Player: Novarra Kiye Ultra Title: Incompetent Queen Role: Side Villain, ??? Type: ??? Affiliation: None Aliases: ??? Lvl 193 STR 30 INT 80 SPE 50 SKI 75 Personal Attribute: [Immortality] SSS Class Skills:

[Diversion] A Class

[Mockery] A+ Class

[Eye for Talent] B Class

[Strategy] D+ Class

[Malevolence] C Class

[Self-Preservation] A+ Class

[Janus-Like] B+ Class

[???] ??? Class

Traits

[Practical] believes only in the feasible

[Lofty] aloof when disinterested

[Stubborn] carries out her plans to the end

[Hypocritical] can be deceitful and insincere, but does not like it in others

[Adaptable] able to adjust to the situation extremely quickly

[Slothful] lazy

[Thorough] performs and plans in great detail

[Talented] high potential in multiple areas

System Note:

(!) This player's [Status Window] contains information [Player Evan King] is currently not authorised to access.

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OP: In video gaming, anime, and sports, OP is a shorthand for overpowered, describing an indomitable character or player.

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Novarra sighed.

It was a melancholic sound, she supposed, and she was tired. Very tired.

Those who reincarnate in novels usually had at least some kind of skill, at least some kind of adaptability that came with an OP halo and plot armor - maybe a whole flashy-yet-talented-waving-around-a-sword-i-will-save-you-fair-lady schtick, or even a I-can-conquer-the-world-you-can't-stop-me disposition.

Other than the fact that she was an intelligent enough heiress, she felt that if being a transmigrator were a job, she would have nothing to put on her application.

Not that she wanted to be one.

Surviving in a world took effort that she couldn't be bothered to put in. Who wanted to spend all their time running away being chased by dragons when you stole their loot, or noble lords after you humiliated their haughty sons?

Novarra might be lazy, but she wasn't boring.

She had a multitude of hobbies, ranging from korean pop to manga to webnovels to art. Expensive hobbies? You bet.

Self-made multi-millionaire Navven Ultra established his business empire by creating inventions in the industrial technology field. This funded her hobby pursuits.

However, Novarra herself was known for being incredibly lazy.

I have to give it to them, some rumors really are accurate.

"Ha."

Novarra had recently finished a webnovel titled "REBUILD", a fantasy story following a male protagonist named Evan who had reincarnated into the body of a commoner in a novel he had read called "KIARA".

It wasn't bad, she supposed, the writing and worldbuilding especially.

REBUILD followed Evan's journey to reunite the former kingdom of Resillia by becoming stronger, collecting the Four Holy Swords and rebuilding the once-glorious nation before marrying the original protagonist, Kiara.

Novarra rated it nine stars out of ten, a star being taken off for there being no visible antagonists, just temporary rivals - a pet peeve of hers - and Evan being the type of OP main character that she sometimes disliked. Sometimes.

And she had woken up as a character in "REBUILD".

And not as the protagonist, or the female lead.

She had woken up as the person who had destroyed the kingdom, the queen she shared her name with, Her Majesty Novarra Ultra, the queen of Resilia twenty years before the story started.

Not even a villain - a secondary villain who everyone cursed as one of the most stupid villains in history.

And this was two weeks before her death.

"Ai, Belluse." Novarra sighed again. "My life really is so pitiful..."

"Your Majesty, you-"

"You worry too much, you'll get wrinkles."

When Novarra had fallen into the world, the Common language used on the continent had been engrained inside her head. But she tripped up on some words, and had a somewhat noticeable accent was something she had tried to get rid of when she realized her situation.

Belluse sighed. "Your Majesty-"

Novarra scoffed. "It's not like I'm not a figurehead," she said, "no one cares about whether I wake up or not."

It's true.

Not even if this body dropped dead one day.

"Your Majesty…"

"I really do need to go to the toilet..." she whined.

"Your Majesty-"

After taking a long shit, Novarra checked the papers on her desk.

She had scrawled down all the events she had remembered related to the current Novarra.

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On the last day of the last week of the last month of the Year of Solaris, the commoners from the villages will storm the Palace after the Firefight and succeed in defeating the Resilia Knights, the first line of defense, with the help of Sir Antony.

Most royalist nobles will be captured, all nobles in political positions of power will be burned alive within the week.

The Queen Novarra will be executed seven days later after the Storming, although she was only a figurehead for the nobles, she will face a slow and painful death by poison lasting hours.

Resilia will be thrown into anarchy for the next twenty years.

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"I curse you, author," Novarra muttered. Did curses exist here? After rifting through her memories, she frowned. They didn't. Shit.

The author of "REBUILD", an unknown user by the name of ShiningScales124, was almost like a reclusive hermit whom no one knew anything about.

They were always in Novarra's prayers.

For them to get mental help.

Of course, it wasn't their fault they poisoned her off with a slow, painful death.

But it still didn't make the situation any better.

Ha.

Novarra's plan to get out of the sticky situation?

Go along with the situation to its peak, fake her death by pretending to kill herself and burn herself alive, place a charred body in her place, and run off to the neighboring kingdom.

The butterfly effect always happened in these novels.

Whenever the isekai protagonists did something and the novel deviated from its course, they would always be surprised and slip up, causing someone to suspect their identity.

Novarra didn't want to cause that.

All she wanted was to fake her death and quietly slip away with only her maid.

It may seem like she was running away, but the job of stabilizing the country was Evan and Kiara's job, not hers. Besides, she didn't care much for Resilia. Just because her current body was the puppet Queen of Resilia, didn't mean she had an obligation to save it.

It really was that simple.

At least, it was to her.

Which was why she had asked Belluse to discreetly allocate Novarra's savings to build a small mansion in a reclusive spot as soon as possible, while preparing a carriage to said reclusive spot and two replacement bodies.

"Your Majesty." Belluse approached from behind. "The charred bodies are ready."

She didn't kill them, did she?

She relocated them from a cemetry. Nice.

In the story, Belluse was Evan the commoner's aunt by marriage, who had died, leaving Evan's uncle - Richard - childless. When Evan was said to have seen the weeping uncle on Belluse's death anniversary, he had been struck with a desire to reunite Resilia to stop all the unnecessary loss and to take over Kiara's job.

Novarra had initially hesitated to keep Belluse by her side, but time and time again Belluse had proven to be incredibly loyal.

"Belluse." Novarra turned serious. "I need to tell you something."

She had put off telling her, but now there was no choice.

Everyone would procrastinate until the deadline.

Novarra had just finished her college entrance exams before transmigrating to the puppet Queen's body. She remembered getting her scores back. She hadn't studied. From the beginning to the possible end of her life, she had scraped by on pure talent, luck, and background.

But even then, she had procrastinated on studying.

Not because she was arrogant, but because she believed in her own competence. And that was proven in her results.

Belluse blinked.

"Tomorrow, the commoners will storm the Palace. We will be captured, and before our capture, we'll set the whole wing on fire and leave only the two bodies behind. Afterwards, we'll hop on the carriage and go to the house in Elevyar. Alright?"

Belluse blinked again.

"You can't tell your husband or your relatives, or keep contact with them. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble. You can stay behind if you must, but this is the safest option."

After seemingly confirming that Novarra wasn't joking, Belluse hesitated.

"Your Majesty-"

"Are you going to ask how I'm sure that this will happen?" Novarra relaxed. "I'm blessed with a gift called 'Omniscience.'"

She was lying, of course; but this was the only plausible explanation.

No sane person would believe an incompetent's weightless words.

"I know you and Richard got married secretly and live together because your parents didn't approve. I know that Richard - such a bland name, by the way - has a brother named Ethan and a nephew who they're planning to name Evan. So I know that this will happen. I was only pretending to be a pawn."

The worry in Belluse's eyes didn't cease as Novarra sighed, pulling all the argument skills she had as the heiress of Ultra out of her hat to try and soothe her. At least she didn't seem offended by Novarra's insult of her husband's name.

"Belluse, I'm telling the truth. Why won't you believe me?" she made puppy-dog eyes, "no one ever believes me..."

Probably because I lie all the time.

She tried appealing to Belluse's pity to her, the puppet queen.

Novarra didn't relish manipulating people.. Even after only two weeks, she realized Belluse's unconditional devotion, and she didn't want the former Novarra's only friend to die.

After all, she was abandoning the former queen's kingdom. Saving her friend was the least she could do, right?

"Belluse, let's think about this realistically. This is our only option."

She tried taking a practical standpoint to appeal to Belluse's down-to-earth personality.

She channeled her inner telemarketer and door-to-door salesman - even then, it took half a day to convince Belluse, who reluctantly agreed.

Novarra had finally struck gold when she used the fearmongering technique that advertisements used, implying that Richard would be in danger if Belluse didn't leave. It was low, she knew, but she didn't want Belluse to die.

"Alright, Your Majesty. But please, let me have this one night to say goodbye."

Novarra shooed her away. "Go." She hadn't been planning to inform Belluse last minute, but it had been harder to adjust to her surroundings than expected, what with the sleazy nobles and the slimeballs who tried to trick her.

It was hard pretending to be stupid.

Novarra sighed again.

She had listed two possible obstacles to her plans: the Archduke and the Grand Duchess.

Resilia's nobles were ranked as such: The Queen, the Archduke, the Grand Duke, a Duke, a Marquis, a Count, a Viscount, and finally, a Baron. Baronets didn't count? She guessed?

The Archduke was the original Novarra's brother, a sleazy yet calculating playboy named Novicius. He knew everything about the former Novicius, and had been one of the reasons Novarra ended up as a puppet for the high nobles. Two-faced and ruthless, Novicius was definitely one to stay away from.

I couldn't have a nice, laidback brother, could I?

Novarra remembered that Novicius's illegitimate son had been one of Evan's original rivals - she said rival, but really she meant a target of the ever-prominent duels prevalent in the genre. There were never rivals.

After five years of controlling the lazy Novarra, however, Novicius had given up on monitoring her activities.

But, just in case, Novarra had secretly slipped poison into the Marquis Zhao's tea, which had created a diversion and had magnified the current situation. Novicius was currently too busy investigating the rare pokeberry poison to notice Belluse's gathering of fire victims.

Even if he did, she could easily pass it off as a playful hobby, right?

The next obstacle was the Grand Duchess Prisci.

Novarra noted with gratitude that currently the Grand Duchess was facing a scandal of her daughter getting pregnant with the butler and the discovery of the butler embezzling funds from the Prisci estate.

It really was quite convenient.

Thank you, author, for your complicated worldbuilding.

Apologies for cursing you.

Most of "REBUILD" 's characters had simple names that were easy to memorize, and Novarra had taken it upon herself to do so.

Divide and conquer.

Except Novarra wasn't the one doing the conquering. She was just giving the division a little push in the right direction, that was all.

"Ah." Novarra sighed.

The bodies had to be in a similar position to those of suicide victims, and had to have similar height and body shape to Varra's and Belluse's. Novarra would pretend to throw a tantrum, Belluse would send away the wing's servants, and while the commoners and knights were fighting, they would slip away and run to the carriage Belluse had prepared.

Fingering the kerosene bottle in her right hand, Novarra waited.

And waited.

Watching the moonlight glimmer through the translucent curtains, it was almost intoxicating. She swayed, as if almost drunk, and closed her eyes.

And drifted off to sleep.

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