Reincarnated As Both The Villainess And Heroine...?

The Bathory "Household"

As expected of a video game, maids were also of the modern kind. I mean, instead of the Victorian Era type of maid that they were originally famous for, the maids in Vermilion Castle were much more reminiscent of maids as portrayed in modern culture.

Well, I wasn't complaining though. The outfits were much cuter and frilly, despite such a feature often got in the way of Lily's work, judging from my observation. Nevertheless, such an outfit was among the top few reasons that made me look forward to spending time in my Elizabeth body, which was slightly depressing if you thought about it.

Anyway, Lily was a surprisingly young girl. I suppose, it was still more than a decade before she would grow into the elegant and refined woman I knew of her to be in the game, so it was only natural that she was still barely a teen.

As she was now, Lily had this cheerful air around her, a girl that was earnest and hardworking that made her adorable in a certain way.

Lily's blue eyes were on the grey side, but that only applied to the shade of it. It was so brimming with life that it made me instinctively want to laugh along with her cheerful personality, although that may be a baby's instinct of wanting to smile in response to seeing smiles.

Much to my embarrassment, I had next to no effective control over my instincts as of right now. I mean, I could control my body and all that, but I had a hard time suppressing impulses. You could imagine how that would turn out when both bodies started crying, but the cause was only from one side...

Ahem. What was I saying? Ah, right. Lily.

Lily had this very distinct face, which most likely was contributed to by her small nose, paired with her slightly larger than normal eyes. It was like a child gazing at you with curious round eyes, I suppose. Well, she technically was still a child.

I don't know if this was a correct scale of measurement, but in comparison with a doorknob, her surprisingly well endowed chest was around the same height. So she was around ten now, I guess? Sounded about right if I did the math, too.

Her black hair with light brown streaks fluttered in the wind gracefully, although she would often mutter under her breath about forgetting her hairband, or something to that effect.

As she moved around the room with speeds that was worthy for a maid, she did her daily cleaning while humming a pleasant tune. A bit different from the Akagi matriarch's song, but nevertheless soothing to listen.

As she gazed back at me with an expression that I had seen countless times over the year, a thin but genuine smile bloomed across her face, expressing the gentle side to her strangely mature features.

After seeing this, I confirmed the existence of someone on the art development team having a very clear bias for Lily. Good tastes, whoever it was. Lily was adorable, but an aura of a mature charm could be felt beneath that kind hearted demeanor of hers. However, that made me want to ask...

What in the world happened between these eighteen years or so!? The Lily in the game was cold, you know! A partner in crime! An accomplice of the sadistic Elizabeth! Someone capable of following an order like "slaughter them all. Slowly" without a blink of an eye! Sheesh...

I wonder, who managed to erase that blinding radiance of yours, Lily...? What a shame. No, not just that! It was on the level of a loss of a world treasure! I'm going to beat up whoever did that to you, Lily!

...Depressingly, I could guess who. Who else, but the person that Lily will go on to spend the rest of her life with? Yup. Me. Elizabeth me. That I could tell, because of the fact that Lily remained with the Elizabeth in the game till the very end.

No matter which ending the player reached, Lily would join Elizabeth in her fate willingly, and nobody could stop her, for better or worse.

Execution? Two heads rolled that day. Banishment? Two skinny figures could be seen walking into the distance, leaning on each other. Assassination? Horrifyingly but somewhat poetically, Lily murdered the male lead who did such an act, before committing suicide herself.

Even in a somewhat "good" ending, Lily forever remained the maid of Elizabeth. Whether Elizabeth married, remained chaste, or traveled the world, the endings heavily implied Lily never parted with Elizabeth.

Really, this was some dedication. A level of dedication that was enough for Lily to completely change from her honest personality, into an existence akin to a demon lord in her own right. In fact, she was the "true final boss", in the sense that you had to fight her in one of the violent endings.

Good lord, Elizabeth from the game! Lily was extremely devoted you! To the point that it was almost as scary as the yandere routes, and that was saying something! This was fanaticism, you know!?

I know, I know. I could just treat her nicely, then everything will resolve itself nicely. However, the problem was I didn't know how that will impact the future. If Lily was not indifferent and ruthless, a lot of the flags simply will not trigger, thus locking out most endings. Really, how difficult...

Whatever. I'll leave that to you, future me! Have fun!

Originally, I wanted to discuss about the Bathory household, but honestly? I haven't seen them ever since my eyesight started to function properly. In the end, the only person I could talk about was Lily...

If there was a guide to how to raise a villainess, this was it, my dear parents of nobility! I mean, come on! How does it feel to be responsible for the creation of a child that would go on to cause an upheaval in this country, huh!? The bad kind, mind you!

I was neglected! Spoiled in a roundabout manner with such lavish furniture and toys, but not a single speck of familial love in sight! If I was a normal baby, then I would have assumed Lily to my mother, as incredulous as that was! Imagine my shock and despair when I would find out the truth several years down the road!

For crying out loud, I wasn't even fed a mother's milk! It was just another random maid that came in who, I shit you not, changed everyday!

I think I know how Elizabeth Bathory felt! I wanted to burn this world to the ground just to spite it! Why was this kind of parenting even allowed!? At least visit me, for the love of all that is holy! It was no wonder that Elizabeth from the game turned out to be such a sociopath!

Ugh...yeah, I'm good now. My tantrum was over. Still, being babies was a miserable experience. Even though I was rather happy with the Akagi family, as well as Lily, but experiencing this absurd treatment firsthand in parallel to all the happy scenes was just too depressing.

Lily, it wasn't your fault. No, you didn't move too loudly. I was just upset over your employer, so please stop crying. It was making me sad as well. Great, the impulse to cry was starting to overwhelm me now. Sniff...

I couldn't wait for when I can finally move and speak coherently. Even so, I feel as if it would  be the same pattern as now...? How disheartening. I was not looking forward to the next few years at all.

Really, couldn't that idiot tunnel saved me the trouble and reincarnated me only as the heroine? I liked my family there more, you know. Ah, send me Lily while you're at it. She's a treasure that I won't give up no matter what.