Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

“Miss, you don’t look well. Did you have a bad dream last night?”

Garnett’s worried voice reached my ears, and I snapped to attention.

‘Right, I was preparing to go to the Imperial Palace.’

With so many thoughts suddenly flooding my mind, I ended up not sleeping at all.

“What dream did I have… I can’t remember at all.”

As I muttered this, my reflection in the mirror looked like a sickly patient to anyone who might see.

I had thrown away two handkerchiefs because of coughing up blood yesterday.

I had burned both of them in case someone might see, but the handkerchiefs soaked in red still seemed vividly present before my eyes.

I knew death wasn’t imminent yet.

This body was destined to die at twenty-one, so I had six years left.

‘And the treasure from another country that emerged as the only solution would appear three years from now.’

[We will present the kingdom’s newly discovered treasure to this year’s winner!]

Reminding myself of this fact once again, I barely managed to calm my startled heart from the night before.

If I had nothing left, there would be no need to fear the approaching death…

But once again, precious people had appeared by my side.

It was inevitable, and in a way destined, and something I had created with my own hands.

I stared blankly at Garnett, who was still looking at me with worried eyes and muttering about brewing some tea that would be good for my body.

Seeing her reminded me of the day I first came to this mansion.

-Assign a personal maid?

-Yes, you can choose one you like from among the maids here.

-One I like…

They were all people I was seeing for the first time, and moreover, being so obedient to authority, they all had their heads bowed so I couldn’t even see their faces.

I thought while touching my bandaged hand. Among these, was there the one who had tenderly treated my hand, ruined from prying off the laundry room floorboards, with that warm touch I felt while half-asleep?

-Even my siblings never got hurt this badly, how did this happen…!

The person with that surprised voice I had faintly heard…

-Please, everyone raise your heads.

Only after saying this was I able to find her.

Among the maids all looking straight ahead, there was one person uniquely looking at my heavily bandaged hand with worried eyes.

It was Garnett.

Whether I had an eye for people or not, looking around me now, everyone was a good person without exception.

There was no special method to find stability.

I just had to recall one by one the faces that made me happy when I was with them.

“I’m really fine. Look, my complexion has fully returned.”

“Ah, that’s such a relief. I was so surprised earlier, you were literally as white as a sheet.”

“Haha… Was it that bad?”

‘That’s right, I can’t die again. I can’t lose precious people through my death like last time.’

I opened wide my eyes that had been bleary from lack of sleep.

“Since you’re going to the Imperial Palace today, you should wear your mage uniform…”

Garnett said, taking out the mage robe that the old mage had given me last time to wear on my next visit.

“No, I’m not going to the Magic Department today, I’m going to meet Her Majesty the Empress. Prepare as usual.”

Today I will treat ‘Bruelle’, another incurable disease that will soon drive the Empress to her death.

It felt like I could only breathe if I confirmed with my own eyes that with will alone, even those destined to die could be saved.

* * *

Just as I finished preparing to go to the Imperial Palace, Luka came to the Duchy.

Seeing his face after a long time, an awkward smile spread across my lips.

“Did you have a good trip, Luka?”

I was reflected in his red eyes, which seemed able to read even the other person’s inner thoughts, like transparent glass beads.

If only the me reflected in his eyes could show a convincing smile.

Luka paused for a moment looking at my face, then strode into the room and embraced me strongly.

“Tell me first if Ria was doing well.”

‘As sharp as ever.’

I smiled awkwardly and patted his back, saying it was suffocating.

Perhaps because I smelled his familiar scent, I was able to regain my composure as usual.

It shouldn’t have been that long since we last met, but as always, Luka had grown significantly without me realizing.

“I was looking for ways to save the Empress everywhere. I hear you even left the Empire, did you have any results?”

At my clean expression and nonchalant voice, Luka examined me half in doubt.

I was good at this.

Pretending to be fine, acting as if I really was okay, looked convincing on the surface, just like in my previous life.

Then nine out of ten would believe I was fine and give the reaction I wanted.

-Thank goodness, I was worried about how to comfort you when we met…

-Wow, she’s totally mentally strong! Right, life is long, very long.

It was surely like that.

“…If it’s alright with me, I want to share Ria’s burden together.”

Can I really not deceive you?

“You know me too well… Don’t you know about respecting privacy?”

I leaned my forehead against Luka’s shoulder and laughed helplessly.

“I’ll tell you later. Not now. Be fooled just once, Mr. Sharp.”

Luka stroked my silver hair with his warm hand and murmured softly.

“I’ll wait, whenever that day comes. The day we can share together.”

His voice filled with strong power was as reliable as a lighthouse illuminating the night.

I didn’t want to tell you of all people, so why do you offer your embrace as always?

I deliberately ignored the welling desire to find comfort in Luka’s arms.

* * *

The carriage raced towards the Imperial Palace.

Thoroughly embarrassed by the silly incident just now, I avoided Luka’s staring gaze and said:

“You haven’t answered me yet either. Where did you go?”

He hadn’t just left the capital, but had left the Empire.

He had suddenly gone all the way to the border by gate, and then set foot in another country to explore ways to cure the Empress’s illness…

‘Do the royal siblings never think of looking within the country when they want to find something?’

Last time, Rachel had gone all the way to the Carven Kingdom to look for Luka.

‘Come on, Luka, where were you?’

“I went to the Trel continent.”

Goodness, he crossed the sea. Momentarily unable to continue speaking due to the unexpected scale, I suddenly recalled the words ‘Trel continent’.

“You, that place is…”

Luka nodded and said:

“The land of elves, right?”

The Trel continent was indeed the land of elves, as Luka said. In the past.

They had long since disappeared beyond history, and were now just a mysterious race passed down like legends.

The Trel continent was so vast its end was unknown, and so densely forested it was difficult for humans to live there, making exploration impossible, so they might be hiding somewhere without anyone knowing.

‘Why such a place…?’

Seeing my questioning expression, Luka smiled awkwardly and said:

“There wasn’t much result. I just went to look for something called the ‘Elven Stone’…”

“The Elven Stone?”

That was something I had seen in the ancient books of Rayes that I read from time to time.

[A treasure left by the Elven King, who was the primordial elf, it is a mysterious mixture of holy power and mana that can resurrect the dead and even raise fallen nations.]

Its appearance depicted in illustrations was a transparent dark green crystal with golden veins intertwined throughout.

“More importantly, did you find it?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How in the Trel continent…”

You found an ancient treasure so quickly in that vast continent?

“There’s a treasure room that only the Emperor and Crown Prince can enter. I found a book from the ancient Greluphien Kingdom era there, and there was a map inserted showing the location of the Elven Stone.”

“I see. As expected, the capable one succeeds.”

“Pardon? What does that mean?”

“It’s what you say about someone who finds a map showing the location of a treasure as soon as they open a book at home.”

No, more than that…

“You say there was no result even though you found an elven treasure?”

“You’ll see for yourself when we get to the Imperial Palace later, but it seems to have completely lost its efficacy. Or maybe it was just an ordinary stone to begin with.”

“Hmm… Still, you did well, Luka. I was the one who told you not to give up, but I didn’t expect you to actually cross the sea.”

I said, looking at Luka who was smiling with a face of disappointing defeat.

“This time I’ve beaten you, Luka.”

As I spoke softly and stroked his soft hair, Luka’s crimson eyes widened for a moment.

“I succeeded, you know. I found a way to save the Empress.”

It was my first victory.

I approached his surprised face with an excited smile.

“It’s good we didn’t give up, right?”

After hearing what had happened to me, Luka said, ‘Ria has practically crossed the sea too.’

Well, I had found Troisen, which was so tightly veiled in secrecy, and even made a request. It was something others couldn’t even imagine doing.

“But when Lady Kablos came to the Imperial Palace before to treat Mother, she said it was impossible even with healing magic…”

“I’ve thought about that, and since it was historically known as an incurable disease, she probably lacked confidence when using magic.”

Generally, magic manifests according to the belief in one’s mind when imagining it.

Even when I treated Tharo last time, the magic activated the moment I imagined him being completely healed.

That’s why it’s quite difficult to try to heal an incurable disease with magic.

‘She probably didn’t have confidence like I do now.’

I shrugged and said:

“Even if I had used magic to try to treat the Empress before knowing this fact, it might have been the same.”

“Hmm, hearing Ria’s words, I understand. But what did you pack so much… in your bag?”

Luka’s gaze fell on the small handbag placed beside me.

Before leaving the mansion, I had stuffed new handkerchiefs into the bag in preparation for coughing up blood, packing about 50 of them.

As a result, the bag was so full it wouldn’t even close and looked like it might burst at any moment.

“I caught a cold, so I packed some handkerchiefs.”

At my made-up excuse, Luka’s expression changed as he sat across from me.

“A cold, you say? Summer colds aren’t caught by do… I mean, not just anyone.”

I know you were about to say even dogs don’t catch them.

“Summer is almost over now. It’s because I slept in the cold a few days ago.”

Luka said he would have to feed me potions good for colds as soon as we got to the Imperial Palace.

As he said this, he raised his cool hand and placed it on my warm forehead.

I smiled bitterly as I watched Luka speak with a voice tinged with worry, comparing my temperature to his own and wondering if it was hot.

It seemed he had done an excellent job of raising one sibling at the orphanage.

‘We surely would have gotten along well even if we were born as real siblings.’

I removed his hand and said:

“Don’t make such a fuss over just a cold. What would you do if I caught a fatal illness?”

At my words, which were a joke based on reality, Luka’s lips suddenly stiffened.