When the Guide Stopped Playing a Villainess, the Obsession Began - Chapter 122

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“I knew this would happen.”

Rose noticed right away that Lea, who normally would have already gotten up and be sitting on her bed waiting for her, was unable to get up.

She realized that Lea was suffering from fatigue.

Lea had never been particularly strong physically, and having served her for a long time, Rose had been worried for quite some time. That’s why she had even prepared nourishing food for her, but it seemed volunteering in the slums had truly overtaxed her body.

“Mm, sorry.”

“You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Take this opportunity to rest properly.”

“Mmh…”

Rose knew that Lea was probably worried about her upcoming schedule. Ordinarily, these were things that the Empress Bianca should have handled.

But why was it that Lea had to shoulder all these responsibilities while Bianca enjoyed all the privileges?

No longer the Empress’s servant, Rose cursed the Empress inwardly as she hurriedly brought over a basin of water.

Rose gently wiped Lea down with warm water, then brought some easy-to-eat soup and fed her by hand, scolding her all the while.

“When I saw her last, even my younger sister wasn’t this frail.”

About a month ago, Lea had asked Derek to look into Rose’s creditors. She had been suspicious that there was still debt left even after paying off so much money.

As she expected, Rose had been repaying debts at an exorbitant interest rate. Of course, the debt wasn’t one Rose herself had incurred, but one her parents had, though pretending not to know about it didn’t make sense.

Derek personally sought them out, read their minds, and concluded that they were professional scammers who preyed on naive nobles.

They would draw up double contracts, not lending the money directly to the debtor, but making their family repay it instead. This sort of loophole made it difficult to determine the actual contract terms and was often exploited for criminal purposes.

The reason Lea had asked Derek specifically was because he could resolve the issue quickly.

Derek not only manipulated their minds so they could never commit such crimes again, but also made them return the money and turn themselves in.

Thanks to this, Rose was now able to take one day off a week to visit her sister. Her sister now lived in a house Derek had acquired, very close to the palace.

“I’m glad your sister is so much healthier now.”

At Lea’s words, Rose wrinkled her nose. Whenever Lea said things like this, her nose stung with emotion.

“…That’s not what I meant, but… Thank you, Milady.”

“Yes, I’m really glad.”

Rose busied herself seeing to all of Lea’s needs before leaving the room. She was likely sending word of Lea’s condition via messenger bird.

Her feverish body felt limp. Lea stared hazily at the ceiling, then closed her eyes. She decided, just as Rose had suggested, to rest today without thinking about anything.

In her dream, Lea was alone, unlike now. Whenever she tried to approach the crowd of nobles gathered at the banquet hall, they recoiled from her as if she were a pile of horse dung on the roadside.

Each time, her self-esteem was chipped away. The confidence that Bianca had already damaged so badly was easily shaken by a single word from others, bits of it crumbling away.

So, she found herself gravitating toward Calix, who, like her, often stood alone when Ilion couldn’t come.

On those days, Lea didn’t bother Calix. But she didn’t speak kindly to him, either.

She simply stood beside him in silence. Back then, even that was a great comfort.

Cal, did you find comfort too, back then?

As she murmured in her dream, Calix, who was lying next to her with his face resting in his palm, answered.

“You never call my name unless you’re not in your right mind. Why do you only use nicknames when you’re like this?”

As soon as he heard her schedule was canceled, he’d gone straight to Lea’s palace, and, upon finding her ill in bed, felt a sharp pang in his chest.

Now that he thought about it, she always seemed to fall ill in autumn. Luna, too, would disappear for a week every autumn and come back, always looking thin and sickly.

So, she must have been unwell back then, too, even as a human, right?

Since Luna was Lea, and Lea was Luna, his guess had to be right. Calix, looking down at the feverish and struggling Lea, suddenly sat up in bed as a thick, peculiar scent began to fill the air.

The scent was coming directly from Lea’s body. It was both sweet and raw, a natural body scent that made his lower abdomen stir.