I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 24

‘I really need to stay quiet.’

At least they weren’t wiped out like the Felicity family. Swallowing the surge of emotion, Reibella silently mourned for the young lady of the now-ruined Brown family.

Then she quickly put another dessert in her mouth, intending to finish tasting swiftly.

“Oh, right. I heard news about the young duke of Vicheravali.”

The princess’s eyes widened at Michelle’s words. Michelle nodded at the questioning look that seemed to ask if it was true.

“Since Your Highness seemed curious, I looked into it a bit. Fortunately, someone had recently visited the Louvindisi territory, so it wasn’t difficult.”

“So, how is he doing?”

“I heard he’s doing well. The information came from someone working in the castle, so it’s probably not a lie.”

“Is he not sick anywhere?”

“No, he’s in good health and attending his lessons well. Recently, it seems he’s learning about territory management, as a professor who used to work at the Imperial School has been visiting frequently.”

“I see…”

Only then did the princess smile with relief, stroking her chest as if to say ‘thank goodness.’ Michelle unknowingly smiled at how adorable the princess looked. But soon realizing it was rude to find a person of higher ranking cute, she cleared her throat and continued speaking.

“I heard Louvindisi has become lively recently too. Maybe because everyone who went to war has returned, it’s said to be overflowing with people.”

“But won’t everyone soon go off to war again? I think Father mentioned that Duke Vicheravali would be departing for battle…”

“I heard about that too.”

Michelle nodded at Donna’s words and added.

“The mansion staff were talking about it. There was negative public sentiment because Duke Vicheravali refused the order to join this war.”

“I wonder why he’s refusing. I heard Duke Vicheravali was an undefeated knight…”

“Among the allied nations that started this war, there are countries that insulted Her Highness the Princess. If the Duke cares for Her Highness, I think he must certainly go to war. All the staff in our mansion think the same as I do.”

“You mean everyone loves Her Highness the Princess? It’s the same in our mansion. All our staff’s eyes light up whenever Her Highness is mentioned. Today too, when I said I was going to see her, they were more energetic than usual.”

“I’m so happy that everyone thinks of me that way.”

The princess looked at the two with a bright smile.

Then the three girls looked at each other and giggled, all with extremely joyful faces.

Reibella, realizing it was time for her to step away, quietly left her seat.

The sight of the three girls viewed from afar was truly like a painting.

* * *

‘The fish are indeed fascinating.’

In the lake that Reibella peeked into, a large fish emitting rainbow colors was swimming leisurely.

This seemed to be the fish that the three formidable girls had been constantly calling beautiful.

Lifting her head, she could also see the pleasure boat that the girls had been riding earlier. The boat, made by the Emperor for his daughter who enjoyed boating, looked extremely precious and sturdy.

Perhaps that’s why. When the princess was boating, it seemed as if she was frolicking not just in a lake, but in her father’s overflowing love.

‘They probably reacted the same way to my story.’

Reibella recalled the ‘Brown family’ story that the three girls had been talking about earlier. The image of the children laughing, saying it was only natural for them to be ruined so nonchalantly.

Probably, the extermination of the Felicity family was no different a topic for them. They likely said it was right for them to disappear, having interfered with the Emperor’s expressions of affection towards the princess at every turn and rebelled against her.

“It would be nice if this lake was connected to the sea.”

Reibella muttered softly, letting the bitter feelings scatter in the gently blowing wind.

That’s when it happened.

Someone approached and tapped Reibella’s shoulder.

When she turned her head, the princess was standing there. Behind her, Donna and Michelle were watching their interaction.

“Reibella. I’m sorry.”

…Huh?

Reibella’s expression became puzzled at the sudden apology.

“You must be troubled hearing that Duke Vicheravali might go to war, right?”

Huh?

“No! I have no connection to Duke Vicheravali. I just thanked him once for his help before, that’s all.”

Reibella immediately explained. It was out of judgment that she shouldn’t leave even a small misunderstanding.

“I probably won’t meet the Duke again in the future. It has nothing to do with me.”

When she spoke coldly, as if drawing a line, the princess finally said, “Ah.”

“Come to think of it, Vicheravali and Felicity haven’t been on good terms since long ago.”

Felicity and Vicheravali were like the sun and moon, unable to rise simultaneously due to their family tendencies. Since the founding of the country, Felicity had been a family that always opposed the imperial family’s extravagance, while Vicheravali was at the center of the pro-emperor faction.

However, that didn’t mean Vicheravali was loyal to the imperial family. They were so self-serving that they would even bite the neck of their master, the emperor, for their family’s benefit, and didn’t hesitate to get involved in bad deeds.

They couldn’t mix with Felicity, who valued family honor. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were like oil and water.

As Reibella nodded in agreement to the princess’s words about the relationship between the two families, the princess, who had been watching quietly, patted Reibella’s head.

The feeling of a hand as small as her own patting her head felt somehow strange, and as Reibella smiled awkwardly, the princess smiled along.

“Reibella, want to go to the festival?”

“The festival?”

“Yes. I’m planning to go with the other young ladies in a few days, let’s go together.”

No, a festival with the female protagonist?

Isn’t that just the perfect place for a kidnapping incident or for thugs to pick a fight?

She wanted to shake her head at the creeping sense of reluctance, but the princess’s eyes were sparkling so brightly. Her whole body conveyed her expectation.

Moreover, Donna and Michelle were watching from behind with fire in their eyes. No, not just them. All the attending maids were looking on enviously.

“…Yes!”

The princess smiled brightly as she responded in a clear voice to live up to their expectations, holding both hands happily.

At the same time, there was a thud sound.

When she looked back, the edge of the lake opposite to where Reibella was standing had collapsed as if dug out by a large shovel.

Like a landslide, the soil slid into the water, and as the soil disappeared, water flowed into the empty space with a gurgle.

As if foretelling ominous events to come.

* * *

Usually, festival episodes in novels could be summarized in two ways.

Either meeting the male lead and getting caught up in incidents and accidents.

Or getting caught up in incidents and accidents alone.

So Reibella wanted to dissuade the princess from participating in the festival. If something were to happen at the festival, their heads would roll by the hand of that terrifying emperor.

But the princess was excited every day with anticipation for the festival with her friends, and Reibella couldn’t stop that excitement.

So she considered not participating in the festival even now, but if she alone dropped out…

She might be blamed for ‘Why didn’t you stop the princess?’

Either way, death was inevitable, so she thought it best to preemptively prevent anything from happening to the princess’s safety by being vigilant.

So she came along, but…

‘…I’m tired.’

Perhaps due to being so tense, she was exhausted from the start.

On the other hand, the princess was extremely excited. Wearing a pink robe and walking around with light steps, looking at this and that, she was every bit a child.

She moved so actively that the two accompanying knights were visibly on edge trying to control all of the princess’s movements.

‘Well, at least we’re not alone.’

Fortunately, there were indeed many knights hidden in unseen places. As it was always mentioned in novels that there were knights following like shadows, Reibella noticed quickly.

Perhaps to protect the princess’s innocence, they moved inconspicuously, clearing the way according to the princess’s movements.

Thanks to them, the princess could enjoy the festival comfortably without being pushed by the crowd.

Of course, the princess didn’t seem to have noticed this fact.

At times like this, it was hard to tell if she was oblivious or just innocent.

“Reibella. Have you tried this?”

The princess, who had already eaten three skewers and finished one cotton candy cleanly, held out a stick towards Reibella.

The color of her expectant eyes was green.