"AAAAA!"

  Another wave of déjà vu hit the moment I stepped into the path Almodey had created. Then it passed, and I landed — not hard, not soft. Just... there.

  I pushed myself up and looked around.

  What… is this place?

  From the outside, the Tear had looked like a gaping wound in reality. I'd fully expected eldritch abominations. Maybe an otherworldly god waiting to whisper madness into my ear. Something appropriately horrifying.

  Instead it was just white. Empty. Nothing.

  Well. Anticlimactic.

  "Oh, I'm sorry to be such a disappointment."

  A voice. Familiar. Too familiar.

  I turned sharply — and froze.

  It was me.

  Dark raven hair. Crimson eyes. Sharp features that were somehow both haunting and breathtaking. Pale skin carrying an air of chilling elegance.

  Josephine von Konrow.

  The main villainess of How to Live as the Black Swan of the Cursed Ducal Family.

  Her — my — lips curved into a smirk. "You've really done a number on my body, haven't you?"

  She took a step closer, her presence suffocating in all that white.

  "So that's how it is," I muttered, forcing myself to hold my ground.

  Josephine tilted her head, watching me the way you'd watch a curious animal. Then, with an almost lazy motion, she reached out, lifted my chin, and grinned.

  Somehow, we ended up having tea.

  Yes. Tea.

  In an endless void of nothingness.

  Josephine — other-me, void-me, villainess-me — sat across from me, delicately holding her cup as she explained the situation. She wasn't just a reflection. She was the personification of the Tear itself — a manifestation of what lay buried deepest in whoever entered it. In my case, it had taken the shape of Josephine von Konrow.

  "Not Kim Yoo-ra," she clarified.

  Apparently, ever since I'd inhabited her body, she had been watching.

  She saw everything.

  My duel with Peter. The Philosopher's Stone. My moments of triumph and failure and rage and laughter. All of it.

  And—

  "I was shocked, you know," she mused, sipping her tea. "Hearing you talk about revenge. For me."

  I shifted uncomfortably.

  "But more than that," she continued, setting her cup down, "I had access to your memories too. Your past life as Kim Yoo-ra."

  I nearly dropped my cup.

  She tapped a finger against her cheek. "At first, I judged you." That tracked. I was used to being judged. "Why didn't you use your achievements? Why didn't you fight to be recognized? To be known?"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I opened my mouth — but she was already shaking her head.

  "But the more I read through your memories… the more I realized I was wrong."

  Her voice softened.

  "You never yearned for love because you'd already accepted that no matter what you did, you weren't going to be loved."

  The words hit harder than I expected.

  Josephine von Konrow let out a short, bitter laugh. "I was different. When I was a child, I read fairy tales. Princes rescuing princesses. Families full of warmth and love. I thought I could have that too." Her hands trembled as she gripped them together in her lap. "I was wrong."

  Her voice cracked.

  "I was born talentless. Dismissed by my own parents. And then she came."

  Adele.

  Her smile twisted into something resentful. "She got everything I wanted. Isn't that stupid?" She clenched her fists. Covered her eyes for a moment. When she looked up again, the expression on her face was unfiltered rage.

  "I tried, you know?" Her voice shook. "I tried my best. I worked harder than anyone else to earn their respect. And what did I get?" Her nails dug into the table. "A cold glare. Contempt. A ruined reputation."

  She laughed. Short, sharp, broken.

  "I just wanted to be loved!" she screamed. "So why does everyone paint me as the villain?!"

  "Josephine…" I whispered.

  She turned to me, completely raw.

  I had no words.

  "…What do you want me to do?"

  Silence.

  Then she leaned back in her chair, expression unreadable.

  "I've come to realize something," she murmured. "My life… this life… was always a story." Her crimson eyes flickered. "One that was meant to end in suffering. I hate it. I despise it. But I can't change what's already been written."

  She exhaled.

  And then her expression shifted entirely.

  "How could you not act like a proper villainess?!"

  "Hah? What are you saying?"

  "I'm not an idiot," she scoffed. "If you, Kim Yoo-ra, have my memories, then I, Josephine, have yours."

  "Wait, so you're saying—"

  "Yes." She cut me off with a smirk. "I'm also a big shoujo fan, you know."

  …What.

  "In fact," she continued, completely nonchalant, swirling her tea, "that's the reason I wanted to be loved in the first place. That warm fuzzy feeling. That 'it feels nice' kind of thing." She sighed. "Ugh. This is so cringe."

  This fucking nerd.

  "Personally, I would've aimed for the Prince," she said dramatically. "He was a textbook bloodthirsty prince but surprise, surprise — turns out he's a possessive yandere!"

  I stared at her. "So you noticed too."

  "Obviously." She clicked her tongue. "Why is he even interested in you? And what's with the witch suddenly—" She stopped. Her eyes went wide. "Wait. Wait wait wait." She leaned forward, gleaming. "Are we totally vibing right now?"

  Oh no.

  "He's completely acting like a puppy in front of you, which is honestly kind of adorable." She gave a thumbs up.

  This girl. This villainess. This socially starved disaster of a person.

  [Your understanding of Josephine von Konrow has increased!]

  "What about Jane?" I asked.

  Josephine instantly deflated. Her head dropped.

  "…Yeah. I know."

  She was quiet for a moment, fingers tightening around her cup. "Jane's a sweetheart. She stayed with me even when I was exiled to the spare mansion. I don't hate Jane." Her voice wavered. "I just… I'm awkward. I didn't understand why she stayed. So I got paranoid. I lashed out at her. I thought if I pushed her away hard enough, she'd finally show her true colors and leave like everyone else."

  Her voice cracked.

  "She still didn't leave."

  [Your understanding of Josephine von Konrow has increased!]

  I swallowed. "So… you don't mind what I've been doing in your body?"

  Josephine blinked. "Huh? Oh. No, I don't mind. I mean—" she gestured vaguely, "I'm still you, you know? I'm always in your consciousness."

  "You don't want… revenge?"

  "Of course I do." Her expression sharpened. "But you already promised, right? That you'd show them all."

  She leaned back and exhaled.

  "I'm powerless to change anything now. But knowing you, you'll probably turn everything upside down."

  I looked at her for a long moment.

  I am Josephine von Konrow, with the memories of Kim Yoo-ra. And you are Kim Yoo-ra, with the memories of Josephine von Konrow.

  We were different.

  And yet, the same.

  She smirked. "So. Basically — I'm the final boss of the Tear. The personification of yourself. And in order to close it, you have to defeat me."

  "…Ugh. That sounds like a pain in the ass."

  "I know, right?" She crossed her arms. "Let's just kill this off already."

  "WANNA RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN?!"

  She teasingly punched my shoulder. "You know the reason Ashkart couldn't beat me? He couldn't face himself. Couldn't face the guilt, the crimes, the shame of everything he had to do to kill the Demon King and save the world." She shrugged. "Most people can't."

  She smirked. "A little cliché, yeah. But who cares?"

  Her form flickered. She was fading.

  "You already beat me a long time ago."

  "W-Wait—" I reached for her. My hands passed through nothing.

  [Your understanding of Josephine von Konrow has reached 100%!]

  [Soul Synchronization initiating…]

  The exhaustion hit like a wall. My body went heavy. My eyelids dropped.

  "Don't worry," Josephine's voice echoed somewhere behind my thoughts. "I'll always be here. Call me in your thoughts, talk to me in your dreams. But for now…"

  Darkness.

  "Rest—"

  Her voice, the last thing I heard.

  "—and get my revenge on Adele."