When the Guide Stopped Playing a Villainess, the Obsession Began - Chapter 7
‘This much doesn’t bother me at all.’
Lea, recalling his mask, quietly endured the thick ointment being applied to her skin.
And even as she did, she kept thinking—again and again.
She still wasn’t certain if this situation was a dream or reality, but she needed to be thoroughly prepared.
There were two things she needed to do first.
First, eliminate Bianca’s people within the palace.
Second, provide guiding to those who could be of help to Calix.
Those two things had to be done before anything else.
Because until Calix came of age, there would be no way to block Bianca’s oppression and interference.
He might not even have anything to eat right now—
No, she remembered clearly that he had gone hungry in the past.
Werebeasts were particularly sensitive to food.
Being more instinctual than humans, they had a tendency to deprive their rivals of even basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter. Bianca had been no different—a werebeast through and through.
Who would ever imagine that the crown prince of the empire was starving in the middle of the palace?
Having reached a conclusion, Lea shifted her gaze to Rose, who was focused on her injured shoulder.
Rose, too, was one of her mother’s people.
Feeling the need to secure those closest to her first, Lea cautiously opened her mouth.
“Rose.”
“Yes, Lady Haisley.”
“I know your younger brother is very ill.”
“…Pardon?”
At Lea’s sudden words, Rose’s eyes shook violently.
Though born a noble, Rose had lived worse than most commoners.
Her father, ruined by gambling, had even tried to sell off his baron title. Her mother, addicted to luxury, had gone as far as turning to loan sharks.
Rose had taken on all the responsibility alone.
Before she could be sold off to repay their debts, she bound herself to the imperial palace as a royal servant.
When the debt collectors couldn’t lay a hand on her as an official court lady, they turned to her younger brother instead.
But upon learning that her brother was sick, they changed tactics—they demanded money, saying they would care for the ill child.
It was no different from holding him hostage, but Rose had no choice but to comply.
Abandoned by her parents, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her brother, too.
She didn’t want him to know the same despair and loneliness she had felt.
And so, Rose became one of Bianca’s pawns.
She believed that if she aligned herself with the most powerful figure in the current imperial palace, she could rise to the position of head lady-in-waiting, even from her low status.
Not even the empress knew such personal details, but how had Lea found out?
As Rose stared at her in suspicion, Lea issued a firm warning.
“Don’t even think about lying to me.”
Rose had been about to deny it, but at Lea’s next words, she clamped her mouth shut like a shell.
Recalling the past, Lea made Rose a proposition.
“I won’t stop you from doing what you’re doing.”
The nuance suggested she knew Rose was acting under Bianca’s orders, and Rose froze, holding her breath.
Lea, noticing her fear, spoke gently and calmly.
“You can keep doing that—just listen to a few of my requests, too. That’s all I’m asking. You won’t be in any danger, and I’ll match whatever payment Mother gives you. What do you say?”
In the past, Lea had been able to live in luxury. Not as much as Bianca, perhaps, but comfortably. And, yes, it was thanks to Bianca’s influence. But also because of the emperor’s support.
The Emperor had known from the beginning that Lea was a Guide.
The reason he agreed to conceal it at Bianca’s request was presumed to be for two reasons:
One, he likely believed that honoring Bianca’s wish would guarantee her continued guiding.
Two, he had his own contingency in mind.
Espers in the Cantabrian Empire had suffered the agony of life without a Guide for a long time.
So it made sense that the emperor would want a reserve Guide in case of Bianca’s absence.
As a result, even without a noble title, Lea had been granted her own palace and a generous budget.
That was likely why the Lea of the past had grown so arrogant.
But although the emperor had spared no financial support for her, that was all he ever gave.
She had once deluded herself into thinking she had his affection, but now, she knew better.
She had simply been a mere backup.
