Table Of ContentCopyright
I’M THE VILLAINESS, SO I’M TAMING THE FINAL BOSS, Vol. 1
Sarasa Nagase
Translation by Taylor Engel
Cover art by Mai Murasaki
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
AKUYAKU REIJO NANODE LAST BOSS O KATTE MIMASHITA ©Sarasa Nagase
2017
First published in Japan in 2017 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo,
through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC., Tokyo.
English translation © 2021 by Yen Press, LLC
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copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to
produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Nagase, Sarasa,
author. | Murasaki, Mai, illustrator. | Engel, Taylor, translator.
Title: I’m the villainess, so I’m taming the final boss / Sarasa Nagase ;
illustration by Mai Murasaki ; translation by Taylor Engel.
Other titles: Akuyaku reijou nanode last boss wo kattemimashita. English
Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2021
Identifiers: LCCN 2021030963 | ISBN 9781975334055 (v. 1 ; trade
paperback) Subjects: LCGFT: Fantasy fiction. | Light novels.
Classification: LCC PL873.5.A246 A7913 2021 | DDC 895.63/6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021030963
ISBNs: 978-1-97533405-5 (paperback) 978-1-9753-3406-2 (ebook)
E3-20210916-JV-NF-ORI
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Prelude: The Curtain Rises on the Villainess
First Act: The Villainess Could Not Care Less If She Is Unpopular
Second Act: The Villainess Is Not Cute, and So She Does Not Cry
Third Act: The Villainess Has Many Enemies, but Many Underlings as Well
Fourth Act: The Villainess Is Greedy, and So She Fights to Win
Fifth Act: The Villainess Should Be Able to Tame Even the Final Boss
Final Act: The Villainess Turns the Tables
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
Prelude
The Curtain Rises on the Villainess
Come to think of it, I’ve often had curious dreams ever since I was small.
Dreams in which I become someone I don’t know, someone who spends her
time all alone, in a white room that smells of disinfectant, playing with a device
whose workings are a complete mystery.
Since they are dreams, I can’t recall the details. Even my own name is unclear.
However…
“Honestly, child. You’re always playing that game.”
The daydreams replay behind my eyes at a furious pace. My body tilts dizzily,
and then I’m on my hands and knees on the cold, hard floor.
It feels as if I’ve suddenly remembered the exact whereabouts of something
I’d forgotten. A great wave of information crashes over me, and my head throbs
violently.
At last, my eyes focus on the marble floor. Its surface has been polished until
it shines, and I can see my reflection in it—or at least, I think that’s what my
eyes are telling me.
But who is this splendid beauty, with hair like spun gold and mystical sapphire
eyes? With pale fingers, I trace the slender neck up to the oval outline of the
face.
This face… I feel as if I saw it in the game… What? “Game”?
When I blink, the long eyelashes rise and fall. Someone is standing directly in
front of me.
It’s a golden-haired youth. His lips are twisted, and he’s looking down at me.
“Making a show of kneeling and weeping won’t win you any sympathy.
Everyone here knows: You constantly did as you pleased, taking full advantage
of your position as my betrothed. No one has any reason to sympathize with
you.”
“—Master…Cedric? Are you truly Master Cedric?”
My voice is faint and trembling. The blond, princely youth’s response sounds
ironic.
“I expect you’re trying to say this is strange coming from me. This is who I
truly am, though. You were my fiancée for years, and you never even saw that.”
A pang runs through my chest, and I slowly come to grips with reality.
That’s right; this is reality. The person in front of me is Cedric Jean Ellmeyer,
crown prince of Imperial Ellmeyer. I’ve known him since we were very young.
He is my fiancé—and a love interest in the game that I adored.
…Game? Love interest?
Bewildered by my own memories, I look around. All I see are cold, piercing
eyes.
This evening, the academy I attend is holding a soiree in celebration of the
end of the winter term. The teachers have all excused themselves, and only
students are present now… And yet every single one of them is watching me
coldly from a distance.
The only one whose eyes seem to contain pity for me is the girl who’s nestled
close to Cedric. Her name is Lilia Reinoise. Although of common birth, she’s now
the daughter of a baron and quite popular here at school.
Silky caramel-colored hair, supple cheeks, lips that look so sweet. Right now,
her large eyes are filled with concern for me.
I’d expect no less of a heroine, I think, looking up at her. Then suddenly, it
occurs to me.
In that case, I must be…
“Aileen Lauren d’Autriche. I’m dissolving our engagement.”
“—Wait, that’s…!”
That’s my name. And also the name of the game’s villainess.
Wait, wait, wait! That’s right; Master Cedric is my fiancé…which means I’m…
I’ve been watching my current situation unfold as if it has no bearing on me,
but all at once, I begin to think about it. Seeing Aileen so clearly anxious, Cedric
sneers at her.
“I’ve decided to be true to myself and live my life with Lilia.”
“…Lady Aileen, I’m sorry.”
What do you mean, you’re “sorry”?
The violent emotion surging up from the depths of my throat is, properly
speaking, Aileen’s.
My vision grows misty again, but I bite my lip, trying to stay in control. I take
another look at myself.
I’m sitting weakly on the floor, in a magnificent dress made of layer upon
layer of lace. It’s an unladylike state, completely unsuitable for the daughter of
a duke. However, no one offers me a helping hand.
After all, this is the “villainess’s broken engagement” event.
“I’m sick to death of your deluded belief that I love you.”
Why did you smile and say you loved me as I was, then?
The words are pathetic, and I bite them back. They feel as heavy as lead, but
strangely, once I’ve swallowed them, my heart grows calmer.
…How should I put this? I do think my memories have chosen an awful time to
come back…but it’s helped me collect myself just a little.
Enough that I can understand that I’ve been well and truly used and tossed
aside.
“If you have anything to say in your defense, I won’t refuse to listen.”
If this had happened when I still knew nothing, I’m sure I would have fought
tooth and nail. I would have been fighting the wrong person.
That thought gives me room to breathe. Smiling thinly, I raise my head.
“No, Master Cedric— Although, I do think that had you been honest with me
in the first place, there would have been no need to prepare such an
exaggerated venue, nor to cause such a scene.”
