When The Villainess Loves

However, the junior only dragged the silence on with an uncomfortable face.
Rox had that squirrel-like face, but when it comes to medicinal herbs, there was no one like him.
But he’s acting like he’s got a clue and pondering whether to give it to me or not.

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“By the way, is that really true? The ice Princess is really… ?”

“Ugh, this guy! Watch what you say!”

Rox flew into a rage at the person who spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“How could you to that kind child… !”

Rox no longer believed the rumors circulating among the people.

That day, the Princess did not shed a single tear.
But she didn’t act cold-hearted at all.
She was not an arrogant doll without emotion, but a person who was considerate enough to offer warm comfort to the person who notified her of her nearing death.

‚Isn’t she a wonderful young lady who grew up really well?‘

But these people!

Rox told his junior, mixed with frustration and desperation for clues: “You don’t know anything.
The way the Princess felt when she was informed of her own illness…”

“Well, how was it?”

Looking his sour junior in the eyes, Rox said in a slightly exaggerated way: “She personally comforted this old man with her precious touch and a vague smile.
That’s all I’m going to say!”

Seeing Leticia‘s reassuring smile as if everything’s fine and he shouldn’t worry, that’s how Rox had interpreted it.

“Look, Ripley.
All my life I’ve seen is people who’ve had a rough life to react like that in the face of their own death.
But she’s only nineteen now.
How can you, or how can we guess what’s going on since her?”

He was heartbroken that she had no choice but to grow up to be such a resolute person.
“Is this research really such a pointless thing to do?”

At first, the junior, who was unsure, seemed speechless.
And then he began to respond seriously: “I went too far, I’m sorry.
I didn’t understand why you were going this far.
Well, now I can understand it a little bit.”

“…Thank you for understanding.”

In time, the opponent gave the long-awaited information to Rox, who had calmed down a little.

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“I’m not sure about it, but I’m telling you because I want it to be of help to you.
The Duke of Irick.”

“You mean, the guy who only works?”

“Yeah, I actually just happened to hear this.
There is a rumor that the fruit of Trojani is not actually a fruit, but a flower.”

“Is it credible?”

The junior shook his head slowly.

“There’s no way to prove it, however he’s the source of the rumor.”

“By him, you mean the Duke of Irick?“

“Yes, for now this is my personal guess.
Do you happen to know that? The fruit of Troja had only appeared thrice in the world.
All appearances had something in common.”

“What did they have in common……?”

“First, there was a black-haired figure nearby.”

“Hm?”

“Secondly, a pleasant scent covered the entire surrounding area before it appeared.”

“…aren’t that just the untrustworthy words of a bard?”

“I looked into it, but no.
The whole area is talking about the scent.
Perhaps the rumor of it being a flowers originated there.”

Ripley, the junior, shook his head for a while and continued.

“Anyway, based on that clue, there are a few places and people I’ve looked into, one of them is Duke Irick.
He was the most suspicious.”

Rox opened his mouth and stared at his junior.
It was a longer and more plausible explanation than expected.
Ripley continued again: “Well, the fruit of Trojan is like the utopia of herbalists, and I’m researching only things that I’ve been interested in personally.
Now that I say it, it’s nothing much.”

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“No, thank you.
So, you want me to go see Duke Irick?”

“Yes, but don’t push yourself too hard.
He’s, um… He is also rumored to be a descendant of the demons.
It’s not good for you to annoy him too much.”

“Thank you.
Thank you.”

The opponent scratched his head: „What?“

“When I heard of it, I felt sorry for her Highness.
I’d be glad if I could help.”

After expressing his gratitude, Rox quickly teased his feet and immediately headed to the Duke Irick.
Rocks and Ripley couldn’t have known.
The security cannot be perfect, even if it is the security of the royal palace.
The young medical student, who came to consult Ripley about something, overheard a little bit too much of their conversation.

“The princess? ……her own death, hmm? What fruits are they talking about?”

They didn’t hear everything, but the combination of words they’ve heard was enough to start a strange rumor.

‚ They said, that the princess is getting close to death.

And that rumor added to the secret whispers of the maid, who once saw the Princess throwing up blood.
It has become the source of countless rumors such as theories that she is ill or that she is poisoning himself.
The rumor, which was so close to the truth, began to permeate the Imperial Palace little by little.

༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

In contrast to the silver-haired Eugene, Cain was a handsome man with black hair and black eyes.

The heroine had said: “He had deep, sad eyes that seemed to tell a story.”

Reminiscent to vampires, Cain‘s personality was described as being very straightforward and blunt.
Unlike Eugene, he was a workaholic.
He’s the easiest person to meet, but the most awkward person to be around.
And he was also someone with a trauma.
I can’t just talk of his trauma, but at least I can comfort him a little bit.

I had to be serious, but I kept smiling.
It may be because I have experienced how happy it can make someone to spend time with handsome men, even if Eugene had been a bit feisty in the past few days.

“You look happy.
You seem to expect more of this meeting than I do”, said Eugene slightly sarcastic while walking next to me. 

I answered automatically, tidying up the sly corners of my mouth: “It’s always fun these days.
It’s definitely fun to see Eugene walking next to me like this.”

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Since I met his face, my existence has found the shining light.
Whoo hoo hoo.

“……Oh, is that so?”

He opened his eyes faintly more at my words and turned his head a bit away from me.
Then from some point on, he just stared at me quietly without saying a word.
I felt the need to give an additional explanation after witnessing the strange response.
Despite his nickname Casanova, he was quite relentless about rational feelings toward him.1

It’s not like that at all for me, but I can’t be bothered about it.

“Oh, of course I don’t want anything from you, Sir Bolton.
It’s really nice the way it is right now, you know?“, said I to him while holding my hands together sincerely.
I looked up at him with great pride.
What do you mean, you care about the heart of a fanatic? This was a blessing to a fanatic fan, not an object.2 Eugene’s face literally turned strange.

“No, that … Don’t worry, Your Highness”, he looked at me with somewhat complicated eyes while saying so.
I wondered how the annoyance3 seemed to have been relieved, but I didn’t have time, so I thanked him and moved on.
A little later he caught up.
Cain’s office was located on a black tower near the Imperial Palace Library.

“I thought it was a tower that no one was using.”

The reason why I was able to lead Eugene without medicine was because the place was the Black Tower nearby.

“Everyone thinks so.”

“I see.”

The Black Tower was a place that was not well-known in itself, only accessible for the Imperial Family or whose who’ve gained access by the Imperial Family.
Information that Eugene, close to being an outsider, would not have known.
In the original story, he naturally get to know of it when the Crown Prince is trying to drive a wedge between the twofold them.

I arrived in front of Cain’s office.
Before knocking, I brought up what I had prepared.

“Well, Lord Bolton, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Later, if I ever want to….”

Facing his relaxed silver-gray gaze, I had a fierce battle inside me between my conscience and  my virtue.
Virtue came out victorious.

“Just once … could you hold my sleeve first? …would you?”

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Eugene’s expression changed subtly at my words.

“First, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Your sleeve?”

Once I leave the palace, it will probably be late fall to early winter.
By then, the dresses will have sleeves.
But somehow I was scared by his face sinking with suspicion.

Oh, is it still too early?

I almost admitted defeat in that moment.

“You are… “

I was a little nervous about doing this in front of the door, but I swallowed once and listened to his answer.

But what he was about to say didn’t come out of his mouth.

“It’s a request because I like you(r face)! I didn’t mean to cause you harm or anything.”

I’m afraid of losing all the familiarity that I had accumulated as if it were the tears of an ant.

“The time is…….”

“What? Time?”

I only have a year left, so I got ahead of myself.

……so let’s try again the next time.

Concealing my selfish will of never giving up I said: “I’m a little disappointed because you’ll probably leave after meeting the Duke.
So don’t feel too burdened by my request.”