TV-Series
Description
Bertia, whose full name is Bertia Ibil Noches, is the primary female character in the light novel and anime series An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess. She is the firstborn daughter of the main branch of the noble Noches family and is introduced as the childhood fiancée of Prince Cecil.
From a very young age, Bertia came to a startling realization: she has been reincarnated into the world of an otome game, a romantic visual novel she played in her previous life. In that game, her character is destined to be the villainess, a rival to the game's heroine, who is meant to end up with Prince Cecil. Armed with this knowledge, Bertia resolves to fulfill her role perfectly. Her primary goal is to become what she calls a "pure flower of evil," committing acts of villainy to drive Cecil into the arms of the game's true heroine, Heronia. She believes that by ensuring this "correct" pairing, she can secure a happy and peaceful future for the kingdom and for Cecil himself, even at the cost of her own happiness.
However, Bertia's personality is fundamentally at odds with her self-appointed mission. Despite her best efforts to be cruel and calculating, she is in reality a sweet, naive, and incredibly earnest girl. Her attempts at villainy are almost always comically misinterpreted by those around her. For example, when she deliberately shatters a teacup to intimidate a new maid, it turns out the maid had secretly damaged the cup herself and was terrified of being punished. Bertia's "tantrum" is seen as a clever ruse to take the blame, making the maid cry with relief and gratitude. These misunderstandings, born from Bertia's inherent kindness, consistently turn her malicious plots into acts of accidental heroism. She is also a very energetic and somewhat clumsy individual, a "Genki girl" whose liveliness is noted to have brought color into the otherwise dull life of the prince.
Throughout the story, Bertia's role is that of a Decoy Protagonist. While she is a central figure, the narrative is told primarily from the perspective of her fiancé, Prince Cecil, who observes her strange behavior with curiosity and growing affection. Her main drive is to push Cecil and Heronia together, but Cecil is completely uninterested in the heroine and instead becomes more fascinated with Bertia. Her actions are the catalyst for the plot, as she unknowingly alters the original game's events. For instance, believing that her mother is fated to die from a plague, Bertia's panicked attempts to be a villainess cause Cecil to investigate and prevent the plague from ever occurring, solidifying her family's happiness.
Key relationships define Bertia's journey. Her relationship with Cecil is central; she is determined to leave him for his own good, while he is equally determined to keep her by his side. She sees him as her "one and only joy," a sentiment carried over from her lonely previous life, which explains her deep-seated motivation to secure his happiness even if it means her own ruin. Her relationship with the heroine, Heronia, is fraught with irony. Bertia tries to be her rival, but Heronia is genuinely manipulative and cruel, making Bertia, the self-proclaimed villainess, appear even more virtuous by comparison. Within her family, Bertia is loved and supported, and her father even finds her "How to be a Villain" guidebook to be impressively well-made.
Over the course of the series, Bertia undergoes subtle but significant development. She eventually begins to recognize that her world is not strictly following the game's narrative and that her actions have real, positive consequences. By the end of the main story, she starts to accept that she is not the villain she believes herself to be, allowing her to move past the rigid destiny she had constructed for herself. This growth is tied to her realizations about love, agency, and the difference between fiction and reality.
In terms of abilities, Bertia possesses several notable traits. Unbeknownst to her for some time, she has made a contract with a dark spirit. While the name sounds villainous, these spirits specialize in defensive magic, a power that aligns more with her protective nature. Her true talents lie elsewhere: she has a hidden gift for organization and publishing. The same skills she uses to create detailed villainy manuals are recognized by Cecil as being perfect for creating tourist guides or wedding magazines, a path she successfully pursues later in life. Furthermore, her sweet and innocent demeanor acts as a kind of good luck charm; her noble peers believe that giving her sweets will bring them luck in love, and she is seen as a living good luck charm, much as she was in her past life where people mistook her for a house spirit.
From a very young age, Bertia came to a startling realization: she has been reincarnated into the world of an otome game, a romantic visual novel she played in her previous life. In that game, her character is destined to be the villainess, a rival to the game's heroine, who is meant to end up with Prince Cecil. Armed with this knowledge, Bertia resolves to fulfill her role perfectly. Her primary goal is to become what she calls a "pure flower of evil," committing acts of villainy to drive Cecil into the arms of the game's true heroine, Heronia. She believes that by ensuring this "correct" pairing, she can secure a happy and peaceful future for the kingdom and for Cecil himself, even at the cost of her own happiness.
However, Bertia's personality is fundamentally at odds with her self-appointed mission. Despite her best efforts to be cruel and calculating, she is in reality a sweet, naive, and incredibly earnest girl. Her attempts at villainy are almost always comically misinterpreted by those around her. For example, when she deliberately shatters a teacup to intimidate a new maid, it turns out the maid had secretly damaged the cup herself and was terrified of being punished. Bertia's "tantrum" is seen as a clever ruse to take the blame, making the maid cry with relief and gratitude. These misunderstandings, born from Bertia's inherent kindness, consistently turn her malicious plots into acts of accidental heroism. She is also a very energetic and somewhat clumsy individual, a "Genki girl" whose liveliness is noted to have brought color into the otherwise dull life of the prince.
Throughout the story, Bertia's role is that of a Decoy Protagonist. While she is a central figure, the narrative is told primarily from the perspective of her fiancé, Prince Cecil, who observes her strange behavior with curiosity and growing affection. Her main drive is to push Cecil and Heronia together, but Cecil is completely uninterested in the heroine and instead becomes more fascinated with Bertia. Her actions are the catalyst for the plot, as she unknowingly alters the original game's events. For instance, believing that her mother is fated to die from a plague, Bertia's panicked attempts to be a villainess cause Cecil to investigate and prevent the plague from ever occurring, solidifying her family's happiness.
Key relationships define Bertia's journey. Her relationship with Cecil is central; she is determined to leave him for his own good, while he is equally determined to keep her by his side. She sees him as her "one and only joy," a sentiment carried over from her lonely previous life, which explains her deep-seated motivation to secure his happiness even if it means her own ruin. Her relationship with the heroine, Heronia, is fraught with irony. Bertia tries to be her rival, but Heronia is genuinely manipulative and cruel, making Bertia, the self-proclaimed villainess, appear even more virtuous by comparison. Within her family, Bertia is loved and supported, and her father even finds her "How to be a Villain" guidebook to be impressively well-made.
Over the course of the series, Bertia undergoes subtle but significant development. She eventually begins to recognize that her world is not strictly following the game's narrative and that her actions have real, positive consequences. By the end of the main story, she starts to accept that she is not the villain she believes herself to be, allowing her to move past the rigid destiny she had constructed for herself. This growth is tied to her realizations about love, agency, and the difference between fiction and reality.
In terms of abilities, Bertia possesses several notable traits. Unbeknownst to her for some time, she has made a contract with a dark spirit. While the name sounds villainous, these spirits specialize in defensive magic, a power that aligns more with her protective nature. Her true talents lie elsewhere: she has a hidden gift for organization and publishing. The same skills she uses to create detailed villainy manuals are recognized by Cecil as being perfect for creating tourist guides or wedding magazines, a path she successfully pursues later in life. Furthermore, her sweet and innocent demeanor acts as a kind of good luck charm; her noble peers believe that giving her sweets will bring them luck in love, and she is seen as a living good luck charm, much as she was in her past life where people mistook her for a house spirit.