Please Leave The Sickly Villainess Alone

A desperate pleading voice echoed through Duke Kablos’s mansion on the outskirts of the capital.

“P-Please show mercy just once, Duke! I’ll find a proper mage next time, please!!”

“Have you ever seen someone receive a second chance from me?”

The indifferent voice was infinitely cold.

Petrick, who was banging his forehead on the floor in front of Duke Kablos’s feet begging for forgiveness, knew in his head that there had never been such a case, but his mouth couldn’t readily say it.

“Answer me, hm?”

“Th-That…”

Petrick couldn’t continue his words.

His life was at stake, yet he was being asked to state that terrible fact that there was no second chance?

This man was truly cruel.

‘How did it come to this…’

Duke Kablos was endlessly greedy despite having enormous wealth at his disposal.

To the point where one might wonder if he could spend all that countless money in his lifetime.

What could this perfect man, lacking only in morality, be lacking that he was so crazed for money?

It wasn’t for nothing that rumors spread about him plotting rebellion.

Such a Duke had reason to covet the recently successful Rayes-made magical tools.

Since he also owned an illegally operated magic ore factory, he thought they might be able to develop magical tools themselves instead of smuggling them to other countries.

Therefore, Petrick, as the factory owner, had recently been losing sleep looking for a suitable mage to work with.

Among those he met was Lihid, one of the Tower Master’s disciples.

He was a young candidate for the next generation of Tower Masters.

As he could be considered the second-in-command of the Magic Tower, wouldn’t he know the secret method of refining magic ore?

As he was known to be rebellious, despite being the Tower Master’s disciple, Petrick thought he could be hired with a little persuasion.

He recalled his past boasting that it would be smooth sailing if he showed some gold, as it was natural for worldly mages to be blinded by money.

He had even happily confirmed a meeting and managed to get Duke Kablos’s time to make an appointment.

But he was rejected.

How could this be?

He had told him several times that Duke Kablos would accompany him, yet he refused the meeting!

Just how many lives did this person have?

Of course, he was in no position to worry about others when his own one and only life was about to flee.

The terrible nightmare he had felt when meeting Lady Rayes crept back into his mind.

The Duke Kablos’s mansion, dark with night, was eerily quiet as usual today.

In the midst of it, Petrick, who had been keeping his eyes tightly shut, gently opened them when there was no reaction from the Duke even after time had passed.

In his view, he saw the Duke looking out the window.

His face was indifferent, but his eyes held an uncharacteristic affection.

His daughter, who had been cooped up in her room for days, had finally come out for a walk in the garden.

Seeing her laughing and chatting happily with her attendants, it seemed his hardened expression softened a little.

The Duke changed like this, as if suddenly replaced by another person, when it came to matters related to Senia.

A child so kind it was hard to believe she was born into this villain family.

Though healthy now, they say she was so sick when young that it wouldn’t have been strange if she died at any moment.

When magic and medicine were of no use, and they said she wouldn’t live past five, surprisingly she had healing magic and recovered on her own.

People talked about how she was truly a miraculous child.

Petrick, who had been glancing up at Duke Kablos, immediately lowered his eyes when he saw the gaze turning back to him.

“I’ll let you be the first person to receive a second chance from me.”

What was this, when it seemed like he would cut off his breath at any moment?

“If you disappoint me twice, you’ll regret that I spared you today.”

It meant he would make him suffer more painfully than death.

How could every single word this person said be so brutal?

“It was foolish to try to persuade the Tower Master’s disciple from the start. Kidnap or cook Rayes’ mage, whatever you do, refine the magic ore and produce magical tools.”

He was given the mission to make this business so successful that even in remote mountain valleys, rumors would be heard of Kablos striking it rich.

Petrick wanted to ask what he planned to do with all that money.

However, all he could do was bow his head and receive the orders.

* * *

Rayes-made magical tools, which had skyrocketed in value, had now reached a point where they couldn’t be bought even with money.

The demand for magical heaters had surged even among nobles and wealthy merchants who weren’t the main target customers.

This was a long-term business. It could only be stable if widely and evenly supplied to commoners.

As it was still in the early stages, rather than gaining popularity with volatility in the beginning, they needed to find improvements according to the situation.

In that sense, it would be a disaster if commoners lost interest and stopped coming because they couldn’t afford to buy.

Therefore, recently they decided to limit sales to only commoners based on a certain quantity.

However, a little later, small voices of opposition arose.

“It seems Lady Rayes is stuck in her unfortunate past.”

“Even though she’s entered noble society, her mind is no different from a commoner’s.”

“Turning her back on nobles and giving charity to commoners, she’s just like the late Archduke Gruben.”

Although Ria didn’t pay much attention to this, as it was just one of countless gossips that would soon die down, it became a big concern for someone who almost worshipped her.

* * *

On a night when everyone was deep asleep, a figure could be seen wandering the beautiful annex of the Rayes mansion.

It was Rizen, the former president of the magic club, adjusting his glasses while yawning with a lamp in his hand.

These days, he was so busy day and night that he only had time to catch his breath at dawn like this.

Of course, he was just as tired before succeeding in refining magic ore, but the feeling was completely different.

He was feeling for the first time that doing what he wanted to his heart’s content was an incredibly joyful thing.

He was infinitely grateful to Ria for providing him with this opportunity.

It was a world where the rarer the mage, the more they were treated well.

Therefore, Rizen, being the most common earth mage, was treated coldly everywhere despite his exceptional intelligence.

Even the Tower Master’s disciples, who had a collecting habit and were desperate to take talented mages as disciples, were two water mages and one fire mage.

But then…

A miraculous thing happened to him.

He was able to make his name known nationwide as a magical tool developer.

It was all thanks to Ria who believed in and encouraged him.

Rizen was prepared to dedicate his life to Rayes.

Ria was as kind as an angel and appropriately worldly, getting along well with him like a childhood friend.

Rizen thought:

‘I must definitely make her sit on a money cushion, no, a gold cushion!’

Imagining Ria’s pleased face, the corners of Rizen’s mouth also curled up.

He organized his thoughts with the notebook and pen Ria had gifted him.

Currently, they were using a temporary measure of selling magical tools only to commoners in a limited way, but the market targeting nobles and merchants also had infinite potential.

Above all, it was truly terrible that Ria, who was no less than his savior, was criticized in noble society because of this matter.

It was when he was racking his brains to solve this problem.

“Divide the quality into grades and separate the consumer segments too.”

He thought of a plan to sell enhanced magical heaters developed as luxury items at even higher prices than the original ones.

Then naturally, the consumer segments would be divided into mass-produced and luxury items respectively.

This way, they could also alleviate concerns about the scarcity of magical heaters.

‘With this method, the young lady won’t be criticized anymore.’

It was when Rizen looked up at the beautifully risen full moon after finding the answer.

“Huh? The color of the full moon…”

It was strange. Why was it red?

He rubbed his eyes.

And the moment he lowered his hands again.

Rizen had a blank look in his eyes as if entranced by something.

The moon that had shone red just moments ago was now shining with a white light like a pear blossom as if nothing had happened.

Rizen walked across the garden towards the wall with a dazed look on his face as if possessed by something.

Then he climbed the tall wall using a rope that seemed to have been prepared by someone.

With unfocused eyes, he seemed to be controlled by something.

At the same time, no one witnessed his strange behavior in the quiet garden.

“Huh!”

With a start, Rizen opened his eyes.

Unfamiliar place, unfamiliar scent, unfamiliar sensation.

“W-What? Where on earth is this…?!”

Rizen looked down at his palms that were stinging from the wounds caused by climbing the rope barehanded.

Remembering climbing over the wall while in a hypnotic state earlier, Rizen was dumbfounded.

He was now outside the wall of the Rayes mansion.

Feeling an eerie atmosphere for a moment, Rizen immediately turned around to look for a guard patrolling the area. However…

“What, you were already out?”

“…!”

With an unfamiliar voice, Rizen was dragged away with his face covered, unable to even scream once.

His struggling body soon went limp.