I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 12

The child’s gaze towards Reibella was sharp. He looked as if he would harm her if she didn’t explain immediately.

It was too fierce a look for a child around ten years old, and too sudden an attitude for someone who had only met a couple of times, but Reibella knew why he was acting this way.

After all, she was the one who made him like this.

“You read the message?”

“……”

The sentences Reibella wrote on the note she left with flowers at the grave were just four lines.

[I’ll write briefly because I think you might just tear it up if it’s too long.]

[Thank you.]

[Thank you so much for saving me.]

[But, I know your secret, you know? Come find me if you’re curious.]

For Reibella, who had no way to meet him, she had to do whatever it took to bring him to her. But judging from their last meeting, the child seemed to have an indifferent nature, and it didn’t seem like he would meet her for just any reason.

So she tried to provoke him.

Because there’s no one in the world without secrets.

Especially a child with parents’ graves in the imperial palace forest.

“Were you surprised? I’m sorry.”

From this apology, he seemed to realize that the message he received had no real meaning.

A bit of anger tinged his cold eyes, then the boy turned his gaze away while running his hand through his hair. As if displeased by the fact that he had fallen for such a lie.

“Have you been well?”

Though she greeted him cheerfully, his eyes didn’t turn back to Reibella. With an indifferent face, as if his business was done, he just leaped over the windowsill.

At this, Reibella, in her urgency, climbed over the windowsill in the same way and approached him. And hurriedly hugged his waist from behind, clinging tightly.

“Let go.”

“I have a favor to ask, and I won’t let go unless you listen.”

“…You think I can’t shake you off?”

“You should cherish the life you saved.”

“You’re really shameless.”

“Right?”

He burst into a small laugh, seemingly finding it absurd that she agreed when called shameless. Reibella smiled broadly along with him and continued speaking.

“Thank you. For saving me. I lived thanks to you. You’re my benefactor. I really wanted to tell you this in person.”

“……”

“You probably know by now, but because I’m a Felicity, I can’t help you directly. But if you ever need information about Felicity, come find me. I’ll answer anything I know.”

The fact that he came without being told what my name is and where I work meant that he had heard information about Reibella and deduced this to find her.

Even though he knew she was a ‘Felicity’, he had given her the great gift of ‘life’, so she wanted to give a corresponding reward.

‘If he were a character from the novel, I could figure out how to repay him…’

Unfortunately, he was a character outside the novel. So she couldn’t know what he needed.

“By the way, I’m curious about something……”

Reibella spoke softly while peeking her head out from behind his back. Red eyes, now considerably less angry, gazed at her.

“I want to know where the flowers you brought are, can you tell me?”

As she looked at him with sparkling eyes, he spoke with a small sigh.

“If you let go.”

But Reibella, like a stubborn three-year-old, clung to him even tighter, doing the opposite of what he said.

“What if you run away?”

“I won’t.”

“Give me your hand then. Then I’ll believe you.”

As Reibella wiggled her hand, urging him to hold it, his brow, which had been smooth, furrowed slightly. But soon, with another small sigh, he covered Reibella’s hand with his own. Reibella grasped his hand as if she had been waiting for this.

Reibella, who had slipped her fingers between his, smiled brightly.

“Okay. Let’s go then!”

As Reibella went ahead, pulling his arm, he, who had been quietly staring at Reibella, took a step.

And as he strode into the forest, honestly, at first she thought he was just joking. But as the forest deepened and darkened without a trace of light, her hair stood on end. Worry crept in.

Moreover, the path was so rough. Unable to see ahead, she kept stumbling on rocks and swaying into branches. Though the boy held her so she didn’t fall, every step forward was truly difficult.

At the place they arrived after such a hard journey…

‘…Unbelievable.’

Countless purple flowers greeted her, too many to count.

“F-Finally…!”

How long had she struggled to find the well-hidden medicinal herb?

The days of being scolded by the palace people while wandering around looking for the antidote herb, suffering from lack of sleep because she was moving around when people weren’t around.

Countless times of getting indigestion from tasting the princess’s food while extremely tense, and secretly picking and eating fruits from the garden late at night because the food she ate wasn’t enough to satisfy her hunger.

‘But now it’s over!’

Now she felt confident she could survive even if she swam in water full of poison.

She wanted to shout with joy at the overwhelming emotion, but she held back and turned to look at the child. Instead, she expressed her feelings by hugging him tightly.

“Thank you so much. You’re my angel!”

After Duke Vicheravali, another person had entered the angel position.

“So, I’ll be your guardian angel too.”

The fact that she was alive and breathing now was entirely thanks to his kindness in finding the antidote herb.

“Next time, I’ll come find you, so please wait.”

So she too had to help him.

“Then, make sure to tell me your name, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

As she whispered softly into his ear, the boy’s eyes widened in surprise. Reibella looked at his face and laughed loudly.

I really did know your secret. Surprised?

With that meaning, very brightly.

* * *

The princess’s palace, which she returned to after a week, was still overflowing with happiness.

Perhaps due to the aftermath of the attempted poisoning, some maids had been dismissed, and without replenishing the workforce, everyone had become busier, but smiles were in full bloom.

That was because this morning, thanks to the princess’s suggestion, letters of gratitude from the territory’s people for the demonic beast subjugation that had been carried out a few days ago had arrived.

“How can our Your Highness be so wise? How did she know in advance that demonic beasts would appear, it’s really amazing.”

“Indeed. As expected of our dear princess.”

“The palace atmosphere had been gloomy lately, it’s fortunate that good news has arrived.”

“Really. Though she didn’t say anything, she was a bit depressed because of the incident not long ago, right? His Majesty the Emperor was worried too.”

“It’s so good to see her smile after a long time. It finally feels like we’re living.”

The maids seemed to be in a really good mood. Even when the child they had considered such an eyesore passed by their side, their smiles didn’t fade.

Passing by the maids, she entered through a side door in a corner of the corridor. The small space prepared between the kitchen and the dining room for meals was a place created for the princess’s food tasting.

As Reibella sat in her place and prepared for the tasting, dishes came in one after another.

Even during this time, the maids continued their conversation, regardless of Reibella’s presence.

“Isn’t Lord Carlson really amazing too? He gave all the credit to Her Highness the Princess.”

“I heard he boldly said to His Majesty, ‘I will dedicate all this glory to my master.’ He’s really cool.”

“The time he looked most handsome was when he was taking the knight’s oath. Ah, I still remember. That image of him placing his hand on the sword with a solemn expression, then smoothly pulling it out and kneeling, holding the sword forward!”

Come to think of it.

‘Is that person still alive?’

Suddenly, she remembered the knight she met at the infirmary. The person who was on the brink of death, mauled by a demonic beast. When she returned after visiting the grave to meet the child after giving him the antidote herb, he had already disappeared.

Since no one would answer when asked what happened to that person, she didn’t know the subsequent progress.

‘At that time, I thought it was the last remaining herb.’

So she had hesitated a bit about saving that person.

‘Did I receive this blessing for helping that person then?’

Recalling the overflowing amount of antidote herbs, a smile unconsciously leaked out. Even as she quickly put food in her mouth and chewed, the smile didn’t fade.

Now she wasn’t afraid of eating.

As her mind eased, she seemed to taste the diverse flavors she hadn’t been able to perceive before. Indeed, the most important thing for human survival was food.

Gulp.

After swallowing the food refreshingly and waiting for the next dish, for some reason, the atmosphere around her was strange. The chattering sounds from just a moment ago had disappeared, and only silence lingered.

…What’s going on?

As she slightly raised her gaze, the maids who met her eyes hurriedly turned their heads away.

To Reibella’s eyes, it just looked like they were avoiding her, but in fact, the maids were in a very flustered state right now.

Because it was the first time they had seen the food taster smiling while tasting food!