“I know! Aren’t you the Duchess? The Duchess of Kelahinum…!”

‘Wow, I’m a celebrity.’

While she was thinking calmly, people started talking freely.

“If it’s the Duchess of Kelahinum, could it be… the former Lady Lavernia?! Th-the mad lady…?”

People took a step back.

“Could it be the one they say will cut your wrists if you just make eye contact…?”

They took two steps back.

“Wrists? I heard she plucks out eyes while they’re still alive!”

Hiiiiik!

There was a sound of people taking deep breaths here and there, and soon, sasa-sak, people moved beyond a 1-meter radius.

“I’ve heard that her hobby is tormenting and beating people… Without forgiveness or mercy…”

Serena felt truly wronged.

“They say if you get close, that madness spreads… Even other nobles absolutely refuse to look at her, they say.”

It’s problematic to be treated like someone who spreads a plague, but the real ‘Serena Lavernia’ had never actually done such things.

At this point, Serena couldn’t help but be impressed with herself.

‘Villainess… impressive.’

To think there exists someone so hated by the world.

Moreover, rumors seemed to be inflating like balloons when they met other rumors.

At this rate, isn’t this like some kind of forceful power from the World Tree?

Serena looked at the man still sitting on the ground, head bowed, muttering something gloomily.

‘By the way…’

Serena narrowed her eyes and examined the man.

Tattered clothes like rags, tanned skin, a patchy beard, a skinny body — a man who looked no different from a street vagrant.

But you can tell he’s not ordinary if you look at other parts.

A long sword scar preventing one eye from opening, a wooden arm with a cheap-looking prosthetic hand, and rare purple eyes.

It’s a unique appearance that’s hard to mistake. A novel she had read long ago flashed through Serena’s mind.

‘Isn’t this that person?’

The forgotten hero.

The dragon slayer.

The Grim Reaper of the Red Sword.

‘No matter how I look at it, it seems to be him…’

Why is such an amazing person here, in a despairing posture, shedding tears?

Heroes are usually infinitely warm to the world and good people, but merciless to evil, as if not a single tear would fall even if stabbed.

‘But the source of evil…?’

This man?

Come to think of it, <Lucky Saintess> did not only have the ‘Villainess Side Story’ about the villainess rolling around and ruining her life, but also side stories to the main <Lucky Saintess> story.

‘If you want it that badly, you could just ask me to give it up.’

She thought, looking down at the medicinal herbs and a mysterious fist-sized fruit.

That’s right.

In fact, Serena didn’t mean to ignore him.

She was just so dumbfounded that she was at a loss for words.

Because the reason this man was crying was truly simple and absurd.

Serena had arrived a step ahead of him and purchased some unfamiliar medicinal herbs and fruit.

This man seemed to want that.

‘I hate troublesome things.’

What he wants seems simple.

She was just curious about the new herbs, there was no particular reason for buying them.

She had already bought the ingredients for the hair loss medicine.

Serena took out the pouch containing the fruit and herbs that this man obviously wanted from her bundle and tossed it in front of him.

“Don’t block the way and move aside. If you’re going to cry, go cry in a corner.”

Does he think he’s some tragic female lead?

As if crying solves everything.

‘Let’s live a comfortable, easy life.’

I thought, looking at Nyx, the rabbit sitting on my shoulder.

Nyx twitched its ears, then held up a notebook with a rather bewildered expression.

[Resolved…!]

Why is this the source of evil?

Because the original, or the illegal intruder Serena Lavernia who arbitrarily borrowed my body, wouldn’t act like this?

“…Ah.”

“Didn’t you hear me say move?”

I said coldly, looking at the man who was staring up at me blankly while holding the pouch.

From all around, I heard voices saying, ‘As expected of Lady Lavernia…’, ‘How can she be so cruel?’, ‘She must have been born with the heart of a demon….’

Hmm, I can hear the sound of my infamy growing.

That means my peaceful ‘easy life’ was also getting closer bit by bit.

I put more strength into my eyes, thinking of Lemerun.

Nyx told me to do evil deeds, but if I do good deeds while making them look like evil ones, I can keep my conscience clear while only increasing my infamy.

‘Even I think… I’m quite smart, aren’t I?’

The man picked up the pouch and stood up, then moved aside. I glanced at him as I passed by.

‘Perfect.’

I didn’t know what the source of evil was, but if I could deal with it this easily, I couldn’t ask for more.

‘But why is someone who only appears in the work’s side story showing up here?’

I tilted my head slightly.

Of course, even though it’s a side story, in this world, they are people who exist and live, so they could be anywhere.

I can see why he’s called the source of evil.

According to the setting, he’s called the forgotten hero and such, but he was once a person who reached the pinnacle of strength with just a sword.

Dragons seem to be treated as almost legendary creatures even in this world, but according to the setting, they do exist.

Dragons with the power to destroy an entire country in an instant.

According to the side story setting, it was like this…

Long ago, a dragon awakened from its deep sleep due to a thief who coveted its gold, and went berserk.

At that time, a young man who had just come of age stood in front of the dragon alone, wielding only a sword.

He lured the dragon into the forest and fought for three days and nights, finally succeeding in killing the dragon.

Although he lost an eye and an arm in that fight, the young man didn’t mind.

Because the upper part of the tall mountain he used as the battleground had disappeared without a trace, and the dense forest had become a clearing without a single blade of grass, what he had lost was small in comparison.

The young man saved the country, and the world began to call him a hero.

— That was the setting of that side story.

‘If we consider the timing, it was probably when I was just in the womb, so… about 26 years ago?’

Serena thought.

Anyway, he who became a hero by defeating the dragon, rejected the tempting hands reaching out from all directions, and repeatedly wandered from country to country, appearing and disappearing.

Sometimes, if the country or village he was staying in was in danger, he would help and then suddenly disappear again.

And at some point, he completely vanished.

Then he appears out of nowhere in the side story.

Well… of course, he gets entangled with the protagonist of <Lucky Saintess>, Crown Princess Rosia, and swears loyalty as her guard knight.

It’s because Rosia used the power of the saintess to disperse the karma accumulated on him and remove the curse, freeing the soul of his dead daughter.

‘Right, I can’t possibly get involved with someone who’s obviously going to bring trouble wherever they go.’

I didn’t even say unnecessary things like a female protagonist would, such as ‘I didn’t know such a thing happened…! I’ll give up these herbs for you…’

Because honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that the other party was the ‘source of evil’ or whatever, I had no intention of giving them up at all.

Of course, if someone was going to die, that would be a different story…

‘You can get herbs like that anywhere, can’t you?’

If they’re not in this store, you can just go to another one.

“Yaaawn…”

Thinking that she was very tired from moving around after a long time, Serena opened her fan to cover her mouth and headed towards the carriage.

The black fan had only a single skull pattern boldly drawn on it.

Serena didn’t yet know that due to that eerie image, rumors were spreading in an even more unexpected direction.

“……”

Of course, she also didn’t know that Drukan, the forgotten hero and dragon slayer, was quietly watching her from behind.