Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

At the stubborn voice echoing through the hall, everyone turned to look at the old noble stroking his red beard.

He was Marquis Zeld.

As the undisputed leader of a massive faction forming the core of the noble party along with the Croia Marquisate, he had long been at odds with the former Marquis Einhasil who had ruled this western region for a long time.

Since the west had traditionally been dominated by the imperial faction, he had felt frustrated but resigned to losing real power to Marquis Einhasil.

However, due to the recent enormous scandal of the Emperor’s mistress being an assassin, there was now a tense battle of nerves between the noble and imperial factions in the west.

Moreover, when he first heard that Damon would inherit the Einhasil Marquisate, how much of a laughingstock it had become.

An illegitimate child, not even thirty years old.

Rumors circulated that the Einhasil Marquisate had surely passed its prime.

But the Marquisate’s subsequent actions were not something they could simply laugh off.

Damon jumped into pioneering projects at the peak of his competence, gaining the support of the territory’s people, and also managed the family excellently, revealing that he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

And there was a woman by Damon’s side giving him various advice – Sarah.

Marquis Zeld was particularly wary of Damon and Sarah, who seemed to work well together in managing the family, and had sent a letter some time ago with the intention of marrying his youngest daughter to Damon.

For a mere illegitimate child, marrying a daughter of the long-established Zeld Marquisate would have been the greatest honor.

When he thought Damon would naturally accept, the reply that came back was a polite apology.

Some time after that, as he had feared, Damon eventually got engaged to Sarah.

If he were to marry and become a proper married man, they might have to hand back the real power of the west that they had barely seized.

Marquis Zeld pointed his finger at the flustered-looking Damon and Sarah, with veins bulging on his neck.

“How long has it been since my old friend drew his last breath, and you’re already rushing into marriage? Though you’re at a passionate age, don’t you think this goes against social morals?”

As he shouted angrily while pretending to sincerely mourn the death of the former Marquis Einhasil, whom he had never considered a lifelong friend, the hall was in an uproar.

Unfavorable gazes poured towards Damon and Sarah, who had undoubtedly incurred the displeasure of Marquis Zeld, who was like the original resident of the west.

The Marquis’s words did have a point, after all.

Everyone had harbored some doubts in their hearts to some extent, but had let it pass with a shrug. Now Marquis Zeld had brought it up.

No one could predict why Damon, who was rumored to be deeply filial, would rush to marry during his father’s mourning period.

Damon and Sarah were holding hands tightly.

Ria thought as she watched them.

‘Garnett’s words… were absolutely right.’

Ria was furious at the accusatory gazes pouring towards the couple she sincerely wished happiness for.

She barely managed to contain her anger by clenching her fists tightly.

But neither Ria nor Luka could step in carelessly.

It was considered wrong for the princess of House Rayes, a great noble family of the capital, or the Crown Prince of the Greffin imperial family to intervene in matters arising between these people.

Ria knew the reason why they wanted to hold the wedding quickly.

-But Sarah, you said it hasn’t been long since your engagement, why are you preparing for marriage so soon?

-Ah, that’s… My uncle, who raised me like his own child, is very ill. His lifelong wish was to walk me down the aisle at my wedding, and Damon was considerate of my situation.

What she had readily told Ria, she now couldn’t even open her mouth to say.

Undoubtedly, even if she explained the circumstances to those attacking Damon and Sarah, she would be treated as a heartless woman who only cared about her own situation.

It was clear as day that words would spread calling her an arrogant person who manipulated the filial Damon at will.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t marry! You can marry as much as you want, a hundred or a thousand times. But as a neighbor in the same district, I’m giving you advice as an elder to you who are still young. If you announce your marriage now, you’ll surely be pointed at for the rest of your life, I tell you!”

If someone heard this, they might think he was really trying to act as Damon’s elder.

As he spoke in a tone of giving very generous advice, it became even more difficult to say anything.

As he said, they were prepared to some extent to be pointed at, but in normal cases, they thought people would pass over it without speaking out…

Who could have imagined they would be bitten by a senile mad dog?

Sarah was very afraid of the stubborn old nobles of the west.

It was because her gambling parents had died owing a lot of debt to these very people, and even though the debts had all been paid off now, the fear of those despicable people who had grabbed the young Sarah and yelled at her to spit out money was still etched in her.

Damon, firmly grasping Sarah’s trembling hand, understood her meaning as she gave him a look that said there was no choice, and soon said to the Marquis:

“As you advise, then the wedding will be next…”

His lips could barely part.

Remembering how critical her uncle’s condition was, even preparing for the wedding right now would be insufficient, but there seemed to be no other choice.

Nevertheless, unable to give up like this, Damon opened his mouth thinking to at least explain the circumstances.

“There are circumstances for rushing the marriage. Sarah’s uncle, Baron Heyman, who is no different from her father, is very ill, and his lifelong wish is to walk Sarah down the aisle while he’s still alive.”

If someone had proper sensitivity and empathy, they would nod in agreement the moment they heard this.

However, the opponent was Marquis Zeld.

For the old nobles forming the noble faction of the west along with him, it seemed rather to have come as an opportunity, and their eyes shone.

“Ah, I understand the Marquis’s intention well. So such circumstances were hidden.”

As Marquis Zeld suddenly showed a gentle demeanor, Damon, who had been holding onto a glimmer of hope, soon came to regret his words.

“But your father also deserves sufficient mourning. To hold a wedding during the mourning period for Baron Heyman, who seemed like he would live at least 10 more years… I can’t understand it. Lady Lechel might have a heartless mind.”

“No, that’s not it!”

At Marquis Zeld’s tone that seemed to pity Damon, Ria inwardly gasped.

People were also swayed, sending looks at Damon as if seeing a naive family head swayed by a woman, and at Sarah as if criticizing her as a heartless woman who hadn’t accumulated virtue.

In the icy atmosphere, when no one could utter a word opposing Marquis Zeld’s opinion.

Cough- Cough-

A faint coughing sound echoed in the silence.

Its source was none other than the precious daughter of the Rayes family, who had been standing one step back from this comedy as esteemed guests from the capital.

Seeing her coughing continuously while covering her mouth with a handkerchief, the Rayes family and the Crown Prince sitting around her all turned pale.

In contrast, Marquis Zeld’s face gradually reddened with anger.

He already knew about her heroic tales in the west, that she had been critically ill after being attacked by dark magic, and that she had now barely recovered her strength and come to the west for recuperation.

If he had pushed a little more, he could have seen the ridiculous sight of the young engaged couple, but of all things, a series of painful coughs as if on the verge of death continued.

When Lady Rayes’s coughing finally stopped, those who had been worriedly looking at her were relieved.

However, when she lowered the handkerchief from her mouth, people gaped in shock.

“Blood…?”

“She… she said she was sick, but it seems she’s really very ill…”

As the young girl smiled a pitiful smile as if nothing was wrong, apologizing for causing a disturbance, the people in the banquet hall watched the Duke’s reaction more than anything, known for cherishing his daughter above all else.

Moreover, the Crown Prince looked as if he had witnessed the most terrifying thing in the world as he watched Lady Rayes neatly wiping the blood from her mouth with the reddened handkerchief.

“We must see a physician right away…!”

“Ah, I’m really fine, Dad. Really… Cough!”

Even if she said so with a face that was not fine at all, there was no way anyone would believe her.

“But… now that I’m so sick, I understand. How desperate the wish of a sick person is.”

* * *

It was difficult to just stand by and watch the situation unfold so terribly.

Dad seemed to be gauging how Damon would navigate this situation.

Even if Damon were to really succumb to that old noble faction leader, stepping in to protect him because he was a branch family member would rather narrow Damon’s position, so he couldn’t readily intervene.

It was obvious that if the Einhasil Marquisate, which had maintained independent power only in the west, were to make a dramatic recovery with the help of the Rayes family, who would soon return to the capital, they would become even more of a laughingstock afterwards.

At that moment, I felt a tickle deep in my throat.

‘I even took the potion this morning! No wonder I didn’t cough up blood last night!’

It was chaos both right in front of me and inside my body.

Realizing it was already impossible to suppress it well, I tried to quickly rush out of the hall, but in the solemn atmosphere created by that damn Marquis Zeld, it didn’t seem possible to run to the distant entrance as if sneaking away.

‘Ha, it’s come to this…’

Recalling the excellent maxim ‘crisis into opportunity,’ I solemnly pulled out the handkerchief that was always kept in my pocket.

I felt Luka, who was beside me, sending me a look as he watched me do this.

“Co… cough.”

Even at the tiniest cough like a speck of dust, I felt Luka’s complexion turn pale.

Seeing his expression, I hesitated and thought maybe I shouldn’t do it.

However, as if a dam had burst, once the coughing started, it soon intensified, spewing out the blood that had been tickling my insides.

“Cough! Cough-“

As the coughing continued for several rounds, it felt as if all the spotlights had shifted to me.

Although I had experienced this many times, the pungent sensation was still unfamiliar.

In other words, it felt absolutely disgusting.

Still, thanks to the blood that had stained the handkerchief a lot, I was able to maximize people’s shock.

Dad and Luka held me on both sides and called for a physician to come immediately.

Even though rumors had spread everywhere that I was sick, for those who knew it was all a lie, the current situation might have come as an even greater shock.

I’ll explain the situation properly later…

For now, let’s resolve that issue first.

“But… now that I’m so sick, I understand. How desperate the wish of a sick person is.”