Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

“Good morning, Miss Ria!”

“Sister Serine…? What’s with that outfit?!”

I backed away, seeing sister Serine wearing the same clothes Garnett usually wears.

Garnett, who had been walking behind me, added an explanation.

“She volunteered to become a maid. Ordinarily, one must be at least a low-ranking noblewoman, but they made an exception for her.”

“I still have much to learn, but I’ll work hard, Ria. The other children feel the same way.”

Sister Serine added that this new life we had was thanks to me, and her face overlapped with her innocent past self.

“Sister…”

Fortunately, apart from Layola, no one at the capital recognized the faces of the children brought from the orphanage, so they could live here.

Most of the younger children, including infants, were to be cared for at a Rayes-affiliated orphanage.

The Rayes Orphanage prioritized the children’s happiness and strived to find good guardians for them.

In the future, they would also receive benefits from the Rayes Scholarship program to help them achieve their dreams.

Among those choosing to go to the Rayes Orphanage, one child opted to remain at the Ducal estate.

“Sister Ria!”

“Ben, why are you coming from the kitchen?”

Head Chef Shrimp, following behind Ben, answered on his behalf:

“Last night, the shrimp pizza I made was so delicious that this lad declared he would become my apprentice.”

He proudly smoothed his round, mosquito coil-shaped mustache as he spoke.

“Yeah, that’s right! Everything I ever dreamed of is right here – abundant ingredients, the finest shrimp… no, the finest master chef!”

At the orphanage, Ben had always been in charge of everyone’s meals, cheerfully cooking with the children without any sign of struggle.

It must have been impressive to feed us all on just potatoes.

“I hope your dream of becoming a chef comes true.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Sister. When you and Luka first escaped…”

Did he feel resentful? We had called them family, yet only the two of us ran away…

“We all knew. We were certain you two would come back to rescue us. Though we didn’t expect it to be within just a week!”

Ben beamed widely.

“Getting revenge on Miss Layola yesterday was the best. The knight shielded my eyes so I couldn’t see properly, but we won, right?”

I patted Ben’s head. Even though they must have been anxious, the children were strong.

“By the way, where’s Luka?”

“Eh, Luka? Luka isn’t… here right now.”

I smiled awkwardly as I spoke.

“Why, did you miss him?”

“Well, it just feels really weird not having Luka around with you, Sister Ria…”

At Ben’s words, the smile froze on my face for a moment.

It felt strange not having Luka by my side.

I had thought it would be fine, that I would even feel relieved.

But I already missed that boy.

* * *

“So Ria, let me tell you how I dealt with those… Ria? Are you listening?”

“Huh? Oh yes, I’m listening!”

Startled out of my reverie, I reacted belatedly to Miller’s words.

“You said you split those terrifying monsters controlled by Kablos right in half? That’s really impressive!”

“Well, not quite split in half… I’ll try harder next time.”

Miller looked dejected. Ah, was that not what he was referring to?

“Haha… Actually, I’m just worried about Luka right now.”

I smiled sheepishly as I spoke.

“That boy may not seem it on the outside, but he’s really tender and gentle. I can’t help but wonder how he’s doing at the Imperial Palace… You understand, right? A bit of an older sister’s concern?”

“Tender and gentle…?”

Miller’s expression hardened, perhaps recalling their card war.

Luka did have a bit of a tsundere tendency to act clumsily towards people he met for the first time, which caused the misunderstanding.

Someday, I hope the misunderstanding between him and Miller is resolved as well.

Dad, who had been quietly cutting his steak, spoke up.

“I heard His Highness has been receiving imperial tutoring since being reinstated as the Crown Prince after meeting with His Majesty yesterday.”

“Imperial tutoring?”

“With the two-year gap, the situation seems rather complicated. He must have judged it better to quickly become qualified, as he’s rushing the succession process.”

In the original work, after being rescued with Senia’s help, Luka was reinstated and received imperial tutoring just like this.

The monarchs of the Greffin Empire underwent rigorous training, and Luka was no exception.

In the original, Luka, who had a quick grasp, completed his imperial tutoring in just half a year and proceeded to the final hurdle, the ‘Monarch of the Battlefield.’

The ‘Monarch of the Battlefield’ was the Crown Prince’s ultimate test, and true to its name, Luka would participate as a monarch commanding a war.

As the Greffin Empire wielded immense influence across the continent, rebel forces were constantly conspiring somewhere.

Kingdoms like Selon, whose national power was roughly on par, pretended to swear allegiance to Greffin while secretly plotting rebellion behind the scenes.

The Imperial family was, of course, well aware of this and already had justification to initiate war before the rebels could strike first.

The murder of a Greffin envoy in the Selon Kingdom was an incident they had swept under the rug for now to facilitate Luka’s imperial tutoring.

In the original, immediately after exposing the envoy’s murder, Luka led the vanguard forces into war.

The Selon Kingdom was no pushover and served as a worthy adversary to test the Crown Prince.

The remaining kingdoms siding with Selon then mushroomed, and at just fifteen years old, Luka found himself embroiled in what could be called an almost continental war.

After much back-and-forth struggle to seize the upper hand by age seventeen, Luka faced a major crisis when a puppet curse was activated, only to be freed from it with Senia’s aid, ultimately ending the great war.

It was a great war that even the Emperor had been uncertain which side would prevail. The Greffin became a true continental Empire, and the young seventeen-year-old Crown Prince returned as a war hero, or legend.

After the ailing Emperor’s passing, Luka ascended the throne at eighteen and, based on the truth Senia had revealed to him on the battlefield, sought to judge the Consort who conspired to kidnap him and the Kablos Duchy behind it all.

However, Duke Kablos, who Senia loved, ended up being pardoned because of her, and Senia helped redeem her utterly villainous father, Duke Kablos.

[I’ll let go now. From now on, Kablos too will live as uprightly as those Rayes bastards. But in return, you must protect Senia – from that vile consort and deranged woman. Otherwise, you know better than I what will happen, Your Discerning Grace.]

Recalling the original story, Duke Kablos was quite the popular doting father figure despite being redeemed, but was that really forgivable?

Remembering the hardships I endured, ultimately caused by his forces, just left me feeling bitter resentment.

But in this dirty world that ended up creating Senia’s happy paradise, a citizen like me had no say in the matter.

I was on the verge of indignant tears when…

“If you wish, I can pass along a message for him when I visit the Imperial Palace today.”

Visiting the Palace today? Ah, he must be attending frequently since that day.

“Then just ask if he’s doing well, if he’s hurt anywhere, if he’s sleeping properly at night or so.”

But that still didn’t seem sufficient.

“Oh, and ask if he’s eating properly without skipping meals, if anyone is bullying him, how life in the Imperial Palace is, and also…”

Chuckle.

“I’d believe it if you said you were his guardian. For that blockhead Crown Prince to receive such treatment from you. Don’t you feel a bit envious somehow?”

Miller laughed as he spoke.

“He’s still just a child, you know. If I don’t hold his hand, he can’t even sleep well. I’m really worried.”

Crunch-

‘Huh? What was that?’

The sound came from Dad’s hand.

Was that knife made of material that could so easily crumble to dust like that?

“I’ll be sure to pass along your regards, then.”

For some reason, Dad smiled in a chilling manner.

* * *

At the same time, Luka flinched and glanced back.

He had grabbed the sword he kept at the ready to deal with the ninth assassin, but the room was empty aside from himself.

‘Concealing their presence like that, this one isn’t ordinary.’

Luka stood up from his seat and remained on guard.

Unaware it was the killing intent of the Duke Rayes, Luka ended up gripping his sword until the real ninth assassin finally showed up.

Knock-knock-

“Your Highness, may I enter?”

The door opened to reveal his tutor, Hazel.

“Good mor…Aahhh! Bl-Blood! What is that disgusting thing? A green piranha!”

Hazel shrieked at the sight of the ninth assassin, dangling like a dried fish over the terrace railing.

The monsters Kablos commanded could even disguise themselves as humans.

In an instant, a black eagle as large as a person swooped down from the distant sky and snatched away the assassin-turned-monster.

Luka had been troubled over how to clean up after dealing with the assassins.

Interrogating them was futile since the monsters couldn’t speak human language.

Then, after noticing the giant eagles soaring around the Imperial Palace, he started leaving them like that.

Hazel shrieked again at witnessing the ☆Bald Eagle Cleaning Service☆.

“Aaaahh!”

“Please be quieter. Shall we begin the lesson?”

Luka said, covering his ears.

A few minutes later, once Hazel had finally calmed down, he commenced Luka’s imperial tutoring.

“Remarkable. Your current level now exceeds where you were two years ago, Your Highness.”

Hazel spoke, having watched Luka pass all his exams.

“There were rumors outside the Palace that during those two missing years, you had become a babbling idiot unable to study, but it seems the real idiot was elsewhere.”

Hazel, a distinguished talent from the Imperial Academy being considered as the next principal, spoke in an unfiltered, crude manner.

“At this rate, the ‘Monarch of the Battlefield’ test shouldn’t be far off. You seem to be focusing more on swordsmanship than academics.”

“I would do so even without you saying it.”

Hazel removed his golden spectacles as he spoke.

“May I ask why you are in such a hurry? Is it because of the rumored Princess Rayes?”

At his words, Luka flinched momentarily before regaining his composure and replying in an annoyed tone.

“Think as you wish. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have sword training.”

With that curt response, Luka stood up from his seat.

His crimson eyes were deep in thought. Luka already missed Ria despite barely having been apart for a few days.

He was surprised at his own frailty and concerned about the future. Until everything stabilized, it would be impossible to see Ria as frequently as before.

Fortunately, contrary to his worries, Ria seemed to be faithfully wearing her necklace, as he sensed her energy from the mana stone bracelet bound to his wrist.

That warm, tender energy stirred Luka’s emotions.

Yet the person he encountered at the training hall was an unexpected one.

“Duke Rayes…?”