The Villainous Young Lady Would Even Risk Her Life for Her Beloved ～ Her Fiancé, the Prince? By All Means, Please Be Happy with the Heroine! - Chapter 1.2

The first thing I have to do is save my younger siblings.

At this point, this epidemic has no known cause, nor does a cure exist. The only things that are clear are that it doesn’t seem to spread to close family members or caretakers, and that those who fall ill tend to be physically weak or possess high levels of magical power.

“The cure won’t be developed for another eight years…”

Right now, this world of magic, swords, and monsters—especially the Eldia Kingdom where I live—is facing a serious problem: the decline of individual magical power. The deaths of those with high magic levels have a direct impact on the country’s strength. Magic is so powerful that a single individual can sometimes overturn the world. Both Iris, the protagonist, and I, Lydiana, are prime examples of this.

(With magic alone, it’s no wonder the country treats me so well…)

And yet, despite my privileged position, how the hell did I end up as not just a villainess—but the final boss?!

I sluggishly crawled out of bed and shuffled toward the door. As I moved, I tried casting healing magic on myself, but the effects were mediocre at best.

A knock sounded at the door.

(Oh no!)

I hurried back toward the bed, but the rustling noise I made must have been too obvious.

“My lady, I’ve brought a wheelchair.”

Eliza’s voice rang out just before the door clicked open, and she entered, placing me into the wheelchair without waiting for a response. She didn’t even acknowledge my attempt to sneak out of bed.

Looking through Lydiana’s memories, I recalled that Eliza had always been one step ahead of me, almost as if she could predict my actions. Sometimes, she even skipped formalities altogether and moved with efficient precision. As someone who had spent years being lectured on etiquette and manners, I found her pragmatism refreshing.

“Where to?”

“Who is in the worst condition right now?”

“Lady Shelly.”

Without waiting for further instructions, Eliza began pushing the wheelchair toward Shelly’s room.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Please do not overexert yourself, my lady.”

I smiled at her in gratitude, but as usual, her expression remained unreadable.

Shelly had been placed in a room close to mine. Since the mansion is vast, I had braced myself for a long journey, but it seemed that the sick had been gathered in nearby rooms. That would make things easier—I might be able to move around without the wheelchair next time.

When I knocked on the door, a response came almost immediately. Inside, Shelly’s caretaker, Lisa, sat beside her bed.

Lisa looked exhausted. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, her cheeks were sunken, and the faint trails of dried tears were still visible. When she saw me, she blinked blankly for a moment before hastily standing up.

“My deepest apologies! I was terribly rude—”

Though she was flustered about her lapse in decorum, she kept her voice low, likely out of concern for the sleeping Shelly.

“It’s fine. You must be exhausted. Please, sit down.”

But Lisa didn’t sit. I decided not to press the matter further.

Eliza pushed my wheelchair closer to Shelly’s bedside. My baby sister’s tiny body heaved with labored breaths. When I touched her hand, it was as cold as ice.

That was one of the defining symptoms of this illness.

Because the bodies of those who succumbed to the disease would turn unnaturally cold and rigid, it became known as Ice Stone Disease.

“She just won’t warm up…”

Lisa’s voice was barely above a whisper.

I moved my hand to Shelly’s abdomen and slowly poured magic into her. It was pure magical energy—no spells, no incantations. I had to be careful not to overwhelm her fragile body.

“Hahh….”

I took slow, deep breaths to regulate the flow.

(It’ll be fine. One day, they’ll call me the greatest magician in history… If that’s true, then I can do this!)

But my magic was being absorbed endlessly into Shelly’s body without any visible effect. Even so, I couldn’t stop. This was the only way to treat the illness at this stage.

The cause of Ice Stone Disease was a new type of parasitic magical creature.

It resembled a hybrid between a plant and an insect. During summer, it scattered microscopic spores, which then latched onto individuals with high magic power and took root in their stomachs. Once its host’s physical condition weakened, it would germinate, consuming the host’s magic to grow. Since it was vulnerable to heat, it would also drain the host’s body temperature, making them fatally cold.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed. There was no clock in sight.

Lisa and Eliza remained silent, waiting.

“Lisa, if you’d like, hold Shelly’s hand.”

“Yes… Ah! My lady!”

“What?!”

Lisa suddenly gasped, startling me. I instinctively withdrew my hand from Shelly’s stomach.

“She’s warm… Her hands are warm!”

Tears streamed down Lisa’s face as she sobbed. I gently rubbed her shoulder.

(Thank goodness. She’ll be okay now.)

I placed my hand on Shelly’s abdomen once more, sensing that her breathing had become steadier. Her silver hair felt soft as I stroked it.

Lydiana had always possessed immense magical power, but by the time she reached eighteen, it had grown to an unprecedented level.

In the original story, Lydiana had visited her family’s graveyard five years from now, on a snowy day.

Despite being the Flores family’s burial ground, it had become a forsaken place, feared because it housed victims of Ice Stone Disease. Since the illness was believed to be highly contagious, most bodies were cremated. However, Lydiana’s father had refused cremation, and the bodies had been buried in a remote part of the estate instead.

It was there that Lydiana discovered the disturbed graves of her family.

The bodies had been ravaged—from within.

That was when she found evidence of the parasite’s emergence.

For five years after their host’s death, the creatures remained dormant inside the bodies, growing at an excruciatingly slow pace. Lydiana was the first person in the kingdom to uncover their existence.

Her anger and grief drove her to study the creatures obsessively.

And through that research…

She gained the ability to steal the magic of others.

(Lydiana’s past is way too tragic! This is just cruel!)

Now that I was experiencing it firsthand, I realized just how brutal her backstory truly was.

Perhaps villains needed tragic pasts to justify their descent into darkness.

“Keep warming her up for a while longer.”

I withdrew my hand and leaned back into the wheelchair.

The fatigue was overwhelming.

Without medicine, the only way to kill the parasite was to either burn it out with heat or force-feed it excessive amounts of magic until it burst.

Obviously, I couldn’t just pour boiling water down Shelly’s throat, so I had opted for the second method—flooding the parasite with so much magic that it would reach critical mass and rupture.

I had survived this disease thanks to my mother’s healing magic.

In this world, magical depletion leads to death.

Those who died from Ice Stone Disease either perished because their magic was completely drained, or they succumbed to exhaustion before reaching that point.

“Mother is still asleep, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

As I suspected. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday, though I had seen Father. If she was still asleep after all this time, she must have expended an enormous amount of magic.

“I’m going to rest for a bit too… Make sure the other patients stay warm as well.”

“Understood.”

My eyelids grew heavy.

I had wanted to treat everyone right away, but I had underestimated how much this would drain me.

Before I could think any further, my consciousness faded into darkness.