Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

“A red gem fragment…?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what happened, but I had it examined first, and they said it actually had purification magic on it that blocks curses.”

At those words, I suddenly felt an inexplicable uneasiness.

A red gem fragment sent from the battlefield, with purification magic that blocks curses…

‘Surely nothing has happened to Luka.’

“By any chance, was the fragment similar to the gem hanging around my neck?”

I stopped dancing, grabbed Sion, and asked.

“…No, that gem was a slightly duller red.”

At Sion’s answer, I let out a sigh of relief.

The silver eyes looking at me were dark, as if pondering something.

Soon, Sion erased his thoughtful expression and spoke.

“It seems someone on the battlefield has the other half of your necklace.”

Sion smiled a little bitterly as he touched the necklace around my neck.

“Yes…”

As if he had already anticipated my affirmative answer, Sion nodded slightly.

“Ria, I like you a lot.”

“…What?”

“I’ve liked you since the day I first saw you. I thought of you every moment.”

Sion held both my hands and spoke as if reminiscing about the past.

“When everyone was pointing fingers at me for not picking up a sword, you were the only one who saw me as I was and gave me courage.”

“Sion, I…”

“I felt like I would regret it if I didn’t tell you in the end.”

Sion looked at me with a face that was pained yet relieved, as if putting a period on his long one-sided love.

“Sion, thank you. I’m not such a great person, but thank you for liking me… And I’m sorry.”

When we were young, our heights were exactly the same as if measured with a ruler, but now he had grown so tall that I had to look up at him.

It’s not that I hadn’t noticed his feelings at all until now, but because Sion never showed it to me, we were able to remain friends.

Knowing that even a shallow relationship could fall apart from the moment feelings are confessed, Sion had mustered great courage.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to remain a friend who can greet you warmly like this in the future. A benefactor who reached out to me when I was lost and crying, I’ll try not to think of you as anything more than that from now on.”

I won’t be greedy, that’s what Sion seemed to be saying.

I smiled faintly and gave my answer.

“Of course, Sion.”

Sion smiled bitterly, then soon spoke to me in a serious voice.

“The red fragment my brother sent me was definitely a dull color, but it could have become that way because the magic broke. If that’s the case, the connection with your necklace would have been severed too, but only someone like the Tower Master would be able to tell.”

“The magic broke… That could really be the case.”

It was too early to feel relieved.

“I’ll ask the Master right away tomorrow. Thank you, Sion.”

“I’ll let you know too if I find out the exact purpose of that fragment. Then let’s meet again next time, Ria.”

The moment Sion turned around with a smile, the music ended.

New music started again, and several pairs of men and women began to dance once more, but it felt like Sion’s performance had ended, leaving the last note.

However, he also looked somewhat relieved.

With just one moment of courage, he would no longer have deep regrets.

I was hoping for that too.

I watched Sion walk away for a while, then averted my gaze.

At today’s banquet, I could meet the Empress and Rachel after a long time.

One of the things I had to do before leaving was to say my own farewell to my precious people.

For that, I looked around here and there.

‘Where are they, both of them?’

As I was moving my feet to find them, I learned something interesting.

“Crazy. That insane face is really unbelievable.”

Praise that came with somewhat harsh words from the mouth of a young lady.

“I’m seeing him for the first time in almost 5 years, but how did he come back even more handsome?”

It seemed they were definitely praising someone’s appearance…

“I wonder if he’s now seriously preparing to succeed the Kablos Duchy. Seeing him at an event like this.”

Enoch Kin Kablos. The eldest son of Duke Kablos was here now.

I don’t think I heard him being announced… He might have arrived late.

‘I’ve heard rumors that he looks a lot like Duke Kablos, so he must be handsome.’

But regardless of such beautiful looks, to me he had a very unpleasant face.

‘By the way, what’s the occasion? Someone who stayed in seclusion even after graduating from the academy, setting foot in social circles even less than me…’

To say even less than me is saying a lot.

I was a professional absentee, so to speak, who could be called a representative delinquent of social circles.

As proof of that, the people here were looking at me as if I were a rare animal.

I started walking again to find the Empress and Rachel.

No, to be precise, I was about to do so.

If someone hadn’t suddenly grabbed my hand, that is.

“Laveria, here you are.”

Even without turning around, I could tell by the voice that made my skin crawl from my captured hand up to my shoulder.

“Your Highness the 2nd Prince…?”

It was none other than Teniel.

Teniel was smiling with satisfaction as if he had finally found me after searching everywhere.

It was to the point that it made my earlier thought that he would be in a bad mood from the victory march that had echoed in the hall during the opening ceremony seem foolish.

But I realized when I saw Teniel smiling only with his eyes.

He was still upset, but pretending not to be.

It was an impression reminiscent of Senia.

The fabricated mask looks plausible on the surface, but if you keep looking, you can see the cracks.

“I heard the news. That you finally received legitimacy confirmation at the temple. I too have been concerned about you being held back by unfounded rumors… Congratulations.”

“Yes… Thank you for your concern.”

The Teniel I had seen was someone who cared for and worried about me like this.

On the surface.

It was the day I had refused his unreasonable request to be his partner.

I was sitting on a bench after briefly leaving the hall when I happened to overhear Teniel and some noble youths talking behind me.

‘That dirty commoner, acting all high and mighty.’

At first, I doubted my ears.

‘Still, she’s the lover left behind by the Crown Prince, shouldn’t we play with her a bit, haha.’

‘The Crown Prince has a baroness mother, so I guess he’s free of prejudice.’

‘This is when you use the saying “birds of a feather flock together”.’

A haughty prince who thought he owned the world, backed by Lady Jeria.

However, as the Crown Prince was winning consecutive victories and he remained second, it wasn’t unreasonable for his personality to become twisted.

To me, who had dealt with Senia, the ultimate two-faced person, it wasn’t such a shocking incident.

It was just a trivial event where I learned Teniel’s true nature.

In contrast, how is Teniel now that my legitimacy has been clearly proven?

With a greedy face… he was coveting me.

There is something that looks good to his half-brother of the same age, moreover a brother who is superior to him and makes him jealous.

The precious legitimate Princess Rayes born after several hundred years.

It seemed that desire born from jealousy had taken root in Teniel’s heart.

“My lady, won’t you join me for a night stroll?”

So, this was a very bad sign for me.

‘Go look in a mirror and say that. See if anyone follows you!’

Do something about those eyes drowning in greed, as if they want to devour me.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’m very busy right now. I have too many people to meet.”

Two people I need to meet, in fact.

I smiled with my eyebrows furrowed as if apologetic and tried to slip away.

However, I soon felt a grip so strong on my hand that my eyes squeezed shut.

When I turned around, Teniel was glaring at me with murderous eyes.

“My lady, please stop testing me… Why don’t you just accept it? There’s a limit to patience.”

Teniel said to me, smiling with gritted teeth.

At that moment, I heard murmuring from around us.

Although it was a small commotion not worth attention, people gathered because the protagonists were the 2nd Prince and Duke Rayes’s daughter.

Among them were the young nobles who had insulted me along with Teniel.

They were instigators.

“Those two, the atmosphere is quite something.”

“It seems the Duke’s daughter has forgotten all about the Crown Prince? Well, His Highness Teniel is quite the catch.”

People were easily swayed by those words.

It was such a good topic for gossip, after all.

The strange relationship between the Crown Prince’s lover and the 2nd Prince, they would stay up all night talking about it.

Even if I tried to twist my wrist to pull it out, the grip only tightened.

From afar it might look like a rosy atmosphere, but up close it was nothing short of a thriller.

“Let go, Your Highness. I have my limits to patience too.”

When I looked up at him with sharp eyes, Teniel smirked and whispered in my ear.

“Do you think Arzenluka will come back for you when he returns? Even now, this place is full of ladies waiting and coveting that guy. If that happens, Ria, you’ll be back on the gossip mill and become a laughingstock. Rather, become my fiancée. Then the laughter will be for Arzenluka who lost his lover.”

What is he saying?

No, he’s not saying, he’s barking.

“If that’s your worry, you can put it to rest. Just recently, we exchanged love letters so hot it made my hands and feet curl up.”

I smirked and said to Teniel.

“And becoming Your Highness’s fiancée is even more detestable than becoming a laughingstock, so what should I do?”

The meaning was, ‘How dare someone like you covet me?’

“What, you…!”

When I spoke as if looking down on him, Teniel threw off his cracked mask and revealed his true colors.

‘That must have been his real face.’

I had poured oil on him, who had been in a bad mood since the opening speech.

Teniel’s face turned completely red with anger as he raised his hand to me.

‘Yes, hit me. It’s better than rumors spreading that I’m in a love affair with you.’

I faced Teniel with a calm expression.

However, Teniel’s palm never reached me.

To be more precise, he was unable to do so.

“…!”

A man with honey-blonde hair and blue eyes that looked exactly like Duke Kablos.

Enoch grabbed Teniel’s raised arm with a cold expression.