Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

It was the first time the two who shared passionate love in the original work had encountered each other at such a close distance.

At the debutante ball, there was no chance to meet because Senia suddenly disappeared during the banquet, and when they crossed paths in town, my interference(?) prevented them from meeting.

Although the battlefield scene where their love directly began hadn’t arrived yet, the first meeting was always important in any novel.

It was when I was watching them with great interest.

Luka, who had been walking from afar, suddenly spotted me and, with a bright smile, ran past Senia towards me.

‘Wait, he passed by Senia…?’

Senia, visible behind him as he arrived before me in an instant, was also calmly going her own way.

She disappeared into the crowd welcoming her, no longer visible.

“Luka, didn’t you feel anything just now?”

“Huh? What… Oh, do you mean the joy of meeting Ria?”

“No, not that! I mean, didn’t you feel something like a tingling sensation or your heart racing when you saw Lady Senia?”

At my words, Luka tilted his head and said:

“I did feel something like that. When I saw Ria.”

My shocked face instantly showed a troubled expression.

‘Do friends feel such emotions for each other…?’

I should look up related books when I return to the mansion.

“More importantly, Lady Senia…?”

He asked, drawing closer to me while trailing off.

“Why should I feel such emotions for Lady Senia?”

I took a step back, finding his brightly smiling face somehow terrifying.

Is this how the first meeting ends?

As an avid reader who had repeatedly immersed myself in the novel from my distant memories, it felt a bit anticlimactic.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, but I only have eyes for Sister Ria.”

Moreover, the male protagonist was showing sister complex symptoms towards his orphanage sister, and it was truly chaotic.

Looking at the guy now facing me, I felt a vivid sense of being trapped.

Just then, Rachel’s astonished mutter was heard from beside me.

“M-Mother…?”

Mother…? The Empress?!

Before I could ask what she meant, the person who came into view from afar was undoubtedly our beautiful and kind Empress!

With her appearance, the surrounding nobles fell silent for a moment.

Apart from a brief moment during the recent debutante incident, the Empress had never shown her face at official events.

That’s why Jeria had been able to strut around as if she were the Empress.

Why was the Empress, who had been extremely afraid of being in the public eye due to her weak personality, here…?

Moreover, seeing the surprised eyes of Rachel and Luka, it seemed even the children hadn’t known about this.

Another figure was seen emerging from the carriage the Empress had alighted from, holding a servant’s hand.

It was a man with black hair, the symbol of royalty, and fierce red eyes like those of a wild beast.

The moment he stepped out, the nobles present uniformly bowed their heads in respect.

I too lowered my head and glanced at him sideways, and it was undoubtedly the Emperor.

According to rumors, he had been so infatuated with a new foreign woman that he neglected state affairs and wasn’t actively involved in national matters, but it seems he couldn’t avoid participating in the hunting festival.

However, after confirming the Emperor’s identity, even more question marks filled my head.

‘The Empress and Emperor arrived at the hunting festival together? Then what about Jeria…?’

As the Emperor plopped down on the imperial throne prepared at the campsite, I raised my gaze along with the people who started lifting their heads, and I saw Jeria looking at them with an angry face among the crowd.

She was glaring at the Empress with such murderous eyes that people around her were quickly moving away from her sharp aura.

Until now, it had naturally been Jeria who sat in the Empress’s seat next to the imperial throne.

But today, at least, the rightful owner of the seat sat there majestically.

She herself would know that the chair next to the Crown Prince’s seat, prepared one step below, was Jeria’s original place.

The Empress, sitting with a dignified posture next to the Emperor, looked more beautiful than ever, with better color and vitality than usual.

The Emperor kept stealing glances at her.

It was truly a fresh gaze, but the Empress didn’t mind and didn’t look back at him.

Jeria walked awkwardly, as if her feet wouldn’t move properly, and sat in the royal seat with her two sons.

‘First Prince…’

When my eyes briefly met with the First Prince following behind Jeria, he hurriedly averted his gaze and walked closely beside his mother.

As he walked, deliberately ignoring our direction while lightly touching the cheek that had been hit by Luka before, there was an unfamiliar face beside him.

‘Did the genes concentrate entirely…?’

The black-haired boy, undoubtedly the Second Prince, had inherited Lady Jeria’s blue eyes intact.

His face, which had plausibly inherited Jeria’s beauty, was quite handsome, though no match for Luka.

Moreover, the ambition reflected in his eyes even at a young age truly made him Jeria’s son.

“The opening speech will start soon. Ria, see you later!”

“Okay, see you.”

Rachel led Luka away to the seats prepared next to the princes.

Drehan, who had somehow escaped from among the people and come to my side, said in a puzzled voice:

“I heard the Empress was bedridden and in a very poor condition…”

In fact, not only was her condition poor, but the only people who knew that her illness was Bruelle, apart from the royal family, were Senia and me.

Even Senia, visible from afar, looked perplexed.

After all, the Empress, whom she had declared untreatable, had fully recovered with such a clean complexion and appeared officially.

There was a good reason why Senia couldn’t treat the Empress.

Under the name of an incurable disease, distrust had grown in both the magic caster and the patient, so it wouldn’t have been effective.

I understood why she had such an expression, as she couldn’t have known that the disease could be resolved with healing magic.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Empress.”

“She seems much healthier than the last time we saw her…”

“Lady Jeria’s expression is fierce. I should inform Father about today’s events when we return to the mansion.”

The murmurs of noble children could be heard.

Among them were occasional pure exclamations about the Empress’s beauty.

Ignoring them, Rachel conveyed something to the Empress, who was looking around. Soon, the Empress, having spotted me among the many people, smiled softly.

When that smile, as if painted on, appeared on her previously expressionless face, I suddenly felt a blow to my heart. It seemed others felt the same, as groans could be heard here and there.

At that moment, the Emperor stood up from the imperial throne with a majestic bearing and walked forward.

“Today is the day of the hunting festival, the oldest tradition in the Greffin Empire. It is to test the virtues of knighthood, carrying on the will of our ancestors who created the great Empire illuminated by the sun. Remember the words of the first Emperor who said, ‘Do not flee even when cornered, for the end will ultimately be your victory.’ With this, I hereby announce the official start of the hunting festival.”

As the Emperor’s dignified opening speech ended, brilliant fireworks adorned the sky, and the sound of horns resonated from all directions.

Drehan made a nauseated expression as he watched the fireworks bursting.

I wasn’t much different.

Those participating in the hunting festival checked their weapons and had their servants verify the condition of their horses.

The Empress approached me through the bustling scene.

“Your Majesty! What a surprise. You look so beautiful today!”

At my words, she smiled warmly and said:

“I’ve decided not to hide anymore. From the moment Ria cured my illness, it felt like I was given a second life.”

“Your Majesty…”

Just then, I noticed her legs trembling slightly.

The Empress, noticing my gaze, said:

“Because I’ve been lying down for so long, I still can’t move my legs properly.”

At that moment, a large shadow fell over us.

‘The Emperor…?!’

It was the first time I had encountered him this closely.

He seemed similar to Luka, but looking at his emotionless eyes, he also seemed different.

“As I said, now that the opening speech is over, let’s return. You’ve overdone it, with your body still not fully recovered.”

Although his voice was indifferent, there was a strange concern in his words.

The Emperor probably intended to return after just giving the opening speech. His mistress would be waiting in the imperial palace.

The Empress stroked my hair and said:

“You’re wearing the brooch I gave you.”

After looking at it with warm eyes, she turned around and said, watching the Emperor leaving first:

“As he says, even just standing for a while is still overwhelming for me. It’s regrettable that I can’t stay until the end, but next time, I’ll be recovered enough to go for a walk together.”

“Pr-promise, Your Majesty.”

I said, trying to control the tingling in my chest, and her warm hand cupped my cheek.

That gentle touch caressing my cheek felt like Luka’s.

Above all, that beauty attack was truly merciless.

“See you next time, Ria.”

As I blankly watched the Empress’s retreating figure, Rachel approached my side.

“Wow, I was really surprised. Until yesterday, she couldn’t walk without a cane…”

She had clearly come despite pushing herself, but it seemed she was exiting after achieving her intended goal.

This moment would surely be imprinted on those gathered here today.

Moreover, the gazes toward me changed significantly after she publicly displayed such an intimate relationship with me just now.

On top of that, for some reason, appearing and leaving together with the Emperor, when rumors had been circulating that their relationship had completely soured after the execution of Archduke Gruben.

This fact will quickly spread to the capital through many people’s mouths.

In the place where the Emperor and Empress had left side by side, Lady Jeria remained alone, unable to control her expression at all.

Soon, her terrifying gaze fell on where Rachel and I were standing.

She immediately stood up without even greeting her two sons and strode away.

Judging by the fact that she didn’t return afterward, she must have gone back to the imperial palace as well.

That resentful retreating figure was so satisfying that a sneer unconsciously appeared on my lips.

[100]

At that moment, a large blue number appeared in the air.

The loud-voiced servant who had announced the appearance of Luka and me at the last debutante ball explained the rules in a loud voice.

“The number appearing in the air represents the number of beasts released in the forest. As beasts are hunted, that number will decrease, and the hunter’s name will appear next to the number. The score appearing next to the name will vary depending on the danger level of the beast.”

Hmm… At least it was better than boringly holding tea without knowing what was happening inside.

I approached Drehan and Miller, who were preparing to set out in earnest.

“Take these.”

What I handed to them were handkerchiefs.

The Rayes emblem was a bow with evergreen leaves attached, symbolizing elves.

The symbol was embroidered on the handkerchiefs, not too intricately but plausibly.

The expressions of the two who received the handkerchiefs I had embroidered with help from Sister Serine and Garnett suddenly turned to surprise.

‘But…’

Dozens of handkerchiefs were already hanging from their pockets.

‘So that’s why people gathered earlier, to give them those.’

The skillfully embroidered handkerchiefs made my shabby one look pitiful.

“Wow, did you really make this yourself? I’m truly… a happy guy…”

For some reason, Miller suddenly lifted his head to the sky, and a sparkling tear rolled down from the corner of his eye.

Drehan smirked as he took my handkerchief and said:

“This is the only good thing about today, which was the worst.”

As if they had acquired something to be proud of, they hung the handkerchiefs in the most visible place.

I was secretly pleased with their reactions, as I had put quite a lot of effort into the embroidery, and I was seeing them off with a satisfied smile when I felt a familiar presence approaching from behind.

It was Luka, riding a white horse led by an imperial servant.

His persistent gaze was following my two brothers who had already left.

‘Um… why are you looking at them with eyes like you’re eyeing prey?’