Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

It seemed the monster had grievously injured Ria’s leg, leaving her reliant on a cane to walk from then on.

Based on Dad’s words, it appeared this incident occurred around a month before he came to the orphanage to find me.

The original story had never specified the exact timing, so I had been unaware… His anguished, self-reproaching expression made a certain degree of sense now.

Seeing my bewilderment, he asked with a concerned tone:

“Are you still in shock from yesterday’s events?”

“Yesterday’s events…?”

“Witnessing Her Highness the Princess crushed under that chandelier right before your eyes…”

“Huh?! What on earth…!”

For a fleeting moment, a deafening sound echoed loud enough to pierce the darkness blanketing the gardens.

“Sending you to the debutante ball was clearly a mistake. Forget such a horrific memory as soon as possible.”

‘The debutante ball…?’

If this was a scene from the original story, then it would be taking place one year after the reality I had been living in.

In my world, the debutante ball was right around the corner, so how could yesterday have been the ball in this realm?

-Her Highness the Princess will soon make her debut…

Drehan’s words resurfaced in my memory, lingering like a faint echo.

‘Ah…’

In the original story, Rachel had returned immediately after Luka came back to the capital.

Her return as Princess had set the date for the debutante ball, resulting in it ultimately being held a year earlier compared to the original timeline.

But more importantly than that…

“What became of Her Highness the Princess…?”

“Neither the High Priest nor the Magic Tower Lord knows any means to revive a departed soul.”

I felt my heart plummet with a sickening thud.

“Has the culprit been identified…?!”

“While I suspect Kablos, there is only circumstantial evidence. Without any proof, this may simply be ruled an accident. A gale of bloodshed has begun sweeping the capital the moment the Crown Prince returned…”

“Then what of Luka, what happened to Luka?”

“I can’t tell you not to worry about His Highness. He grinds his teeth, searching for the culprit despite the sorrow of losing his sister.”

“How could this be…”

The summer night breeze swirled around me.

The breeze caressing my nose steadily intensified into a gale, and time itself began to accelerate relentlessly.

The figure of Dad before me vanished, replaced by numerous servants rushing by the solitary garden where I stood, too swiftly for me to register their presences.

I witnessed the rising and setting of the sun, the waxing and waning of the moon, sudden downpours of rain.

Those time-lapsed scenes finally halted on a sunset of autumn, the season having transitioned from the summer I had started in.

And standing before me was Luka.

I parted my lips, eager to say something, anything to him, but only his name emerged.

“Luka…”

“Why must everyone around me suffer such misfortune?”

He spoke those words with a strained smile.

“The mother I had longed to see passed away on the very night I returned to the capital, without a moment’s hesitation. And my sister died at a tender age during the debutante ball she had so greatly anticipated.”

It’s all because of me… The unspoken words seemed to pierce my heart the instant they resounded in my mind.

What wrong had this child committed to shoulder the world’s burdens all on his own?

Was Luka fated to such profound suffering so that in his darkest moments, only Senia could offer solace and consolation, following the dictates of this story?

To blindly trust and follow the female lead alone, ultimately forgiving even an archenemy like Kablos… If that was the future this wretched tale had in store.

If unavoidable anguish was destined to be Luka’s lot, then I could readily become an unprecedented villainess of the cruelest sort for his sake instead.

If you cannot judge those evildoers, then I shall be the one to condemn Kablos and his ilk – his son Enoch Kablos, Lady Jeria and her entire faction.

I felt sorry for Senia, but I didn’t have the same affection for her villainous family as she did.

‘But before such events can transpire, preventing them takes priority.’

Even knowing this was not reality, my heart still ached as if a furious maelstrom had swept through.

Hence, I found myself instinctively taking a step towards him, wanting to embrace him reassuringly.

To tell him not to worry, for I would put a stop to everything.

Yet the leg I leaned on with my cane lost its balance, causing me to fall awkwardly into his broad embrace instead.

To the extent that I could no longer discern who was the one in need of consolation, Luka steadied me firmly with his sturdy arms.

Cradling me tenderly against him, Luka murmured:

“All I have left is you, Ria.”

“…”

“From now on, I shall bear all misfortune and vengeance alone, so Ria, please live your life and forget me.”

“And what will you do if I forget you as well?”

My downcast vision blurred with tears.

“The final ‘Monarch of the Battlefield’ Sovereign Trial commences next week. I will instigate the Selon Royal Envoy Assassination Incident. This may be the last time I see you.”

Gazing intently at my features as if committing them to memory one final time, he turned and began walking away.

Leaning heavily on my cane, I struggled to pursue his retreating figure until I ultimately collapsed to the ground, teardrops rolling down my cheeks.

Through my distorted, tear-blurred vision, I glimpsed Luka whirling back in alarm, dashing towards me.

But he never reached my side as a blinding light engulfed me, and I lost consciousness.

* * *

“What was… that? Did I return?”

The room was shrouded in the dim darkness just before dawn broke.

The vivid emotions, tactile sensations, and very air I had experienced mere moments ago still lingered palpably, yet I had inexplicably awoken back in this tranquil room, as if it had all been but a fleeting dream.

Descending from the bed, I paced about the room, able to walk unimpeded without a cane.

I had encountered similarly ambiguous situations before, where the line blurred between dream and reality.

A warning, perhaps?

If Rachel’s death were to occur in reality…?

Among the girls her age participating in the debutante ball, Rachel possessed the noblest lineage, granting her the authority to influence the event’s timing.

This had likely been such a case as well.

The debutante ball was held one year prematurely. If Rachel had truly fallen victim to the faction opposing Luka, then regardless of the timing, they would undoubtedly pursue the same objective once more.

Consort Jeria was already actively expanding her forces in the wake of Luka’s reinstated succession, akin to a spark igniting her ambitions.

The legitimate Crown Prince’s return alone significantly heightened the risks of the capital descending into a bloodbath.

And the Emperor, instead of mediating the situation, was neglecting state affairs entirely, idling his time away in revelry…

Luka currently remained the focus of public attention, so making a move against him would be imprudent.

Moreover, despite not wielding a sword for two years, Luka was a transcendent capable of manipulating aura.

Even if a chandelier fell upon his head, he would surely be able to preserve his own life.

Hence, the relatively obscured Rachel, overshadowed by his brilliance, would appear an ideal target to strike at Luka’s Achilles’ heel.

Recalling the original story’s contents, Rachel, introduced as Luka’s sister, had only made a brief appearance early on before fading into oblivion, unmentioned thereafter.

As a novel written entirely from Senia’s perspective, no questions arose regarding Rachel’s disappearance after the debutante ball…

But what if the reason was because Rachel had perished on that very day?

Luka’s utterly devastated expression, as one who had lost everything, resurfaced vividly in my mind.

I remained seated on the bed, spending the night grappling with these troubling thoughts.

* * *

Knock-knock-

“Miss, I’m coming in.”

Garnett entered the room, carrying a basin filled with water for Ria’s morning ablutions.

Around this time, a slender wrist would usually emerge from between the bed curtains, forming the number 5 as a muffled voice mumbled:

“Five more minutes…”

Yet today, her young charge rose from the bed of her own accord, parting the curtains and descending with light steps.

“You’re up early today?”

Garnett remarked as she prepared the towels.

Rather than her customary struggle to wake Ria, Garnett found herself concerned that an unsettling dream might have roused her mistress prematurely this time.

“Yes, I had a frightening dream.”

Just as suspected, Garnett sighed inwardly as she assisted Ria with her morning routine.

“What sort of dream could have troubled our young miss so?”

“A dream of Luka’s misfortune. And my own powerless self, merely watching it unfold.”

Her young charge cherished the future ruler of this Empire above all others.

As a close younger brother, a companion who had been her sole dependence through the horrific ordeals of the orphanage.

While the reasons were numerous, there were times when even those seemed inadequate explanations.

Hence, Garnett too found their interactions quite mystifying to observe at times.

“Dreams are merely dreams. As long as you remain by His Highness’s side, such events cannot transpire.”

Garnett smiled faintly as she deftly braided Ria’s lustrous silver hair.

She truly felt it would be so.

Ria’s reflection in the mirror betrayed an uncharacteristically grave expression, as if last night’s visions were manifesting once more.

Pivotal moments inevitably arose over the course of one’s life journey.

Perhaps the previous night had been such a juncture for Ria.

After awakening drenched in cold sweat from her slumber, it seemed Ria had made a personal resolution of sorts.

As the cruelest of villainesses, she would definitely liberate Luka from the abyss of misfortune, even while bearing her own incurable affliction, before eventually departing for foreign lands instead of a solitary demise.

‘I can’t simply stand idly by and watch as Luka’s current anguish builds up, all for Senia’s eventual happiness.’

The natural course of this beggar’s tale of a world had already begun diverging onto an alternate trajectory.

Where that destination might ultimately lead, none could presently foresee.