Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

Through the wall, Miss Layola’s voice barking orders at the children cleaning the trash room could be heard.

She seemed intent on supervising until the cleaning was complete.

I leaned against the door, gazing up at the cobweb-draped ceiling.

In truth, I was no longer trapped here – not since discovering that passage.

Beyond it lay the outside world I had so yearned for.

Where I could breathe fresh air to my heart’s content, climb trees.

I also needed to find a cure for my incurable illness.

Yes, everything I desired was outside this orphanage.

‘Should I just escape right now?’

Why wait a whole week here? Would I starve to death before then?

Eventually I’d be adopted into a Duke’s family anyway, then come back to rescue everyone, so why hesitate?

-Yes, I’ll go anywhere with Ria.

Luka would soon be rescued by the female lead. Just one more year to wait…

But.

‘In the original story, it was me who helped Luka when Layola tried breaking his legs after his attempted escape.’

[Then I’ll just break your legs instead!]

That was part of the male lead’s traumatic backstory.

‘Will there be anyone to help Luka like the original me if Layola tries hurting him?’

What if I escape, and that happens tomorrow? Luka would surely try his own desperate escape attempt.

My mind tells me to leave his concerns to the caring female lead, but Luka has become more than someone I can easily abandon.

I had whispered promises to stay by his side every night as he suffered nightmares.

* * *

Rattle, click, rattle-

“Ah, damn! Why does it keep getting stuck here…!”

In the end, I didn’t escape alone. I do have a conscience, after all. My feet wouldn’t move.

It would also be difficult to visit the prestigious Duke Rayes’s estate without a valid reason, unless I was returning their lost Crown Prince.

However, I had no intention of being discovered starved to death in a week’s time either.

Instead, I waited until everyone was asleep, then used the wire I had to furiously attempt picking the lock.

I had already asked the children in advance not to look for me in the morning, saying I felt unwell and would be resting in the small room all day, so no voices called out searching for me.

Though Luka would likely be surprised by my disappearance all day. But he couldn’t exactly report it to Layola either.

‘Just wait a little longer, Luka.’

Fortunately, being the farthest from Layola’s quarters, I didn’t need to worry about waking her. Still, I worked quietly.

Click, click-

“Ah, why isn’t this working… Please!”

This was already my dozens of attempt.

Click, click- clank-

“Hm?”

Did it work? As I paused the wire-picking motions to try the door handle:

Clank-

“…?!”

Damn it, I didn’t open it. Someone was unlocking it from the other side.

I clapped both hands over my mouth to stifle any outcries and scrambled away from the door.

‘Is it Layola? If so, then like the original story, I’m fated to become disabled after all…’

Before the door could open, I hastily flung myself back under the clothing pile.

Creak-

The door swung open by a hair’s breadth.

The person entered, gently closing it behind them and approaching my direction.

‘Please, please just pass by…!’

However, contrary to my huddled form, the familiar voice that reached my ears was unmistakable.

“Ria, I know you’re in here.”

‘Luka…?’

I sheepishly emerged from under the clothes.

Luka’s familiar hand grabbed mine, helping me out.

“Luka, how did you get here?! You haven’t fully recovered yet, did you leave the infirmary?”

At my words, Luka looked over my injured, bandaged hands and said:

“I thought you were going to abandon me.”

Those composed words were belied by the slight tremble I felt through his grasp, hinting he had been considerably alarmed by my abrupt disappearance.

“Why would I abandon you? I said we’re leaving together.”

I had wavered briefly, but…

“More importantly, how did you unlock the door without a key?”

“…I just kept jamming the wire in until it opened.”

Huh? It hadn’t worked for me even after over 30 minutes. Does being the main lead come with lockpicking buffs in this world?

Despairing at such unrealistic advantages, I was about to tear up when Luka pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Never disappear from my sight again. There won’t be a next time.”

His voice was fraught with desperation in my ear, and I could only mutely nod in assent.

“I promise.”

The distance that had allowed his racing heartbeat to reach me closed, and as our eyes met again, his vivid bloodred irises fully captured my gaze.

Facing Luka, I asked:

“Are you ready to go outside?”

“You found a passage?”

“Yeah. We can leave any time. The outside world is waiting for us out there.”

Originally, I hadn’t planned on escaping immediately after securing an exit route. But the yearning for the freedom beyond grew within me like spreading ink.

Luka and I also rarely had opportunities to be here in this off-limits area so late at night while everyone else slept.

All our preparations consisted of was the breached passage and our sturdy legs, yet my instincts urged us to flee immediately.

However…

“There may be even harder times ahead for you.”

If we returned now, there would be no welcoming imperial capital or family compared to before.

The Empress had been bedridden since his disappearance, and his only sister had left the Empire searching for him.

Had I made this weighty decision too lightly for him?

My face was likely an unsightly mess, far from the expression of a child who had found an escape.

Luka smiled faintly at my turmoil, finally breaking his silence.

“My mind remains unchanged. I’ll go anywhere with Ria.”

* * *

The passage was quite spacious for me, but unexpectedly a bit narrow for Luka.

It struck me just how much the child who had once seemed so tiny had grown up.

“Wow…”

After emerging from the short tunnel, the outside world I beheld for the first time was far, far more-

“Beautiful…”

Following my murmur, Luka gazed upwards at the sky behind me.

The dead of night, the verdant trees surrounding the orphanage, the grass under my feet, the refreshing breeze, the stars densely filling the night sky and the Milky Way.

“Truly beautiful…”

Layola had claimed the outside world was fraught with extreme danger. I couldn’t say her words were completely wrong.

The world was indeed perilous. Especially for children like us.

And yet, the world was beautiful. For a long while, I couldn’t find my words.

“It really is.”

The hand entwined with Luka’s felt feverishly hot.

Ah, now wasn’t the time to dawdle.

“First we need to get out of this forest. But just where is this place?”

In the books, the Greffin Empire spanned over half the continent, with countless cities.

The original novel never specified the location of the orphanage where the male lead was imprisoned as a child.

Faced with such an unfamiliar landscape, I lost my sense of direction for where to go.

It was Luka, still gazing at the night sky, who took the lead tugging my hand.

“I think it’s this way.”

His unhesitating stance guiding me looked quite dependable.

Right, more accurate than any compass was relying on the main character’s buff!

Fireflies emitted their own glows all around the forest we entered following Luka.

‘I never saw fireflies even in my previous life.’

I stretched out my palm, watching in fascination as their lights passed through.

Catching Luka’s intense stare, I suddenly asked:

“You said you didn’t want to see the family you can’t even remember.”

“That’s right.”

“Do you still feel that way? They could be desperately searching for you.”

His sister, Princess Rachel, hadn’t hesitated to venture abroad in her quest to find him.

“As always, Ria is my only family.”

We had spent those same two years together as the other orphans, so was that too cold of him…?

More importantly, would it really be okay to return this child to the Imperial Palace?

“Still, if needed, I should go back eventually. It will surely take some time though.”

Finding such maturity admirable, I gave his shoulder a playful shove.

In the original story, after regaining his status as Crown Prince, Luka underwent grueling imperial tutoring to earn the Emperor’s recognition before taking to the battlefields.

He would quell the deep-rooted civil strife in the Greffin Empire, then unite all the nations of the continent, great and small, into a peaceful alliance.

The Crown Prince destined to be immortalized throughout history walked beside me. It felt akin to being with a celebrity.

While the original story started with him at a 2% disadvantage, Luka would undoubtedly perform great wartime deeds with the female lead’s aid, return to his coming-of-age ceremony, and become an admirable Emperor.

‘And he would come to love the female lead. With her healing powers able to suppress the dark magic tormenting him.’

As always, I was the root problem.

My halfhearted plans made me sigh wearily each time I reconsidered them.

Willingly enter Duke Rayes’s household as an adoptee, then rescue the orphans. Later, earn enough funds to seek a cure for my terminal illness-

‘At least I’ve saved my legs so far…’

That alone had already diverged from the original plot. I should be grateful.

Watching my healthy legs stride in step with Luka, I felt relieved.

But that relief was short-lived as I shuddered violently.

‘Here comes another fever…’

My terminal condition’s symptoms had been growing more frequent recently.

The red spots that had suddenly appeared on my abdomen would flare up burning hot, only to quickly subside.

A feverish heat emanated from my stomach area now, but it was still bearable.

Sensing the tension in my grip, Luka asked with concern:

“Should we rest for a bit if you’re tired?”

“No, I’m alright.”

Fortunately, the forest terrain wasn’t treacherous enough to injure my sock-clad feet.

Luka had carefully treated them last night, so they were even bandaged.

And having walked for so long was almost a novel experience for me since my past life, so I was quite willing.

As Luka unerringly forged our path, making me wonder if his main character’s buff was a tad excessive, he remarked while looking at me:

“The stars are like a map of the night sky, just as you said, Ria.”

I distinctly recalled one of the books I had read aloud containing such content. The star map constellations – he had memorized them?!

His monstrous memory made me shake my head in amazement.

“I feel bad for leaving without a word to the kids. I had promised to play all day with Terry in return for her help…”

At my dejected look, Luka playfully quipped:

“Then we’ll have to return as quickly as possible to minimize Terry’s discontent.”

Right, it wouldn’t do to lose motivation so soon. For Terry’s sake, who had risked Layola’s wrath to aid my escape, if nothing else.

Matching my quickened pace, Luka widened his strides as well.

Duke Rayes’s estate would soon be receiving unannounced guests.