Chapter 1

I have memories from my past life ───.

...No, I'm not crazy. I absolutely can't tell anyone how embarrassing it is, but it's true.

I first noticed it around the time I was preparing for the entrance exam for elementary school.

I had always felt a nagging sense of familiarity with my name, "Kichijouin Reika," but one day, when my mother took me to a building surrounded by brick walls and said, "Reika, you'll be attending this academy next year," something clicked in my brain when I saw the words "Zuiran Academy Elementary School" on the large gate.

"Zuiran Academy" and "Kichijouin Reika" – these are the names of the school and a character from *You Are My Dolce*!!

The relief I felt when all those years of nagging uncertainty (though I had only been alive for a few years) finally cleared up was indescribable.

But the next moment, my face turned pale as I realized the situation I was in.

*You Are My Dolce*.

This was a very popular shoujo manga in my past life. After it concluded, it was even adapted into a drama with popular idols.

The story begins with the protagonist, a commoner and a scholarship student, enrolling in the prestigious Zuiran Academy High School, where all the students come from wealthy families.

The protagonist, being a commoner, struggles to fit in with the incredibly wealthy students. Despite this, she manages to make a few friends who are also commoners and spends her days diligently making sweets.

One day, she meets the so-called "Emperor" of the school and falls in love. However, the Emperor's entourage cannot tolerate the commoner protagonist getting close to him, and they relentlessly bully her.

Well, the main instigator of that bullying is Kichijouin Reika, which is me.

In the end, after overcoming numerous hardships, the two of them get together and live happily ever after. However, Kichijouin Reika, who had obstructed them until the very end and tormented the protagonist, uses her family's influence to secure an engagement with the Emperor. Just as the engagement party is about to begin, she is utterly humiliated.

The Emperor announces his engagement to the protagonist in front of all the guests, and Reika is publicly disgraced. To prevent her from causing any more trouble, the Emperor and his allies buy out her family's company and expose her father's wrongdoings, leading to the complete ruin of the Kichijouin family.

Reika, who had always looked down on commoners, is cast out of the upper class and falls into the commoner world.

The readers, recalling her evil deeds, feel a sense of satisfaction, shouting, "Serves you right!" My past self also cheered, "Yes!"

However, if this is to be my fate in this life, it's a different story. I absolutely don't want that. Why, of all people, did I have to become the typical villain character, Kichijouin Reika?!

Please, if this is a dream, let me wake up now.

─── Unfortunately, I didn't wake up.

The shock was too much for my 5-year-old body, and I fainted, running a high fever and crying in fear of the doomed future that awaited me.

In my past life, I was a commoner.

I attended public schools from elementary to high school and even worked part-time to pay for my cell phone.

I was a very ordinary girl, born into a typical salaryman family, with an average build and a plain face. I was just a girl you could find anywhere.

I remember up until I graduated from a junior college and started working. I can't recall anything after that. I have no memories of getting married, having children, or growing old.

Maybe I died in my early twenties. Not having memories must mean that, right?

Or maybe I was in a vegetative state and have been dreaming about my favorite manga all this time.

The dream theory seems more plausible than the reincarnation theory.

But the fever is painful, falling hurts, and food tastes delicious. The sensations are too real.

Given this realistic sense of feeling, I can't just brush it off and say, "It's just a dream, so it's fine." Whether this is reincarnation or a dream, I desperately wish I had possessed someone other than Reika.

The first thing I thought about after recovering from my fever was whether I could fail the entrance exam and avoid attending Zuiran Academy.

Zuiran Academy is the pinnacle of wealthy schools. Attending it is the ultimate status symbol.

My family, the Kichijouins, are a prestigious lineage of former nobility and operate several companies. My parents are the epitome of elitism, and they have been preparing me for the Zuiran Academy entrance exam since I was a baby. I even attended a prestigious kindergarten with a high Zuiran Academy acceptance rate.

If things continue as they are, I will likely be accepted into Zuiran Academy, given my bloodline, family background, and financial resources. But attending the academy means a tragic end awaits me.

If I can avoid getting involved with the protagonist and live a different life, maybe I can avoid my downfall.

There are plenty of other prestigious girls' schools besides Zuiran Academy.

That's what I decided to do!

But my resolve wavered the moment I saw my parents' faces.

My elitist parents might see a daughter who fails the Zuiran Academy entrance exam as a failure of the Kichijouin family and give up on me.

Even though I have the memories of an adult from my past life, it's tough for a 5-year-old child to face the prospect of being looked down upon by her parents for the rest of her life.

Besides, if I fail the elementary school entrance exam, I could still try for the middle school entrance exam.

While the middle school entrance is an option, the elementary school is the true essence of Zuiran Academy, and my parents probably wouldn't be entirely satisfied with me starting there.

My mother already acts as if I've already been accepted (she even refers to it as "Reika's school" before the exam), and almost all of my relatives are current or former Zuiran Academy students.

Given this, I didn't have the courage to intentionally fail the Zuiran Academy entrance exam, especially after recalling my past life as a commoner.

There's no choice; I'll have to attend Zuiran Academy.

But I want to avoid becoming the villain character in the manga at all costs. Being disliked is tough.

Even if I can't avoid my downfall, I want to take as many precautions as possible to ensure I can survive on my own afterward.

1. Maintain harmony and avoid unnecessary enemies.

2. Don't spend recklessly. Save my allowance to pay for my education after the family's downfall.

3. Avoid getting involved with the Emperor or the protagonist, who will enter the high school.

4. Show a slight interest in their relationship or a slight smile. The key is to be subtle and not draw too much attention.

5. Prepare to earn a living on my own, even if the family falls. My goal is to become a civil servant.

Alright, that's the plan for now.

Despite my unwillingness to be in the villain position of Kichijouin Reika, I will do my best to live a peaceful and uneventful life!