Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

I recalled a passage from Princess Neuw’s mentor’s book ‘So I Became a Mage?’

[Healing is not merely curing physical wounds and stopping blood – it must also mend the scars tormenting the heart…]

And I had witnessed the ‘healing’ she described in the original story.

When Luka was tormented by the Empress’s death, Senia cast a spell to erase his memories of her, providing a rather unsettling ‘cure.’ Yet as a result, Luka no longer suffered guilt or regret over the Empress’s demise.

The memory-erasing magic was a unique healing mage skill, exclusively wielded by Senia and myself as the Empire’s only awakened healing mages.

For the spell to work, the subject had to entrust their body and mind completely to the healing mage…

‘I suppose they did entrust themselves, in a manner of speaking.’

Had Tharo’s spell activated even slightly later, my magic may not have taken effect, as even a shred of distrust would nullify healing magic.

These witnesses had felt surprise upon encountering me asking about the restroom through the window, but Tharo’s spell had frozen them before that surprise could morph into distrust.

[A healing mage must never abuse the memory-erasing magic for non-therapeutic purposes! It’s an ethical issue…]

Princess Neuw’s admonishments seemed to echo in my mind. Yet as long as these witnesses lived, Luka’s legitimacy would persistently be called into question.

‘Yet I can’t simply kill them either. I’m trying to resolve this as favorably as possible, Princess Neuw.’

Closing my eyes, I extended my hands towards the witnesses.

Unfurling the hand bearing the Sun’s Emblem, I focused on that familiar warmth. Just as a fish innately knows how to breathe underwater from birth, I too instinctively grasped the flow of wielding magic.

[You seem to have discarded that blue-haired mage’s promises.]

Though Tharo’s remark gave me pause, I resolved to never resort to that again after today.

The witnesses’ memories flooded my consciousness like a panorama.

Among them, I recognized a familiar face.

While still breathtakingly beautiful now, the Empress had been utterly stunning in her youth. 

In her servants’ recollections, she was ever kind and warm, graciously smiling even towards commoners. Some had even received her financial aid, enabling them to support their families or send children to the academy.

‘The ungrateful wretches.’

Despite knowing the consequences of slandering her, they had come here to testify nonetheless.

My brow furrowed in disdain.

The Empress appeared increasingly haggard in their memories as time passed. In her vulnerable state, Archduke Gruben had been her sole remaining pillar of support. Such close friends were they that she eagerly anticipated his every visit.

Yet the final memory was…

[No! Please, you must believe me, Your Majesty! Gruben never regarded me in such a manner!]

That heartrending image of the Empress’s anguished plea was the last recollection I erased.

While these individuals were indeed despicable, one maidservant’s memories provided insight into how the rumors had proliferated.

[If you wish, I can help you escape from all that torments you.]

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.

That unintentionally overheard remark had prompted the maid to immediately report the incident to the Emperor.

Her next memory depicted the Empress wailing inconsolably after Archduke Gruben’s execution.

Their relationship seemed akin to my bond with Luka in the original story – culminating in one party’s sacrifice and the other’s overwhelming guilt.

‘It’s a miracle the Empress didn’t lose her sanity too.’

The residual echoes of those erased memories lingered painfully within me.

More recent recollections revealed how Marquis Gassen had gathered and coordinated their testimonies into an intricately crafted narrative that seemed utterly plausible.

Now that I had purged even those memories, these witnesses would likely remember neither their reasons for being summoned nor one another’s presence.

As I erased their fleeting recollection of our encounter, Tharo’s urgent voice rang out:

[Someone’s coming, Master. And my spell is about to dissipate.]

“Got it, let’s head for the window.”

Leaving the witnesses whose fingers were beginning to twitch behind, I swiftly made my way towards the window ledge.

Bang!

“It is time to go.”

The door burst open as uniformed knights entered.

Concealed behind a pillar by the window, there was no risk of them spotting me.

‘Go ahead and interrogate them all you like.’

Before clambering through the window, I whipped around, sensing someone’s gaze upon me. But I only saw the bewildered witnesses, utterly clueless as to their current location.

[What’s wrong, Master?]

“Nothing, let’s go.”

* * *

Marquis Gassen couldn’t disguise the trembling of his hands.

Had he truly envisioned this outcome from his scheme?

These witnesses had been painstakingly procured from the Empire’s premier information guild at great cost. Initially reluctant to testify, he had persuaded them, securing their sworn statements.

All that remained was for those very mouths, which had fawned over him for a few measly coins, to speak the rehearsed words before this assembly!

“Wh-What…? An illicit relationship between the late Empress and Archduke Gruben?!”

Instead, they appeared more startled and confounded than anyone else present.

“I shall ask again! Did you not inform me of witnessing dozens of their secret trysts while serving them? That the Empress and the Archduke were engaged in an affair?!”

Marquis Gassen’s thunderous demands prompted the commoners to tremble violently as they responded:

“Why are you addressing us thus… I have no recollection of such events.”

“We cannot even fathom why we have been summoned here… My lord.”

The Marquis leapt to his feet, his bulging eyes wild as he roared:

“Insolent wretches! How dare you insult a noble?!”

His throat constricted, his heart no longer pounded erratically – for the young Crown Prince regarded him with a cold, piercing gaze.

‘He had said my life was at stake.’

None, Marquis Gassen included, could dismiss those words as mere bluster or intimidation.

Only now did he recall how the Crown Prince had dealt with that attendant who had attempted to slay the Crown Princess – unsheathing an elongated blade that emitted an ominous azure radiance from its scabbard.

Everyone had proclaimed it an act of immense leniency to have dispatched the man with a single stroke.

Glancing around once more, Lady Jeria appeared utterly livid.

This Grand Nobles’ Council had been intended to depose the Crown Prince, yet the proceedings had deviated entirely from that objective.

The witnesses were pleading with the bailiffs to be permitted to return home.

Finally comprehending the gravity of his situation, Marquis Gassen staggered forward and collapsed before Luka, trembling uncontrollably.

“F-Forgive me… My only crime was being deceived by those commoners’ lies!”

“Forgive you?”

Luka’s tone conveyed sheer incredulity.

“You have insulted me and my revered mother, the Empress, by giving voice to vile, unutterable rumors. You shall undoubtedly be punished.”

The Marquis flinched violently, proceeding to bang his forehead against the floor as he begged for mercy.

“I apologize, Your Highness! It was my grave mistake! Please, I implore your clemency…”

“And why should I grant it?”

Luka’s indifferent query chilled the air.

“Did you find that life-risking gamble amusing, Marquis?”

Duke Rayes rose from his seat, addressing Luka:

“How shall we proceed, Your Highness?”

“The charge is insulting the Imperial family. He has slandered me and Her Majesty the Empress with baseless drivel.”

A murmur rippled through the chamber, for that crime carried the death sentence – regardless of Marquis Gassen’s grand noble status. His house would face ruinous downfall as the sentence was carried out.

As the Marquis was dragged away, wailing in anguish, the nobles of the Noble faction regretted heeding his counsel to solidify their ambitious agenda mere days prior.

Thanks to Marquis Gassen, the council had concluded in utter disarray without even broaching the intended topic of revoking the Crown Prince’s title. 

The other nobles had been too preoccupied with self-preservation to voice any substantial challenges.

Only when the bell tolled, signaling the council’s conclusion, did Luka finally release the pent-up tension.

“…”

Immediately after Marquis Gassen’s inflammatory remarks, Luka had secretly ordered his subordinates to execute all those summoned as witnesses. He had initially intended to eliminate them before they could depart the council grounds.

When later informed that Ria had apparently cast a spell erasing the witnesses’ memories, Luka had doubted his own ears at first.

‘Which is why I refrained from killing them, wishing to verify it firsthand…’

Luka’s lips unconsciously uttered that precious name.

“Ria…”

And upon witnessing the truth himself, he could focus on nothing else but seeking her.

* * *

“Let’s go, Brother!”

We hastily boarded the carriage and fled the capital immediately after the final bell.

We had to reach the estate before Dad and Drehan’s return, without fail.

In the original story, this council had severely tarnished Luka’s honor. The testimonies alone could neither conclusively prove nor refute the alleged relations between the late Empress and Archduke Gruben – both parties having long perished, rendering any definitive clarification impossible.

That had been Marquis Gassen’s intention. Precipitating a crisis that nearly cost Luka the Crown Prince’s title, though the vote had fallen just short of the required majority.

This was due to the Rayes and Claire Duchies both siding with the Crown Prince.

Dad would naturally have opposed such an unjust endeavor.

As for Duke Claire, he had been Archduke Gruben’s closest friend, outraged to see his wrongfully executed comrade’s name further besmirched by the nobles.

While the Crown Prince’s position had narrowly been retained, the council ultimately represented a resounding victory for the Noble faction.

In its aftermath, the majority of imperial nobles had turned their backs on Luka, subjecting him to relentless humiliation and scorn until his eventual ‘Monarch of the Battlefield’ trial on the battlefield.

For they had all assumed that a prince rumored to be born of adultery, despite ascending the throne, would swiftly be deposed from a society prizing nobility and honor above all else.

And I couldn’t simply stand idly by, allowing him to endure such a narrative.

To refrain from action despite the ability was akin to neglecting a suffering child.

Instead, having intervened, I felt an overwhelming sense of catharsis.

“But Ria, how did you know those witnesses were coming? Do you possess prophetic abilities or something?”

I nodded at Miller’s remark.

“Perhaps I should have.”

Protagonists of reincarnation novels could likely make a comfortable living simply by setting up fortune-telling stalls in their new worlds.

[Master, are you feeling alright?]

With Miller present, I merely gestured an affirmative nod. While unnaturally fine, a lingering unease prompted me to exercise greater restraint henceforth.

And when I entered my quarters upon returning to the estate, a familiar figure awaited me.

“Luka…?!”

He hadn’t used teleportation, yet he had arrived here first?

Luka turned towards my voice. 

“You’re back?”