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 1.36 (2)

“Oh! Incredible! A Peacock Dragon!”

A crowd had formed near the gate, with merchants—including those from the harpy trade—rushing toward the commotion.

“Even here, a Peacock Dragon is a rare sight. And it looks like it’s been captured alive.”

Leonhart suddenly became restless, craning his neck to get a better look at the creature.

“…Mother has been wanting one.”

As its name suggested, the Peacock Dragon was a magical beast with stunning iridescent scales, resembling the vibrant feathers of a peacock.

Despite having “dragon” in its name, it was about the size of a large dog and remained docile within its cage.

Among nobles, owning beautiful magical creatures had become something of a status symbol.

“Understood! I’ll arrange the purchase immediately!”

“No, that’s alright! I’ll go through the official process to acquire it.”

“It’s no problem. The decision of who to sell it to is entirely at our discretion.”

“Is that really okay…?”

Leonhart was actually using his royal privilege for a personal matter.

It was a rare sight—in fact, it was the first time I had ever seen him do so.

Lady Rione must have really wanted one.

It certainly seemed like the type of magical beast she would love.

“If we refused to sell it to the prince, we’d lose our heads!”

Well… fair point.

“They must trust you a great deal,” I remarked.

For such a high-value transaction, the fact that it was entirely in his hands spoke volumes.

“I wouldn’t have anywhere else to work if I lost this position,” Ford admitted.

“Even with all your expertise?”

“Everything I know, I learned here.”

“You must truly value your work.”

Ford chuckled sheepishly.

While Leonhart was occupied with the officials handling the Peacock Dragon’s purchase, I took the opportunity to ask a question.

“There’s a particular monster I’m curious about.”

“Ask me anything.”

To me, this was the most important monster of all.

“The one responsible for Froststone Disease.”

“Ah. Of course… I can see why you’d want to know.”

Ford’s expression softened with understanding.

He must have already known about my past.

“It was a parasitic monster, correct? A particularly troublesome type. I had never heard of it before.”

“You hadn’t?”

“No, but I’ve done some research. It closely resembles a creature said to exist in the northern nations.

The adult form looks like a plant, but in reality, its behavior aligns more with insects.

It’s weak to fire, so eliminating it isn’t particularly difficult.”

“That’s it! …It has to be…”

I nearly let my excitement slip.

I already knew what it looked like from the original story.

What I needed to know was:

• • Where was the main body of the one that infected us?

• • How long was its lifespan?

• • Could it reproduce within this kingdom?

Even though a cure had been found, if too many of these parasites matured into their adult form, the consequences were unpredictable.

In the original story, by the time the true cause of the disease was discovered, the parasite had already spread throughout the kingdom.

And despite the fact that Froststone victims were cremated, their numbers had still grown.

Which meant… humans weren’t the only hosts.

If we could exterminate them early, we should.

The kingdom had already launched investigations, but there had been no breakthroughs.

Ford’s deep knowledge—and his passion for these creatures—gave me hope.

“After the cure was discovered, I started investigating this on my own… But my workload here increased, and I had to put it on hold.”

He hesitated for a moment.

“I still have my notes. If you’d like, I can compile them and send them to you.”

“That would be a tremendous help!”

“In fact, I was just thinking of resuming my research. Especially with Lord Fred’s condition…”

His eyes were serious.

He already knew.

Fred’s illness had become public knowledge.

“Oh! But please don’t misunderstand! I’m not part of any faction supporting Lord Fred!”

Ford hurriedly corrected himself.

“…There are factions?”

“Unfortunately… yes, as of late.”

So, Fred’s condition really had become the trigger for all this.

“Both brothers deeply care for this land.

But while Lord Fred still sees himself as the rightful heir, Lord Finley has made it clear he has no such intention.

The entire household staff is aware of it.”

The entire staff?!

So Finley had been that open about it?

He never showed any sign of it around us—not even last night.

“If only there were a solution…”

“Indeed…”

This was bad.

Finley idolized his older brother.

If things escalated into a succession dispute, he would be devastated.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Did everything go smoothly?”

“Yeah. They’re going to select a few beastmasters to take care of it. That was a big help.”

So there would be handlers for it.

Of course.

There was no way the king’s consort would personally care for a magical beast.

Still, I hadn’t realized there were so many beastmasters around.

Then again, wyvern riders could technically be considered beastmasters, so I supposed there were quite a few in the kingdom.

“I hope Lady Rione will be pleased.”

“Yeah… The timing was unbelievably perfect.”

“Peacock Dragons are frequently requested through the Adventurers’ Guild, so seeing one brought here is quite rare.”

That was a good point.

Why had it been sold directly to the trading post instead?

“The seller is… someone with a complicated situation,” Ford explained vaguely.

“He’s highly skilled, but… let’s just say he can’t show his face at the guild.”

So there were people like that, too.

A wanted criminal, maybe?

As I pondered the possibilities, Ford casually revealed the answer.

“It’s him over there.”

“…What?!”

I turned toward the merchant counter, where a young man was collecting his payment.

And froze.

No way…

That was Trua Ludolphin—the legendary ace of a famous mercenary band from the original story.

But more importantly…

He was secretly a prince of a neighboring kingdom.

And unlike many characters, he never developed feelings for Iris—the protagonist.

Because there was a significant age gap between them.

However, he did deeply admire her.

So this was where he had been during this time period.

“Do you know him? There are rumors that he’s a noble from a neighboring country.”

“Ah, no… I just didn’t expect him to be so—slender.”

“Wait… That’s Prince Trua?!”

Leonhart exclaimed.

(OH NO. OH NO. OH NO.)

Leonhart recognized him?!

Would this blow his cover?

What if he got dragged back to his homeland before the story even began?

Would that completely alter his fate?

“I suppose that explains his refined demeanor… No wonder he can’t set foot in the guild.”

The Adventurers’ Guild was connected to the entire world.

If a runaway noble joined, there was a high chance they’d be tracked down and marked with a bounty.

This just got a whole lot more complicated…

“Shouldn’t we report this to the guild…?”

“You may do as you please, Your Highness. That is how these things work.”

“Ford, aren’t you going to report it? I imagine there’s a sizable bounty on him.”

“I value the monsters he brings far more than any bounty.”

Ford wasn’t the type to be concerned with such trivial matters.

The real question was what Leonhart—ever the serious one—would decide to do.

“Your Highness, Lord Trua looks quite happy right now.”

The young man in question was laughing with his comrades, excitedly counting their earnings.

Leonhart observed them quietly, seemingly deep in thought.

“Let’s leave it be. I doubt that’s what he wants.”

“I think so too.”

Right at that moment, Lord Finley returned, looking rather pleased with himself.

It seemed he had gone shopping.

“What did you buy?”

“You’ll find out when we get back!”

What?! Now I’m even more curious!

In our kingdom, it was rare for nobles to go out shopping themselves.

Though this was slowly changing, with younger nobles beginning to explore marketplaces, by the time the original story began, it had become more common.

But for now, it was still standard practice for merchants to bring their goods to the estates, following the traditional private trading model.

So what on earth had Lord Finley gone out of his way to buy in person?

“Alright! Next stop—the Adventurers’ Guild!”

Apparently, this was Lord Finley’s top recommendation.

He was practically bursting with excitement to show us around.

(I swear, I’m going to capture Finley in his adventurer mode—right on camera!)