Chapter 3
At a time like this, of all moments.
He paced anxiously, worrying as he bit at his lips.
After mustering his courage, he had used a love potion on Leia—but the target had left the capital.
“If only she hadn’t gone to recuperate, I could have caught her this time!”
The plan had been perfect.
A noble who was trying to win his favor had invited him to a night gathering, and inside that man’s inner pocket, he had discovered a vial. The baron had assumed it was either a love potion or an aphrodisiac.
While secretly stealing the vial, he had devised his plan.
He had followed Feyrilli and learned about her favorite bakery’s cookies. He bought them and applied the love potion to just one of them.
“Feyrilli said she eats two bags of these cookies… so I’ll just put a small amount so it won’t be noticed.”
If it was mixed in with other cookies, no one would detect it.
Then he bribed a maid from the ducal household. He instructed her to place the cookies in the princess’s room right before the royal ball held every year.
That way, Leia would unknowingly eat them while busy preparing for the ball. By the time she realized something was wrong with her body, the ball would already be in full swing.
“At that point, I would lure her out to the terrace and handle everything… After that, neither Feyrilli nor the House of Pieret would be able to do anything about it.”
Heh heh.
Baron Defford let out a sly laugh as his eyes darted around.
But Feyrilli had unexpectedly gone to recuperate, causing his plan to fail, and the cookies’ whereabouts were now unknown.
“What if Feyrilli ended up eating the cookies with the potion on them? If she took a love potion and met another man…”
The baron grew uneasy.
“What if she’s off at the resort, fooling around with some lowlife after taking it?”
❀ ❀ ❀
If Leia had known the baron had tampered with the cookies, she would never have touched them.
But the cookies that the traitorous maid had taken were already gone into her mouth, and the liquid in the vial had rapidly taken over her fragile body.
She clutched Helix’s arm tightly, gasping.
“Help me… please…”
At Leia’s desperate voice, Helix looked down at her in his arms.
“Take me… to the villa… down the hill… please…”
Still trembling violently, Leia tried to finish her sentence before her head suddenly slumped. She lost consciousness.
“Miss.”
He called her to confirm, but there was no response.
Helix glared at the bag of cookies she had dropped. When he had eaten them himself, nothing had happened—so why had Leia collapsed immediately after eating them?
And why did he feel a sense of familiarity from Leia after she collapsed from eating these cookies?
“If my suspicion is correct… this young lady’s life is in danger.”
The substance was essentially a deadly poison to humans.
Helix took her wrist and checked her pulse.
“….”
The pulse was so faint it was barely detectable.
“…Is she even alive?”
Helix looked down again at the unconscious Leia in his arms. Her pale face, devoid of color, was damp with cold sweat.
“In all my life… I’ve never seen someone alive with a body this weak.”
Even in his long life as a guardian, she was the weakest person he had ever seen.
And that request she had just made—
“Help me…”
Twitch.
Strength entered the muscles of the arm holding Leia.
Helix was weak to the pleas of the vulnerable.
A guardian must fairly uphold order in the world and protect the weak.
“Miss, rest assured.”
His gray eyes gleamed with a sense of purpose he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“I will save you.”
❀ ❀ ❀
I can’t die like this.
Leia felt wronged.
“I was really planning to do everything I wanted and live well this time around.”
This life was her second.
In her first life, she had lived in Korea as the eldest daughter, forced to endure overwork and responsibilities. She had died in a meaningless accident.
Even at the moment of her death, she had felt angry and unfair about it.
“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve lived more freely while I had the chance!”
And yet, she had awakened in the body of a noble young lady in a Western aristocratic world.
At first, she suspected she had possessed a romance-fantasy novel character. But since she had read so many novels while working late nights in her previous life, she couldn’t even remember which one, or whether this was even a possession at all.
So much for the “future knowledge” cheat.
She was a bit disappointed, but she adapted quickly.
In any case, the body she had possessed belonged to Leia Pieret, a seven-year-old princess.
She was young, not abused, had no hidden birth secrets, and looked like a fairy herself. She was also the beloved only daughter of one of only three ducal families in the kingdom.
“What in the world? This is perfect. What kind of luck is this? Did I save a country in my past life or something?”
She made up her mind.
She would not let go of this fortune. In this life, she would lean on her family’s power, live comfortably, and enjoy a carefree existence. She would live however she pleased.
“I’ll relax, rest, eat delicious food! I’ll live like royalty, spooning caviar like a gold spoon!”
But that happy ambition was shattered in less than three days.
High fever.
Loss of appetite.
Unexplained pain.
It turned out that the original Leia had not fallen unconscious at age seven for no reason.
“Damn it…!”
So it wasn’t a gold spoon—it was a poisoned one!
Feeling deceived by her circumstances, she cursed the world in frustration.
“Daaamn it…!”
As their young daughter hovered near death and even began cursing, the duke and duchess turned pale and summoned doctors.
The doctors hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.
“Her Highness was born with an exceptionally weak constitution…”
“Her energy and vital force are far weaker than those of an average person.”
One particularly stern-looking doctor spoke bluntly.
“Her metabolism is not that of a seven-year-old. It’s at the level of a seventy-year-old!”
A seven-year-old with the body of a seventy-year-old—seriously?
The harsh reality left her stunned.
She had already died young in her previous life, and now that she had tried to enjoy a second life of luxury, she had ended up in an even weaker body.
The duchess wailed as though she had already lost her daughter.
“Our Leia… what has this poor child done to deserve this!”
The duke, eyes reddened, asked in a somber voice,
“Leia… our daughter… is there anything you wish for?”
Wait.
Snapping out of the atmosphere, she realized something.
…Were they already preparing a coffin for her?
“Mom. Dad.”
At her call, both of them fixed their attention on her.
It was the first time she had ever received such focused attention from parents, and her chest tingled.
“I can’t die like this.”
At her words, the duke looked as though he had been struck.
“If you have enough money and effort, you might not be able to buy health—but you can buy time to live, can’t you?”
As the duke and duchess stared in surprise, she forced her expression to remain composed.
I know. Not something a seven-year-old would say. But in this situation, who has time to care?
“The doctors said there’s no specific disease—just a generally weak constitution. Then we just have to put in more effort! Use medicinal herbs that are good for the body!”
A stern doctor interjected.
“With her condition, she may not be able to withstand the energy of medicinal herbs.”
“But being weak isn’t a disease! With proper care, she can live longer!”
“That is true.”
“Then—?”
Hoping for a solution, the duke listened.
“You may be able to extend her life from five years to ten.”
“Ah, Leia!”
The duchess burst into tears again.
Leia clenched her fists, then looked down at her small hands.
She glanced around the luxurious room and the kind duke and duchess.
Memories of her previous life surfaced.
Rough hands that didn’t suit a young woman.
Parents who demanded sacrifice while showing her no concern.
A dark one-room apartment where cockroaches appeared frequently as she struggled to survive.
“….”
There was no way she could die like this.
She hadn’t lived out her full lifespan in her previous life, and she didn’t even know if another life awaited her.
Would she ever get another chance to live richly, surrounded by love like this?
“I’m going to live a long life.”
“Your determination is admirable, but…”
The doctor tried to respond, but Leia cut him off.
“What if I live past twenty years?”
“That would not be possible…”
Leia suddenly turned to the duke.
“Dad!”
“Y-yes?”
Startled by her intensity, the duke instinctively recoiled.
“Please assign this doctor as my personal physician!”
“Is that truly what you want?”
“Me…?” the doctor asked in surprise.
The duke and the doctor both looked shocked.
But Leia wasn’t finished.
Her soul was that of a modern person from a capitalist society.
And that experience told her something:
Money couldn’t buy everything—but it could buy a lot.
Money couldn’t buy health, but it could extend life!
Leia made her declaration:
“If I live past twenty… please establish a clinic for this doctor.”
She drove the point home.
“In the best district of the capital!”
The doctor dropped to his knees without realizing it.
“I will do my utmost!”
❀ ❀ ❀
And twelve years passed.
This year, Leia Pieret was nineteen.
Her personal physician had become a servant of capital and worked tirelessly.
The ducal family spared no expense in extending Leia’s life.
A life preserved with blood, sweat, tears, and money!
Yet despite all their efforts, Leia remained extremely weak.
“At this rate, the most prestigious clinic in the capital’s prime real estate will slip away.”
Growing anxious, the doctor persuaded the duke’s family and Leia to come to a recuperation villa.
But on the very first day of her stay…
“Her Highness is missing!”
At the maid’s shout, the villa erupted in chaos.
“The princess?”
Sir Biden, responsible for security, turned pale.
“Have you searched everywhere?”
“She’s nowhere to be found!”
“She’s so weak—where could she have gone? She shouldn’t even be able to travel far!”
Amid the frantic staff, a knight spoke gravely.
“…Did Her Highness leave on her own?”
“If she didn’t leave on her own—?”
“The hunters say that strange sounds are sometimes heard around here… They think they might be monster cries!”
“What?”
The doctor’s face turned white. The others were no different.
If a nimble monster had taken advantage of the commotion and carried Leia away…
Imagining the princess bloodied and injured sent chills down their spines.
“No!”
