The Villainess With A Heroine Harem

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A quick note before you start: If the previous chapter (or any of the ones before that) had repeated text at any point, please do check again and let me know in a para or chapter comment so I can fix it if I haven't already! More info in the author's note at the end.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As much as the now-deceased president of Oriana would have liked to believe otherwise, most of the people in his country didn't actually like him very much, even during his first term.

However, with the lack of a decent alternative, as well as the way that Oriana's government was elected, it was truly difficult for anyone to move him out of office.

After all, even if everyone 'knew' that the votes didn't quite tally up with what they expected, what could anyone really do against a system that was corrupted from the bottom up?

So long as they had a choice, normal people wouldn't even dare think of going against the police, let alone the much more powerful military.

And since he had previously kept the most powerful forces in the country satisfied, it was truly no wonder why the president managed to retain his seat and life for so long, despite his rather unreasonable way of governance.

Unfortunately, being in a position of supreme authority for so long made the man forget what it truly was that allowed him to stay there all this time, and he ended up committing a fatal mistake.

By forcing the White Deer to flee, not only did he make Emilia and her family his enemies, but also the entire upper class of Oriana.

After all, if even the wealthiest and the most powerful among them could be treated like this, then what about them?

Naturally, since neither the White Deer nor the Black Tiger had the capital to truly contest against the state, the 'strength' of those weaker than them was even more insignificant and laughable in the eyes of the president.

It was impossible for him to take their tiny little egos and feelings into consideration, and even more impossible for them to have the guts to openly go against him, or so he thought.

Obviously, while they may not have the strength to contend against him individually, the combined influence they had was well and truly terrifying, especially with Emilia and her family secretly supporting them from behind.

With the groundwork already in place before her family had fled, Emilia was easily able to communicate with and guide Bianca's father, the Fionn patriarch, into setting a trap that would not only get rid of his greatest opponent, but also present him and his political allies with the opportunity of a lifetime.

He didn't even have to do much. Just carry out a series of small tasks over the course of a few months, and enjoy the results.

Naturally, he also had no idea which of these small 'tasks' really led to the president's death, or what it was that truly killed him.

He was too busy celebrating being the new president to care, anyway.

Of course, before he could openly host the big party, the matter of the 'previous' president still had to be swept cleanly under the rug, but the preparations for that were already complete, so there wasn't much to worry about.

Clinking his wine glass with the recently famous 'murderer' and wife of his deceased predecessor, Mr. Fionn grinned. "I have to say, Mrs. Anderson, it was a pleasure working with you. Within seven days, all your requirements will definitely be fulfilled."

The dark-haired woman nodded as she swirled the red liquid in her glass, but didn't dare to take a sip.

After all, while it might not be easy to justify her poisoning and death at this juncture, she couldn't put anything past the sleazy and underhanded men in politics. Not after having been so close to them all her life and knowing just how far they could go.

Regardless of her thoughts, however, her smile remained polite. "Of course you will. I doubt you'd be interested in going through what my husband did."

The man in front of her almost sneered. 'Did she really start to think she's so cool and powerful that she can really kill someone at this level?'

But Mr. Fionn had to admit, compared to her haggard expression while recording the video for their 'propaganda' before, the dead president's wife did look quite sexy when she was being so chillingly cold, especially without all those painted on frown lines and exaggerated makeup.

Fortunately, he knew better than to mix 'business' with 'feelings'.

Expertly masking his real thoughts, he gave her a friendly chuckle. "No need to be like that, madam. I'm a gentleman, you see, there's no need for threats. Fifty million, a new identity, and safe transport to Blue Dawn, all of these will be yours as promised. Just give the matter some time to settle down, will you?"

Mrs. Anderson smiled. "Of course, I was only giving you a friendly reminder. After all, I'm not stupid enough to put all my eggs in one basket like my husband. My confidants are ready to forward my 'last words' to a certain someone who can get rid of you just as easily as my poor husband if you really betray me, after all. As for whether she would believe your words over mine… feel free to take the chance."

Mr. Fionn's smile turned stiff on his face as he felt cold sweat start dripping down his back. "H-Haha, n-no need to be like that, now, Mrs. Anderson. We're both on the same side, aren't we…?"

Despite what he said, though, his previously casual words were now full of sincerity.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

While everyone's curiosity was still piqued, another bombshell of an announcement came from the officials of Oriana, rendering many completely speechless.

"Murder mystery of the century solved within a day!"

"Breaking News! The one who killed Oriana's ex-president turned out to be--?! Listen to this shocking 'criminal's' full confession exclusively on Orion News today at three PM!"

Of course, even those who didn't flock to watch the show ended up being bombarded by the news from their peers, and some couldn't help but lament the suffering of their eardrums from their overexcited colleagues and friends.

They couldn't really be blamed, however, since this was indeed the most exciting news story they'd had for quite a while, going from 'possibly war causing international incident' to 'household troubles' in a matter of hours.

That's right, if the news outlets and the officials of Oriana were to be believed, the murderer of their previous president was none other than the man's own wife.

Naturally, many didn't believe that it was truly the president's wife who killed him, and thought that she must have been framed or coerced. But with the woman herself confessing on camera, only those crazy conspiracy theorists believed themselves.

A somewhat tired-looking woman with numerous frown lines on her face sobbed in front of the camera. "I-I didn't want to do it, I really didn't… but he left me no choice!"

When she lifted her head with a jerk, a stream of tears that had been pooling around her reddened eyes started dripping down her haggard face. "T-The people of Oriana were suffering, I could tell. They were losing their livelihood, their confidence, and even... their sense of self! I-I saw everything with my own eyes, and every time I looked into my husband's remorseless eyes, I wondered… how long will I sit back and allow it to go on?"

Unlike many other countries that placed limelight on the significant others of their presidents and prime ministers, Oriana's president liked to keep his domestic affairs out of the public eye. Only those in the upper class were more aware of his family situation, and this was perhaps the first time many 'commoners' even saw what his wife looked like.

Although many felt that her words couldn't be taken at face value, many more couldn't help but sympathize with her. After all, the president's other 'deeds' weren't anywhere near as well hidden as his family affairs, which made the woman's words much more credible than they otherwise would have been.

Naturally, the fact that the now-deceased president had once chased out and taken over both of his country's top corporations was no secret, and anyone who understood the slightest bit about business knew that the move was short-sighted at best, and self-harming at worst.

With this kind of precedent in place, not to mention foreign investments, would even domestic entrepreneurs feel safe anymore? And without businesses to offer jobs, how was the country's economy supposed to survive?

Perhaps if they had been operating under a more localized model focusing on only nurturing small businesses from the start, things wouldn't have been so bad. But with mega corporations like the White Deer and Black Tiger having already progressed and unified much of the country's economy, Oriana's government was simply indulging in self-mutilation by getting rid of them like that.

Even with the White Deer's mostly passive and slow withdrawal, the effects on the job market had been clear for all to see, especially since the timing happened to coincide with the Black Tiger's decline.

Needless to say, the public sentiment in Oriana wasn't in the president's favor at all, and anyone not completely detached from the common folk in the country was able to more or less tell.

Of course, some people outside Oriana were shocked to discover that the deceased president's wife was being treated not as a murderer, but hero instead!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━