I Failed to Oust the Villain!

Chapter 3

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Since we’ve already moved him for now... Valeta was lost in thought, a troubled expression upon her face. Of course, she couldn’t move the boy herself, so she’d had an attendant assist her.

Even though Reinhart was injured and a slave, he was given a room next to Valeta’s under Count Delight’s orders. This was so that her new possession could protect her with his life at any time, at any moment.

I feel like he’ll die before me at this rate, Valeta thought as she looked at the clumsily wrapped bandages. The attendant had barely cleaned the boy’s wounds before carelessly wrapping them. She didn’t know much about medicine, but even she could tell that the attendant didn’t know anything either.

Knock, knock.

Valeta turned at the sound of a knock on the wooden door. The attendant who had wrapped the boy’s bandages earlier entered. He had with him a bowl of cold water and towels. She assumed they were for Reinhart, who was running a high fever.

“He doesn’t need that. He needs a doctor. He’ll die if we don’t do something,” she said.

“I don’t think you understand, my lady. Calling a doctor to treat a slave is unnecessary,” the attendant said. “These things tend to have long lives. They’ll get better on their own if you leave them alone.”

Valeta didn’t understand. They were all human. What difference did one’s position have on one’s constitution? She frowned at the attendant’s ridiculous logic. It was obvious that the boy wasn’t going to get better at this rate. She turned to the attendant. “Did I ask for your opinion?”

The attendant looked stunned. “Pardon?”

“He’s going to die if we leave him like this. Call a physician,” Valeta said. The attendant’s eyes widened. Although the little girl barely came up to his waist, he could feel the icy stare of her violet eyes.

“That was an order. Do you understand?” The young girl cocked her head. “Or shall I tell Father that you’re defying me?”

“Oh, no,” said the attendant. “Forgive me. I’ll call a physician right away.”

“Tell him to come as soon as possible. I’ll pay whatever the cost.”

“I understand.” The attendant gave a quick bow before rushing out of the room, leaving the washbasin behind.

Valeta scratched at her cheek, sighing as she recalled the pale look on the attendant’s face. She wasn’t used to this hierarchical structure but felt that she had no other choice than to exploit it. Count Delight was a strict man. However, because he treated Valeta more like a useful object rather than a person, the attendants tended to ignore her.

Nevertheless, they would never have dared to treat her like that in front of the count. The mere mention of his name was enough to silence them.

Typically, Valeta was one to keep her mouth shut even when the various servants and staff disregarded her. The reason was simple. Even if she said something, the chances of the count turning on her were too high. But occasionally, there were attendants who failed to read the room, especially newcomers. This wasn’t the first time she was being treated like a naive child who didn’t know how the world worked, but Valeta was bothered that an otherwise reasonable attendant was just assuming that all slaves had a similar lifespan.

Besides, if I leave the child to suffer like this... Valeta was afraid of the consequences. Reinhart was not one to be quick to anger and was depicted as always having a smile on his face. And although he was just a fictional character in a novel, she was surprised at the number of times she had found his description unsettling. Reinhart was the kind of person who collected all the misdeeds committed against him, one by one, before exploding in the worst way possible.

Unawakened magicians are weak, right? They said the stronger the magician, the later their powers manifested. Typically, magicians tended to awaken in their mid-teens. However, Reinhart’s awakening would take place on Valeta’s twentieth birthday.

That was also the day when Reinhart would annihilate every living thing in the Delight household and become the head of the Magicians’ Tower.

Including me…

She let out a deep sigh. Reinhart’s ragged breathing made it sound like he was at death’s door. She didn’t know how he’d had the strength to kneel at her feet. Of course, as the attendant said, he probably wouldn’t die if Valeta left him alone.

After he recovers, I’ll send him on his way. She would free him and escape death. Valeta picked up the towel sitting in the cold water, wrung the excess water from it, and placed it on the boy’s forehead. He must have felt the cold of the towel because the boy began to stir.

“Who...?” Reinhart’s silvery eyelashes fluttered open, revealing dark, ruby-red eyes.

“Rest. I already called for a physician. Once you get better, I’ll get you out of this place. Okay?”

“Why...?”

Valeta frowned. Why do you think? I’m trying to get rid of you before you can kill me. She would rather have another slave.

It couldn’t be Reinhart.

A future madman was still a madman—the boy may have looked weak and pathetic now, but Valeta could tell by the way he had given her that eerie smile. There was an old saying that if you save a thief from the gallows, he’ll be the first to cut your throat. Reinhart was that thief. If he stayed here, he was bound to bring destruction. Valeta would have considered herself lucky if destruction was the only thing he brought. But no, he would bring her death too.

“I don’t need you,” she said flatly.

There was no doubt that Count Delight would be furious with Valeta if she told him that the slave had managed to escape with the marble. However, she would take any punishment he had in store for her. Rather than meeting her end at the hands of this madman, she would rather starve for a week or be strung upside down from the ceiling.

“You’re a strange... human...” Reinhart murmured, his eyes slipping closed.

I could say the same for you, Valeta thought as she slipped the now lukewarm towel back into the cold water before placing it back on Reinhart’s forehead. The physician arrived an hour later.

“Looks like he was stabbed with a sword. Luckily, it’s a clean-cut. The wound looks severe, but it’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Give him this medicine three times a day after his meals, and sprinkle this powder on his wounds,” the doctor said. “You should replace his bandages every day, but make sure that no water touches the wound until it is healed.”

“I understand. Thank you. I’ll call you again next time. Feel free to charge as much as you want, and my attendant will see that it comes out of my allowance.”

“Understood. Then, I’ll see you next time.” The physician bowed before leaving in a flurry of white robes. He had given Reinhart an injection and some painkillers before leaving, so the boy’s complexion already looked better than before.

I’ll give him some money and get rid of him once he recovers, Valeta thought again for what was probably the dozenth time today.

Reinhart didn’t appear often in the novel, but his presence was inescapable. Once he appeared, he had wiped out an entire village and treated the main character, a swordsman, as his plaything. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. He was such a cruel character that, after treating someone with such generosity and warmth, he’d slice their throat without another thought the second they turned their backs to him.

He seems different as a kid, though. If she hadn’t known all this, she would’ve tried to befriend him. In fact, the “original” Valeta loved him.

“Do you love me, Valeta?”

“Yes, I love you. I’d do anything for you, Rein. Once you’re finished taking revenge on this family, let’s run away together.”

“Really? That’s a shame because I don’t love you,” Reinhart whispered in a sweet voice as he stroked her cheek.

In the novel, Reinhart had used Valeta’s love to kill everyone in her family before finally killing her with a smile on his face. Of course, there was a reason why Reinhart had killed the original Valeta...

For a moment, she stood there, thinking. But what was the reason again? I can’t remember…

Either way, just thinking about it was giving her goosebumps again. She vehemently shook her head.

“I have to get rid of him,” said Valeta with a resolute nod.

After giving the sleeping Reinhart one last glance, she quietly slipped out of the room.