I think the reason the FL thinks of herself as a villain is because of the whole 1st timeline fiasco. She isn’t looking at what she’s doing now as heroic, I think she sees it as just being good so there’s a better outcome for her and the kingdom. Which at the end of the day is a heroic thing to do, but she’s using/going to use similar tactics to put the duke in the throne as opposed to Lawrence. She researched that the butler family is in trouble and “schemed” a way for them to be loyal to her when she gets power. I think she’s just hung up on getting to end goals and not considering that giving them a job is a good thing. She might see it similar to an amoral chess move.
I might be spouting bs idk, it’s just my poorly worded take.