I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 15

“Reibella.”

Hearing the cheerful voice calling her, Reibella turned her head towards the princess with a smile on her face.

But what filled her vision was a sweet cake.

“This is delicious. Try it.”

The princess waved the fork stuck in the cake, urging Reibella to open her mouth quickly. Reibella truly felt like crying.

“…I’ve already eaten, Your Highness.”

“That was just tasting. And you only ate as much as an ant’s eye.”

“Still, eating is eating. Please eat quickly. It’s food made for Your Highness.”

“But Reibella, you’re too thin.”

The princess sighed demonstratively as she looked over Reibella’s body. Her red eyes took in the pitifully thin figure.

‘I am thin, alright.’

Reibella agreed with the princess’s words. Perhaps due to all the hardships she had endured, her arms truly looked like nothing but bones.

To gain weight, she needed to eat that much, but she had been spitting out everything she tasted so far, and the only proper food she ate was one or two fruits she secretly picked from the garden at night. The situation had improved a bit after obtaining the antidote herb, but by then her appetite had already disappeared.

“No. You need to eat more. Come on, say ah.”

Seemingly determined, the princess speared an even larger piece of cake with the fork and held it out to Reibella again.

Although it had only been a few days, Reibella had realized that when the princess was this resolute, it was best to comply. So if it had been elsewhere, she probably would have accepted the food while being mindful of everyone’s gazes.

But now…

Reibella lowered her head with a troubled look.

Sitting across from her now was a handsome man who looked exactly like the princess, staring intently at the princess.

It was the Emperor.

‘…His gaze alone is enough to kill me.’

His inner thoughts were clearly conveyed without any filter: Why are you sitting there trying to steal my daughter’s food?

The Emperor’s favorite time was tea time with his daughter. For a criminal to suddenly appear and disturb such a moment, how unpleasant it must be for him.

She truly felt like telling the princess to be more considerate if they were really friends.

“Daughter, Dad is right here.”

The Emperor, who had been quietly observing the situation, finally spoke.

Only then did the princess’s gaze, which had been fixed on Reibella, turn to the Emperor. The princess immediately realized that he was feeling neglected.

The princess put down her fork and smiled awkwardly, as if apologizing.

“I’m sorry, Dad. Reibella seems so thin, I’ve been trying to feed her more lately.”

“This dad is more worried about his dear daughter. You haven’t gained even 1g today.”

“Oh, Dad.”

The princess shrugged, smiling as if she didn’t mind.

“I’m eating a lot too. Soon I’ll grow tall and be even taller than you, Dad!”

“Really?”

“Of course. I might even be looking down at Dad soon.”

The Emperor smiled softly, seemingly finding it cute as his daughter raised her hand high, stretching her arm to show how tall she would grow, telling him to just wait and see.

That appearance was even more affectionate and beautiful than described in the novel. It was enough to understand why the princess had praised her father’s looks so much in the novel.

‘Still, he’s unpleasant.’

Is it something an adult should do, threatening an innocent child just because he’s not getting his daughter’s attention? If an ordinary child had been sitting here, they would have been trembling and burst into tears from the killing intent he was emitting.

“But Dad, you need to be a little patient. I’m trying to get Reibella’s attention these days.”

…No, why are you suddenly saying such things.

Just when she thought she might escape the Emperor’s threat, the tactless princess brought Reibella up as a topic again.

“You, making an effort?”

It was a chilling voice, as if to say, How dare you, you dare to make my heaven-like daughter ‘make an effort’?

Cold sweat ran down her spine.

‘I can’t tell if he’s trying to kill me or if this is his way of showing interest.’

There were certainly questionable aspects to the princess’s behavior.

‘Reibella. Come here.’

The day after she started tasting food by the princess’s side. When she was about to return right after finishing her work, the princess suddenly called Reibella and dragged her to the study.

Then she sat her down beside her, opened a book, and abruptly started asking questions.

‘Do you know about this law?’

Why is she asking such questions?

What’s the meaning of this?

What she asked about was related to the laws of the empire. It was something that a child who would inherit a family would have learned. It wasn’t particularly special.

But usually, this was something one learns after becoming an official successor at the age of 10, and somehow it felt like troublesome things would happen if she answered that she knew.

‘Right. It’s better for an extra to be stupid.’

In this world, only the protagonist should shine, and those beneath were merely shadows to highlight that light. So in this situation, it was better to hide what she knew rather than reveal it.

‘I don’t know.’

When Reibella answered, the princess’s eyes widened.

‘That can’t be. Are you pretending not to know when you actually do?’

‘No. I really don’t know.’

‘Then what’s the greatest achievement of the first Emperor?’

‘…I don’t know.’

‘Even though all children in the empire know this?’

Is that so?

Unable to distinguish which things she should know and which she should pretend not to know, she just responded with ignorance to everything.

But that too was a mistake.

‘Reibella! This! What do you think this is?’

‘Today, I’ll teach you this.’

After that, the princess kept teaching her things and checking as if testing her.

‘I really don’t know.’

‘No. Reibella knows too.’

She couldn’t understand where this belief was coming from. Wondering if it was because of the incident where she pointed out the side effects of the todoria grass, she tried to explain that it was just a coincidence, but the princess just smiled and said,

‘Because Reibella is smart!’

Anyway, as the time she spent by the princess’s side naturally increased, before she knew it, she was taking care of the princess’s small errands.

Like a personal maid serving the princess.

The very position where one’s life would be the first to go if anything happened.

At this rate, she was about to become the princess’s maid just as the princess intended. Thinking about becoming a role where she would have to prove her loyalty with her life whenever anything happened, anxiety overwhelmed her, just like when she was doing food tasting without the antidote herb.

So Reibella started helping with the work of the surrounding maids as much as possible. It was so she could pretend to be busy so that the princess couldn’t call for her.

Fortunately, those efforts paid off, and her time with the princess decreased significantly.

‘The problem is that now everyone around thinks I’m an errand girl.’

She was called by the maids at all hours, leaving no time to rest. Sadly.

‘I need to go get the antidote herb too.’

As the princess kept trying to feed her more food, the antidote herb was disappearing faster than expected. Because she was always taking it after meals, whether there were symptoms or not, she needed a large amount of the antidote herb, but the problem was that this herb had the drawback of not being very effective when dried.

‘If I could research it, I think it could be developed further.’

But she had neither the time nor the place for that.

So she had no choice but to go and get it frequently, but it was killing her as she was always swamped with work.

“You’re holding a tea party?”

At that moment, as if breaking her reverie, the Emperor asked his daughter, who had been passionately talking about a topic he showed little interest in. The princess happily accepted the subject he offered.

“Yes! I’ve decided to hold it in a week. I’m excited because it’s the first tea party I’m hosting since turning 7.”

“Don’t work too hard. Do it moderately.”

“Come on, how can you say that. Besides, I’m not really doing anything. Raniel and Julia are working hard to prepare it.”

“The area under your eyes has turned dark.”

“Really?”

As the princess rubbed under her eyes with her fists in surprise, the Emperor stroked her face as if he found it adorably cute. His touch was extremely affectionate.

“It’s okay to do it moderately. Even if you make mistakes, it doesn’t change the fact that my daughter is the best.”

The princess smiled broadly at his words. Then, with an expression that said ‘oh right’, she said,

“I need to taste the tea foods this afternoon. We’re going to showcase new tea foods.”

The princess came down from her chair, hopping, and approached the Emperor. Then she hugged him tightly and whispered.

“Dad, I’ll see you at dinner.”

As the Emperor stroked his daughter’s hair and smiled back, the princess said in a lively voice that she would be going now and started to walk ahead.

Reibella paid her respects to the Emperor before following the princess. When she was about to turn around, the Emperor’s gaze pierced into Reibella.

It was a fierce gaze that made it hard to believe it was the same person as when the princess was present.

“Don’t forget who you owe your life to.”

And he warned her.

Don’t forget that you’re alive because of the princess, and know your place.

Reibella bowed her head deeply, swallowing his words. Then he spoke again.

“And remember this. Vicheravali is threatening your master.”

The princess must be safe for you to survive, right?

He added softly, smiling coldly. It was a chilling smile that sent shivers down her spine.