I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 14

As soon as the lunch tasting was over, Reibella hurriedly left the princess’s palace. To the House of Nobles. It was to meet Duke Vicheravali.

‘Come to think of it, Duke Vicheravali said he would be in the imperial palace.’

It was because the princess had told her that he was in the imperial palace today.

‘I should thank him.’

Although the antidote herb was ultimately decisive in saving her life, that didn’t mean Duke Vicheravali’s contribution was insignificant.

The poison she had ingested at that time was literally a deadly poison. A poison so fatal that she could have died on the spot.

But it was said that Duke Vicheravali’s quick first aid allowed her to hold out longer. The small medicine bottle he always carried in his chest was of great help, they said.

‘These are medicines that the Duke, who often goes to the battlefield, always carries. Among them was a medicine effective against poison.’

Since even the doctors who were reluctant about her said so, it must be true.

That’s why Reibella wanted to meet him.

It was to personally convey her thanks, and also to say her final goodbye.

‘Dad seems to be in a bad mood lately because of the Duke. So you should be careful too, Reibella. Okay?’

If the princess said this much, it meant that the Emperor’s mood was noticeably uncomfortable. And it meant that it was dangerous to be close to Duke Vicheravali.

So for Reibella, who was protecting her life like a candle in the wind, even though she knew he was a good person, she had no choice but to choose to distance herself.

It was regrettable, but this was where her connection with him would end.

‘Today should be fine.’

Anyone who knew ‘Reibella Felicity’ would know that she had received help from him, and there would be nothing strange about that meeting.

So today, she could meet him confidently. She planned to convey her thanks in an open place, and also let everyone know that they didn’t have any particular connection.

And so, she walked proudly with her hair fully exposed. The more people who saw, the faster it would spread through their mouths.

“…Vicheravali?”

But not long after, a phrase that stimulated Reibella’s nerves was heard. The owners of the voices were the knights walking ahead.

“You’re saying he refused His Majesty the Emperor’s order?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t want to either. It hasn’t been long since the Postarimo war ended.”

“Still, if it’s His Majesty the Emperor’s order, he should go. As a noble of the empire, it’s only right to follow His Majesty the Emperor. If Felicity is His Majesty’s enemy, then Vicheravali is just a dog.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s only natural to end the war quickly, even for Her Highness the Princess’s sake.”

“Right. It’s best to quickly remove anything that threatens Her Highness the Princess.”

…Suddenly the princess?

Once the princess was brought up, their conversation continued all about her. How the princess hadn’t been in a good mood lately, how that made their hearts ache, how they wished she would be happy.

There was nothing more to hear, so Reibella stopped walking for a moment and fell into thought.

‘Didn’t they say Duke Vicheravali prepared for rebellion on the battlefield? I think I heard he prepared for over 10 years or so.’

At first, she had thought that’s why the war with Postarimo continued all the way until 10 years later when Part 2 would begin. But that war had ended recently.

‘Then is he being deployed to this new war again?’

If that’s the case…

‘It means he hasn’t decided to commit treason yet?’

In Part 2 of the novel, Duke Vicheravali staged a rebellion.

From the moment he decided to participate in the war, he had resolved to rebel, and as soon as he arrived on the battlefield, he dealt with all the Emperor’s spies and manipulated the information going to the imperial palace.

It was known to the public that they had been at war for 10 years, but in fact, Duke Vicheravali had already secured the enemy country’s surrender in the early stages of the war.

He kept this fact hidden from the Emperor and repeated meaningless engagements for years. All to prepare for the rebellion.

‘He said he was bored with fighting wars, so he thought it might be fun to aim for the throne.’

Reibella recalled the image of Duke Vicheravali she had actually seen. He didn’t look like someone who would indiscriminately destroy things out of boredom with life, or be obsessed with slaughter, or covet the throne without thinking.

Moreover, if you ask whether the war was really easy enough to be boring, it wasn’t that either.

According to the novel, the war that Duke Vicheravali participated in was so fierce that the outcome was unpredictable until the enemy country declared surrender. There were even those who predicted Duke Vicheravali’s defeat due to consecutive major losses.

Then what was his sudden reason for aiming for the throne?

Greed? Revenge? Anger? Curiosity? None of these seemed plausible.

…Then perhaps.

‘In the novel, it appeared that Duke Vicheravali attacked, but what if it was the opposite?’

What if the Emperor targeted Vicheravali first, and that’s why he prepared for rebellion?

‘The Emperor would be capable of that.’

Two families with forces threatening the throne, Felicity and Vicheravali. With one family already fallen, if he could remove the remaining one, the Emperor could enjoy an era of absolute power.

If that happened, the princess who would become the next emperor would be reborn as an emperor with unprecedented powerful authority that had never existed in history.

Just as emperors throughout history had long desired.

‘It was a story often mentioned in the novel.’

That he wanted to give the princess the best position, in perfect condition.

‘If that’s really the case, it would be better not to get involved with Vicheravali.’

There was nothing good for either of them in getting close.

For Vicheravali, who was under intense check by the Emperor, there was nothing good about getting involved with the last bloodline of the rebellious Felicity family, and Reibella also didn’t want to be implicated in their future annihilation by getting unnecessarily entangled.

After all, they, as villains, wouldn’t be able to defeat the protagonists, the Emperor and the princess.

Because suffering from the extermination of a family once was enough.

After much deliberation, Reibella quickly returned and wrote a letter. Along with words of thanks for everything so far, she politely added that he didn’t need to help her anymore in the future.

‘I should warn him to be careful when recruiting people. Should I write down the characteristics of people to filter out?’

One of the reasons Vicheravali’s rebellion failed was because he couldn’t filter out all the spies planted by the Emperor.

For a long time, Vicheravali’s vassals had been delivering information to the Emperor one after another.

‘They said it was a vassal who had worked for over 10 years, so they should be there by now? Maybe they can be filtered out.’

This alone might not completely change the future, but who knows? Maybe the villain Duke Vicheravali would actually defeat the protagonist.

‘If only the male lead would come to his senses, it seems like it might be possible.’

But the male lead Royan would already be influenced by the princess. To him, the princess would be no different from an angel who saved him from his uncle’s abuse.

With a small sigh, Reibella sealed the letter and moved to where Duke Vicheravali’s carriage was. It was to secretly deliver the letter without meeting Duke Vicheravali.

Fortunately, perhaps because it was a temporary place to keep the Duke’s carriage, the surroundings were quiet. It seemed she could deliver the letter without being caught by anyone.

…No, wouldn’t it be fine not to hand it to the coachman?

After quickly looking around, Reibella swiftly pushed the letter into the gap of the carriage door.

Having delivered the letter, Reibella quickly moved away from the carriage.

The journey back after bidding farewell in her heart wasn’t as light as she had thought.

* * *

The child was bouncing away like a rabbit, her pink hair fluttering.

Cassius, who had been watching the situation from afar, slowly walked towards the carriage.

And he opened the door wide and picked up the letter that had fallen to the floor.

[Reibella Felicity.]

The name, written neatly unlike a child’s handwriting, was the first thing that caught his eyes.

He opened the letter with an indifferent expression. Inside was a single sheet of rough paper along with a subtle floral scent.

It was quite a modest format, but the content was different. Cassius, who had read the content carefully, turned his gaze again to where the child had disappeared.

By the time the pink hair that had been fluttering gently disappeared completely, it was amazing how fast she had moved with those short legs.

‘Even young, a Felicity is a Felicity.’

Everything was questionable and utterly incomprehensible, just like Felicity.

Felicity’s child was full of strange points, the more you looked at her.

A once powerful family had fallen into ruin in an instant, and it was a situation where even her own life was difficult to sustain. She must have known this fact, having been poisoned recently.

It was a situation where she should be clinging and begging to be saved, but instead, the child seemed to be avoiding him.

Besides, what was this message?

What kind of education had she received, for that young child to send the information he wanted, appropriately packaged at the right moment?

Just how much does she know, and what is she thinking?

“Henan.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Find a way to bring that child to us.”

So he intended to watch her closely.

What on earth was inside that Felicity’s head.