The Villainess' Ending Was Death

“What are you doing…!”

Before Elias could finish speaking, Fresa opened the vial cap and drank the medicine in one gulp. Then she held onto the thick bars with both hands.

Lycaon just watched her quietly with an expression of interest. And then, crunch.

The bars Fresa was holding onto crumpled like paper on both sides.

“Wow.”

Fresa was surprised because she had made it in a hurry and didn’t have time to experiment, so she didn’t know the effect would be this great.

Of course, the human body has its limits, so 30 seconds was the maximum, but it was enough to widen the bars this much.

With one more push, there was enough space for an adult male to escape.

“Crazy…”

It was Amy’s voice.

She couldn’t find any trace of her laughing and acting coy in front of others.

In fact, it would be hard for anyone to stay calm when they see this kind of incredible strength coming from Fresa’s thin wrists.

The other three, excluding Fresa and Lycaon, were silent.

Elias opened his mouth slightly, as if he had seen a ghost.

“Come out now, Lauren. I should have done this earlier.”

Fresa reached out her hand to Lauren.

Lauren, who had been staring at her with bewildered eyes, carefully grabbed her hand and escaped through the bars.

“Miss, what happened…”

“I’ll explain the details later.”

Fresa patted Lauren’s dirty dress.

Then, looking around at her pale face, she spoke in a displeased tone.

“Didn’t these humans even feed you? Why are you so skinny?”

“T-that…”

Lauren glanced at Elias and Amy.

It seemed that she was still watching their every move.

Fresa held Lauren’s cheeks with both hands and stared at her intently.

“I should hurry up and go back and feed her something delicious.”

Fresa muttered softly, slowly took her hands away, and then turned to Elias.

“This is truly cruel. How could you not only imprison a servant who worked for the mansion all his life, but also starve her? I won’t forget this.”

“…Fresa, think about it again. You are also a member of the Thorpe family. If the family falls apart like this, you will also be in trouble.”

Elias ignored Fresa’s words and repeated the same thing instead of apologizing.

Fresa wanted to get out of this annoying situation quickly.

Since there was a real gift for them anyway, she didn’t want to waste energy today.

“It’s time to go home. See you next time.”

Fresa, who had collected her thoughts, waved her hand leisurely. And she lightly grabbed Lauren’s hand on one hand and Lycaon’s hand on the other.

Lycaon looked down at her with a strange gaze and then nodded once.

It was a signal the two had agreed upon in advance.

“Fresa!”

Elias shouted in an angry voice as he reached out his hand, but the moment Lycaon lightly snapped his fingers, the three of them disappeared from the dungeon in an instant.

Elias’ desperate hand fell down, touching the air.

“Damn it!”

* * *

Suddenly, his vision became distorted and a familiar scene appeared.

It was the inside of Fresa’s pharmacy.

“T-what is this…”

Lauren muttered in a trembling voice as if her legs had lost their strength, and then collapsed on the floor.

Fresa also felt a little dizzy, so she slowly closed and opened her eyes repeatedly.

‘Moving with magic feels weirder than using a scroll.’

Lykaon seemed amazing because he could move three people at the same time.

In addition, Lykaon seemed used to this method and stood there with an indifferent expression.

A natural expression of admiration came out.

“Mr. Lykaon is amazing. But you overdid it today, so you should take your medicine properly.”

“I told you not to worry.”

Lykaon chuckled and gently stroked Fresa’s head twice before taking his hand away.

Fresa laughed involuntarily at his natural attitude.

She then approached Lauren, lowered his body, and met Lauren’s gaze.

“Welcome, Lauren. I think you’ll have to stay out of here for a while. Is that okay?”

“Where is this…?”

Lauren slowly looked around the mansion and asked. She still couldn’t believe that she had arrived at an unfamiliar place in the blink of an eye.

If Fresa had never used a magic scroll before, she would have felt the same way as Lauren.

“This is my new home and pharmacy.”

“Ah… You’ve been in a place like this for so long. How lonely you must have been, my young lady.”

Lauren blushed again and sobbed.

To her, Fresa still seemed like a child.

“Oh my. Why are you crying so much on such a nice day? And His Highness the Grand Duke and that knight were with you the whole time. You weren’t alone.”

Fresa clicked her tongue briefly and helped Lauren up.

Then she carelessly pulled on her cloak and wiped Lauren’s tears.

“Mr. Lycaon, you can leave work now. Thank you so much for today.”

“What did I do? But I will gratefully accept your greetings. If anything comes up, come visit me right away.”

Unlike usual, Lycaon didn’t say anything about having dinner together or staying longer.

After looking at Fresa for a moment, he simply said goodbye and left the pharmacy, saying that he would see her tomorrow.

Click, thud.

With the sound of the front door closing, Lycaon disappeared from sight.

Fresa knew that he had hurriedly left the place so as not to disturb their time together.

‘Anyway, I told you that he is a person who is used to being considerate.’

It seemed that no matter how many times I thanked Lycaon, it would not be enough.

She thought that she would repay him in some way soon, but Lauren hugged Fresa tightly.

“Young lady, why did you come to save me? If something bad happened, I would…”

“I can’t pretend not to know Lauren. Lauren is my family.”

“…Thank you, young lady. I don’t know how to repay this favor.”

“What are you talking about? I owe Lauren a lot of money. Lauren’s turn is still far away.”

Fresa lightly hugged Lauren.

She could feel the warmth of her body, and now she was finally relaxed.

She pretended to be fine in front of Elias and Amy, but in fact, Fresa had been tense the whole time.

She was worried that the hastily prepared reagent might have a bad side effect, or that Elias might have set another trap. However, they had no doubt that Fresa would come alone, so they made no preparations.

Thanks to that, all the plans went smoothly and Lauren was safely rescued.

Fresa pulled away after a long hug from Lauren.

“Come here for a moment, Lauren.”

“Yes? Yes.”

Fresa held Lauren’s hand tightly and headed toward the dressing room.

She then stood her in front of the mirror and took out the dress that had been covered with a black cloth.

“I don’t know if it will fit Lauren. I just guessed and chose it.”

When the cloth was removed, a gorgeous, beautiful, deep green dress that suited Lauren appeared.

At first glance, it was a luxurious material and gave off a completely different vibe from the plain things Lauren had worn so far.

Lauren looked between Fresa and the dress with surprised eyes.

“Miss…”

“Wait, don’t cry again. I’m not giving you this gift to see. Smile, Lauren.”

“Thank you, thank you so much. I’m so… so happy that you did this for me.”

Lauren’s voice trembled.

She barely held back tears to fulfill Fresa’s request, but it seemed as if tears would fall at any moment.

Fresa looked at her with a silent smile and then stretched out her arms and hugged her gently.

“I’m more grateful. I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up sooner.”

Now that she had the financial resources and ability to take care of Lauren, she had nothing to worry about.

Fresa closed her eyes in Lauren’s warm and familiar embrace and smiled gently.

It finally felt like she was truly home.

* * *

Lauren had almost completely adapted to the pharmacy in just a few days.

Rather, she was a little too passionate and it was a little awkward.

Ever since she started working for the Thorpe family, she had done her best in everything she did and never made mistakes.

Lauren had gotten used to the pharmacy work faster than Isaac, who had joined first, and Isaac seemed a little dissatisfied with that. He said that she was the youngest employee and that she was nagging him too much.

“No matter what, I’m your senior, but this doesn’t seem right.”

“Isn’t it a little too much to be your senior just because we’re only a few days apart? Isn’t that right, Miss?”

“A senior is a senior, no matter what. That’s how it is in my guild.”

“This isn’t Cade’s guild. This is Miss Fresa’s pharmacy.”

Isaac and Lauren grumbled in front of Fresa and finished organizing the medicine cabinet.

She wondered if they’ll get attached to each other.

Fresa, who was watching the staff with a happy look, checked the clock on the wall.

It was time to head to the auction house.

It was convenient because Lycaon had made the magic scroll himself, so he didn’t have to go on a ship.

Of course, he wanted to avoid using magic as much as possible, but Lycaon insisted that the coordinates couldn’t be wrong this time, so there was nothing he could do.

“It’s finally today, Miss.”

In the meantime, Lauren, who had finished organizing the medicine cabinet, approached him and spoke carefully.

Fresa nodded, letting down her hair that had been tied up tightly while making the potion.

“Yeah. I should leave now. I’ll take care of the pharmacy, Lauren. And Mr. Cade.”

“Of course, Miss. Don’t worry!”

“…Have a nice day.”

Lauren nodded with full enthusiasm, and Isaac answered as if he couldn’t help it, even though he looked uncomfortable about being left alone with her.

Clank.

The front door opened, and Lycaon and Zed, who had gone to get ready, came back just in time.

Lycaon was wearing a blinding white suit and cloak, and Zed was wearing armor that was clearly threatening.

She wondered what he was going to do when he said he needed time to get ready, but he put in too much effort. Anyway, it wasn’t bad, so Fresa looked at Lycaon and Zed alternately and gave them a thumbs up in praise.

“Okay, shall we go?”

 

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Translator Note: