I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 18

‘So I’m under suspicion?’

If not, there’s no reason they’d be looking for me with such an ominous atmosphere, right?

‘What if they really misunderstood?’

Revealing the existence of the antidote herb would clear up the misunderstanding, but I didn’t want to do that.

If its existence became known, another poison that nullifies the effects of the antidote herb would be created. I couldn’t guarantee safety if I were to be poisoned for real later.

‘Ah. I don’t know. Let’s just pretend I don’t know anything.’

I had no intention whatsoever of harming him, and what I gave him wasn’t meant to kill him.

I don’t know what happened to that knight then, but even if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be because of the antidote herb.

‘Still, since I don’t know what kind of nonsense this crazy world might pull, it’s probably best not to leave the princess’s palace and avoid meeting the knights if possible.’

This damn novel world has never been favorable to her even once. There was no harm in being careful.

‘Of all times, this happens when I was trying to find that child.’

Reibella recalled the boy with ruby-colored eyes who was the savior of her life. When they last met, as she received the life-saving antidote herbs from him, Reibella had declared.

‘I boasted that we’d meet again.’

Pretending to know the boy’s identity, she had said, ‘I’ll come find you, so tell me your name then!’ but she had been too busy ever since.

The princess called for her at all hours, and when she volunteered for odd jobs to avoid the princess, she was even busy helping with the tea party, leaving no time to rest.

And now that she finally had some time to properly look for him…

‘Where could he be…’

Reibella hadn’t been idle all this time. She had kept her ears open, even cutting into her sleep time, trying to find out where he might be in the palace.

But she couldn’t find any information about him. She had personally searched the parts of the palace that outsiders might use, but the boy was nowhere to be found, and he didn’t appear near the graves either.

As if… someone was intentionally hiding his existence.

‘I should have asked where he was staying.’

Since he wouldn’t even tell his name, she had declared she would approach him directly, but the situation only became more complicated.

‘For now, let’s just focus on the current situation.’

Reibella sighed softly and pushed away thoughts of the boy.

Right now, avoiding unnecessary trouble was the priority.

* * *

‘I’ve gotten used to cleaning now.’

Reibella smiled contentedly as she looked around the room she had cleaned. At first, it took a full day just to tidy up one room, and she even had to cut back on sleep time.

Now, after a month, perhaps because she had learned the knack, it took less than three hours. Thanks to that, she even had time to rest.

‘There’s time until the next tasting, should I rest a bit and then shower?’

Since she had to eat food by the princess’s side, she always had to maintain cleanliness. Doing odd jobs often led to getting dusty or dirty clothes, so she had to wash two or three times a day, but Reibella was doing it willingly.

It was better than dying, after all.

‘Should I rest here today?’

After putting away the cleaning tools, Reibella headed towards the large tree outside the window. Sitting down and leaning against the tree, she felt all the strength leave her body.

The wind was blowing gently, and the faint scent of flowers carried by the wind was seeping into her nose, giving a cozy feeling. Just as Reibella was about to fall into a light sleep, feeling drowsy without realizing it, she sensed someone’s presence.

Startled by the heavy footsteps, Reibella hurriedly opened her eyes, and sure enough, a knight’s feet were approaching steadily.

And then.

“…Are you awake?”

A slightly surprised voice poured down from above. When she looked up, a knight with blue eyes was looking down at her.

‘Who is this?’

He looked to be in his mid-teens. Platinum blonde hair as beautiful as autumn rice, and two blue eyes. Clean skin. Though not as much as the boy with ruby-colored eyes, he had a handsome appearance that would likely be quite popular among the young ladies.

He also gave off a strangely gentle impression.

As she just stared at the appearance of this stranger, he smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Unlike his kind voice, his manner of speaking had the typical stiffness of a knight.

Knight.

‘Did he come to arrest me?’

Her slightly drowsy mind suddenly became alert, and wariness filled Reibella’s eyes. At this, he stepped back a bit as if embarrassed and lowered his upper body. Their eye levels became somewhat similar.

“You looked tired, so I was going to just see you from afar and leave, but I was so glad to see you that I…”

…Glad?

Had we met before?

Reibella tilted her head slightly to the side while rummaging through her memories. No matter how much she thought about it, she hadn’t seen someone like this… Huh?

“Ah.”

Isn’t this that person? The knight I fed the antidote herb to!

‘…He didn’t die?’

As Reibella stared at him with wide eyes, he seemed relieved that she finally recognized him and smiled, relaxing his tense expression. His impression became a bit gentler.

“I was worried you wouldn’t recognize me. I was quite a mess back then…”

He certainly was a mess. Although his wounds had been neatly cleaned, he was covered in blood, dust, and dirt, so much that even his hair color couldn’t be properly discerned.

Feeling unnecessarily glad, she looked at him again. Seeing his now clean appearance, a smile formed from a sense of satisfaction.

“Are you alright now?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I survived.”

“…You remember?”

“Yes. You comforted me and fed me something.”

He seemed to remember clearly that she had fed him the antidote herb. Reibella quickly continued speaking to prevent the topic from flowing towards the antidote.

“I’m glad you’re alive! I thought something had happened…”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard that the people looking for me had an ominous atmosphere…”

“Ah.”

He continued with an apologetic expression.

“I said I wanted to find the person who saved my life, but it seems something went wrong in the communication process.”

Where on earth could there have been room for misunderstanding?

Did they mistake me for an enemy or something?

“I’ll relay the message again, so please don’t worry. You must have had a hard time, I’m sorry.”

His appearance of apologizing and promising to follow-up first seemed dependable.

Thinking that it was worth saving him after much deliberation, Reibella smiled again.

“Thank you for coming to find me like this. Thanks to you, I now know why the knights were looking for me, and I’m glad to hear that you’re alive.”

“I should have come earlier, I’m sorry for coming only now.”

“No, it’s enough that you’re healthy.”

At this, the knight smiled as if deeply moved. But his expression hardened at Reibella’s following words.

“Since I saved your life, from now on, please cherish your life and live a long, happy life. Understood?”

“Why are you saying that? As if we won’t see each other again…”

Feeling a bit of distance in Reibella’s statement, the knight asked back. Reibella answered as if it were obvious.

“Well, don’t you think so?”

What reason would there be to meet again in the future?

“I’m the princess’s food taster, and above all, I’m from Felicity.”

She was someone that anyone would want to avoid. The princess, who kept talking to her and trying to get close as if they were decade-long friends, was the abnormal one.

The knight fell silent at Reibella’s words. He seemed to ponder something for a moment, then carefully asked.

“Do you perhaps… want to leave the palace?”

It was a sudden question.

…What’s the intention behind this question?

Is this some kind of loyalty test for the princess?

‘The First Knight Order had a lot of people who were excessively devoted to the princess.’

This person could be like that too.

Having instantly grasped the questioner’s intention, Reibella firmly shook her head to give the correct answer.

“I like it here now! I can serve Her Highness the princess right by her side. If I can live my whole life repaying my debt to Her Highness the Princess, I’ll be truly happy!”

As she clasped her hands together and smiled brightly, he laughed somewhat dejectedly.

“Is that so.”

“Yes. I like the palace. Really.”

And then she started chattering, listing one by one what she liked. It was a long story that might even be boring.

But he listened quietly without furrowing his brow even once. Occasionally, he smiled and nodded.

As expected, the question from earlier must have been some kind of loyalty test for the princess, without a doubt.