Episode 55

Flash!

But before I could be certain that it was purple, the light vanished in an instant.

Diana’s healing was complete.

All that remained was the dreamlike afterimage of the light and the slow heartbeat echoing in my ears.

‘…What was that just now?’

Before I could determine if what I saw was real or just my imagination, Diana let go of my arm.

She then reached towards my face.

Before I could react, she removed the gauze from my cheek with her hand.

“Ta-da!”

Startled, I lifted my head.

At the same time, I met Diana’s gaze.

Her,

Violet eyes.

“It’s all clear now, Belze! You don’t need to wear gauze anymore, right?”

“…”

“…Belze?”

Diana tilted her head, puzzled by my frozen state.

I took a delayed breath and managed to respond.

“Uh, yeah… thanks, Diana.”

“No need to thank me.”

As I stammered out my thanks, Diana smiled brightly.

Then she added,

“We’re friends, after all.”

 

***

 

After Diana left with the Marquis,

Old Gordon removed the remaining gauze from my body.

“Tsk tsk. With such excellent healing abilities, why couldn’t she do the same for young master Joshua?”

The old man clicked his tongue as he muttered.

As he said, all the gauze removed from my body revealed that the wounds and bruises had completely vanished.

They were all minor injuries, but healing them all at once wasn’t an easy task.

If someone asked me to do it, I honestly wouldn’t be confident in healing every single one.

However, my mind was filled not with admiration for Diana but with the moment she healed me.

‘…What was that purple light?’

The violet light that had covered the faces of the knights chasing Edwin and me in my previous life.

The violet light that had shimmered on the top of the dung dog’s head.

The violet light that had emanated from Diana’s palm.

And.

Her violet eyes.

My heart churned.

And despite Diana healing all my wounds, I fell ill for two days after that.

 

***

 

Several days passed after Diana’s visit.

Fortunately, it seemed the Duke’s warning had worked, as neither she nor the Marquis had visited since that day.

“Oh my, our princess’s face has become so thin! What should we do?”

“Is there anything you want to eat, princess?”

“Or any toy you want…”

Since I fell ill, Tara and the five other maids treated me like a royal princess.

The butler also treated me exceptionally well, trying to make it onto my “favorite people” list.

It was needless to say that the attitude of the servants in the Duke’s house became even more cautious.

Joshua’s healing also progressed smoothly.

Thinking about my previous life, these were indeed dreamlike days.

“Ouch!”

So I pinched my cheeks out of habit.

Feeling the tender, mochi-like cheeks stretch and the slight pain,

Only then did I believe this wasn’t a dream but reality.

“Miss!”

At that moment,

At someone’s call, I flinched as if caught stealing.

‘Oh no!’

Startled, I turned to see Tara approaching, holding a tray and glaring at me.

“Are you pinching your cheeks again? Oh dear, I told you not to do that. Why do you keep doing it?”

Every time Tara caught me pinching my cheeks, she looked upset as if her own cheeks were being pinched.

“They’re already red! They look just like peaches. I warned you I might bite them by mistake!”

“Wah! I-I’m not as tasty as a peach…”

I hurriedly covered both my cheeks with my maple leaf-like hands.

Of course, I knew she said it to tease me.

‘But somehow… Tara really seems like she might bite me.’

Her eyes glistened with greed as she looked at my cheeks.

“Tsk. Here, have some dessert.”

With a regretful click of her tongue, she set the tray she was carrying beside me.

“Wow, chocolate?”

“Yes. Since it’s still cold outside, the chef made it as a mousse instead of ice cream.”

“The chef is the best!”

I had heard that my reactions went straight to the chef’s ears, so I complimented casually.

Then I quickly took a spoonful of the smooth, bouncy mousse.

“Yum yum.”

The rich and sweet chocolate flavor filled my mouth, making me shiver with delight.

“Mm~! It’s delicious!”

“Is it good?”

“Yes! Did you go to the market?”

At first, Tara had asked what a “market” was, but now she just brushed off my words nonchalantly.

Since I shouted it every time I ate something, she seemed to think it was just my unique way of praising.

“The weather is really nice today. It was a good idea to come out, wasn’t it?”

“Yes! Kona brought this too!”

“Did she?”

I pointed to the umbrella-shaped canopy shielding me from the sun, and Tara smiled adorably.

That’s right.

I was currently lounging in the garden, where flowers of various colors were in full bloom, leisurely eating the dessert Tara had brought.

When I mentioned I wanted to bask in the sunlight due to the nice weather, the maids had quickly set up a rocking chair and a canopy.

The fragrant scent of flowers filled my nose.

A cool breeze tickled my forehead.

It was a perfect day for a picnic, with sunny weather and sweet, refreshing desserts.

There was no paradise better than this.

“Haa…”

I buried myself deeper into the plush chair and let out a lazy sigh.

‘I wish it could always be like this…’

But I knew well that this brief peace would soon end.

That’s the fate of a villain.

 

“Then I’ll see you again at the temple on the Goddess’s birthday, Belze.”

 

Diana left with such a daunting message until the very end.

In the holy country of Erea, a three-day festival is held to commemorate the Goddess’s birthday.

On the second day, nobles gather at the temple to volunteer for orphans.

Just like the day last year when I tried to escape from healing and ran into Joshua.

And now, a year later,

According to the original story, the day when the heroine fully displays her saintly qualities is precisely that day.

Naturally, as the rival and villain, I am destined to be utterly destroyed to highlight the heroine’s abilities.

This time, there’s no escaping it.

Unlike the somewhat lax event last year, this time not only nobles but even royals are scheduled to visit.

Thus, the temple will strictly control access.

So, the start of my thorny path will proceed as scheduled.

However, unlike before, I was no longer afraid of that day approaching.

‘Whether she becomes a saint or not…’

Now, I was only concerned with healing Joshua and ensuring the Duke’s household didn’t fall.

‘Besides, becoming a saint will only benefit those at the temple, right?!’

They were the ones who compared me to Diana, abused, and oppressed me!

In my previous life, I don’t know why I was so obsessed with something so meaningless.

Anyway, I didn’t see this situation, where things were unfolding according to the original story, as necessarily bad.

What’s truly bad is when events occur outside the original story.

‘…Why did something not in the original story happen?’

Diana’s pecan pie incident from a few days ago.

At the time, it was just surprising and infuriating, but in hindsight, curiosity bubbled up like a fountain.

Of course, it was entirely possible for things to happen that weren’t explicitly mentioned in the original story.

It might have been a fleetingly mentioned event that I didn’t remember…

But there was no guarantee that unexpected situations like this would be resolved well each time.

‘Can this even be considered well-resolved?’

Although I averted a crisis and even turned the tables on Diana…

In the end, it meant I had become estranged from the heroine.

The plan to get close to Diana was scrapped that day.

I clearly realized through the pecan pie incident,

‘I can never get along with her.’

However, I wasn’t sure if it was right for even the people in the Duke’s household to distance themselves from Diana.

Even after quite some time had passed since I fell ill, Tara and the maids still cursed Diana.

Although they didn’t show it outwardly, the Duke and his sons were the same.

 

“I knew it! That sister’s eyes are strange!”

 

I wondered who had told him, but the first thing Joshua said when he saw me was that.

Anyway.

If Edwin is the true male lead, I shouldn’t let the Duke’s household distance themselves from the heroine.

‘That would be worse than anything I did to sabotage them in my previous life…!’

However, it felt incredibly wrong to pair Diana and Edwin together according to the original story.

It wasn’t just a petty feeling of jealousy.

‘That light.’

The violet light that emanated from Diana’s hand for a fleeting moment.

‘What was that?’

At that moment.

“Belze! Hey, Belze, are you here?”

Someone called me urgently.

Startled, I sat up, but my short height made it hard to see over the dense vine wall.

Tara, who had seen the visitor instead of me, widened her eyes.

“Huh? Why is the physician here…?”

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you!”

The person looking for me quickly reached the chair.

Old Gordon, out of breath with a flushed face, had apparently run all the way here.

“Grandpa, why?”

“Huff, huff! It worked!”

“What did?”

“The fairy… ahem! Our business project!”

He quickly corrected himself after glancing at Tara.

“We successfully transplanted it!”