although I knew that salt crystals were formed by boiling down seawater, the reason I didn't do it was simply because the salt that remained was incredibly bitter.

　

So when I first heard about her salt business, I was very impressed. I thought she knew how to get rid of that bitterness.




But apparently her knowledge was similar to mine. It was nice that salt was made, but the bitterness was too bitter to be used for cooking. Rather, I was surprised at her lack of knowledge of its bitterness.

　

Why did you even build a factory with that little knowledge?

　

But it can't be helped. If you work hard, you'll see the light of day.

　

Although she should have been a little more persistent and experimented more, she gave up quickly and moved on to the next business.

　

I shouldn't have been the only one who was dumbfounded.

　

By that time, however, her interest had shifted away, and all that remained were coastal factories, personnel, and huge debts built from the salt business.

　

That said, it wasn't an amount that could ruin the Duchy.

　

However, the salt business was a tantalizing industry that could become a national import if it went well. Thereupon the Royal Family asked us if we would like to take over the business, and our Birmingham Marquisate reluctantly bought it.

　

Frankly speaking, it didn't go as well as she did at first.

　

However, thanks to my brother and I, the disappointed workers at the factory worked very hard.

　

As a result, the bitterness can be removed via filtration just before crystallization.

　

This was the result of the efforts of the people in the factory. I didn't do anything. The knowledge of your past life was really useless.




Next, the fluffy bread business was even harder than the salt business.

　

In this project, her developed apple yeast was successful, and the fluffy bread she had dreamed of was completed.

　

For me, who didn't know how to make bread yeast at all, the soft bread I ate after a long time was so delicious that I thought, 'Alicia-tan is really a genius!'

　

But two months later, she hit a snag.

　

Production was stopped in an instant because of the growth of bacteria in yeast.




It was so bad I had to ask if she sterilized anything.

　

I found out after I bought the factory that she didn't even boil the bottles to disinfect them. In addition, it seemed difficult to secure more apples, so she gave up the business immediately.

　

At this point she had given up well over eight businesses, and the Duke of Nottenger was once again busy raising money.




So I bought this business out of a desire to eat soft bread again.

　

I felt confident because I solved the bacteria problem~, but it was still hard after that.




I was useful in my knowledge of boiling and sterilizing with alcohol, but I was completely useless in securing apples for ingredients.




It was my brother Elysion, the heir to our Marquisate, who figured it out. Knowing that it was difficult to secure raw apples, he repeated experiments to see if he could produce them with dried apples.

　

As a result, yeast was made from dried grapes instead of apples.

　

Since then, soft bread has been steadily supplied, and along with the salt business, it has received considerable praise from the Royal Family.

　

As a result...




Before I knew it, I had taken up the position as the Crown Prince's fiancee.

　

Thanks to getting entangled with the self-proclaimed heroine and the strict Queen's education, I've been having a hard time every day.

　

If things go on like this, I will be railroaded straight into the Royal Family.

　

With about a year left before graduation, I was eager for Prince Gilbert to break off our engagement.

　

However, it may be difficult to do so these days, when the self-proclaimed heroine disappeared.

　

Also, Alicia was the only one I had my hopes on, but if things go on like this, even that will be crushed.




"By the way, have you had any contact with Miss Nottenger lately?"




"Lady Alicia?"




As I recalled, I had no particular contact with her other than sometimes seeing her in the academy.




However...




"I feel like I'm being watched."




"Was she watching you?"




"Yes. How do I say it, it's like she has something to tell me..."

　

Suddenly I noticed her glances towards me.




She may not like the fact that I made money from the businesses I bought from her.

　

Her eyes seemed to say something.

　

She even pretended to be loitering around to talk to me.




"Well, it seems that I wasn't the only one..."




"What do you mean by..."




"I mean her looking at you like she had something to say. I thought you might have heard something."




"Unfortunately, I have hardly spoken to Lady Alicia, and I apologize for not being able to meet your expectations."




"No, it's not your fault. Rather, I don't want her to contact you personally in the future. Avoid being alone with her especially."




"Very well. I'll keep an eye out."




"Thank you for your cooperation. I have a bad feeling about this."




His foreboding will come true in the next three months.

　

The Duke of Nottenger, who failed in the spring business, cried to the Royal Family again.

　



At this point, her failed business had already exceeded fifteen.