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 1.35

It was the first time I had ever seen Lord Finley so utterly dejected.

(Poor thing…!)

“You should cover your mouth. You’re grinning.”

Luca subtly warned me. This was an expression I had never seen before, not even in the original story. It stirred something indescribable within me. To put it simply—he was adorable. A wilted Lord Finley was absurdly, outrageously, unbelievably cute!

(No, no… I can’t go opening that door…)

News of Fred’s treatment had spread to his parents in no time. I hadn’t even realized it was supposed to be a secret.

“How could you be so inconsiderate to our guest?! Fred’s condition is not something for you to concern yourself with, Fin!”

“Lady Lias! It’s alright. I was the one who overstepped.”

The sheer intensity of her outburst made Leonhart hastily step in to explain.

“Enough! Not in front of His Highness!”

Even the margrave was flustered, trying to calm his wife.

“My sincerest apologies, everyone… But we have come to accept that asking for more than this would be nothing short of indulgence.”

The margrave spoke quietly, his words filled with resignation.

“I refuse to give up!”

“Fin!”

“There is no cure!”

Lady Lias’s voice wavered as she shouted, her eyes glistening with tears.

Of course, they had already looked into every possible solution. No parent would leave a stone unturned when it came to their child’s health.

“We have already consulted both the Flores and Calvina families to see if they had any techniques, but we were told there is no known cure for this condition.”

The margrave remained flustered, still struggling to pacify his wife.

“Then we’ll just create a cure.”

Lord Finley refused to back down.

“This was caused by excessive exposure to advanced healing magic over a prolonged period. It is believed that his body’s magic-storing organ was overworked, causing it to age prematurely beyond his actual years.”

An organ that stores magic? It was treated as common knowledge in this world, yet no one had ever actually seen it.

“You know healing magic doesn’t work on aging, don’t you?”

“We received the exact same answer from two of the most prestigious healing families.”

Now both of his parents had joined forces to soothe their second son. They didn’t want to let him burden their guests any further.

“The outcome is unfortunate, but if we hadn’t used healing magic, Fred wouldn’t even be alive today. That is why we should be grateful for the life he still has.”

Lady Lias gently stroked Lord Finley’s head as she spoke.

But everything they said was based on assumptions. They were treating the existence of this invisible organ as fact. And from the look on Lord Finley’s face, he wasn’t convinced either.

“Did my mother say anything else?”

Neither Luca nor I had ever heard her mention anything about this.

“…We consulted Lord Grant instead.”

The margrave hesitated as he answered.

Luca and I exchanged glances.

(Grandfather?)

On the surface, our grandfather and mother maintained a civil relationship, but in truth, there was a deep-seated rift between them. He had forcefully removed the previous head of the family to take his place, and while he recognized my mother’s abilities, not everyone saw her in a favorable light.

“Margrave, I swear we will not approach this carelessly. Please, grant us permission to pursue this further.”

“Your Highness…”

That’s right. He was speaking. The first prince of this kingdom.

The margrave and his wife still looked hesitant. Perhaps they had simply grown weary of holding onto hope. After all, no solution had been found, and the one making such bold claims was still only a ten-year-old prince.

“…Very well. Your Highness, we are grateful for your concern.”

Well, it wasn’t like they could outright refuse.

“In that case, please allow us to assist as well. We will handle the information gathering and investigation.”

“Understood.”

And with that, the Grand Fred Treatment Project was officially launched.

◇◇◇

“Saying you won’t do anything halfway, and this is what we’re doing now?”

“It’s fine. Brother hasn’t returned yet, anyway. The scholars are already combing through relevant books, so there’s nothing we can do at the moment.”

Fred wouldn’t be back until tomorrow at the earliest. Depending on Uncle’s schedule, it could take even longer.

(Were we… just skillfully redirected?)

We were now in the castle town of the Olden Territory, the largest gathering place for adventurers in the kingdom.

Monsters were dangerous, but they were also lucrative. The more vicious they were, the rarer and more valuable the materials harvested from their bodies. Even weaker ones could still be sold for a decent price. Some were even used as food.

“A bounty this high for a stray wyvern?”

“That one’s clever. It never appears unless it’s in an advantageous position. A lot of adventurers have fallen to it.”

Geoffrey studied the tattered bounty posters plastered across the board with keen interest.

In this world, bounties weren’t just placed on criminals—monsters had them too.

“Wow! Is that a hand bomb?! I’ve never seen one before!”

Luca was practically giddy with excitement.

It seemed that this town carried rare magical tools that were hardly seen anywhere else in the kingdom.

“They only started selling them recently. I heard they’re not very powerful, but since anyone can use them freely, they’ve become quite popular.”

The goods being sold here were nothing like those in the royal capital. The storefronts were stocked exclusively with items useful to adventurers.

“Lydiana, you were the one who wanted to come here, right? Focus.”

“I know, but…”

It was true—I had asked in advance to visit the Lias Territory’s castle town.

After all, it was the adventurer’s town! Of course, I wanted to see it!

But the unfinished business with Fred’s treatment nagged at me, making it hard to fully enjoy the outing.

“Lydiana has a strong sense of responsibility,” Luca said in an attempt to comfort me.

But honestly, this just felt like old corporate habits creeping back in.

“Lydiana, please don’t worry about it and enjoy yourself. I was happy when you said you wanted to see this place, and I’m sure my parents feel the same way.”

(He’s right. I need to be able to switch gears… and I can’t disrespect the margrave’s hospitality either.)

I decided to accept their kindness and let myself have fun.

“You’re so quick to listen when Finley says it.”

“Because he made sense! Now, let’s enjoy ourselves!”

I had visited the capital’s castle town before, but it was much more refined—most of the shops there were expensive, and even the street stalls sold upscale items.

Here, however, everything was wild.

“Is that… a giant frog? …Or just its legs?”

Further down, I spotted what looked like an enormous octopus tentacle.

“That’s a giant, aggressive species of frog. It tastes like chicken.”

“Lord Finley, you’re quite knowledgeable.”

Every time I pointed something out, he had an answer.

“I love the atmosphere here, so I visit often.”

Ah. So that’s why the original Finley from the story wanted to become an adventurer.

“This town really is exciting,” Leonhart admitted, looking more like a boy his age than usual.

“What kind of shop is that?”

“That’s a specialty bow shop. They carry a lot of things you wouldn’t find in the capital.”

Even Geoffrey couldn’t hide his anticipation.

Luca, on the other hand, was itching to go check out the magical tool shop.

“Wait… is that beer?!”

A group of older men stood outside a shop, casually drinking from mugs. The golden liquid, the frothy foam—that’s beer, right? It has to be!

“That’s ale. It’s a type of alcohol that’s recently become popular. I heard it comes from the western regions.”

“We’re not allowed to drink yet.”

“I know that!”

Luca, apparently sensing my thoughts, immediately shut them down.

In this kingdom, wine was the standard drink, and I had never seen beer before. I had assumed it didn’t exist, but to find it here… What a lucky discovery!

(Beer and an adventurer’s town—what a perfect match!)

It just belonged here.

“Just five more years…”

“Everyone looks like they’re really enjoying it.”

There weren’t any strict legal drinking ages in this kingdom. Because of water quality issues, even children drank diluted versions of alcohol. But the general, unspoken rule was that people could start drinking openly at fifteen.

In other words, once I reached the starting point of the original story, I’d be allowed to drink.

For the first time since regaining my past-life memories, I had something to genuinely look forward to.

That day, I made a vow to myself:

The moment the story begins, I’ll celebrate with an ice-cold ale.