Villainess in Love

Chapter 6

The water that had been dancing angrily around Yunifer fell gently to the ground.

A very simple equation popped up in Yunifer’s head.

If I shoot a water cannon at Raelle that could be considered harassment. I would be harassing Raelle, and so I would die by Cassian’s hands.

Gulp.

With a nervous swallow, Yunifer did her best to look nonchalant and straightened up.

Her mind had been set on shooting the careless water mage—after all, Raelle should have no trouble blocking the spray, right? However, Yunifer hadn’t really been looking to hurt anyone in the first place; she had just been acting out of frustration.

Regardless, at this point there was no way the water would be able to reach Raelle, and frankly, she was feeling a little weird at the idea of attacking the other mage now.

Damn it! I’m not trying to run away. I-I’m just trying to save my own life!

“I came because I saw that the dam’s water level had been lowered. Was that your doing, Yunifer? It seems I’ve caused you a lot of trouble; I’m terribly sorry.”

Raelle clasped her hands together and bowed deeply in apology.

When she raised her head, Yunifer saw her bloodshot eyes. She was frustratingly pretty—even with puffy eyes—but her beautiful face was gaunt and pallid.

Yunifer realized that now was about the time in the story that Crown Prince Cassian had cheated on Raelle for the second time. She had trusted him when he said he wouldn’t do it again, but he hadn’t kept his word.

Her lover’s betrayal seemed to be weighing hard on Raelle; she must have been too busy crying to remember to monitor the dam’s water levels.

And unfortunately, Yunifer knew that Cassian was only going to get worse.

At least he’s saying sorry right now, because in a couple of months, he won’t feel the need to apologize or even hide his actions. He’ll stubbornly claim that he doesn’t know why a Crown Prince such as himself should have to restrict himself to dating just one woman and that will only serve to upset Raelle even more.

Problems for later. Yunifer had plenty to worry about right now.

Seeing that the other mage had arrived just after herself, Yunifer was fairly sure that the dam wouldn’t have burst, but that didn’t change the fact that they had only narrowly avoided a catastrophe.

Face hardening, Yunifer spoke sternly, laying out the facts.

“When I arrived, the water level was far too high and was even spilling over the top of the dam. You do know it only takes a couple of minutes for even just a small amount of water to cause a dam to collapse, right?” Yunifer chided.

“Everyone had started preparing for the worst when the water began overflowing,” she continued. “You may think I’m being harsh, but this was not something that can just be swept under a rug. I’m sure you must be shocked by this as well, but people’s lives were in danger. Thousands almost lost their lives because of you.”

“I know. You’re right; it was my fault. I’m really sorry. I’d like to apologize to everyone else as well.”

Raelle bowed low in apology toward everyone around her—even to the commoners much lower in status than her.

It was pretty obvious that Raelle was not the kind of person who would have done something this irresponsible on purpose.

Her apology sounded sincere, and it was easy to see how much the situation had affected her—her face was white with shock in sharp contrast to her red eyes and nose, and her lips were tattered from nervously biting her lip.

Being a healer, Yunifer felt an obligation to care for the clearly unwell person in front of her.

But Raelle’s wellbeing was ultimately not her responsibility.

Anyhow, saying anything else at this point would just be meddlesome.

“Since everything seems sorted, I’ll head back now,” said Yunifer, turning to leave.

“Wait! Yunifer!”

Raelle ran out in front of Yunifer and paused before pulling out a white handkerchief.

Yunifer only had a moment to wonder what the other woman was doing before the damp handkerchief touched Yunifer’s forehead.

“You must’ve been in a rush... You have blood on your face.”

A thin white wrist blocked Yunifer’s vision as Raelle blotted her face..

She had always seemed rather delicate, but now she looks positively fragile and sickly.

Should I introduce her to Ishid now?

It would be a shame to have to do so this early, but Yunifer had already made her peace with this fate. More than anything, she was just afraid that Ishid’s feelings toward Raelle would sour if she tried to force them together.

Yunifer shook her head, remembering Ishid’s coldness when he whispered that he had no reason to meet anyone else. The two would naturally become acquainted with one another anyway when Raelle relocated to the Order of the White Night soon. Their first impressions of each other were going to be very important, so it would be a disaster if something were to ruin it for them.

In the current timeline, the two mages were not friends, and since Raelle hadn’t ever confided in her, there was no way Yunifer could know why Raelle didn’t look well.

She couldn’t tell her to ditch her horrible boyfriend, nor could she remind her that a person who cheats usually doesn’t only do it once.

For some reason, this frustrated her immensely.

“You should take care of yourself. Do you eat regularly?” Yunifer inquired.

“Ah...”

Raelle’s face lit up with emotion at Yunifer’s words. Her violet eyes started to shine, brimming with tears.

“Meals aren’t the problem, it’s just that the work is a bit difficult and I’m still learning. Maybe that’s why I’ve lost weight,” said Raelle, giving a small smile, eyes still bright with unshed tears.

Yunifer pulled away from Raelle slightly, clutching at the neckline of her bodice.

Damn it! She’s so cute! So pretty!

Raelle looked so dainty and fragile. Yunifer couldn’t help but want to give her a warm hug.

Her heart pounded dangerously. It seemed as though her immunity to Raelle’s beauty had waned after a year of not seeing her.

Yunifer, realizing that she should probably leave, was about to make her escape when Raelle grabbed her hands.

“How about you? How are you doing?”

“I’m doing okay. It’s a simple job.”

Today had been particularly busy, but at least Yunifer was usually freer than Raelle, who worked in the Imperial Palace. Yunifer’s clinic had been established to benefit the public, so she didn’t have to worry about superiors pressuring her about profits.

Yunifer looked at Raelle’s wan face and regretted her wish to quit her simple job.

With the kind of magic abilities I have, I couldn’t just live my life as a rich layabout. Plus, saving lives is more fun than I would have expected, thought Yunifer.

“Then maybe, from now on, we could...” started Raelle.

Yunifer had let her mind wander for just a moment, but in that time Raelle had turned the topic in a dangerous direction.

Yunifer widened her eyes and yanked her hands away. She stuffed them into her pockets, each thumb anxiously scratching at her fingernails. She needed to shut Raelle up right now, or else she’d end up in a sticky situation.

She noticed that her fingers kept catching on something in her pocket. It was some of the candy that she’d given to the child earlier that day.

Yunifer quickly pulled it out and shoved it toward Raelle’s face.

“Eat this!” shouted Yunifer.

“...”

Damn it! Maybe a better way of phrasing it would have been “Would you like one?”

“Eat this!” almost sounded like a threat.

Red faced and embarrassed, Yunifer forced herself to calmly place the candy into Raelle’s hands.

“Eat this and try to focus.”

“You... still carry these sweets around,” whispered Raelle as she looked down at the red candy.

Seeing Raelle’s fascination with the candy, Yunifer decided to use the moment to escape.

“See you next time then!”

“...”

She ran away as fast as she could so as to avoid being captured again.

Yunifer was able to get away with no problems, but she paid a painful price for her exuberant sprint the next morning.

* * *

Yunifer didn’t want to take leave again after having only been back for a day, but she really could not work; her body was a complete mess.

She hadn’t felt well to begin with and pushing herself to the limit did not help at all.

Yunifer had come down with a bad flu.

Of all sicknesses, the flu!

“Brr... It’s so cold in here...”

Even under two layers of blankets she was still freezing. Her teeth chattered from the cold. After arriving in this world, Yunifer had come to despise the cold she constantly felt and the pain that came with it.

The usually calm water mana in her heart trembled every time she caught the flu. Her mana could not handle the heat from the fever and did its best to lower her temperature back down again.

The frenzy the mana went into every time Yunifer fell ill was near intolerable. The mana unhelpfully lowered her body temperature and kept her as chilled as possible.

She felt like she was standing naked in the middle of a blizzard.

“My lady, are you all right? Should I stoke the fire more?” Rosie said, panting.

The fireplace was roaring away in mid-summer. Rosie’s face was already red from the relentless heat. If she stayed any longer, she was definitely going to faint from heatstroke like the patient had yesterday.

“I’ve already eaten and taken my medicine, so please don’t worry about me. Go take a break.”

“But...”

“I’m going to take a nap.”

After Yunifer mumbled out the words, Rosie unwillingly left the room, turning back to look once more at the sick lady before closing the door.

Yunifer might have been able to save Rosie from a heatstroke, but she couldn’t save herself from the flu.

Water mana was almost always effective in treating external injuries but it wasn’t quite as useful at dealing with internal illnesses. Plus, adding water mana to an already-cold body was not an option. It would be no different than taking a cold shower in her current condition.

It would have been wonderfully helpful to use Ishid’s mana crystal to warm herself, but she had already exhausted it yesterday. Ishid would need to refill it with his mana before she could use it again.

“I need to sleep...” muttered Yunifer.

Unfortunately, Yunifer was so cold that she couldn’t even stretch out her limbs, much less comfortably fall asleep. Huddled in a ball and groaning, Yunifer carefully pushed her hand out from under the blankets.

Her throat was so sore; she desperately needed a drink of water. There was only an empty glass in Yunifer’s room but that was all a water mage like herself needed.

Every single movement hurt, so she moved as little as possible. Yunifer pulled herself to her knees, remaining curled in on herself as much as she could manage. Then, she filled the glass with water using her mana; keeping as much of her body beneath the blankets as possible.

The cold water in the cup stung her hands.

“It’s freezing...”

Ice was not exactly easy to find in this world, so having unlimited cold water to drink in the middle of summer was usually a great blessing, but today it was not welcome at all.

The icy water stung when it flowed down her swollen throat.

She could ring the bell and call for Rosie, but she could not bring herself to move another muscle.

Yunifer swallowed only a few sips of water and used her magic to empty the cup, pulling the water back into herself.

She dropped the empty cup carelessly onto the bed.

Cough! Cough!

Yunifer turned her body and laid on her side. She usually preferred sleeping flat on her back, but today she could not help but curl in on herself like a little shrimp.

Wrapping her shivering hands and feet with blankets, Yunifer shut her eyes tightly.

Tap. Tap.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Yunifer heard something tapping on the window.

She opened her eyes to find the source of the sound that was preventing her from sleeping.

“Raya?”

She wasn’t sure if her hoarse voice could be heard outside. There, the intelligent bird tilted his head as if he knew something was up. His sharp gold eyes seemed to be questioning why Yunifer wasn’t letting him in.

Yunifer didn’t have the strength to even attempt a walk to the window.

Instead, she lifted a finger and shot out a stream of water. The water reached the glass panes and turned the handle, opening it just a bit before dissipating into the air.

As soon as the handle turned, Raya nudged the window with his feet. He understood what he had to do and beat his wings while pushing on the glass, forcing it open even more.

Raya pushed his head into the gap and the window opened up wide enough for him to fly in. Once inside, the bird puffed up his feathers and squawked as though he were unsatisfied with how hot the room felt.

The bird rubbed his beak softly against Yunifer’s cheek. His movements were careful as if he knew Yunifer was ill.

“Ah, you are very warm.”

Yunifer stretched out her arm and rubbed the bird’s head. Thanks to the feathers, the bird seemed to give off a welcoming heat.

Raya suddenly flew up and landed on Yunifer’s stomach. Then, he started to puff out his feathers even more as though he was preparing to sit on eggs in a nest. Warmth spread across Yunifer’s previously freezing belly.

It was so effective that Yunifer’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You’re so warm… Ugh, but so heavy...”

Raya was definitely warm, but also quite substantial. If he stayed in place, Yunifer would surely be squished to death before the flu could finish her off.

For the first time in her life, she found herself wondering just how much a bird could weigh.

“Cheep!”

Maybe it was her flu-fogged head but Raya’s eyes seemed indignant. It was almost as if he was complaining about Yunifer’s lack of gratitude for the help. But, almost as though he knew that the human woman was suffering, Raya hopped down and settled by Yunifer’s side instead.

Raya maneuvered the blanket up higher with his feet and nestled himself inside; while the bird couldn’t speak, it was obvious what he was doing.

“Thank you.”

Yunifer scratched Raya’s chin and smiled.

Raya chirped quietly with a proud expression on his face.

It was almost like he was saying, Leave it up to me!

Yunifer slid her hands under Raya’s large form and fell asleep.

“Cheep!”

Raya suddenly paused and opened his eyes up wide. He moved as if he had suddenly remembered something important and stood up to reveal a leg.

Attached to Raya’s foot, there was a green letter from Ishid.

Raya pulled the letter off with his beak and left it by Yunifer’s bedside—it would be easy for her to find when she woke up.

Raya debated on staying for a moment longer but decided that it was time to go, leaving Yunifer to her sleep. He flew out the window and into the open sky.

But not before gently closing the window for the sick person inside.