When The Villainess Loves

Rinnie bravely walked back to serve me my meal.
I smiled with a sigh.

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“You’re a brave maid.”

“Yes?”

And I met Eugene again.
To great surprise, Eugene continued to step foot into the Princess‘ Palace for the next two days.
It felt very strange because I always went to meet him.
Eugene arrives exactly when it’s about time to swallow the sedatives and energy supplements Rox had prescribed.

Eugene certainly had a weakness for straightforward speech.
So I was straightforwardly saying “I love Sir Bolton!”, while trying not to seem as childish while spouting lines like that.
Of course, I meant it all.
It was just a little different from the usual meaning, because my love is of fanatic nature.
Whether my sincerity has reached him is a separate matter.

Eugene was still as tough as in the beginning, but he looked friendly now.
When I say I like him, he says: “Isn’t it too hopeless to have a one-sided crush on me?” or “I’m a pretty amazing person, I can understand your feelings, Your Highness.”

Such a thing…….

‚Hehe, I heard handsome people pay for their faces somehow.
Is this what it means?‘

He was saying somewhat cheeky things in a sincere joke.
Thanks to this, I wasn’t bored for two days.
Like that, it came already to the last day of my nursing period.
Even today, he opened his mouth while watching me swallow medicine.

“By the way, Your Highness.
After observing it for a few days, the atmosphere inside the palace seems to have changed a little.”

It was a question differently from the usual.
His voice was a little low, so I was happy just listening to it.
It was a voice that made my heart flutter.
I smiled reflexively and tilted my head.

Is this supposed to be a question?

Maybe he  didn’t want an answer, because he continued speaking slowly while thinking hard about something.

“People who were carefully walking around before, look comfortable now.
As you said before, the number of servants has decreased a lot.”

“Oh, is that so?”

I would really really happy if that was the case.
In fact, as I got close to a few people, I changed my mind a little.
Maybe I can change the rumors of unnie being a wicked villainess little by little around me.
Even if it wasn’t necessarily, I wanted to get along with the people I lived with.
So I was kind to them and treated them like I to treat Rinnie, Irene, and Emma.

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Honestly, I didn’t expect much, but maybe that was enough, so I was slowly seeing a change with my own eyes, starting with the chef and some other people.
It was easier to improve the perception of the remaining servants than expected.
In the original work, Leticia was not a person who randomly tormented those bellow her. 

She had always been noble.
In other words, the past belongs to the past and now we’re in the present1.
So I could understand the rapid changes in them.
As the sense of distance narrowed and the news of my illness spread, didn’t their perception of me improve at an explosive rate as a result?

Anyway, I was proud that I could see changes in the eyes of others.

“I’m so happy about that.”

When I answered with a smile, suddenly Eugene began to stare intensely at me.

Oh gosh.

His smooth silver hair was laying neatly.
When I was looked upon at by his mysterious eyes, I felt as if I had become someone meaningful to him.

“…I have no regrets even if I die now.”

“What?”

He raised one side of his eyebrows as if he was shocked by the silly words that came out of my mouth like whispering.
He gasped, stopped talking and smiled sadly at me.
It was dangerously stunning, but I didn’t faint, perhaps thanks to the effect of the medicine prescribed for me.

His gaze, which had been hovering around my face for a while, concentrate on my eyes.
It wasn’t long before he spoke again: “The reason why this place has changed is because the owner of the palace has underwent changes, right?2“

“Well, I guess so…?”

Of course it did change, now that I’ve possessed the Princess body and she is no longer here.

He made a thoughtful sound and opened his mouth with a somewhat awkward look on his face: “Your Highness.”

“Yes Sir Bolton?”

“Can I apply to serve you again?”

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“What?”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.
When a free knight belongs to the imperial palace, in principle, the knight is given considerable autonomy.
This is because the temporary employment of a free knight has a strong meaning.

In addition, Eugene de Bolton is highly skilled sword master.
Who can touch him carelessly? He was on vacation right now, because he wanted to.
If he starts working here again and gets ordered to do something, he has to follow it to the end, but beside that no one is able touch him.

“Why would you come back…?”

But why do you want to suffer voluntary again?

“My heart was moved.
I feel differently now.”

I was confused for a moment, but I calmed down and asked: “What’s wrong with your heart? No, oh my god…”

“Can’t I”?

“That…”

If I would tell him that it doesn’t make sense and that he must be mistaken, I would make him very angry.
I couldn’t think of anything to say and just looked at him.
As the silence prolonged, his expression began to blur.
Then the words bursted out reflexively: “I’m thankful.”

Oh my god.

His brightening handsome face was a treasure in itself, but I rotted inside.
I was desperately thinking of what to say next: “However Sir, if you tie yourself to me, it’s likely that you won’t have much time?”

He would probably run out of time for training.
His face darkened again when I said those things.

“It’s a fixed-term contract anyway and about a year is fine.”

I had nothing to answer to his firm words and stopped talking.
I felt like he would be hurt if I said I would be thinking about it.
I can’t do that.
I contemplated about it in a hurry.
Yeah, I’m planning to leave the Imperial Palace somehow in three months time.
Then what would happens to him? Won’t he stay behind and be swallowed up by the plot of the original work?

No.
Why don’t I take Emma and an escort with me to protect me and take care of me when I leave? Ahhh.
It was only then that everything seemed clear.
I looked into his eyes and smiled brightly: “Okay, you can come back.
I’ll accept your return.”

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Eugene’s face was a little distorted.

“Thank you, Sir Bolton.
I guess I was embarrassed because I felt like you were vowing that you would protect me.”

When I said so shyly, he burst into laughter with a dejected face.
And I suffered of an unexpected disaster.

“Cough.”

When he looked at me again, his eyes began to widened in shock.
Huh…?

“……!”

I immediately grasped the situation and covered my mouth with a handkerchief.
Argh! Of all times, it had to happen right now?!

I couldn’t shed blood in this touching moment and sullen it.
That’s it for today.
Feeling the memories of rushing in, I spoke to him sadly: “Sir, you’d better go back now.”

“No, I… I have to call in a doctor.”

“No!”

If Rox is called here, he may ground me for another five days to not cause me any mental stress.
Oh please!

“Please go back.”

“However Your Highness.
You’re coughing up blood right now!“

Eugene rarely raised his voice.

“It’s meaningless to see a doctor!”

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“What do you mean it’s meaningless?”

“It’s just going to stop on its own like this.
It’s nothing serious.
So, could you pretend you didn’t see anything?”

Don’t make a fuss and bother anyone when I’m vomiting up blood.
Did my plead work? Fortunately while looking at me silently, he turned around and said: “I see.
Is there anything you need, Your Highness?”

Uh, your voice if kind of scary right now.

“Nothing”, today’s memory seemed a little different, so I hurriedly replied, “There’s nothing.
It’s okay, so be careful on your way out, Sir.”

“…yes, Your Highness.”

After hesitating for a while, he left the room.
See you tomorrow, handsome! And I closed my eyes, surrendering my body to the memories that came flooding in.

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

“I didn’t hear unnie‘s voice this time either.”

Crying.
I want to take a picture of my unnie growing up, but I can’t.
However, today’s memory was of unnie, who was always like an ice doll, running around on the grass.
I couldn’t hear any childlike laughter, but I grabbed my heart when I saw a four-year-old3 Leticia sprinting around.

“I didn’t know where the location was though.”

It didn’t look like the Imperial Palace.
I know this, because near the capital you can see the imperial palace building even a little wherever you go.
However, the space in the dream was a really large meadow.

“Hehe.
It was cute.”

With a happy heart, I laid on my stomach in bed.
And I spread out the piece of paper on which I drew a table that organized things I.
had to do and started revising this and that.
I did so, because there would be other people who I would rather just bring along like Eugene when I’ll be leaving the Imperial Palace.

“Hmm.”

But not Cain.
Although I was a little anxious about him,  he was still a duke and he belonged to the characters with little risk of dying in the hands of the original male protagonist, the Crown Prince.
But what if he, as in the original story, falls in love with Ariel…?

” I just have to help him, so that he won’t fall too hard for her.”