Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

“Are you crazy?! Let go!”

“Such bad manners towards adults. Tsk tsk…”

Marquis Zeld’s grip was formidable.

How could he appear in the Marquisate’s backyard in the first place!

Damon, who had so adamantly refused his visit, wouldn’t have changed his mind.

‘Then, could he have trespassed through the coast?!’

It was madness.

Did he come by boat from land outside the Marquisate all the way to this coast?

“Because of you! My reputation, my position, my subordinates! Everything is gone!”

He growled lowly, his eyes bloodshot.

I couldn’t break free from Marquis Zeld, who was just brutishly strong.

Having just strolled through the empty backyard, I knew well there was no one around who could help me.

No matter how much I screamed, there was no one within hearing distance.

In the end, I tried to summon the Crimson Blade to beat him up, but…

‘What?’

The Crimson Blade wasn’t summoned.

No, more precisely, it was trying to be summoned with a ‘pop’ sound, but something was blocking it.

A small pattern was glowing red near my wrist.

‘A seal…?!’

Greatly flustered by this sudden situation, I immediately tried to contact Jen through the ring.

Although there was some distance from the capital’s Magic Tower, it shouldn’t be a problem for communication.

“I hate ill-mannered children the most. And you’re the worst of them.”

At that moment, a pungent scent spread to my nose.

It was the scent coming from the handkerchief Marquis Zeld held to my nose.

I felt my consciousness gradually fading.

‘This is… ridiculous, you XX…’

I couldn’t help but curse at the absurdity.

My eyes gradually closed.

Would I be able to open these eyes again…? If so, I will surely tear that pig-bank-looking man to shreds.

My body collapsed to the side with a thud, and soon my vision turned black.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, my vision was upside down.

This was because Marquis Zeld was carrying me slung over his shoulder like a sack.

The inverted view was full of trees, so I could tell we were in a forest.

I wanted to smack that unpleasant back of his head right away, but I couldn’t even move my body, let alone my mouth.

‘Tharo, Tharo-!’

I called out inwardly.

Having been somewhat aware of Tharo’s state until just now, I called Tharo’s name a few more times without expectation.

However, there was no response.

‘As expected…’

Tharo was sleeping. Even snoring.

In such cases, communication with Tharo wasn’t possible.

‘Haah… What should I do?’

It was when I was racking my brains hard.

Marquis Zeld, seeming to notice I was awake, spoke:

“Are you awake, you cunning child?”

He continued talking to me in a hoarse voice, though I couldn’t answer.

“As you know, our ancestors said, ‘Kill your enemies before they kill you.'”

Again, again with the old talk.

If he always talks about ancestors, he’ll only be called old-fashioned.

“But I can’t soil my hands with blood, can I? Unless one is a knight, a virtuous noble doesn’t act directly.”

And this man, perhaps having no one to trust around him, didn’t even bring a single attendant.

‘Where is he taking me like this… Judging by the distant view of the Marquisate’s spire, it seems to be the forest behind.’

At that moment, an ominous premonition flashed through my mind.

No way…

‘They say ‘no way’ is what kills people.’

The place Marquis Zeld finally arrived at was the old prison in the forest behind the Marquisate that I had only heard about from Damon.

And in here was Kesil, currently the only prisoner.

“Listen well. Using your enemy’s enemy can easily solve problems. Well, it’s useless talk since you won’t survive here anyway. Hehehe…”

I wanted to grab that red beard and yank it, then swing it around.

“Ugh…”

“It seems your body is moving again. Time has already…”

Marquis Zeld took out a key from somewhere and inserted it into the lock firmly sealing the black tower.

The rusty lock fell with a ‘thunk’, and the heavy chains unraveled with a clattering sound.

The interior of the tower, steeped in darkness, began to show little by little.

And Marquis Zeld, without hesitation, threw me inside and slammed the door shut again.

At that moment, my finger joints began to move gradually.

From outside, the sound of metal touching could be heard as if locking again.

“No… You crazy X…”

Finally able to raise my body again, I immediately ran towards the door, but the thick iron door wouldn’t open.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the interior of the tower came into view.

There was an eerie atmosphere, and I couldn’t tell where Kesil, who had been imprisoned here before, was.

“Jen…”

I brought the ring close to my lips and called Jen’s name in a tiny voice.

The ring, which used to respond in blue to his name, showed no reaction at all.

In fact, I had vaguely expected this from the moment I entered the prison. Magic wouldn’t activate inside a prison meant to confine prisoners.

Crack-

It was then. I sensed someone’s presence from afar.

‘Wow, that startled me. My heart almost leaped out.’

The slowly moving figure kept looking around.

It seemed Kesil had moved because of the commotion here just now.

I held my breath and quietly moved to the corridor beside me.

All the prison doors were open, and I hid in one of them for now.

Fearing it might be noticeable, I didn’t close the door like the others.

‘Just need to hold out until Tharo wakes up.’

Being a nap, he shouldn’t sleep for too long.

When Tharo wakes up, I’ll have to remotely summon special magic to stop Kesil and tie him up tightly with the rope lying over there.

Although I’ve been training with swordsmanship until now, Laveria’s body still wasn’t strong enough to face an adult.

‘If all else fails, I’ll have to strike him with that flowerpot…’

I identified the locations of weapons I could use immediately when Tharo wakes up.

Although it was bright outside as it was daytime, inside this tower was dark without a single point of light.

With eyes accustomed to the darkness, I looked around to see if there was a place to hide.

Fortunately, there was a closet, perhaps used by the soldiers acting as guards. I hid inside and carefully closed the closet door.

It was then. Suddenly, from outside, Marquis Zeld’s voice could be heard shouting loudly:

“Kesil, are you there?!”

“Ma… Marquis! Marquis, please let me out! Cough, cough-!”

Kesil shouted in a hoarse voice, showing an intense reaction to Marquis Zeld’s words.

“Why should I? Although I was at odds with the former Marquis Einhasil, I have no intention of ruining the Marquisate by saving someone who committed such a heinous crime as you. Even the ancestors would be shocked by your unfilial act.”

I wanted to ask if the ancestors wouldn’t be shocked by what he himself had done.

“But I just brought a gift for you.”

“Gi-gift…”

“Why, I mean the daughter of Duchy Rayes who reported your unfilial act. I threw that child inside, so do as you please.”

‘What do you mean, do as you please!’

With those words, Marquis Zeld seemed to leave the door.

Kesil shouted in a voice full of anger:

“Marquis! Marquis! Don’t leave like this, please!”

He pounded on the locked door, shouting.

After a few minutes of this… he suddenly stood up and muttered:

“That damned girl is inside here? I definitely didn’t see her.”

I had been right in front of him earlier, but luckily, I had hidden myself first when Kesil was looking elsewhere.

“I’ve been on the first floor the whole time… Did she run up to the second floor like a little rat in that short time?”

Kesil’s muttering gradually faded away.

He was trying to find me by going up the stairs.

‘Tharo, please wake up-!’

I inwardly cried out to Tharo.

I sensed that the situation had completely gone to hell.

The Crimson Blade still couldn’t be summoned, blocked by the seal on my wrist.

‘This is definitely that pattern that appeared briefly after shaking hands with Senia.’

Could Senia have… this seal?

Why did she shake hands with me, saying she remembered something to give?

Was that the seal?

My mind was colored with confusion, but all I could do was just hold my breath and hide.

I couldn’t gauge how much time had passed.

I could only hear Kesil’s irritated voice, perhaps coming up empty-handed on the second floor.

The tower’s interior seemed wider than expected, as Kesil stayed on the second floor for quite a while.

Then, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs was heard again.

My heart was beating madly.

Before hiding in the closet, I had picked up a broken piece of glass from the floor.

Although my hand was cut by the sharp glass shard, I couldn’t let go of it as it was the only weapon to protect me.

‘Hewt said you could imbue sword energy into objects other than swords, would it be possible?’

If things came to a head, I had to do it.

Luckily, Kesil headed towards the opposite corridor.

I gained a little more time, but still couldn’t contact Tharo.

‘By now, wouldn’t they know I’ve disappeared…?’

An hour or two had passed, so they must have realized.

However, no one would expect that I was trapped in the forest tower.

Pressing down on my frantically beating chest, I gripped the glass shard.

I faintly felt Luka’s energy from the necklace he had given me, which I wore around my neck like a part of my body.

‘When Luka said last time that he sometimes felt my energy and emotions from this magic stone connected to me, I thought he was just boasting.’

I could feel it now too.

Luka’s emotions were fluctuating as if he was very urgent.

‘He must have noticed I’ve disappeared.’

And if my energy also flowed to Luka, he would know that I’m in a bad situation right now.

Thud- Thud-

At that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard from the opposite corridor.

They were clearly heading this way.