Chapter 2 (1/2)

When her father met his pathetic end, Kynemeia was ten years old.

That marked the beginning.

Kynemeia Lyonne—who had a history of resentments—was branded as the ‘Evil Lady of Lyonne, bearing her grandfather’s tyranny, her mother’s pugnacity, and her father’s beauty’. They were so spiteful that no one would ever try to listen to the Lyonnes’ side of the story. That was how the rumours spread from mouth to mouth and blew up within the empire and outside of it.

Thanks to that, the Lyonnes were given the cold shoulder by the high society. She couldn’t hold her debutante ball properly and no one would even send her a letter for a marriage proposal. How could she lead a happy life given the circumstances? Kynemeia who grew twisted gradually started spiralling down the villain route…

And at her last moment?

As she magnificently grew up to be a wicked fief lord, she was sent to the guillotine by the protagonist who listened to the pleas of the furious villagers!

“The epidemic, the monster invasion, and the harsh taxation were all because of that Evil Lady of Lyonne!”

And then slice—

That was how—the characters in the novel recounted with a tut—Kynemeia’s pitiful death went.

‘No, nevermind the taxation, how can the epidemic and monster invasion be my fault too?’

But the bad rumours that had already been set into stone, bore such influence that even the leaves falling would be blamed on her.

‘… Damn it.’

Kynemeia was distraught when she remembered all those details.

‘God, no wonder everyone’s expression looks terrible whenever I ask why we never held a party in the castle even once.’

It’s because not a soul would attend even if they sent out an invitation! She curled up her body on her bed while wiping off the droplets of tears from her face.

‘Ah, sweat keeps on coming out of my eyes…’

Why was it her fault that the family ended up like this?

But it seemed like in this world, rancour is guilt by association.

* * *

What an unbelievable future as a fief lord. Being a fief lord would be stifling even in an ordinary era. It was all the more so stifling being a fief lord in another realm where monsters roam around and dungeons pop up, supplemented by malicious rumours of her being an evil lady. It was clear what her future would be. She was heading to the ‘revenge killing’ ending.

‘I’m ruined! Ruined, I say!’

It was then. Nanny Vanessa had a precious doll sent from afar to comfort Kynemeia who had been in the doldrums for some time.

“Look at this, Young Lady. Isn’t the yellow cute?”

In spite of her complaints about what good a mere doll would do when she would die soon, Kynemeia still accepted the doll amidst sniffles.

“This resembles Pikachu.”

“… Pi— What?”

“Nothing.”

Since Vanessa wouldn’t know about Pokemon…

… Pokemon?

At that moment, Kynemeia received an inspiration like a lightning bolt.

This is it. Pokemon. That manga where the main character attained success and honour because he picked up the cutie Munchkin1 Pikachu at the beginning and made it work hard.

‘This is ittttt!’

She achieved enlightenment then. That this was the chance that God had granted her. That it would be fine as long as I get a Pikachu too. She knew all about the hidden skills of the characters that appeared in the original work, after all.

‘If I could make those Munchkins be at my beck and call…’

If Kynemeia could just sit back and enjoy the ride while they did everything and live out her golden years in comfort, it would be perfect.

‘Just like Pokemon!’

Just like that manga where the cute monsters would be the ones battling it out while the masters would just be supporting from the sidelines only to relish the victory and receive the reward themselves afterwards! It was similar to the saying one man sows and another reaps. Ha, good gracious. That other fellow was totally her role model.

‘No matter how you look at it, it’s a win-win solution!’

It wasn’t a bad deal for the Munchkins either since they were living silently without knowledge of their talents before they met the protagonist.

‘That’s right. Let’s survive! I’ll triumph over the ties of resentment and survive!’

Kynemeia cuddled the yellow mouse doll.

‘Even if I can’t be a good lord, it’ll be fine if I can at least be an okay lord!’

A land that was habitable without any major issues. If she could be a lord that blends into the background, she could just let nasty rumours slip through one ear and out the other! She immediately rose up and unfolded a note, then started jotting down all the data on the useful characters. Fortunately, she could remember all of it off the top of her head as if she was reading the book all over again.

‘I need to exclude the ones that resent me.’

A Munchkin that resented her… just the thought of it gave her goosebumps. Kynemeia wrote the names and data to make it look organized, but then her pen came to an abrupt halt and she began drawing circles around one name.

Eian Krosch.

A candidate for the master of the magic tower, and a shadowy character who always appeared whenever the protagonist encountered a crisis.

‘Uhm, this is a Munchkin that I can immediately meet, but…’

The scale in her head kept on oscillating between the risk and need. And then with a ‘bam!’, the scale weighed heavily on the side of the risk.

‘Yeah, he’s a bit dangerous…’

When Kynemeia was being sent to the guillotine, he was one of the characters that helped out the protagonist because he held resentment towards her. When he was young, he collapsed due to the injuries he sustained during a dispute within the magic tower and was subsequently confined in the Grand Duke’s castle. He was a Munchkin who harboured resentment towards Kynemeia because she turned him into her plaything around the time she started to grow twisted.

‘… Let’s leave out Eian.’

He was also portrayed as a character that couldn’t be comprehended in the original work, so she didn’t want to take any chances.

‘It’s best to not get involved with him at all.’

And so, she’d come down to the underground prison. Right at this moment. To cut off any ties with that Munchkin.

“Lady of the Grand Duchy, Kynemeia Lyonne, has arrived. Get on your knees and pay your respects before her.”

The shackles on his ankles clanged. The light from the torch was reflected on the shackles that were used to keep his magic at bay.

“This is the guy, Young Lady.”

A young boy sat on the ground before her.