Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

“He visits quite often.”

He even created a teleport connecting the imperial palace and this place.

The imperial palace seemed to be little more than an office to him.

At that moment, seeing Senia’s frozen expression, I wondered if perhaps she had feelings for Luka.

It was awkward.

I couldn’t help feeling like I had unnecessarily gotten in the way.

Hearing my answer, Senia forced a smile, nodded, and left the room.

After that, Senia only came to treat me when Luka was with me.

“Your Majesty, it’s fortunate. The lady’s condition has improved even more than last time.”

“Is that really true?”

Looking up at Senia, who smiled brightly at Luka with a much more lively and clear appearance than me lying in bed, I felt envious in a way.

“The lady needs to rest for a while, so why don’t you take a stroll in the beautiful garden out front?”

“No, I’ll stay with Ria.”

“But the lady needs rest…”

“Ria, would my presence here be a disturbance? If so, I’ll leave.”

Luka asked me that.

Before answering, I turned to look at Senia.

A cold face I had never seen before was demanding my answer.

For a moment, I flinched at that icy expression, but I didn’t want to give the answer Senia wanted even if it meant ignoring my own feelings.

“It’s fine if you stay here.”

“…”

Bang! As soon as she heard my answer, Senia left the room without even saying goodbye to me.

It was probably from that day.

That things started to go wrong.

“Isn’t the water too cold?”

I said to the maid attending to me in the morning.

“I’m sorry, miss. The maid who usually heats the water is sick today, so it seems they couldn’t heat it properly.”

I couldn’t say anything when she said that.

But what bothered me wasn’t just this.

I had been noticing the subtly changed attitudes of the servants for some time now.

They weren’t particularly loyal to me to begin with, but these days it felt like they were just neglecting me.

Meals had become poor, and when I called for servants, they took a long time to come.

Even though they knew I had difficulty moving.

“Sarah, has something been happening lately?”

I said while roughly washing my face with water that was cool to the point of being cold.

The maid pretended nothing was wrong, asking what I meant, but she also seemed slightly flustered by the fact that I had noticed something.

“Hah… Sarah, I feel like some people are looking down on me because I’m just lying here like this. Don’t you think so? Lately I’ve been feeling…”

“That can’t be…!”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion. Interrupting your master’s words shows that you’re no different.”

I thought I should address this at least once.

“It’s almost time for Father to arrive. I’m thinking of telling him everything and sorting this out.”

“Ah, miss! I’ll tell you everything I know. I absolutely didn’t join them!”

So there was something after all.

“Sarah, can I trust you?”

“Of course, I have nowhere else to live besides here. If I’m kicked out for lying, it would be as good as death.”

Sarah said as she brought water she had heated herself, even though it wasn’t her job, and washed my feet.

“It started when a child who went to the capital brought back a rumor that had become widespread.”

“A rumor?”

“Yes. A rumor surrounding you, His Majesty, and Lady Senia…”

Sarah hesitated to speak.

Just from the mentioned individuals, I could roughly guess the content.

“It said that His Majesty and Lady Senia are in love with each other, and you are interfering in their relationship and tormenting Lady Senia.”

I noticed that Sarah was using quite euphemistic expressions.

“For example?”

At my words, Sarah bowed her head as if apologetic and said:

“They said you responded with kicks to Lady Senia’s kindness in healing you, and there was also a rumor that you once invited her to a banquet and poisoned her. They said she fell into a coma for a while and barely survived because Young Master Drehan found an antidote…”

The things she listed one after another were all things I knew.

Because they were exactly what Laveria had done to Senia in the original story.

“Because of that, everyone started to pity Lady Senia, and rumors spread that you weren’t actually here for recuperation, but that the Duke had sent you into exile because you caused too many accidents.”

Even though I hadn’t actually done anything, I learned that anything was possible with plausible rumors and an easy target like a commoner-born Duke’s daughter.

It was a completely absurd rumor.

There’s no way I could have committed such terrible acts with this body.

All I did was stay in my room sipping nutritional supplements.

“So you’re saying everyone was incited by those words.”

“Yes… But as the maid nursing you, I know it’s all lies!”

I guess she knows that my reputation has fallen so much that people can ignore it, and that I actually have no power.

“I believe you, Sarah. You’re the only one on my side. I’ll put in a good word with Father. I’ll make sure to take you with me when we return to the capital later.”

“Th-Thank you! Miss, thank you so much!”

There would be no occasion to go up to the capital.

Because I would die here, in the south.

Even if I couldn’t reach the capital where rumors had already spread widely, it would be good for me to calm things down at least in the south.

Fortunately, Sarah was a maid born and raised here with influence in spreading rumors.

“Would you bring that jewelry box over there?”

I opened the jewelry box Sarah brought and selected a few pieces from the gifts I had received, showing them to Sarah.

“Thank you for always taking good care of me. I hope you’ll continue to report situations to me like this in the future.”

Saying that, I handed her a blue gem.

Next, I showed her a necklace with a red gem and said:

“I can’t sleep because I’m worried and upset about those rumors. Could you step up for me?”

“O-Of course, miss! If you just trust me, I’ll make sure everyone around here is on your side!”

“Thank you so much.”

I said that and dropped the necklace onto her hand that already held the blue gem.

Fortunately, after that day, nothing else happened that I needed to worry about.

When I called for servants, they came on time, meals became plentiful, and the water for washing wasn’t cold.

That was enough.

One day, a week had passed since Luka, who used to visit every day, said he would be away for a while and left.

‘It feels strange that he’s not coming when he used to come every day.’

I often heard maids gossiping about whether there had been trouble between us.

But I could vaguely guess.

‘He’s probably trying to bring some strange herb again.’

Even though I told him nothing would work, Luka kept bringing rare medicinal ingredients that only appeared in legends.

They were miracle drugs that could save even dying people, but none of them worked on me.

Luka seemed even more anxious knowing that my condition was rapidly deteriorating these days.

I coughed up blood dozens of times a day, and I spent more time sleeping than awake.

It was strange, considering I still had 2 years left until I turned twenty-one.

“I wonder what it’ll be this time. If I sold everything he’s used on me so far, I could have built a small country.”

As I was muttering about what a waste it was, I heard faint voices from somewhere.

“What do you know, brother…”

“What are you…”

It sounded like a man and woman arguing.

“Were there siblings among the servants?”

I got up from my seat, leaning on the magic cane that was my father’s first gift to me.

With this, I could move around on my own for short distances at least.

I felt a bit better as I left the room and walked down the long corridor.

As I walked, the voices grew louder.

“Come to your senses, Senia. Stop spreading rumors and visiting the Princess.”

“It’s my business. Stay out of it, brother.”

“I heard the Princess’s health has been rapidly deteriorating lately. Surely you didn’t…”

“Be quiet! Since when have you been so interested in Princess Rayes you’ve never even met?”

Senia huffed and flung open the reception room door.

“I’m already annoyed that I came for nothing.”

She went straight down the stairs without coming towards my room.

It seems she only realized Luka hadn’t come after arriving here.

I was leaning against the corner, hiding my presence.

It felt like I had to.

‘Senia… is the main instigator of the rumors?’