Dead-End Villainess Who Makes Medicine

 

 

A moment of silence passed.

 

Julion tilted his head to the side, raised one hand and cupped his ear.

 

“Could you say that again? I think I misheard you.”

 

He raised his eyebrows as if he really didn’t understand.

 

I sighed heavily and said it again.

 

“I want you to ask me to marry you, Your Highness.”

 

At the sound of my voice, which rang clearer than before, Julion stopped his playful behavior.

 

His golden eyes darted as if he was searching me, and then the corners of his mouth twitched.

 

“The princess seems to have a hobby of joking with her life on the line.”

 

“I mean it, Your Highness.”

 

“Then I meant it too. I refused.”

 

“Is it because I’m a Cassian?”

 

“You know very well. Your family name. The rumors surrounding you. None of it benefits me. I will get the crown princess that the people want.”

 

Julion’s voice was firm.

 

The sparkle of curiosity had faded, and displeasure was creeping across his face.

 

I said something to rekindle his curiosity.

 

“Free supply of tarot. How about that?”

 

As expected, the light returned to Julion’s eyes.

 

Tarot. It was the herb that had barely kept the current Emperor alive after he fell from an unknown illness.

 

But it only grows on Cassian’s estate, especially in the land I manage. Julion can’t do anything with Cassian.

 

He looked at me curiously for a moment, but quickly regained his composure and spoke softly.

 

“The imperial family has plenty of money, my lady.”

 

As if that wasn’t enough.

 

I pulled out another hand.

 

“I can give you everything I have, if you will marry me for one year.”

 

“No. Still, you are a princess of Cassian, and what I want is not Cassian.”

 

Julion loathed the Duke of Cassian.

 

Although he was not openly hostile, I heard that Julion was a prince who was upright and sincerely cared for people.

 

In a way, it was natural for him to hate Cassian, who is famous for being vicious.

 

“I’ll say it again, my people will be disappointed in me if I accept you, who is rumored to be a wicked woman, as my crown princess. Do you have a card, princess, worthy of all this?”

 

He was right on all counts.

 

Instead of answering right away, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the papers I had prepared.

 

Julion’s gaze fell on the stack of papers on the table.

 

“Your Highness, I present Cassian to you. That’s a small part of it.”

 

Julion held the document in his hand without saying a word.

 

With each page turned, creases formed on Julion’s forehead.

 

‘At least he’s good at controlling his emotions.’

 

The document was filled with all the dirt on Cassian I’d been collecting.

 

They contained only a portion of the information I had collected for the deal with Julion.

 

It also contained the events surrounding my mother’s death.

 

“…….”

 

There was a silence so profound that even the air seemed to hold its breath.

 

Julion’s breathing became labored as he closed the last page of the document.

 

“What makes you want to go to all this trouble to marry me?”

 

“As you may have guessed by now, I have the same desire as your highness.”

 

Revenge for my mother.

 

It was enough to make anyone nod.

 

“Then there’s no need for us to get married…….”

 

“There’s no tighter bond than marriage. No matter what we do together, as a married couple, no one will suspect a thing.”

 

The Duchy of Cassian is by no means an easy place.

 

If Julion and I, who have never had any contact with each other, were to suddenly see each other often and join forces, my father would surely be suspicious.

 

Julion, of course, was aware of that as well.

 

He lifted his gaze from the documents, and when his golden eyes filled with anger met mine, I was certain.

 

Julion would never be able to refuse my offer.

 

Sure enough, he let out a bitter laugh and gestured toward the sofa across from him.

 

“I didn’t expect to change my mind, but here we are. Please have a seat, my lady. It seems it will be a long night.”

 

With that, he turned to call for a servant, but paused.

 

“Oh, right. I suppose I can’t offer you a cup of tea, I’m afraid you’ve put them all to sleep.”

 

Apparently, Julion knew this all along.

 

I had tried to handle things as quietly as possible.

 

“……I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

I smiled shamelessly and brushed it off.

 

After all, the sleep potion leaves no trace, and in a little while, everyone would wake up.

 

Seemingly unbothered, Julion shrugged and got straight to the point.

 

××××××××××××××××××××××

 

The entire empire was in an uproar.

 

The story of the Crown Prince proposing to the lady of Cassian had spread far and wide.

 

The Empress opposed it, and my father, the Duke of Cassian, was bewildered.

 

He secretly urged Julion to take the first lady, Liliana.

 

But Julion was stubborn. He insisted that it had to be me and swiftly pushed for a marriage.

 

Before I knew it, we were the couple of the century.

 

“The crown prince, bewitched by a wicked woman, is finally getting married today.”

 

The news of my marriage was published in today’s newspaper.

 

I skimmed the headline and roughly tossed the paper aside.

 

There was a loud thud, and the carriage swayed, causing me to drop the paper, which Zenid picked up and placed back on the chair.

 

“By the way, are you sure you don’t want to take the other kids?”

 

Concern flashed across Zenid’s face.

 

She was talking about the maids who served me at the ducal residence.

 

“They all have families. If they go to the palace they won’t be able to see them much.”

 

Zenid was not without family. She has a brother and a nephew.

 

It’s even been a long time since she built a wall with them.

 

“Still, they wanted to follow you, milady, what if you get lonely in the palace?”

 

“It’s not like I’m a child.”

 

Though I said so, a wry smile escaped me.

 

My maids, including Zenid, have been with me since my mother was alive, so they were like family to me.

 

So much so, in fact, that I had to purposely be mean to them and pretend to be vicious to pull the wool over my siblings’ eyes.**

 

(TL/N: to deceive her siblings)

 

Otherwise, they would be in danger because of me.

 

Perhaps the only ones who know that I cherish the maids are Zenid and those maids themselves.

 

That’s why we have a strong bond with each other.

 

Even though to the outside world we were nothing more than a bully princess and a suffering maids.

 

“Besides, as a commoner, it would be hard to live as a maid in the palace. It’s a hundred times better to go somewhere else.”

 

I sent the maids who had followed me out of the ducal residence as if they were being kicked out, and wrote them letters of recommendation through Zenid.