When Ann opened her eyes again, she found herself in a world void of everything. Yet, oddly enough, she could still feel all her five senses.

Am I dead? Again?!

Is this the real afterlife I didn’t get to experience?

She felt chills running down her spine, but immediately after having such thoughts, her eyes landed on the only object available in this odd space.

 

Right in front of where she was currently standing at, she saw a woman curling up in the corner, seemingly weeping in agony.

There was nothing else here, so although Ann felt like the scene before her was like a scene from typical horror movie, she had no choice but to observe closer.

As she inched closer, she finally recognized who that woman was.

It was none other than the original villainess, Arnestianne Lacey du Ermengilde.

 

When Ann was finally within an arm’s length with the original villainess, she hesitated.

Should I tap on her shoulder? Should I call out to her?

She wasn’t sure what she ought to do here, so she mulled over her thoughts while her hand was hanging in the air, unsure whether to proceed or to retract.

 

Her indecisiveness led to something she had never expected before, however.

The villainess quickly turned around, stood up, and placed her hands on Ann’s neck.

The villainess was trying to strangle Ann!!

 

“Ngh, no…,” Ann tried so hard to pry open the villainess’ hands, holding the villainess’ quest to strangle her to death.

It was at that time that she faintly heard some sounds in the background.

When she listened closely as she struggled, it was actually the chants from the purification ritual.

 

!!!

So I am still alive, and the purification ritual is still ongoing!

Just as Ann thought so, she noticed that the strength put on her neck was decreasing. She glanced towards the villainess to find her seemingly affected by the chants.

Eventually, the villainess let go of her hands and Ann quickly distanced herself from the obvious threat to her life.

 

The villainess was struggling on the ‘ground’ of the void, as if her whole body was in pain.

Amidst all this, Ann heard her murmuring, “It’s… unfair…!”

Perhaps Ann could guess what the former princess seemed to be implying, as she told the grovelling woman, “I’m sorry… But I know how you are destined to die anyway… So the least I can do is to live on using your body… I’ll make sure to take care of your body and be happy for your sake.”

Although it sounded cruel, but that was the truth that couldn’t be avoided. She felt it was unfair too for this woman who was destined to be born as the former princess, the villainess, and the one who was fated to die.

Hearing that, Anne didn’t feel the least assured. Her voice distorted as she tried hard to speak, “…So I’m unneeded and my existence is just a mistake ought to be eliminated?”

“…,” Ann didn’t know what to say.

“Letting you take my body…,” Anne writhed a bit before she could punch the ground with her hand as she yelled, “I won’t do that!! That’s mine!!!”

 

“I’m sorry… But I do know that if you were to return now, only death awaits. And you might even experience a death far worse than before,” Ann said as she recalled the scene from the game.

The villainess’ beheading scene.

It occurred in public where the citizens threw stuff such as rotten eggs towards her, hurling words of insult. The only living biological relative she had in this world didn’t come to her rescue, no matter how long she waited. The king—the villainess’ father—knew that he could actually fight and rescue the former princess who was discovered, but that would risk his ambition and his life… and despite Anne being his only living descendant, he chose not to risk himself and sacrificed his remaining child.

The villainess’ face as she stood before the gallows had various expressions showing.

One was despair, then came the frantic expression as she scanned her surrounding—seemingly trying to find anyone that could be coming to her rescue—, hatred towards the ones who caught her and hurled filthy objects and insults at her, anger because she had to fall from the noblest princess to a person on death sentence, and eventually… resignation and numbness.

As the blade of the gallows was about to strike her neck, the villainess looked towards to the sky with a vacant gaze—nobody knew what prayers or words she uttered to the sky…

And eventually, her head rolled down the execution stage, surrounded by people’s cheers of joy.

 

Surely, she wouldn’t want to experience this kind of death, right?

At the very least…

Ann knew what deep inside, she still felt guilty towards the villainess, but that was the only consolation she could say for both herself and the original owner of this body.

 

The villainess on the ground trembled, her voice clearly upset as she said while gritting her teeth, “What right do you have to take over my body and use it as you see fit? What right do you have to exterminate me like I am some pest?!”

“…,” Ann couldn’t refute this.

Because it was clear that she had no right over it…

“If I am destined to be exterminated, why were I given this life in the first place?”

Contrary to her first two questions fuelled by fury, this time her voice sounded full of agony and sadness.

“…,” Ann choked up when she heard those words.

The villainess… the bad guys… They are created for the sake of plot progression and have to be eliminated to reach a happy ending for the protagonists… In a sense, their existence can be considered a cannon fodder for the protagonists’ happily ever after…

 

At this moment, Ann truly pitied Anne’s fate.

She thought back to the time when she had discussions about this purification ritual and exorcism.

What will happen to the soul being exorcised?

This was what she was most curious about.

“Well, those kinds of souls are believed to be wicked and corrupted. So, they had to be purified. Purification… as in the whole soul that made them up would be broken down into pieces and went to some kind of recycling process to create a new soul that’s still pure. They will then start their new journey in this cycle of life and death,” Laura explained with ease.

“Hmmm, I am still confused. Is it different from normal reincarnation?” Ann scratched her head as she asked.

“Oh, it’s a whole different thing. The original soul will cease to exist in order to create a new beginning. Maybe you’ll understand better if I put it this way? Imagine an animal dying… Their corpse would turn into compost that will nurture the land, and eventually plants will sprout from that land. Reincarnation is like my case, where after death, my soul didn’t undergo any ‘recycling’ process and was born in a new vessel. As a proof, I got my memories intact. Perhaps that’s the only error in the process I underwent,” Laura shrugged.

In other words, what the villainess said before was true.

‘She’—as a whole—would disappear in order to create a new ‘soul’.

It was really unfair… but what could she do? She didn’t want to give up too... It’s better for her to have a happy life here than letting this body perish anyway. 

Besides, the villainess had done many horrible things anyway!

 

“This is unfair… No, no, NOOOO!!”

Anne’s scream pierced Ann’s ears, snapping her back to the present time.

“I can’t accept this, I can’t… Never… AAAAARGHHHH!!!”

She banged her hands and then head to the ground, causing Ann to be concerned because the sound was so loud.

 

Ann had wanted to say something along the lines of ‘you deserved it as you’ve done many horrible things in your life’.

But did the villainess’ deeds really warrant her soul to be exterminated?

‘If what you said is true, it’s very likely that her soul’s corrupted too and I don’t think that will lead to a good rebirth for her. This might be the only salvation her soul can have.’

Laura’s words rang in her ears.

 

Even so, she looked at the pitiful villainess who despaired over her fate.

It’s true that I am doing something unjust to her right now. I also want to pity her, but she’s also done many horrible things…

But the woman before her looked like a child as she banged her hands and head to the ground.

She couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pity towards Anne…

So much that she had to try to convince herself that this was the right thing to do, that this was indeed the best-case scenario.

However, no matter how hard she tried to do so, there was still a tiny seed of doubt and pity inside her heart.

 

Amidst her dilemma, Ann suddenly felt her whole-body jolting and there was a sense of warmth or heat—something akin to an electric current—running down her whole body.

The sensation felt a bit painful, but it wasn’t the same as when Laura used her divine power to her, so this couldn’t be due to the purification ritual Laura was holding for her.

Yet, at the same time, this sensation felt a little bit familiar.

But where have I felt something like this?

I can’t… remember…

 

Ann tried so hard to retain her consciousness as she was afraid she’d lose and fade away like what they had feared before doing this ritual, as this sensation wasn’t from Laura or the purification ritual.

Nevertheless, the surging sensation in her body was far too great for her to withstand, and she lost her consciousness once more.

 

When she regained her consciousness and opened her eyes once more, she felt very light and it was as if her body was transparent.

It was as if she was a soul that was watching whatever was happening in the world… perhaps like when she felt like she had watched her family grief over her dead body back when her original self had died in the original world.

Panic began to rise in her mind. Her heart was very heavy.

And so, she had no choice but only to watch whatever was unfolding before her right now…