Chapter 03
“I’m nervous.”
Reina glanced at the bushes, then calmly opened the lid of the picnic basket she had brought.
Inside were sandwiches, milk, fruit, and cookies.
She had asked the chef to prepare them for her.
Reina reached for a sandwich.
[The bread was as hard as a rock.]
Ignoring the memory that flashed through her mind, she picked up the sandwich and took a bite.
“Tastes good.”
“…….”
A pair of eyes glowed from within the bushes.
In the chilly early winter air, Reina calmly chewed her sandwich and thought:
‘The kid is more like a wild cat than a child.’
If she made even the slightest wrong move or noise, the kid would definitely run far away. She had to approach very carefully.
After finishing one sandwich, Reina cleared her throat awkwardly and started talking to herself.
“Ah, I’m full. But there’s still a lot left. What should I do? The chef expected me to eat it all.”
“…….”
“Hmm~. If I leave this here, maybe someone will eat it? I heard there’s a fairy in the palace who grants wishes.”
She even raised her voice slightly, putting on a little performance.
Looking very troubled, Reina left the basket behind and stood up.
“I’ll just leave it here and come back tomorrow. It would be nice if the fairy helps.”
The next day.
Reina returned to the same spot and found the picnic basket filled with flowers.
The food that had been inside was all gone—neatly eaten.
‘Flowers bloom even in early winter here?’
Reina brought the basket back to her room and placed the flowers in a vase.
The petals of the small, white flowers were all perfectly intact, as if the child had picked each one carefully with their tiny hands.
Did the child leave flowers as a thank-you for the food?
‘…I can’t let this get to me.’
Her heart warmed as she imagined the child’s thoughts and actions.
But when she thought about the future that should follow the original story, she knew she couldn’t interfere with Kevenriac’s environment.
So…
‘I’ll just feed him.’
That much should be okay.
There was only a week left before she had to leave for Hibei anyway.
From that day on, Reina went near the Fourth Prince’s villa every day with a basket full of food, saying she was looking for a fairy.
As the days of “fairy searching” went on, the number of flower vases in Reina’s room also increased.
On the fifth day—
‘Oh no.’
Reina had come earlier than usual to retrieve the basket, but suddenly saw someone and quickly hid behind a tree.
‘That was close.’
Not far away, a boy with messy black hair was standing with the flower-filled basket in his hands.
Reina peeked at him from behind the tree.
She had once jokingly compared him to a wild cat, but seeing him in person now, the Fourth Prince really did look like a wild animal.
“……”
It was a chilly early winter day.
But the boy was dressed as if it were still late summer. His clothes were old, worn out, and had holes in them.
They were also too short, leaving his thin arms and legs exposed to the cold.
‘He has a lot of wounds on his body…’
Bruises of different colors and stages—likely from different times. Scabs from healing wounds.
His skin was red and swollen in places, and his lips were dry and cracked.
Reina already knew, and she had expected this.
So she wasn’t surprised—
but it still hurt to see.
She felt really strange inside.
Eight years old.
Wasn’t that the age when a child should still be in a guardian’s care?
But that boy—his body was full of wounds, and he looked like no one was taking care of him.
“……”
Reina felt something heavy pressing down on her chest.
‘Damn it.’
She bit her lower lip hard.
Then, without even knowing what she was thinking, she stepped out from behind the tree and started walking straight toward Kevenriac.
“……!”
Kevenriac spotted Reina and looked around in a panic.
He seemed to be searching for a place to run, but his feet were already bound by Reina’s magic.
“Ah…”
His face turned pale with shock and fear.
He thought he was in serious trouble—because now she knew who he really was.
‘Of course she’s angry.’
A monster pretending to be a fairy.
He had gotten greedy, wanting to see the smile on her face again when she saw the flowers—
and this was the price.
Reina walked right up to him.
She raised her hand high—and then brought it down toward him.
It was a familiar motion, so Kevenriac just stared blankly at her palm.
Was she going to slap me? Or maybe a hit on the back?
“Heal.”
At the unexpected words, Kevenriac’s eyes widened.
Her hand, which had no force behind it, gently rested on top of his head.
Reina looked at his now fully healed skin and, feeling satisfied, softly patted his head.
‘Oops, I did it.’
Even as she thought that, she couldn’t stop her hand from patting him.
Through his messy bangs, his blue eyes peeked out.
The boy was looking straight up at her.
Reina looked down and met his gaze.
Had he always been watching her with those eyes from the shadows?
‘He really does look like a kitten… and a rare one at that.’
Up close, even with his messy appearance, his beauty stood out.
Well, he is the main villain of the original story, after all.
‘Would’ve been better if he were just a spoiled crown prince or something.’
Then she suddenly remembered—there was something she had meant to give him today.
Reina withdrew her hand and took out a small wooden box from her pocket, offering it to him.
It was an ointment for wounds.
“Take this.”
She had planned to put the box in the basket later, but since they met, she figured she might as well give it to him now.
She placed the small wooden box into the boy’s tiny hands.
“This is a very effective medicine. I can’t always use magic to heal you, so if you get hurt later, apply this.”
Even after saying that, Reina wasn’t satisfied, so she gave a few more detailed explanations just in case.
Kevenriac stared at the wooden box and slowly nodded as he listened to her voice.
That night.
Kevenriac lay on his cold, empty bed, staring at the wooden box for a long time.
‘…It smells nice.’
Every now and then, he even smelled the box. It seemed to carry her scent.
It made him feel good.
His large, long eyes narrowed softly, and the corners of his lips lifted in a gentle smile.
It was the first time that someone had smile at him since he was a baby.
But the happiness didn’t last long.
He suddenly heard footsteps approaching through the darkness.
In a rush, Kevenriac hid the wooden box under his pillow.
Creaaak.
Rusty hinges, he squeaked as the bedroom door opened.
And through the gap, a horrible voice of a large man came flowing in.
“Your Highness, are you asleep?”
It was the signal that another terrible night was about to begin.
A few hours before that night began—
As Reina was walking down the hallway, the royal palace pharmacist called out to her.
“Lady Reina, you were looking for effective healing medicine the other day, weren’t you? We just received something even better than what I gave you before. If you need it, I can set some aside.”
“I need it.”
Thinking of the child she had met that morning, Reina stopped in her tracks and followed the pharmacist straight to the apothecary.
The newly delivered box of medicine didn’t even get a chance to be displayed on the shelves before it was handed over to Reina.
Seeing how pleased she was, the pharmacist asked curiously:
“But isn’t healing magic more effective for you, Lady Reina? Is there a particular reason you’re going out of your way for medicine?”
“It’s not for me. The person I’m giving it to doesn’t know how to use magic yet.”
Kevenriac would one day become a skilled magician—but that wouldn’t happen for a few more years.
‘Right, on his tenth birthday, he has a fateful encounter at the royal library and awakens his magical talent.’
Until then, this medicine would be helpful.
Reina looked down at the box of medicine with a satisfied smile on her face.
Seeing her smile, the royal pharmacist was secretly shocked.
‘Lady Reina is smiling? Whoever’s receiving this must be someone very special… and very loved by her.’
The rare sight of Reina smiling didn’t last long. She turned to the pharmacist, her smile completely gone.
“By the way, is it really okay for me to take this medicine? It was delivered to the palace, wasn’t it?”
“Please, don’t worry about it. I owe you my life, Lady Reina. Take as much as you need.”
“In that case…”
Reina’s eyes quickly scanned the inside of the apothecary.
Technically, it was the original Reina Hart—before she was possessed—who had saved the pharmacist’s life.
But she was Reina now, so it didn’t really matter.
“I won’t hold back, then.”
A little later, Reina left the apothecary carrying three boxes of medicine.
She had grabbed anything that looked even remotely helpful.
The pharmacist’s voice trembled slightly as he saw her off, but Reina felt too satisfied to care.
She hadn’t eaten anything all day, but her heart felt full.
“It’s probably better to leave it secretly.”
She remembered what had happened earlier that day.
As soon as she handed Kevenriac the medicine and released her magic spell, the fourth prince had dashed off like lightning.
Right now, he was probably more guarded than ever. He might not even come near her again.
And tomorrow would be the final day of training for the palace mages—
Which meant she might not see him again before she left.
“I’ll leave it at night.”
Reina thought that was the most she could do for him—
The most she could give without interfering with the original story.
Time passed, and midnight had come.
Reina, who had been waiting for the deep of night, entered the fourth prince’s separate palace.
With no guards around, it was easy for an outsider to enter unnoticed.
“The prince is probably asleep.”
As she walked down the hallway carrying the boxes of medicine, she searched for the boy’s room.
“…Water?”
Suddenly, a splashing sound caught Reina’s attention from afar.
She stopped walking and looked around.
The hallway was dark and silent, completely still.
At first, she thought the sound might be coming from outside through the windows.
But then—
Splash.
There it was again. This time, she thought she heard laughter too.
Reina set down the boxes and quietly followed the sound.
She went down the stairs to the first floor, then reached the farthest end of the hallway—
A closed door with light leaking from underneath.
It wasn’t fully shut. When she touched the doorknob, it pushed open just a little.
Through the small gap, she could clearly hear what was happening inside.
“Oh dear, such a mess.”
“Your Highness, doesn’t it feel good to be clean now?”
