Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

Even the eldest son of a Count household who had been complaining ‘Isn’t he too arrogant?’ while nudging his friend beside him grew deathly pale and hung his head like a wilted plant the instant Arzenluka’s chilling gaze fell upon him.

Miller could only acknowledge the young Crown Prince from such inauspicious origins as a prodigy fully capable of keeping the powerful Jeria, First Imperial Consort and the eldest daughter of the prestigious Croia family, and her strapping sons in check on the political playing field.

At that ceremony, Prince Arzenluka had been the sole, youngest attendee to manifest the sword aura ability.

It was typical for even lifetime practitioners to only unveil the sword aura in their prime middle-age years, without any precedent of achieving the feat as young as eleven like this genius.

The Crown Prince was simply a born prodigy, and news of that day’s miracle quickly spread throughout the Empire.

Despite being the son of the politically impotent Empress, the young Crown Prince steadily built an unshakable foothold that way.

Only to vanish into thin air overnight.

With the Empire thrown into disarray that fateful day, martial law was declared across cities as the Imperial Knights and noble household militia forces mobilized en masse to search for the missing Crown Prince – but not a single strand of the youth’s hair could be found.

Either he had willfully gone into hiding, or someone had audaciously kidnapped a child prodigy capable of handily subduing several grown men.

The disappearance of the once extraordinarily popular Crown Prince expected to expand the Empire’s influence across the continent left even the Emperor at a loss.

Naturally, suspicions fell upon the Croia Marquis household of the Consort Jeria, prompting furious ministers to meticulously investigate their inner affairs – only to unearth some minor tax evasion over recent years.

With the astronomical bounty on his head, mercenary guilds still proliferate dedicated to the search two years later. Yet for him to have been hiding in some remote village orphanage all this time, possibly with a girl who could be Miller’s own sister no less, utterly dumbfounded him.

While villagers did report sightings of children around that age, their descriptions differed from the portrait.

Likely using magic to conceal their identities, being with the girl amidst bounty hunters prowling about was extremely perilous nonetheless.

For the girl, that is. The Crown Prince himself could be captured or left behind as an afterthought.

“So Father, you will permit me to go, won’t you?”

“There’s no need.”

As Miller opened his mouth to protest, the Duke rose from his seat.

“Those children came here of their own accord just yesterday.”

“What?!”

“They’re lodging in the third floor guest suites, as the Crown Prince and his companion. They intend to depart for the Imperial Palace today.”

Upon hearing those words, Miller immediately rushed out and up the stairs.

Left behind, the Duke gazed at the family portrait on his desk depicting his late wife and child after agonizing endlessly.

He then seemed to reach a firm resolve as he spoke.

“Ben, prepare all documentation needed to re-register Laveria’s household records as currently listed as long-term missing presumed deceased.”

Responding to his words, a different voice flowed from the emerald crystal orb.

[Re-registration, not adoption, you say? But doing so would prevent the true princess from reclaiming her birthright should she return…]

“Enough prattle. Have it ready swiftly by this afternoon.”

[…Understood, my lord.]

As the orb’s light faded, the Duke strode out the door Miller had neglected to close behind him, exiting his study.

* * *

Two servants awaited outside the third floor guest suite.

“Open it.”

At Miller’s command, one servant knocked on the door a couple times. Once permitted entry from within, they opened the door.

Bathed in warm sunlight befitting the spacious yet modestly furnished room, a small girl lay sprawled on the sofa, blinking up at Miller with large eyes.

“Who are…”

Miller’s gaze overlooked Luka beside Ria, calmly scrutinizing him while shuffling roulette cards.

All he could see was the child he had once gingerly embraced as a youth, and the tender smile his mother would give while watching his trembling figure.

Miller Sen Rayes had indeed regarded Laveria as his true younger sister right up until her tragic demise from a rare illness in exile according to the original story.

The original Laveria had scorned him for treating her as family, openly dismissive of his brotherly affections under the belief that she was nothing but a perfect substitute.

She never could have imagined receiving the love rightfully owed from an elder brother.

* * *

I was utterly startled to find the unexpected visitor wasn’t the Duke I had assumed, but rather an uncannily similar boy.

‘The eldest son? No, perhaps the second.’

The eldest was said to have inherited the Duchess’s emerald eyes, so this azure-eyed boy must be the second son.

“…Your name?”

Miller addressed me.

Luka next to me seemed to deem him unworthy of introductory courtesies befitting royalty.

“It’s Ria, young master.”

“Hah, even sharing that child’s childhood name… Unless someone intentionally cast you as a fake princess…”

Did all the men of the Duke’s household suffer from skepticism like this? Well, I supposed the circumstances were rather unbelievable from their perspective too.

I faithfully stayed in character.

“Luka, is young master Miller joining us to the Imperial Palace as well?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

At Luka’s firm rebuttal, Miller’s head whipped up in surprise.

“To the Imperial Palace, you say? Now that you mention it, Father did say earlier…”

“Yes, we’re merely guests here. Of course we must proceed to the Palace.”

I shrugged nonchalantly.

Then, deftly stowing away the excess cookies and candies provided by the servants into a small pocket as if preparing to depart, I acted the part.

“Ria, the Imperial Palace has desserts that are incomparably more delectable than even the Duke’s confections. There’s no need to lug those.”

Luka shot Miller a mocking glance as he remarked.

“Oh, that does sound exciting! I want to go to the Palace right away!”

“At the Palace, I’ll hire you your very own personal chef.”

“Really? Are we really going now? Can we just head down already?”

The silent Miller watching our exchange finally spoke up.

“…Our head chef’s dishes are better.”

“…Huh?”

“Tiramisu, macarons, strawberry tarts, brownies, gelato. Which do you prefer? Our renowned head chef Shrimp can make the most delectable version of any dessert.”

I stared aghast at Miller’s brazen claim.

Your head chef is the best, you say?!

As I lamented the cruel fate of the clearly destined-to-be-a-chef Shrimp, Luka flung one of the roulette cards he had been holding straight at Miller.

Fwip-

In that instant, Miller tilted his head aside.

‘…?!’

Was that a card grazing him? The one Miller dodged embedded itself deeply into the hallway wall.

With a slight furrow of his brow, Luka questioned:

“Are you disparaging the Imperial cuisine?”

Rather than cow, Miller smiled back unfazed.

“Not at all. But according to our head chef Shrimp, all Imperial dishes are merely trumped up fakes? It seems only Shrimp can satisfy this child’s palate.”

The maids passing behind him goggled at the card lodged in the wall, three of them tugging futilely in attempts to dislodge it.

‘Getting hit by something flying at that velocity would likely be fatal…’

I glanced back at Luka slouching half-reclined on the sofa.

Smirking lopsidedly, Luka challenged Miller:

“Could you say the same before Gaori, the Imperial head chef?”

Gaori…?!

Unable to make sense of this bizarre conversation, I was about to interject when a call came from the door.

“Ria, come out for a moment.”

The Duke’s sudden summons made me turn to Luka in surprise.

He simply nodded at me in acknowledgment.

“…I’ll be back.”

I brushed past Miller’s scrutinizing gaze to follow the Duke outside.

* * *

Struggling to match the Duke’s long strides, I scampered hurriedly to keep up.

Catching my breathless panting from my lack of stamina, he glanced over and slowed his pace slightly to accommodate me.

“What did you wish to see me about?”

“Do you know about Princess Laveria Rayes?”

The Duke questioned as we strolled down the sunlit corridor.

I would likely be the most knowledgeable person in this world regarding Laveria – aware of her terminal illness and its underlying cause, even if uncertain whether a cure was possible.

Yet I naturally feigned ignorance in my response.

“My wife understood how precious daughters were in our household, yet always yearned for one.”

The Duke spoke wistfully.

“When our third child was born a girl, she was overjoyed. Making endless plans about buying dresses together, going on picnics…”

“…”

“The child was born healthy, but my wife passed away just a few months later. Then on the third anniversary of her death, that final gift she had left behind – our daughter – disappeared.”

The cold print in the book scarcely captured the sorrow etched into his expression.

Mere words like ‘sadness’ could never truly convey the depth of his anguish. Outwardly composed, he had endured twelve years with a shattered heart.

Despite already knowing the facts, I felt gutted as if physically struck.

Firstly, the sheer magnitude of his emotions surpassed comprehension.

Secondly, my family from the other world I had forcibly repressed memories of suddenly resurfaced.

Remaining silent, I followed as he strode ahead.

The Duke flung open the door to a particular room.

This was the bedchamber of Princess Rayes from twelve years ago when she was abducted. Not a speck of dust remained, the decor befitting not a three-year-old’s nursery, but that of a fifteen-year-old young lady as if she currently resided there.

“Everyone called me insane for redecorating this room for a child who would never return with each passing sunset. But I told them, who knows when she might come back? If she suddenly returned to find this room covered in dustsheets, wouldn’t she be disappointed?”

“…Why are you telling me this?”

My heart raced dizzily.

An indescribable warmth enveloped the hollow void in my chest from the moment I had lost my family, once filled with cherished connections.

-Mom really loves you, you know? I’m so sorry I scolded you earlier.

-Oh, look here? Are you pouting? Alright, alright, I understand. How about I make your favorite pasta for dinner tonight? Ooh… I saw that little smile when I said that.

-Want to go on a walk after you finish eating with Dad? No? If you come, I’ll buy you ice cream though.

-What’s the point of going for a walk just to eat ice cream? No way, you’re only allowed to eat the pasta I made. And then we’ll all go for a walk together. The stars are really visible tonight!

The Duke’s silvery hair akin to my own fluttered in the breeze wafting through the open window.

“If you’re amenable, I wish to register you as Princess Rayes. If that child from when she was three had grown up unchanged, she would likely be just like you.”

The beloved faces I had forcibly suppressed from resurfacing ever since arriving in this world overlapped with the Duke’s visage.

-Our daughter is running late, should I go pick her up? Mom had a bad dream, that’s all. Ah, there’s her bus? Alright… Be careful on your way!

“Would you like to become my daughter?”

Powerless against the agonizing yearning for those I had stubbornly turned a blind eye to, a single tear rolled down my cheek.