Villainess in Love

Chapter 10

It had been a week since Ishid’s break-in. Yunifer and Ishid had started dating ten days ago and they had been communicating through letters delivered by Raya.

Peck, peck.

Yunifer quickly opened the window at the now-familiar sound.

Raya flew into the clinic before Yunifer even had the chance to open the window all the way, and the bird’s deft maneuvering sent the document Yunifer had just finished working flying out the window.

“Oh no!” yelled Yunifer.

Of course, the document just had to fly out the window, didn’t it. It had taken her at least an hour to complete it, which meant that its loss would result in a lot of extra work for her.

Yunifer weighed her options.

Option one: shoot water out to grab it. While she would be able to absorb the water from the wet paper, she would not be able to restore the smudged ink.

Option two: use wind magic. Her lack in proficiency meant there was a large chance she would blow the paper even further away.

Option three: wait for it to fall to the ground. Unfortunately, there was no way to be certain that it would still be in one piece when she went down to find it.

In conclusion, there was nothing she could do.

“No!” cried Yunifer, pulling at her hair in agitation.

Raya watched Yunifer impassively for a moment before taking flight. He barely cleared the top of Yunifer’s head as he flew out into the open air and went straight into a nose-dive just outside the window. He reminded Yunifer of a skier skidding down a snowy mountain plateau.

As he dove from the third story, the agile bird managed to grasp the piece of paper before it touched the ground. He then flew up and landed on the window sill, his chest puffed out in contentment with his successful hunt.

“Raya...” called out Yunifer gratefully.

Raya held his head high and lifted a foot. He looked just like an arrogant human. It was as if he were saying the inadequate human should be grateful for the mercy.

It’s all because of you though. Did you forget that I had specifically asked you to be careful whenever you enter through the window...? Yunifer swallowed the words she wanted to say to Raya with a sigh.

Her good mood plummeted even further once she saw the ripped and tattered document in Raya’s talons. But still, it was easier to make a copy than to start over from scratch.

To be fair, I should have put it in a safer place.

Yunifer bounced back with a burst of positive energy and scratched Raya’s chin, who was still standing with his chest puffed high on the window sill. His cheeping sounds made Yunifer think that he was quite satisfied with himself.

Raya’s eyes almost shouted, What do you think of my hunting ability, human!

He’s so cute... thought Yunifer.

Raya’s cuteness was enough for Yunifer to forgive his mistakes. Having to rewrite a simple document was something she could overlook.

Yunifer clapped her hands and gave him a large smile.

“Mr. Raya, thank you for your service today! Would you happen to be in the mood for some snacks?” asked Yunifer.

A triumphant expression rose to the bird’s face as Yunifer thanked him. Sometimes, Raya seemed to be even more expressive than Ishid.

Yunifer let out a small laugh and took out a jar of bird treats.

Raya, who had turned his head in an attempt to convey disinterest, still followed Yunifer with his eyes. It was as if he could tell the human had a lot of tasty things in her hands.

“Ta-da! How about jerky made especially for you!” offered Yunifer.

Raya nodded his head to indicate acceptance of the dried meat. After having received a treat from Yunifer the other day, the bird refused to hand over any letters unless Yunifer provided a reward.

Stretching out his feet as if to say he would graciously accept today’s tribute, Raya allowed Yunifer to untie the letter.

She put a couple more pieces of jerky on a plate for Raya and turned her attention to the letter.

“My work will end early today. May I escort you home?” Yunifer read to herself.

The contents were simple but it was enough to make Yunifer smile. Ishid, who had shirked his duties and had been given even more work, was finally being let off work early today.

Yunifer wrote her reply and tied it to Raya’s leg.

The bird didn’t immediately fly off, but instead, pecked heartily at the empty plate.

“You want more?” asked Yunifer.

If he had been a small bird pecking at the plate, Yunifer might have thought it cute, but Raya’s size made the action look menacing.

Yunifer wiped away a drop of cold sweat from her brow and pulled out some more jerky.

“You are going to get fa—”

“Cheep?”

Chewing on the jerky happily, Raya turned his head immediately. The bird swallowed the last of the jerky he was eating and glared at Yunifer.

“I was saying, you are fantastic. Right? A few pieces of meat won’t do much anyway. Haha.” said Yunifer, wiping yet another drop of sweat from her forehead.

Raya scowled suspiciously at Yunifer’s words but continued to eat the rest of his snack.

When Yunifer had been sick, Raya had been clever enough to find Ishid and tell him. According to Ishid, his loyal pet had pointed at the letter with his beak and kept pretending to faint. It was probably the best explanation Raya could give, but thinking that Yunifer had lost consciousness, Ishid had decided to ditch work.

“Are you done?” asked Yunifer.

Raya pushed the empty plate away and nodded. It was like he was ordering Yunifer to wash the plate and put it away.

Raya accepted Yunifer’s gentle pats for a bit before flying off when he had enough.

“Mage Yunifer, there is a patient with a palm injury. Do you have time?” asked a voice from behind her.

As soon as Raya had flown out the window, Martha walked in with a job for her.

“Yes, I do! I’ll go see to the patient,” replied Yunifer.

Yunifer proceeded to quickly run down to the first floor.

“Yunifer,” called out a familiar voice.

She was looking for the patient with the injured hand when her name stopped her in her tracks.

She immediately knew who the owner of that delicate voice was. Yunifer turned around half in disbelief to find Raelle holding some gauze tightly around her hand.

“You—what happened to your hand?” asked Yunifer, surprised.

“I accidentally cracked a cup and cut myself,” replied Raelle.

“No, not that, why—”

Yunifer was about to question her further but stopped herself. She was going to ask why the other water mage didn’t treat herself but then she noticed Raelle’s sickly pale face. It wouldn’t be right to imply that she should be treating the wound herself. After all, Raelle was Yunifer’s patient.

“Follow me.”

Yunifer treated her like she would any other patient. It was Raelle’s choice to treat herself and if she chose not to, it was not Yunifer’s place to criticize it. She might have not wanted to treat herself.

Yunifer also hated treating her own body. Treating herself cost her a lot more mana than treating another person did. Also, the sheer amount of mana required hurt her and made her cold.

The pain was unavoidable; her mana would pour out of her heart like a waterfall and her body was unable to easily distinguish the healing mana from the mana always surrounding her.

She did not need to know Raelle’s reason. Yunifer just had to do her job.

“Lie down comfortably. Also, keep your hand like this,” ordered Yunifer.

Raelle patiently followed Yunifer’s orders.

Yunifer held the other woman’s thin wrist and examined the injury. Scabbing prevented Yunifer from getting a good look at the wound, almost as if it had been quite some time since the injury occurred.

“I’ll wash the cut first.”

Yunifer washed out the wound with clean water and checked to see if there were any pieces of glass inside.

Glass shards generally didn’t result in wounds like this one. Raelle would’ve had to clamp down hard on the shard to make a cut this deep.

Blood leaked out as the scabs were ripped off with Yunifer’s ministrations.

She doubted there was anything inside but aimed a light at it just in case. It must have hurt a lot, but Raelle didn’t even make a sound. She just laid there staring blankly into space. Her watering eyes were full to the brim as if her tears were about to drop.

Yunifer swallowed a sigh.

Something was up.

Yunifer moved quickly with the goal of sending Raelle home as soon as possible.

Just as Yunifer lifted her hand to use healing magic, Raelle whispered, “He says he is cheating on me because he loves me.”

“What bullsh—ah!”

Yunifer nearly swore at such a dumbfounding combination of words and looked down, eyes wide, at Raelle.

Raelle gritted her teeth and added coldly, “Apparently he cannot break up with me because he loves me. He says he’s going to come back to me after having some fun so I shouldn’t be angry at him.”

Yunifer closed her mouth firmly to stop any swear words from escaping her mouth.

Safety first.

This was very dangerous territory so she really shouldn’t interfere too much.

“...”

Yunifer pretended that she didn’t hear a thing and focused on treating Raelle’s injury. The blue mana flowed slowly into Raelle and knitted her the cut on her hand back together.

Raelle opened her mouth again to speak before the treatment was done.

“I was... too ashamed to tell anyone else.”

Her white lips quivered in a flood of emotions. Her eyes were so filled with rage and anguish, but soon had quickened into a sea of tears. It almost looked like she was pleading for someone to listen to her.

I’m walking on thin ice here! Why are you doing this to me! Yunifer wanted to tell Raelle to stop putting her between a rock and a hard place.

“This is the first time I’ve told anyone this. You don’t seem like the kind of person to think too deeply about it, nor are you the type to ridicule me for it either... Even now, you just want to pretend like you haven’t heard anything, don’t you?” said Raelle.

How did she know?

Yunifer’s shoulders flinched at Raelle’s darkening voice.

Raelle and Yunifer were just people from the same academy. They had never exchanged more than a few words because Yunifer had always avoided the other mage as much as possible. Their relationship had its limits, and Raelle was making Yunifer very uncomfortable.

There was no one who didn’t know of Raelle and Crown Prince Cassian’s relationship. The royalty and aristocracy are different. It should have been obvious that a normal aristocrat like Yunifer would not want to speak poorly of Cassian aloud.

Raelle’s face seemed apologetic, as if she understood Yunifer’s predicament.

“You’ve always been one to just listen. I don’t want solutions or answers. You can pretend you didn’t hear anything,” Raelle said quietly. “I just... just wanted to talk to someone.... I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be visiting you for something so personal, but ever since we met a couple of days ago, I’ve wanted to talk to you about this because I’ve realized I needed to tell someone.”

The tears that she had been holding in fell freely from her eyes. Raelle wiped them away immediately, but Yunifer had already seen them.

A part of the reason why Raelle overlooked Cassian’s affairs was because of the public’s interest in their relationship. She was a noble lady that would soon be the Empress, and they were a picture-perfect couple. She was afraid that people would pity her after they realized that the couple everyone revered was not so romantic after all.

Raelle was young, only 21 years old. She believed that Cassian would be her first and last lover.

Her faltering resolve was understandable.

Yunifer could also relate to her wanting to lean on someone else. Knowing all the pain she was going through, Yunifer couldn’t scold her for her actions.

Instead of letting out her anger, she finished the treatment.

“Are you done?”

“I am. You can go back home now.”

“...”

Raelle looked down at her palms; there wasn’t even a scar. She didn’t make a move to stand up or say anything else.

Yunifer filled Raelle’s hands with some of the candy she had prepared for uncooperative children.

There wasn’t a particular reason why she gave her the candy. In this moment, Raelle wasn’t much different than a crying child anyhow.

“When you regret something, turning back isn’t so bad,” said Yunifer.

That was all she could say to the other woman as talking about Cassian wasn’t an option.

“Is that so... Thanks for the advice,” whispered Raelle, tears pouring down her face.

Yunifer shut the curtains and left, unable to watch Raelle cry any longer. She had done her job and that was enough.

* * *

Raelle will break up with Cassian in a year.

Yunifer knew that once Raelle turned her back on Cassian, she would be able to lead a life far brighter than anyone else’s. Also, as she gains more experience and age, she will become wiser and more mature.

“Can’t you hang in there for a little bit longer?! I’m the one in the perilous situation here! Why am I acting like this anyway?” cried out Yunifer.

Yunifer quickly quieted her voice. Even though she was on the third floor, she was afraid Raelle might hear her.

She hid behind the curtains and stole glimpses of Raelle leaving the clinic. She had done well in both not intervening and not running away, but she felt conflicted, like she had left a crying child alone.

“She did seem to be fine though...”

It seemed as though Raelle had washed her face before leaving since her cheeks looked soft and clean under the sunlight. Yunifer scowled, noticing that the other mage seemed to have been unable to wash away the redness from her eyes, but really, it was too far to see clearly.

Yunifer tore her hair out in frustration, her body unconsciously stretching out the window to get a better view.

“Why is she so pretty?! It makes me want to do something to help her!” cried Yunifer.

Her voice was so loud that Raelle spun around as if she had heard something.

“Oh no!” yelled Yunifer.

Yunifer successfully ducked below the windowsill, heart racing, before Raelle had turned around entirely.

Yunifer waited a little bit before she peeked over the window sill again.

Thankfully, Raelle didn’t seem to have heard anything and had continued walking toward the carriage.

Stopped right next to the Carnia family carriage stood the Lucrenze carriage.

“Ishid?” said Yunifer unconsciously.

The moment she said name, she spotted Ishid walking through the crowd toward the clinic; he was coming to pick her up.

There was no doubt that Ishid and Raelle were going to collide with each other.

“Wow... I wonder what’s going to happen,” muttered Yunifer under her breath.

Fate seemed to intervene—the carriages on the road created a small passageway between them, just large enough for two people to pass through.

And approaching from opposite directions, Ishid and Raelle headed into the narrow corridor, facing straight ahead.