Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

[tl/n: I’ll be translating from this chapter on. Enjoy!!]

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The sunlight shone on the Rayes Duchy. The two little guests that stormed into the duke’s household and turned everything upside down last night had been peering out of the window at the landscape of the bustling mansion since morning.

“I’ve never seen such a big carriage before,” Leah said as she looked at the black carriage visible through the second-floor window.

“It’s a carriage enchanted with high-speed travel magic. With a normal carriage, it would take half a day to get to the palace, but this one can make it in two hours,” Luka said as he leaned against the window sill and looked down.

The duke’s servants were preparing for the journey to the palace. Just then, a young boy hurriedly entered the castle, passing them and making his way into the castle’s interior. 

It was Miller Sen Rayes, Duke Rayes’ second son, with his white silver hair and deep blue eyes that were bluer than the sea.

*      *      *

 

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock-knock—

Desperate knocks echoed in the duke’s study. As usual—or even more so today—the sleep-deprived Duke said “enter” with a tired voice, and Miller burst in.

“What were you doing yesterday that you didn’t come home? Don’t you think 17 is too young of an age for you to stay out without informing me?” The duke spoke first, his words mixed with criticism and nagging.

“Father, there was a report that a silver-haired girl was spotted in Camille Village. I went there to verify the information.”

“Camille region…”

“It seems a girl who used to be at the orphanage behind the village forest ran away. The orphanage director has been putting up the girl’s portrait all over the village, looking for her. Does this face look familiar to you?” 

Miller placed the portrait on the duke’s desk with a thud. It was a drawing that Luka had once made for Leah. The face in the painting—which was so well-drawn that everyone at the orphanage had praised it—resembled the one Miller said. Familiar to whom wasn’t mentioned, but it was crystal clear who he meant. The duke even imagined he could see the duchess’ image superimposed on the portrait.

“Please lend me 20 knights. I’ll definitely bring that girl. Ah, and—” 

Miller reached into his pocket and retrieved another crumpled portrait. It was a self-portrait that Luka had drawn at Leah’s insistence. It was at a basic sketch level, but the appearance and features were clearly recognizable.

“The missing Crown Prince, right? It seems he ran away from the orphanage with the girl. If I can find him while I’m at it, I’ll bring His Highness back,” Miller said. He remembered the young Crown Prince, who had arrogantly sat on the throne during the knighthood ceremony for noble youths in the Imperial Palace.

The little boy, who was the first in line for the imperial succession and was born to the empress of a humble family, had jet-black hair like the abyss and fiery red eyes like a wild animal. He looked down on his much older peers.

According to the imperial laws, all noble youths in the empire had to undergo a knighthood ceremony in front of the Crown Prince to demonstrate their loyalty to the royal family. But in other words, it meant that the Crown Prince also had to make an impression on the future heads of noble families to ensure a smooth political path. At least, that’s how it had been for the previous Crown Princes. 

But Crown Prince Agenluka was different. He twisted his crown carelessly and sat askew on the throne, looking down at the young nobles, including Miller. His cold gaze, as if he were the seed of a future tyrant destined to dominate the empire, left everyone trembling.

Even the son of the count, who complained that he was too arrogant, hitting his friend next to him, was trembling all over when he met Agenluka’s chilling gaze. Miller acknowledged that despite being young and of humble background, the crown prince was a genius who could easily counter Jeriah—eldest daughter of the Kroa family and first concubine—and her burly sons and keep them in check.

Only one person had ever successfully executed Sword Aura at such a young age, and that was Crown Prince Agenluka. It was common for someone who had trained in swordsmanship all their life to achieve Sword Aura in middle age, but there was no precedent for a genius to successfully achieve it at the age of eleven.

The Crown Prince was simply a natural genius, and that day’s miracle had spread throughout the empire. He had established a strong position, even though he was under a politically powerless empress. 

Then he disappeared overnight.

On that day, the empire was thrown into chaos, martial law was declared in every city, and even the private soldiers of the nobility were mobilized along with the Imperial Knights to search for the Crown Prince. However, the boy was nowhere to be found. 

Whether he had hidden himself voluntarily or someone had kidnapped the boy who had the ability to handle several adult men at once, no one could find anything.

The disappearance of the Crown Prince, who had gained popularity throughout the empire, left the Emperor in a dilemma. Naturally, suspicion fell on Marquis Kroa, the family of the first concubine Jeriah, and eventually, not being able to withstand the emperor’s anger, the internal affairs of the Marquis were thoroughly investigated. But all that came out were minor tax evasion scandals from the past few years. 

The reward offered to whoever found him was so astronomical that even after two years, guilds dedicated to finding the Crown Prince continued to search. 

Who would have thought that he would be hiding in the forest, in an isolated village, and with a girl who might be his younger sister, no less? Miller was dumbfounded.

The villagers claimed to have seen children of their age, but they said the faces were different from those in the portraits. Perhaps they had used magic to conceal their identities, but even so, it was too risky for them to be together in a situation where bounty hunters were swarming the area. Of course, he was worried about the girl. In fact, the Crown Prince was just an addition; even if he didn’t catch him, it was okay.

“So, Father, you’ll give your permission, right?”

“Mmh, there’s no need for that.”

As Miller seemed about to argue further, the duke rose from his seat and said, “If it’s that child, she came to the mansion herself yesterday.”

“What?!”

“She’s in the special room on the third floor. She visited as a guest and friend of His Highness yesterday and is going to the palace with him today.”

Upon hearing the duke’s words, Miller rushed out of the room and ran up the stairs. The duke, left behind, gazed at the family portrait placed on his desk, looking at his wife and child. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke.

“Ben, prepare all the documents needed to re-register Ravelia into the family, as she’s currently recorded as dead due to her long disappearance.”

In response to his words, another voice flowed from the green crystal orb.

–Are you suggesting re-registration rather than adoption? If you do that, if the real Lady ever returns, she won’t be able to reclaim her original position…

“Stop the nonsense and prepare it quickly, by this afternoon.”

–…Yes, my lord.

The light from the crystal orb dimmed, and the Duke walked away from his study through the door Miller had gone out without even bothering to close.

 

*      *      *

 

Outside the special room on the third floor, there were two servants.

“Open the door.” Upon Miller’s command, one of the attendants knocked twice, and when permission was granted from inside, the door was opened.

In the spacious room bathed in bright sunlight, an unusually small girl lay on the couch, staring at Miller with large eyes.

“Who…”

In Miller’s eyes, Luka—counting roulette cards and shooting glances next to Leah—didn’t exist. Instead, his eyes tingled as he saw the image of his mother, who had carefully embraced him when he was young and smiled affectionately at him.

Miller Sen Rayes, even in the original, had regarded Ravelia as his own younger sister until she succumbed to a rare disease in exile. Ravelia had despised him for treating her like a younger sister without hesitation. She thought he regarded her as the perfect substitute for his dead little sister.

She had never dreamed that he might have shown her the sincere love of an older brother.

 

*      *      *

 

I was astonished when I saw that the visitor, whom I had assumed to be the Duke, was actually a boy who looked just like him. 

‘The eldest son? No, the second son, perhaps.’ The eldest son had inherited the Duchess’s green eyes, so the boy with the cold, navy-blue eyes must be the second son.

“…What’s your name?” Miller looked at me and said, forgetting to make the formal greeting directed to Luka, who seemed to have lost interest as well.

“I’m Leah, Young Master.”

“Ha, even your name is the same as that child’s nickname. Unless someone intentionally makes you pretend to be a fake-esteemed lady…”

‘Do all the Duke’s men go through this phase? Well, it would be hard for me to believe, too.’ I faithfully played my role.

“Luka, would the Young Master accompany us to the palace, too?”

“There’s no need for that.” At Luka’s firm response, Miller raised his head quickly.

“To the palace? Come to think of it, Father…”

“Yes, we’re just guests. Of course, I have to go to the palace.” I shrugged.

Then, I acted as if I were preparing to leave, diligently putting all the cookies and candies I had received into a small pocket provided by the servants.

“Leah, there are many desserts at the palace that are much better than the Duke’s cookies. You don’t need to take them all,” remarked Luka, with a mocking expression on his face.

“Woah, I’m looking forward to that! I can’t wait for us to go to the palace!”

“When we get to the palace, I’ll hire a personal chef just for Leah.”

“Really? Are we going now? Can I go down now?”

Miller, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, finally spoke up.

“…Our head chef makes better food.”

“…What?”

“Tiramisu, macarons, strawberry tart, brownies, gelato. What do you like? Any dessert made by our head chef, Shrimp, is the most delicious.”

I was shocked. 

‘How could your head chef’s dishes be the most delicious?’ While I was sympathizing with the Shrimp Chef, whose fate as a chef was unquestionably determined by his name, Luka tossed the roulette card he was holding toward Miller.

Swish—Just in time, Miller turned his head to the side.

‘…?!’ 

‘Was that a card?’ The card Miller dodged ended up piercing through the hallway wall.

“Are you disregarding the palace’s cooking right now?” Luka asked with a faint frown in his eyes, to which Miller responded with a smile, facing him.

“I haven’t done anything like that. But according to our head chef Shrimp, all the palace dishes are a sham? It seems that only the head chef, Shrimp, can satisfy that child’s taste.”

The maids who were passing by behind him saw the card stuck in the wall and tried to pull it out by three, but it didn’t come out. 

‘If you get hit by a card flying at that speed, you’ll probably die.’ I turned quickly to look at Luka, who was half-lying on the sofa, with a puzzled expression.

He grinned crookedly and said to Miller, “Can you say that in front of the top chef in the palace, Stingray?”

‘Stingray?!’ I couldn’t adapt to this strange conversation and was about to tell them to stop.

“Leah, come with me for a moment.”

But then, the Duke suddenly appeared through the open door and called for me. Startled by the unexpected summons, I looked back at Luka. He nodded at me. 

“…I’ll be right back.”

I passed by Miller, who was scrutinizing my face, and followed the Duke.