Carrot and Stick: My Next Life as a Villainess

Unending BE - episode 1099447

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A love triangle is a classic trope. It’s a very easy source of drama. You have a young hero or heroine, their heart trapped between two individuals. The tension is obvious, who will win the protagonists heart? If done right you can have the reader at the edge of their seat, wondering who will win the day? Which love interest will prove to be the most deserving? Countless novels have been written with this topic.

However, have you ever asked about what it feels like for the people inside the love triangle?

Mary Hunt knows. Mary Hunt knows all too well. Hell, “Love Triangle” does not even describe what Mary is in the middle of. There were five other people who Mary counted as direct romantic rivals. Then there were at least three others who weren’t actively making a move but you never know…

So, here she was, a lovely young woman of fine noble breeding, trapped in a Love Hexagon. The center of this love shape? The brilliant and shining star that she and five others orbited around?

Her name is Katarina Claes, eldest ch1ld of the Claes family, arguably the second or third most important noble family in the country. Fiancee to the Crown Prince himself (another one of the six in her orbit). Also the most amazing, beautiful, and sweet person Mary knew. Heck, the sweetest person all of them knew.

The day Mary had met Katarina had changed her forever. The way she had so lovingly admired her garden. Brushing aside the cruel things her stepsisters said. Mary had fallen in love near instantly. Oh, that comment about her green thumb was so charming and thoughtful and… and had it been said again? Mary felt like somebody else had tried it once. But whatever, clearly they had just been ripping Katarina off.

So, the question to ask is, what does a person in a Love Triangle Times Two do in this situation? Mary had been working on winning Katarina over for years. Making sure that her official fiance, Alan, didn’t realize his own feelings for Katarina. Subtly undermining Prince Gerald’s station as her official fiance. The fact that Katarina didn’t seem to want to be engaged to him helped with that. Making sure that Keith stayed firmly in the (Adopted) Brother Zone. The biggest risk was the two Ascart siblings. Katarina and Sophia loved their romance novels (and hoo boy, some of them could get steamy) and Nicol was one of the few people who could stun even Katarina with his attractiveness. Not that Mary could really see the appeal. Boys just were… boring looking compared to Katarina.

No, Mary had been sure that come their tenure in the Magic Academy that she’d be able to secure her place as Katarina’s one and true lover. But then came something else. An Outside Context Problem. Something that nobody could have predicted.

A loveable young woman named Maria Campbell. A rare commoner with access to magic, and absurdly powerful Light Magic at that. It was like love at first sight. Katarina seemed to devote almost all her energy to doting on Maria. Not to mention for some goddamned reason she seemed convinced that all her male friends/suitors were going to fall in love with her at the drop of a hat. It was… worrying. Had Katarina been driven into the arms of Maria by her freshness? Her refreshing commoner charm? Maria knew that at least half of the romance novels/porn that Katarina and Sophia loved to read involved a Noble woman taking in and falling in love with a commoner girl, after all.

Or maybe it was just that Katarina had… had friendzoned all of them since childhood!? And Maria was someone unconnected to their past? Mary didn’t know, and that unnerved her. She liked knowing the details. Had spent years manipulating her peers and gathering intel to prepare for any situation.

Mary would even be OK just being Katarina’s mistress if she wanted to marry somebody else, but Katarina hadn’t dropped any hints at all what her plans for the future were! All Mary knew was that Katarina didn’t want to be engaged, and seemed convinced that everybody was going to fall in love with Maria. That was it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Which is why it was currently Two AM and Mary was digging through the Restricted Rituals section of the school library. A small lantern being her only source of light as she looked through the section dealing with magic that didn’t fall quite so neatly into people’s natural talents.

"Come on, come on. There must be something!" She muttered to herself, picking through the books. Ordinary means had failed her, so now it came down to magical means.

While it’s well understood that people can cast Magic only if they are born with the ability. Rituals are another thing. They’re pseudo-magical effects that can be done by anybody with the knowledge and a source of magical power. Which is most easily accessible by the blood of something that can use magic.

Which is why in the old times rituals required sacrifice. They didn’t know why it worked, but it did. Usually with magical creatures. Or, more morbidly, a human being who had been “blessed” by the gods with magic.

So why were rituals restricted? Well, when the ruling class consists of native magic users, you think they want the ability to cast magic with just a bit of blood to be commonly accessible?

Even the stuff at the library here was mostly frivolous stuff. Nothing particularly useful to Mary. She wanted some kind of love charm or a truth serum or something like that! She had been here for hours over several days and found little to nothing of worth.

Mary was about to give up when she stumbled across something that seemed ever so slightly promising in an old tome labeled “A Grimoire for Those Who Art Frustrated with the Matters of the Flesh.”

“Hmmm…” Mary wondered for a moment what this would do. The ritual was called simply “Carrot and Stick” and was apparently meant to encourage the person the ritual being performed upon to “awaken to their true desires” through some kind of mental training. It required a carrot, an oak stick, a teaspoon mixture of Water aligned blood, Earth aligned blood, and chocolate.

All easily accessible to Mary. Maria always was making sweets, so a bit of baking chocolate was always on hand. She was a user of Water element magic herself, so her own blood would suffice for that. And Mary already had several samples of Katarina’s blood in discrete storage, just in case. And Katarina was a user of Earth element magic.

The carrot and stick wouldn’t even be a challenge. She’d probably find some in Katarina’s room, brought inside from her farming hobby.

In short, all Mary had to do was sneak over to Katarina’s room, place the two ritual objects on both sides of her head, apply the magical energy source, and cast the spell!

“Hee-ee and if this works~” Mary said to herself, “All my work will pay off…” She’d be able to push Katarina to come to her. And then she’d have her happily ever after!

Of course, ignorance is bliss. And one person slept through the night. Completely ignorant of what Mary had been planning.

That person was, of course, Katarina Claes herself.

As baffling as Mary Hunt may find her behavior, it's all quite logical once you learn a few things about Katarina.

1) She remembered her past life after getting bumped on the head at the age of eight. In which she learned that she had somehow been reincarnated into a world just like an Otome game she had loved in her past life as the main antagonist. With all her actions dedicated to the goal of avoiding ending up Dead or Banished as Fortune Lover’s good endings tended to have her do.

2) Katarina is as dense as depleted uranium. Or perhaps adamantite, to fit the setting they were in. She honestly had no idea that no less than six people were in love with her. And thought everybody was just her friends, and that the slightest mistake could lead to them going for her own personal Bad End. Despite all the reasons why the arcs of her friends lives could not in any way go like they had in Fortune Lover. Mostly due to Katarina’s own actions.

Well, OK, Katarina is also a bit of an idiot. But everybody knew that already.

“Ahhh what a lovely day…” Katarina yawned, sitting up and stretching. “Hmm?” She looked to the side of her pillows. “Did I take this carrot to bed with me?” She picked it up. It smelled faintly sweet. “How weird…” She shrugged. She must have been really tired last night. Same with the stick. Was this for a new fake snake project?

“Whatever!” Katarina dismissed the weirdness as not important to her priorities and jumped out of bed. “Let’s see..” It was a Saturday. So no classes, thank goodness. Which meant that Katarina had the whole day to have fun!

Note that Katarina had homework, but it would not be a few hours before anybody brought it up in her presence. “I know! Let’s see if the next Starlight Embrace book is in with Sophia!” She giggled. Thinking about how such good friends the poor duchess was with the rich merchant heiress, saving her family line from poverty! (Katarina would be shocked to find the two girls marrying at the end of the series. Like she was every time.)

Now, Katarina could be like most noble girls and expect her maid Anne to help her get dressed. But she had always had a fierce independent streak. Helped greatly by the memories of her precious life. So she opened up her closet to pick out her favorite blue and white dress. Once she spotted she with monkey-like grace she grabbed the bottom of her nightgown and pulled it over her head, tossing it onto the floor. Anne would pick it up later.

“Maybe after we read Starlight Embrace we can go see if Maria has sweets available!” Katarina thought aloud gleefully. Maria’s sweets always made the day better, and she was so adorable when sharing them! Ah, Katarina knew whoever married Maria would be a lucky, lucky man!

As she opened up her drawer to pick out a fresh pair of underwear, Katarina heard a knock on her door. “Hmm?” She said.

“Oy! Katarina? You up!” A voice said from the other side. It was Keith, her adopted brother. Hmm, she wondered what it could be. Well, she’d tell him she’d be out in a minute and-

And Katarina felt a sharp headache come. “Ack!” She winced. The pain was like a small hammer hitting the side of her head. Why was she getting a migraine all of a sudden? Did somebody slip her booze last night and was she getting a hangover? Just as she was about to think about that a thought came to her mind.

Tell Keith he can come in.

What? Let Keith in now? While she was undressed that was… was feeling kind of nice. That thought seemed to make Katarina feel much better, the pain quickly fading away to a warm sense of pleasure. Katarina, not being the most analytical person, followed this pleasure immediately. “You can come in if you want!” She said, and immediately felt almost as good as she did when eating one of Maria’s pastries. Which is no mean feat.

“OK good now Katarina today we need to-” Keith said, slipping into her room. And stopping.

Because Katarina was in nothing but her underwear. Staring at him. And he stared at her back. There was a brief, heavy, deep silence. Then Keith’s face turned a deep red and his hand went up to his nose. “What the hell!?” He shouted and slammed the door. “Why did you say I could come in!”

“I don’t know!” Katarina admitted honestly, “Besides, we’re siblings! What does it matter?”

“Idiot! Siblings or not you’re still a girl and I’m still a boy!” Keith shouted from the other side of the door. “It doesn't matter if I’m your adopted brother I can’t be allowed to see you… you… you.. In that state!?”

“What state, Master Keith?” Anne’s voice said.

“Ack!” Keith said, “Err, look Anne! It’s not my fault! She said I could come in when-”

Katarina turned out the remainder of the conversation. It wasn’t particularly important, and it didn’t have anything to do with her avoiding her Doom. Nothing in the Death Flags said that Keith seeing her in her underwear was dangerous. It’s not like he had walked in on Maria or anything.

The image of Maria in her underwear. Undoubtedly white lace that hugged a trim figure that was perfectly appealing to any man. Her innocent blue eyes wide at being caught in a state of undress, flashed into Katarina’s mind. That was a dangerous image. Anybody seeing such a thing would fall for her in an instant! And if that happened… banishment! Or worse, Death!

No. Katarina needed to make sure that nobody saw Maria in such an indecent state ever!

Keith had already had a bad feeling about this day. Katarina had, somehow, just become worse at protecting herself from the wicked designs of men.

“I see.” Anne said, an amused smile on her face. She was as intimately familiar with Katarina’s antics as him, but in this particular situation she seemed to find comedy in his latest trial. “I recall that the two of you did bathe together.” She said.

Keith nearly bit his tongue, “When we were children!” Once they started to grow into the man and woman they were today such a thing quickly ended. “She can’t be so careless!” He hissed.

How could she just let him walk in with her so undressed!? Would she have even cared if had had seen her naked body! Oh, that was a bad thing to think. Keith could already picture it. The sight of Katarina in her underwear was so easily edited in his imagination.

What was worse is that Keith’s cursed imagination then very quickly shifted to picturing how some of the vipers that surrounded him could take advantage of Katarina’s naivety if given the chance. ”Oh-ho. Don’t worry my dear, we are fiances. This is perfectly fine.” Gerald’s voice echoed in Keith’s mind and it made him twitch.

”Oh we’re both girls! So there’s no problem!” Followed shortly by Mary’s voice and this imagined moment led Keith to punch the wall. Anne raised an eyebrow, but did not comment.

“OK OK I’m decent.” It was at this point the door opened and Katarina peered out into the hall. Fully dressed, thank god. “Oh! ‘Morning Anne!”

Anne bowed, “Good morning Lady Katarina. I see you and Master Keith have had a lively conversation this morning.”

“One which we shall never speak of again.” Keith grumbled.

“Oh we barely did. What do you want Keith?” Katarina asked.

Right. The entire reason he had seen Katarina in her underwear. An early morning visit, prodded by none other than Mary Hunt. The other incredibly dangerous rival to Katarina’s heart. “Mary…” Yet he knew not delivering the message would lead to more problems. “...wants to have tea with you. As well as Sophia and Maria.”

Immediately Katarina’s face lit up, “Oh that sounds great! Ohhh will Maria be bringing sweets!? I hope so… ahh… it’s been too long!” It had been less than a day.

Oh how Keith wished he could be there. But unlike his outings with Gerald, Mary had a major advantage in that she could declare her meetings with Katarina “girls only” and Katarina would enforce this. Thankfully there was a fairly large stumbling block in Mary’s schemes.

Namely that Katarina had a strange blind spot when it came to relationships between women. She seemed to be unable to comprehend women being attracted to other women. Keith had long learned to interpret Katarina’s commentary on a pair of “friends” in whatever novel she and Sophia were gushing over at the moment as “At bare minimum they’ve made out at least once already, but more likely they’ve already had sex.” This did a lot to stymie Mary’s attempts. Honestly Sophia’s plan to just get her to marry Nicol and be her side piece had a much better chance of succeeding in Keith’s view.

Regardless, since this was “Girl’s Only” the threat was minimal. Katarina was probably not going to have an awakening to her latent bisexuality today.

“The tea party’s at noon, so make sure you’re presentable.” Keith said to Katarina. “Try not to show up covered in dirt and sweat in farm gear.”

“That happened once!” Katarina whined.

Ah there was nothing Katarina loved better than a chance to have tea and pastries with her friends. Especially when those pastries were made by Maria. Who made the best pastries ever and whoever married her would be the luckiest man in this entire world.

Not to mention some time for the girls to hang out. It was hard sometimes. Keith and Gerald kept butting in on things and Nicol was almost always around Sophia. So it was nice to not have to think about the men and how any moment things might explode into a Bad End for her.

The meeting would be taking place in Mary’s room, so Katarina cheerfully skipped her way there. The thoughts of sweets filling her head. By this point her fellow students were used to the way Katarina seemed to float through the halls when snacks were on the line.

“I’m here!” Katarina didn’t bother to knock when she reached Maria’s room, something her mother would have scolded her for. “Did I miss anything!”

“No.” Sophia said, sitting on the left side of the table, a cup sitting in front of her, “We haven’t even poured the tea yet.” Oh she looked so cute! That soft white hair, and such intriguing red eyes! She really was such an intriguing beauty. Was that a new dress? It looked adorable.

“Good afternoon Lady Katarina.” Maria said, sitting on the right side of the table and she looked just adorable! Katarina could eat her up! Her lovely blue eyes were looking straight at her! Oh and the pink dress was just perfect. Katarina wondered if she should ask if she made the sweets, but would that make her look too eager?

“So how has your morning been Katarina?” Mary asked. Katarina’s eyes flickered to Mary, sitting at the head of the table. She looked as lovely as ever. Always so nurturing and kind and… and…

It was funny, but one particular quirk of Mary is that she tends to prefer dresses that emphasize her chest. Showing an almost scandalous amount of cleavage. Katarina hadn’t thought much of it for years. Mary started doing it around the time she started growing up, and it was just normal to her. But today, for some reason, when Katarina’s gaze briefly passed Mary’s chest, a thought wormed its way into her mind.

Ask her if they’ve gotten bigger.

What? Why would Katarina ask something like that? But the moment she thought about not asking that question the pain came back. A brief sharp spike of unpleasantness, that immediately dissuaded her from ignoring the thought. So much like that morning, Katarina immediately gave in to the impulse.

“Have your boobs gotten bigger?” Katrina said. Aloud.

In an instant the air itself froze, like a freezing spell had been cast. Sophia and Maria’s jaws dropped, both of their heads turned rapidly between Katarina and Mary.

Mary? She just grinned, and laughed quietly and confidently. “Why, I do believe they have, just a bit, Lady Katarina.” She then leaned back in her chair, simultaneously thrusting her chest forward. “Why, I have felt more womanly as of late…”

Sophia looked down, frowning deeply. A fairly sickly childhood had not done a lot for her own… personal growth. Oh dear, she resisted the urge to poke at her chest. She could not show weakness like this. Not now.

While Maria knew she wasn’t exactly flat-chested. When it came to the battle of the busts Mary was by far the decisive winner, she glanced over at Mary. Only barely avoiding it turning into a glare. While Maria was in general a sweet person, Mary being this transparent vexed her. She was sorely tempted to say that size isn't everything. But that might start something serious.

Then Katarina, being Katarina, spoke up. “Eheheh, I guess your future husband will be a lucky guy…”

If previously the air had been turned to ice, the following moment was said ice being smashed to pieces with a sledgehammer. Mary instantly deflated, her eye twitching. “I… suppose one might think that…” She said, folding her arms to try and prop up her chest.

Katarina sat down, “OK! Let’s get the tea pouring!” She said, all thoughts about the weird impulse forgotten with the promise of tea time.

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Tritan

Sun Oct 04 17:54:16 2020

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