Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

Although it wasn’t Ria’s first time in Luka’s room, she couldn’t help but gasp in awe as she looked around again.

High above the lofty ceiling, circular window frames were carved like works of art, and the chandelier that brightly illuminated the room was as beautiful as the one in William Palace that she had only heard about.

Perhaps because it was a room used by crown princes throughout history, Luka’s simple and neat taste wasn’t evident.

Hazel, who had placed the stack of papers on Luka’s wide desk with a thud, finally stretched his freed arms and turned towards Ria.

“Hmm… I expected it based on what I’d heard, but to think His Highness would offer his back to such an extent.”

Ria gave an awkward smile as she watched him grin and say, ‘How surprising.’

It seemed that since the moment they had appeared as each other’s partners at the recent debutante ball, abundant rumors had been spreading about Ria and Luka.

Among people, there was even talk that Duke Rayes hadn’t immediately brought Luka back after discovering him, but had kept him hidden for about a year to guard against the danger from the forces that had kidnapped him.

They said this explained the closeness between Ria and him, but neither side could provide the correct answer.

“Then I’ll see you later, Master.”

Luka personally opened the door wide and, unlike usual, politely issued a quick order of expulsion with a smiling face.

To Hazel’s eyes right now, that handsome boy just looked like a fox with nine tails.

“Ha, ha… Do you know how many dozens of minutes I walked carrying this?”

Hazel inwardly assured himself that he must be the only teacher in the entire Empire with such passion.

At that moment, his eyes fell on a green rock placed on one side of the desk.

“Oh? Isn’t that the Elven Stone?”

He knew about it well because Drehan had written a thesis on the Elven Stone when he was a professor at the Imperial Academy.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary jade, but the golden vines surrounding it were so intricate that they couldn’t have been twisted by human hands.

“Could it be that the reason you’ve been missing classes recently was…”

Hazel trailed off. There was no need to ask the reason explicitly.

It was obvious that it must have been for the bedridden Empress.

Feeling somewhat pitiful, he looked at Luka with sympathy when a clear voice was heard between them.

“Wow, is that the Elven Stone? It looks exactly like in the book.”

Ria said, examining the Elven Stone in Hazel’s hand from various angles.

“But certainly… unlike what I saw in the book, I don’t see the pale green light that’s evidence of power residing in it.”

“You know about this too, My Lady?”

Hazel asked Ria, seemingly surprised.

Even he wouldn’t have known about its existence if Drehan hadn’t submitted it as a thesis, as it was so little known.

“It was in a book in the library.”

“Indeed, the saying that the Rayes library is a treasure trove of knowledge is true.”

Hazel marveled for a moment and agreed with Ria’s words.

“As My Lady says. The shape looks roughly similar, but I don’t feel any power from it. Inside this transparent rock, a light in the shape of a firefly is supposed to be sealed, and there’s a legend that it’s a fragment of the Elven King’s soul.”

Hazel, now deliberately ignoring Luka who was staring at him fiercely, spoke to Ria.

“Also, although it’s not certain due to the lack of information… only descendants of elves can awaken the Elven King’s soul, so for people like us, it’s just a pretty stone.”

Ria nodded. Hazel’s words were similar to the contents written in the ancient book to some extent.

“I’ve heard that there have been many people sailing to the Trel continent recently, so it seems someone might have switched it with a counterfeit. I’ve studied ancient artifacts before, and unlike the ones I saw then, this looks too new, as if it hasn’t been tarnished at all.”

“It doesn’t matter since it’s an object that’s no longer needed anyway.”

At Luka’s words, Hazel looked at him with questioning eyes.

But before he could ask what that meant, Luka snapped his fingers with a smiling face.

“Wait a moment! Your Highness, sending me away like this-“

Hazel let out a short cry towards his student in that fleeting moment, but he couldn’t even finish it.

Hazel, who had been transported to the forest in front of the Crown Prince’s palace in the very posture of reaching out his hand hurriedly, shed a single tear.

“Next time I’ll give you twice as much homework… Your Highness!!”

* * *

In the room where Hazel had disappeared in an instant, I picked up the Elven Stone he had dropped.

‘To think he went all the way across the sea to find it…’

And how disappointed must he have been when he finally discovered that this was a counterfeit.

Luka had already come close to my side.

When I met his eyes, which had the color of a vivid sunset under his dark black hair, I couldn’t help but focus all my attention on him without realizing it.

“The elven treasure might have already been stolen by grave robbers, but it seems they couldn’t take this.”

Luka opened a drawer and took out a faded piece of paper to show me.

The letters written on the palm-sized parchment were clear despite the passage of time, as if some kind of magic had been cast on them.

But it was completely indecipherable, perhaps written in the elven language.

If Hazel had caught sight of this, he might have snatched it away, stimulated by his burning academic zeal.

The Elven Stone, which hadn’t been mentioned at all in the original work, was an item I needed as much as the foreign treasure I had picked as the only cure, judging by its abilities.

The Elven King’s soul possessed the breath of when everything was created at the beginning of time, free from the shackles of common sense as we know it.

Even in the ancient book I saw, it only said that it granted wishes like reviving dead humans or restoring destroyed countries, so I wasn’t sure of its exact abilities.

Although I didn’t know when or how it had been stolen, it seemed there was no harm in exploring the information in advance.

“Luka, can I take that? There’s an ancient book in the Rayes library that records the elven language, so I might be able to decipher it.”

“Sure. If someone stole a treasure of that caliber, they might cause big trouble, so understanding it… no, since only elves, or at least those of Rayes blood, can use it, it should be fine.”

The rough parchment passed from his hand to mine soon went into my bag full of handkerchiefs.

“Don’t worry. This is an object containing the Elven King’s soul. It won’t grant wishes that harm the world.”

According to the contents of the Rayes ancient book, that was the case.

The Elven King, who loved this world, wouldn’t grant wishes with even a speck of evil emotion.

What caught my eye then was something lying in a proper posture on the bed…

“I see you’re keeping it well.”

It was a teddy bear. I had given it to him as a gift when Luka returned to the imperial palace, worried about him sleeping alone without me.

“Doesn’t it feel really good to sleep hugging this?”

I said with a smile, closing my eyes, and Luka replied.

“Rather than the teddy bear… I prefer sleeping with Ria.”

Seeing Luka hugging my back tightly as he said that, I was somehow reminded of a puppy wagging its tail and whining.

For a moment, I felt Luka’s unique refreshing scent enveloping my entire body.

“Haha, come to think of it, that night when we slept together in that cramped room was the last time. It was the night of the Imperial Festival.”

From that day on, I was able to escape the fate of being Luka’s body pillow.

I recalled Luka’s noble face, consistently seeking sleep by my side regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter.

And at some point, I too developed a habit of only falling asleep after confirming that he had fallen asleep.

Occasionally, whatever dream he was having, he called my name so much that I simply couldn’t fall asleep first.

Maybe he was dreaming of me getting scolded a lot by Layola.

‘Now, teddy bear friend who will become Luka’s body pillow instead of me, please make sure this child doesn’t have bad dreams at night.’

After mentally passing the baton to the smiling teddy bear, I removed Luka’s arms that were hugging me, saying it was hot.

“It’s hot, Luka. It’s already this hot at the end of summer, how are we supposed to have the hunting festival?”

The arms that had been holding me tightly, as if they would never let go, quickly loosened at my small whine.

“It’s two days from now. But the day of the hunting festival has always been cool.”

Luka, smiling as he said that, was undoubtedly a strong contender for this year’s winner.

Although he was only fourteen, his swordsmanship skills were on par with the 19 great swordsmen representing the Empire.

It was already creating the illusion of seeing the face of the victor.

The one most looking forward to the upcoming hunting festival was probably the Crimson Blade, currently sealed in another dimension.

Judging by how it had vibrated hurriedly the day before yesterday when I was discussing the hunting festival with Ion during practice… it was clearly excited.

Wait, since when did I start understanding the psychology of the Crimson Blade… It’s just a sword, an inanimate object.

I thought with a strange sense of self-deprecation.

‘But I’m not even going to participate in something like the hunting festival.’

If the Crimson Blade found out that I was planning to just have a peaceful tea time if I went, I knew how much it would bother me, so I planned not to summon it at all on that day if possible.

That’s what I thought. I should have remembered that this world always defies my expectations.

* * *

Confirming that the morning of the hunting festival had dawned, I flopped back onto the bed.

Last night, I had deliberately made a rain doll with Drehan and hung it by the window.

It seemed that Miller’s clear weather doll had been more effective.

I squinted at the sunlight that brightly colored the surroundings.

Unlike the day before yesterday when it was very hot, as Luka had said, a cool breeze came in through the window frame.

The weather really is perfect.

‘Of all days, on the day of the hunting festival.’