Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

Luka had a dream after a long time.

In the dream, he was keeping vigil at a woman’s sickbed day after day.

Even as seasons changed and much time passed.

Luka moved his steps to see the woman whose face was hidden by his own back.

The fairy-like woman with mysterious silver hair was none other than Ria.

Ria looked more mature than Luka remembered.

“Cough! Cough, hah…”

And for some unknown reason, she looked very pale and sometimes coughed up blood.

Luka felt a tingling sensation in his heart.

He couldn’t bring himself to approach, feeling powerless for not being able to do anything in front of her.

Again, much time passed.

The Luka in the dream disappeared for a while, then reappeared one day.

“Ria, I found it. This time I brought an ancient relic called the Elven Stone.”

“Luka… I told you. Nothing works for me.”

“Still, I won’t give up. Never…!”

His pathetic self had only managed to find a stone emitting green light.

Luka knew this well.

‘The Elven Stone’.

It was something he had learned about two years ago while searching for a way to cure his mother’s chronic illness.

The map with its location looked plausible, and it was an item mentioned in an ancient book, a treasure of the ancient Greruphien Kingdom, so he had hoped, but it was just a stone.

It was the same now.

Luka held the Elven Stone, said to grant wishes according to legend, and wished for Ria’s illness to be cured completely, but the stone remained unchanged.

However, if there was something different from what he knew, it was that while he remembered it as just a green crystal, now something like fireflies was flying around inside the Elven Stone held in his hand.

‘Pathetic fool. How long has Ria been waiting for me in her sickbed…’

Luka gritted his teeth.

As he said, in the brief time he had gone to find the Elven Stone, Ria had always longed for him.

All she could do was lie in bed and wait for Luka.

Soon after, a doctor entered the room.

“Your Majesty, you’ve come.”

“Yes, how is Ria’s condition? She seems to have less color than last time.”

“About that…”

He tilted his head, looking at the doctor trailing off.

Under Luka’s eyes were dark circles from not having slept for a long time.

He sighed as if having trouble breathing, roughly unbuttoned his disheveled shirt, and spoke in a strained voice.

“Why can’t you continue? Speak up, I said.”

“Your Majesty…”

Sparks flew in his sharp eyes, as if denying reality.

He suddenly stood up, forgetting he was in front of Ria, grabbed the doctor’s neck, and shouted:

“Tell me! Say Ria is fine! If not, I’ll kill you. I told you from the beginning, if you can’t save her, I’ll kill you!”

His excited self was like a ferocious beast.

But on the other hand, he also seemed to be crying out in pain like a wounded animal.

“Stop, Luka. Let go of the doctor.”

The man who had been so violent that it seemed no one could control him finally crumbled at a single fragile voice.

The doctor, who had been choking, soon felt the grip on his neck loosen.

“I’ll tell him. You can go now.”

At Ria’s words, the doctor hurriedly gathered his things and left the room.

Click, the door closed, and a long silence fell between the two.

As always, it was Ria who broke it.

“You know, Luka. This week is supposed to be my critical point.”

Her voice was flat, as if talking about what she had for breakfast this morning.

Her calm emerald eyes took in the man who had turned away as if not wanting to hear.

“I’m scared, Luka.”

However, at the sincere trembling voice that followed, Luka finally turned around.

“I’m so afraid because I don’t know when I’ll have to say goodbye to you.”

“…”

“Will you stay with me today? You can come up on my bed, like we used to at the orphanage.”

“Sister, Sister Ria. How can I live without you…”

Luka moved with trembling steps as if standing at the edge of terror and climbed onto the bed where Ria was lying.

Luka, settling beside Ria, shed tears like a child, as if he had returned to the past when he was smaller than her.

They were holding hands tightly.

Also, on their left ring fingers were engagement rings, as if they had made an eternal promise to each other.

Luka held Ria and stayed by her side for a while, sharing memories they had built together.

As night fell, Ria fell asleep first, and after confirming this, Luka, who had returned from a tiring journey, fell asleep.

The two seemed to be waiting for a long farewell, lying side by side holding each other’s hands.

Luka could understand well.

Although it was a space where he could no longer distinguish between dream and reality, he was clearly prepared to follow her as soon as Ria breathed her last.

“Cough, cough!”

At that moment, Ria opened her eyes with a faint cough.

Blood stained her lips, and he could tell that her early critical point had arrived.

Ria held the Elven Stone Luka had brought and burst into tears she had been holding back.

“Sob, I don’t want to die like this.”

Her pitiful voice echoed in the quiet room.

“I regret it, my past life and this life… Sniff. Please, if you’re a stone that grants wishes, give me one more chance. A chance to turn back this twisted fate…!”

Then, a dazzlingly bright light leaked from the Elven Stone, which had shown no reaction to Luka’s wish.

“This light…”

At the same time, the sound of the door opening urgently was heard.

The one who opened the door was none other than Senia.

She had come to treat Ria upon hearing that Luka had returned, and urgently opened the door due to the mysterious light that had spread to the corridor.

“Duke’s daughter, what is this…!”

She had not come alone.

Following her… a tall man entered the room.

His golden hair fluttered in the gust, and his blue eyes held surprise at the scene he had never seen before.

Enoch Kin Kablos. He was the last person to share the moment of Ria’s regression.

The light that filled the space soon engulfed the four people present.

* * *

Luka woke up shedding a tear in the tent where sunlight was streaming through.

It felt like he had dreamed of something from a very long time ago.

As if he had met someone he missed desperately, someone he wanted to protect even if it meant sacrificing everything.

Luka habitually brought his hand to the nape of his neck.

It was a natural action as if checking for the presence of something.

However, what was always there could not be felt.

“What on earth…”

Something he cherished more than his life. Something he had put all his effort into not losing even on the battlefield.

He could barely remember that much, but…

“What have I lost?”

He couldn’t remember what was actually important.

As if pitch-black fog had invaded his mind, the obscured memory wouldn’t surface.

It felt like someone had butchered his memories.

What he had lost wasn’t an object.

His heart ached as if the person he should never forget had left his side forever.

Luka realized that he had forgotten something truly precious.

The terrible curse had completely consumed him.

“Damn it!”

Luka cursed loudly out of frustration.

* * *

“Essil, thank you so much.”

“Is this really okay? I’m still not sure.”

Essil hesitated to hand over the necklace to her, anxiously.

Senia inwardly mocked his timid appearance and snatched the necklace.

“I told you this is all for His Highness’s sake.”

The necklace that had entered her grasp soon fell with a plop into the river below the cliff.

Essil wore a complicated expression as he watched the necklace flow away in the rapid current.

“You’ve cleared away all the traces of Duke Rayes’s daughter that His Highness was keeping, right? Things like letters, portraits, and such.”

“Uh… I burned them all.”

Essil felt like he could still see the numerous traces of the Duke’s daughter before his eyes.

What was kept in the most visible place, as if more precious than anything else.

The guilt from destroying something someone cherished more than their life with his own hands naturally made Essil shrink back.

“You did so well!”

In contrast, Senia seemed very satisfied, looking brighter than ever.

“It’s cold, let’s go back quickly. I have a lot of patients to take care of.”

“Oh, okay…”

Senia left the place with a beaming smile, holding onto Essil’s arm.