RATBA 30

Chapter 30

It seemed Nayla had finished gathering the herbs and returned ahead of me.

An involuntary sigh of relief escaped my lips.

‘Thank goodness… She wasn’t attacked by a monster.’

Just then, Luke, who had been sitting near the campfire, trudged over to me.

I took a step back—again.

Nothing good had ever come from him getting close to me.

“If you have something to say, say it from there. Don’t come any closer.”

At my blatant wariness, Luke stopped in his tracks.

But he snorted dismissively, souring my mood even further.

“Where the hell did you wander off to in the middle of the night? Got a death wish or something?”

“I was just gathering herbs. And watch your mouth.”

The knights were watching us.

If we’d been alone, I wouldn’t have cared what nonsense he spewed.

But not in front of others.

If I, the future wife of Nathan, let myself be insulted like this, it would tarnish his name too.

Of course, Luke had zero intention of considering my position.

“Herbs? Nayla already gathered more than enough while you were off doing who-knows-what. Stop wasting time and stay put.”

Once again, he was quick to compare me to Nayla and belittle me.

He probably still didn’t realize I was the one who had discovered those herbs in the first place.

‘Ugh… I’m so tired of this…’

I almost blurted out that I was the one who had told Nayla about the herbs, but I held back.

What reaction could I expect from Luke anyway?

He’d just dismiss me without a second thought.

‘No point stooping to his level.’

So I ignored him and turned to Nayla instead.

“Nayla, you can’t just disappear like that. I was looking everywhere for you.”

She blinked at me with those innocent eyes of hers and explained,

“I thought you had come back first. I didn’t see you.”

“Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

“Really? I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll make sure to tell you before I move.”

Maybe it was because Luke had already put me in a foul mood, but hearing her words made my blood boil.

But since she claimed she hadn’t done it on purpose—and because we had an audience—I swallowed my anger.

“Sigh… Fine. Then help me make the medicine now. First, we need to extract the juice from these—”

“Oh, I already treated all the knights. Let’s save the herbs you gathered for later.”

At her words, I glanced around.

Sure enough, the knights had already applied the herb juice to their wounds to stop the bleeding.

She must’ve remembered what I’d told her—“Crush it and apply the juice to stop bleeding”—and followed it exactly.

Naturally, the knights looked deeply moved.

They showered her with praise.

“Thank you, Lady Nayla. The pain has lessened a lot.”

“How did you even find this herb? The bleeding stopped right away.”

“We’re truly grateful!”

I was the one who had provided the information, but she was the one who had treated them.

Of course, she was the one getting all the attention.

‘Nayla’s already done everything. There’s nothing left for me to do.’

While she basked in their admiration, I quietly slipped away.

Then I plopped down on a spread-out blanket.

All I wanted was to rest and forget everything.

But just then, a terrible thought struck me.

“Nayla, wait! Did you just crush the herbs and apply the juice directly?”

At my urgent call, she blinked in confusion and nodded.

“…Yeah? Did I do something wrong?”

I dragged my hands down my face in despair.

Those herbs had mild toxicity—they needed to be boiled first.

If used raw, the poison would seep into the wounds and cause unbearable itching later.

In severe cases, their entire bodies could swell up.

Nayla, who knew nothing about herbs, had just caused a major problem.

“You can’t use them like that! They’re poisonous unless boiled first!”

A wave of panic spread among the knights.

Since their bodies were their most valuable assets, they were extremely sensitive about their health.

They wouldn’t just let it slide after being told they’d applied poison to their wounds.

Sure enough, some of them began protesting.

“Lady Nayla, is this true?”

“Isn’t this dangerous?”

“We need to wash it off now!”

As the commotion grew, Luke, who had been watching the situation, snapped at me.

“Poisonous? Never heard of that.”

“Of course you haven’t! You don’t know anything about herbs! They have to be boiled properly to be used as medicine!”

“You must’ve gotten it wrong. If not…”

He smirked in that infuriating way of his and added,

“…then you’re just making this up because you can’t stand Nayla getting attention.”

“…Excuse me?“

“You can’t handle even a little praise going to your sister, can you? This isn’t the first time you’ve tried to drag her down with lies.”

It was so absurd I almost laughed.

No matter how kindly I treated Nayla, Luke refused to see it.

In his mind, I was already branded as a jealous villainess.

“Stop talking nonsense! Do you really want to do this right now?!”

“Fine, then—”

Luke immediately turned to the knights.

“Does anyone here feel anything unusual?”

No one raised their hand.

Smirking, he shot me a mocking look.

“See? Everyone’s fine.”

“The symptoms take three days to appear! They might be fine now, but they’ll suffer later!”

Luke lowered his voice, as if conscious of the others watching.

“Cut it out. I get that you can’t stand your sister being praised, but if you keep this up, you’re the one who’ll look pathetic.”

“Since when have I—?! Ugh… Forget it. Arguing with you is a waste of time.”

It was clear he wouldn’t listen.

Once the symptoms started showing, the truth would speak for itself.

So I decided to drop it.

Right now, with no one feeling ill yet, pushing further would just make me look crazy.

‘I’ll step in when they all start suffering.’

I could just prepare the antidote then.

That way, I’d regain their trust.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re so right, Luke.”

I brushed him off and went to my sleeping spot, lying down.

Then I forced myself to sleep, bracing for the next day.

Dawn of Regret

Being labeled a liar must’ve stung more than I thought.

I barely slept a wink all night.

Eventually, I greeted the rising sun with bleary eyes.

‘Ugh… I’m exhausted…’

As soon as day broke, everyone woke up and began packing.

Still half-asleep, I checked on the knights’ conditions.

Even now, Nayla was monopolizing all the praise and attention.

“To think the Duke’s daughter would personally cook stew for us… What an honor!”

“It’s delicious!”

“Honestly, the best stew I’ve ever had!”

Nayla, with her uncharacteristically down-to-earth charm, was loved wherever she went.

Maybe that was why.

Why Regis loved her.

Why Luke adored her.

‘She’s always the center of attention… Just like a true protagonist.’

Lost in thought, I got up and sat down.

Then Nayla handed me a steaming bowl of stew.

“Hungry?”

“You made this?”

“Yeah. Everyone looked exhausted, so I took care of breakfast.”

I took a spoonful—it was surprisingly good.

Some of my resentment toward her faded.

‘Right. She didn’t have bad intentions. I was just being too sensitive.’

I forced myself to let go of my bitterness and took another bite.

“…Hm?”

That was when I noticed a piece of meat in the stew.

A bad feeling crept up on me, and I froze.

‘According to the meal plan I prepared… We weren’t supposed to have meat today.’

I was in charge of rationing supplies, so I knew.

I’d carefully portioned out just enough for a week—today was supposed to be bread and cheese only.

So where had this meat come from?

“Wait, is this meat from that bag?”

I prayed she hadn’t touched the emergency rations.

But she betrayed my hopes instantly.

“Yeah. Was I not supposed to use it?”

That was the final straw.