When the Villainess is in Love

Chapter 4

If you have no clue what’s going on, it’s best to just smile. You see, I’m not from here, so I don’t have any knowledge of the local literature. I gazed at him pleadingly, hoping he would explain, but Rox’s eyes began to well up with tears as he looked at me. Uh-oh. Has he caught on that I have no idea what he’s talking about?

“I’m afraid so. You have the illness that poem is based on, Your Highness.”

Phew, he didn’t notice! I held back a sigh of relief as Rox continued. It seemed like he was assuming I knew what he was talking about. I quickly nodded as if I understood and immediately got to the reason I was here.

“I see. But Rox, I’m here to seek your help. I would like some way to control this dizziness.”

“A way to control your symptoms of anemia, you mean?”

He looked at me as if he hadn’t expected this at all. But why? If I keep getting dizzy, it’ll get in the way of my fangirling!

In order to make the physician realize how important this was, I adopted an even more solemn tone as I continued, “I wish to avoid making any mistakes during important occasions.”

He fell silent for a moment. Then he gazed at me with a strange look in his eyes.

H-he’s not going to refuse, is he? My throat tightening, I quickly continued, “There’s no need for it to last long—just long enough to get through a single tea party without another spell of the dizzies.”

The old physician held his silence for quite a while. Then, in an even more subdued tone than before, he said, “If you only need it once or twice, there is one way. It is not something normally prescribed, however.”

“Oh?” Yay! I knew it. Professionals really are of a different caliber. I was surprised that it would only work once or twice, which meant that I had to be selective about when I went to meet the characters I liked. I asked him for details, intending to use this method for my talk with the emperor.

“What is it?”

“The… poison of the Western Black Snake.”

“Poison?”

“When ingested in moderation, it practically forces the brain to maintain concentration for about half an hour. The downside is that you must sleep for a long time afterward. Upon the third use, the poison would remain in your body, but using it just twice is all right.”

My lips were threatening to curve into a smirk. Well, it’s better than nothing. “Ah, that would be perfect.”

When I smiled gently instead, he let out a sigh. “The reason I mention this poison is because… It is the only thing that will work. I do not consider it to be entirely safe. Will you still use it?”

Suppressing my excitement, I solemnly nodded my head. Rox, who was once again quiet, stared at me for a while before slowly lowering his gaze. He hung his head. I blinked at him in confusion.

He then whispered sorrowfully, “Your Highness… As you know, no cure has been discovered for this illness.”

Uh-oh. Oh, no. I think I know what’s coming. “Oh, right. I know.”

Don’t be so scared! I’m not going to kill you for knowing my condition, Rox! I smiled reassuringly, hoping to convey these reassurances to the old physician, but it was clear that he was positively shaking in his boots. He must have heard the rumors of me being a wicked villainess.

Except that what he did next was entirely unexpected. The elderly physician began to weep faintly. Wait, I-I’m not going to kill you, I swear! How do I console him? No matter the circumstances, watching an elderly man cry was unbearably awkward.

“There, there, Rox.” I comforted him stiffly, trying to calm him down, but somehow that just seemed to make matters worse.

He began to sob in earnest. “Your Highness, forgive my incompetence…”

Oh, that’s what it is. I marveled at how dedicated this man seemed to be to his profession.

“It’s all right. Please do not blame yourself. You have been incredibly helpful, Rox.” I’m actually being sincere!

The physician’s shoulders began to hitch as he sobbed uncontrollably. I smiled awkwardly, and I gently patted him on the shoulder. The princess’s personal physician was awash in shame.

“Your Highness.”

His groan sounded like a desperate plea to the princess. The matter at hand had to remain his problem alone, for it was too sensitive to talk about with others. If word got out, it was sure to be the princess’s greatest weakness.

I cannot believe the princess has rafaelis! he thought. The illness was akin to a curse. Because it was tied to the soul itself, trying to heal the body was useless. No one understood why or how it was contracted. They only knew what happened to a person as they wasted away and that blue flowers sprouted from their grave once they died. The princess had contracted this very illness.

He had prepared himself for death when he’d given her the diagnosis. He had heard much about the wicked Princess Libertia. Due to the horrible rumors and her strange behavior as of late, he felt a little prejudice toward her. I’ve failed as a physician. I swore to treat all of my patients equally, and yet…

Many had spoken about her infamous frosty tone and indifference, but her voice now sounded more composed than cold, and her face was slightly glowing with warmth. He could no longer see the crazed look he had noticed just a week ago. She had simply listed her symptoms calmly. It had been strange to hear that, though she coughed up blood, she hadn’t thought it remarkable. That was when Rox had realized something was wrong. She spoke as if none of this mattered, as if it was happening to someone else.

“I have never seen anyone react in such a way.”

The princess had simply met his gaze, her eyes clear as if she didn’t care about the diagnosis at all. And when he had referenced Blawear’s poem, it had seemed like the wise princess had understood what he was getting at right away. There had been an emptiness in her eyes at that moment.

However, she then smiled gently and said, “But Rox, I’m here to seek your help. I would like some way to control my condition. I wish to avoid making mistakes during important occasions.”

The princess had just turned nineteen, yet she maintained complete calm. It was unbelievable just how mature and collected she was. And when he had brought up the poison as a means to alleviate her symptoms, she had simply accepted it.

“That would be perfect,” she said.

She seemed genuinely pleased. It was at this point that Rox had found himself unable to look her in the eyes. There was no cure. Tears had begun to stream down his face, though he rarely cried in his old age. But just then…

“There there, Rox. It’s all right.”

Her voice had sounded awkward yet gentle still. It was then that he finally realized that the princess had not hoped for a cure for her illness even for a moment since she had stepped inside his office. She merely said that it was all right when it was anything but.

This was Rox’s second revelation: that the princess had known all along about her condition and knew she was fated to die soon, that perhaps she had imagined this scene many times and made her peace with the inevitable outcome. How else could she be so calm? How?

“Please do not blame yourself. You have been incredibly helpful, Rox.”

How could she be so kind? the physician thought. While his eyesight was diminished due to old age, his other senses were heightened. The old physician could sense the weight of the princess’s tragic life in her easy acceptance.

Rox let out another long sigh. He made up his mind to at least attempt to discover something that could help her—to research the legendary panacea that could cure any malady.

“Surely there are ancient texts describing miraculous medicines at the physicians’ building.”

Reminding himself of the oath he had taken as a young man, he again determined to do everything in his power to find something, anything—just as he once had as a young physician. His eyes lit up with purpose.

* * *

“Things are really coming together for me, aren’t they?”

I had acquired two pills containing the poison of the black snake and a whole pile of iron supplements for when my anemia kicked in. Nothing can stand in my way now. I filled up a mysterious empty bottle I had found inside a drawer with the supplements. Then I hurried to bed, desperate to rest after withstanding those medical tests all day long.

“I’ll go to the emperor first thing tomorrow.”

My eyelids were feeling heavy already. I quickly fell asleep.

After breakfast the next day, I took one of the poison pills Rox had given me.

“Now… Let’s do this.”

I would meet with the emperor to discuss the royal succession. The male lead of the book, the crown prince, had no mercy whatsoever for anyone trying to take what belonged to him. But of course, he was always incredibly sweet and caring toward Ariel, the female lead.

“That contrast was more annoying than attractive, though. I’d love to smack him on the back of the head before I escape, but… I guess that’s too much to ask. The problem is that Daniel is the only person strong enough to even stand a chance against that lunatic.”

Then again, I might have felt that way because my loyalty lay with Libertia. In any case, this was the only real issue that could direct the obsessive male lead’s wrath against the princess. The emperor’s wholehearted endorsement, as well as the crown prince’s abilities, combined to form an insurmountable barrier. Thus, the only method for subduing him as the powerless princess was to remove anything that could incur his wrath. That was why renouncing succession was essential, even if I was just going to leave in three months anyway. He’d chase me to the ends of the earth otherwise.

“He should just obsess over Ariel instead.”

But as long as I gave up my right to the throne, I would be able to leave this place without any issues.

“It’d be nice if I could get a nice payout at the end. I guess I’ll just swipe some of the valuables from the princess’s palace.”

There was another way to keep myself afloat if neither of those plans worked. I would just have to get my hands on all the useful things Ariel was meant to discover in ten years’ time as detailed in the epilogue. That would ensure my happy, comfortable life.

I cackled. “Let’s get this over with!”

I hurried out of the room to meet with the emperor.