Yknow all these reincarnated or isekai’d villains/side characters feel more like your typical shoujo heroine and then they just make the ‘real heroine’ the bad guy. It doesn’t really subvert any tropes when it’s following the same formula lol.
Am I the only one supremely confused as to why there is drama now. Wasn't the prince already engaged to the villain? is the author trying to write in an affair (and justify it with domestic politics)? Wasn't mc and painter guy liking each other?
@liszst depends imo. Read several works where it is like you say, but also several where it isn't. Like how the mc befriends the heroine (didnt bakarina also do that?), or starts their own plotline that only tangentially touches on the heroines. Even some where they stay a villain, and manage to "take revenge" but is clearly still a villain (usually the heroine is one too, tho). Etc.
@onionskins: she was a woman with a child in her previous life, but now she's just a 16 years old. She has memories of her past life doesn't mean her personality and mind are exactly the same as herself in the past. Moreover, she really is a protagonist of a shoujo manga.