Voyage Of The Villainess

Malaya with a tired body and sick feeling dragged her body toward the upstairs of the inn. The torturous event of eating Hyun Jae\'s food was finally over.

She glanced back at Theo and the crown prince who had already their souls living their bodies. Both of their faces were slumped on the table While Hyun Jae was merrily cleaning the dishes on the table. She looked stable and normal, as though everything was okay to her.

\'How is she not affected by that kind of food?\' Malaya thought with a heavy feeling trod towards the second floor of the inn. When she reached the next floor, both Lila and Lorn came out from a certain room at the same time.

"Hey," she called out to them. Who looks surprised. "Have you been here, all the time?" And she can\'t herself smile when she notices that both of them are wearing decent clean clothes now and they no longer have grease or any dirt in their bodies.

"Yes! Sis Malaya!" Lila answered with cheerfulness. "I and Lorn cleaned all those people who were with you."

"You cleaned them, all this time?" 

"Yes, we just wiped out all the dirt on their faces, their hands, and feet. Then we also cleaned some of their wounds so it would not get infected." Lorn answered this time.

"Really? That\'s good to hear! Does it look like both of you did a good job today, huh? Then does it mean, both of you haven\'t eaten any dinner?" Malaya asked with worry in her voice. \'These kids truly fascinate me, how could they work without eating anything? There must be some food left down...\' Malaya paused when she remembered Hyun Jae\'s food,\' she moved her head sideways. \'Ah never mind. I\'ll just cook some for these kids. \'

"Don\'t worry sis Malaya, It\'s alright," Lila said as she held Malaya\'s right hand before she could walk back. "Mr. Handsome made some delicious and tasty food for us already. Speaking of him," she suddenly pulled Malaya towards the room they exited before.

"Mr. Handsome, Sis Malaya is here!" 

The first thing that greeted Malaya was Kayden seriously checking the pulse of the people there. But what surprised her was he was wearing a glass that gave a new appeal to his looks. From a pretty badass devilishly handsome mafia lord, Kayden changed into a highly bad genius devilishly handsome looking. Well, both looks still have \'handsome\' on the description.

Malaya stopped herself from drooling at the sight. \'What is this blessing given to me?  Why is there a devilish angel here?\' she couldn\'t help but wonder.

Kayden looked at her with a frown. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a scowl on his handsome face.

"Hmm maybe looking at you," Malaya answered casually but Kayden just frowned even more. \'It looks like I suck at flirting lol.\'

"Just Kidding!" Malaya said, giving a casual smile. "Lila just dragged me here. So you\'re checking these people, how are they?" Malaya said, trying to divert the talk.

"..." 

And as expected, Kayden didn\'t answer her and instead turned around. He picked his two daggers and disappeared. 

Malaya just simply smiled faintly. \'Well, I guess I should be used to his antics now.\'

She turned around when both Lila and Lorn entered the room, behind them there was Hyun Jae as well. 

"Malaya, you\'re also here. Are you here to check on these people as well?" Hyun asked.

"Yes," Malaya said as she started to walk to one woman who was lying on the bed. "Do you perhaps have any idea, why are they not waking up?" 

"Well I tried my best to heal them  and to see if they were poisoned or not, but nothing happened." Hyun Jae explained. "They were not injured, poisoned, cursed, or sick in any way." 

"Hmm..." Malaya dropped into contemplation. "Is there another situation where your healing magic could not work?"

"Well," Hyun Jae caressed her chin, thinking. Then her eyes suddenly lit up when she remembered something. " Oh yeah! I remember something the head priest used to tell me that any healing magic will not work if the wound is within the person\'s own heart."

"Wound within one\'s own heart? Does it mean pertaining to one\'s own emotions like some sort of emotional problem or any traumatic events in their life?" 

"I think that\'s it too." Hyun Jae simply answered. 

Malaya glanced back at the people unconscious on the beds. "I see. The problem in their emotional well-being."

\'How can the witch put those people in that state?\' Malaya tried to recall all the books she had read so far in this world and even the contents of the novel. But nothing came to her mind. Well. if there was one, probably she could not clearly remember now since she couldn\'t really recall everything she read noh.

Kayden might have known something. But given that it was Kayden it would be a punch to the moon if he would help them or not.

"They might be under the influence of the Fractus powder." Both Malaya and Hyun Jae turned towards Lorn. 

"Fractus plant?"

"Yes," Lorn nodded his head. "It was a local plant here at Hellarez that could be found in the forests here. It was used as herbs to treat open wounds but if made into powder and one inhaled too much, the people might suffer from hallucinations of their regrets in the past at first then they would fall into a deep slumber."

"Why did you not tell us..." Malaya stopped herself when she realized what she was going to ask. In a greater sense, they were only strangers to these kids. And if not for them as well, they would not be put in this danger with the witch.

"I see..." Malaya just said in the end. "Is there some sort of cure to wake them up from the influence of the herb?"

After a brief silence before Lorn answered. "There is one." Then he looked at Malaya with serious eyes. "But it can only be found in one place, and right now, it would be very dangerous to go there."

"Why?" Malaya inquired.

"The village has been under those cloaked people right now."

"Those cloaked people... Then we must definitely get there to save these people!" Hyun Jae exclaimed.

\'Go there...\' Malaya fell into silence.  "Is there a time limit for these people who were under the influence of the herb?"

"As far as I know, there is nothing. But if not treated, the person\'s body would decline due to not receiving food or water."

"I see..." 

"Then we definitely needed to go there..." Hyun Jae exclaimed. 

"Excuse me for a bit, I need to check something first," Malaya said as she went out of the room, leaving Hyun Jae surprised. Before Malaya left, she had this unusual serious face.

\'Malaya?\' 

---⚓⚓⚓---

When Malaya exited the room, there was the crown prince who was casually walking towards her. Trailing behind him was Theo.

"Hey..." 

"She\'s inside." Malaya simply said as she walked past them without uttering anything.

Aadel and Theo exchanged glances before they head to the room where Hyun Jae was.

When Malaya reached the outside of the inn, she released a deep sigh as she glanced at the cloudy sky. \'I wonder, what am I even doing here in this place with all those characters that I said, I\'ll never involve my life with? I\'m supposed with my crew and we should have been seeking the man who almost passed the Red Current.\'

\'Saving people from the witch is all the female lead, Hyun Jae\'s role and not mine, to begin with. It\'s her destiny to do so.\'

"I shouldn\'t involve myself more deeply with them. My role with them has long been over."

{"Are you certain, Carolle?"} 

Malaya stiffened when she heard someone speak inside her mind. The voice was familiar but she couldn\'t point to where she heard this. Then all of the sudden, Malaya felt a burning sensation on her wrist where the mysterious silver bracelet was attached.

The bracelet and the single red bead attached to it were glowing. {"It\'s been quite some time since we talked again, Carolle."}

"You\'re..." Malaya finally remembered where she heard that voice. It was from the woman who talked to her in the dream she had before.

{"The time I will be able to talk to you would be for a short time, Carolle. So listen carefully."} The mysterious voice of the lady sounded both anxious and serious.

"Very well, what do you need to say to me?" Malaya said directly to the point without asking that concerned the confusion she was feeling right now. And since this woman was probably the one who brought her into this world, she might also tell something to Malaya something that would be beneficial for her in this world. "Please tell me now."

{"Help the Saintess in this world, Carolle or you will not be able to meet the man you planned to meet."}

"What do you mean by that?"

{"I saw it,"} the mysterious lady paused. {"Hyun Jae and her party. They will die at that place."}

Malaya\'s eyes widened in fright at what she heard. "Die? But she is the saintess! the female lead! She will even defeat the demon lord and live happily ever after marrying any one of her admirers!"

{"You know very well, that a lot have deviated from the plot already due to many interferences, and the future demon king also changes now."}

"Changed?"

{"You already met him, the new demon lord will be Oliver, and he will be more frightening than Kayden. Hyun Jae will die on his hands if she goes into that village, and that man will die as well because Oliver will kill every villager in that place for his sacrifice to gain more power. Stop this Malaya, or there will be no world for you to discover if he succeeds."}

"How did you know all of this?!" 

But Malaya was just answered by silence.. Her heart grew with dread and fear to the sudden revelation revealed to her. \'What in the world, did I just hear right now?\'