The Terminally Ill Villainess Goes on a Journey - Chapter 3

What was that?

Turning my head, I saw a large man gripping a young boy by the arm. The man scowled as he snatched the ticket from the scruffy-looking child’s hand.

“This is the second-class section. Why is someone with a third-class ticket here?”

“I-I’m sorry. I was just curious about this area…”

“You do realize that only second-class passengers are allowed here, right? Get lost!”

The man’s harsh tone made the boy’s large eyes well up with tears.

‘Ugh, seriously. He’s really making me care about this.’

I could have just ignored it. But the meddlesome eldest daughter of a Korean family inside me refused to stand by and watch.

‘In my past life, I had three younger brothers.’

Alright, I had decided to live virtuously.

Accumulating a little good karma wouldn’t hurt.

With that thought, I walked up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey.”

“…And who are you?”

The man, who had been glaring at the boy, turned his gaze toward me with an irritated expression.

“I’m a first-class passenger. How about letting the kid go?”

“What?”

“I don’t understand why you’re making such a fuss over seating arrangements when it involves a child.”

I folded my arms.

“By your logic, shouldn’t I also leave since I, a first-class passenger, have come to second-class?”

“What are you talking about? Why would a first-class passenger come to second-class? Do you even have a ticket?”

“Yes, I do.”

With confidence, I turned to Sophie and held out my hand, signaling her to show my first-class ticket.

But then—

Sophie fumbled in her dress pocket for a long moment before looking at me with a nervous expression.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss. I think I left the ticket in our cabin. What should we do?”

…What?

While I raised an eyebrow at this unexpected situation, the man watching us twisted his face in irritation.

“Are you messing with me…?”

“Wait, hold on—”

“I was just trying to discipline a brat with no manners, and now a couple of frauds decide to step in?”

He raised his hand high, as if ready to strike.

‘Damn it.’

I instinctively shut my eyes and raised my arm defensively. It was a reflexive response.

‘Is this guy an idiot? He’s about to hit someone who clearly looks like a noble?’

Even as I thought that, I wasn’t worried. The chance of him actually landing a hit on me was close to zero.

Because I had my escort knight, Deon, who always followed me quietly.

I had approached the man confidently, knowing this.

‘Now, come on, Deon!’

Just as I mentally called out to Deon—

Smack.

The sound of a firm grip stopping a hand mid-air reached my ears.

As expected, the strike never landed on me.

Smiling, I looked up, ready to praise my competent knight—

‘…Huh?’

I tilted my head at the unexpected sight before me.

The man’s wrist had been caught by someone. But it wasn’t my escort knight.

It was a stranger.

***

Huh?

I stared at the man who had intervened. He wore a white shirt with brown suspenders.

With his brown hair and sharp yet gentle features, he had an appearance that stood out more than his surroundings.

Was that why he seemed somewhat disconnected from the background?

“Ugh, damn it. Who the hell are you?”

“If this escalates any further, it’ll be bad for both of you. Let’s end this here.”

The man holding the attacker’s wrist warned him calmly.

“The Lamiere Express is known for expelling disruptive passengers. You must have paid a hefty sum to be here, right?”

“Tch…”

The attacker exhaled roughly and glared at him, then yanked his arm free with a scowl.

“Damn it, just my luck.”

He turned to shoot me one last glare before stomping back toward his compartment.

“How dare that guy glare at our young lady…!”

“I’m fine, Sophie.”

Sophie clenched her fists at the retreating man, but I calmed her down.

As the commotion died down, silence filled the air. The stranger finally spoke to the child who had been hiding behind us.

“Finn, come here.”

“Brother…!”

The boy, called Finn, ran toward the man and threw himself into his embrace.

Only then did the man let out a sigh of relief, holding the child tightly and scolding him gently.

“I was looking everywhere for you. You disappeared so suddenly, I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“Sorry, brother. I just really wanted to see what second-class looked like… Hehe.”

‘Ah, so they’re brothers.’

From what I could see, I could more or less grasp the situation.

The younger brother must have wandered off from third-class, causing the older brother to search for him.

In the process, he found me confronting the man who had been harassing the boy.

As Finn remained in his brother’s embrace, he suddenly turned to look at me.

“Brother, that scary man was yelling at me, but this princess saved me!”

“…She’s not a princess, she’s Lady Hartmann.”

After a moment of hesitation, Finn called me a princess, but Sophie quickly corrected him.

“So you’re Lady Hartmann. A noble lady like you saved my younger brother.”

The man smiled at us before rising to his feet and bowing slightly toward me.

“Thank you. My little brother has a weak constitution, so he shouldn’t be subjected to too much stress. He could have been in real danger if things had escalated. I truly appreciate your help.”

“It’s nothing. I should be thanking you for helping me too…”

I muttered softly, tilting my head as I looked at him.

‘Why does he seem so familiar?’

Strangely, I was experiencing a strong sense of déjà vu.

His suspenders and beret. The fact that the boy’s name was Finn. That the child was ill.

It all felt eerily familiar, as if I had seen or read about it before.

“May you be blessed for your kindness. Have a pleasant journey. Finn, let’s go.”

The man smiled before turning away with the boy.

I kept tilting my head in confusion—until my eyes suddenly widened in realization.

‘Wait a second…’

Matching suspenders and berets. An ailing younger brother named Finn.

‘No way, that man…!’

Now I understood why they had caught my attention so much.

That man was one of the male leads in the novel—Harry Jackson!

***

Back in my cabin, Sophie left, saying she had things to organize.

I sat by the window, watching the scenery pass by, lost in thought.

‘Who would have thought I’d meet one of the novel’s male leads here?’

Harry Jackson.

He was the first male lead introduced at the beginning of the original novel.

‘And he has the lowest status of them all.’

In most reverse harem novels, the male leads had varying social standings.

Among them, Harry was the lowest—born a commoner.

He had lost his parents early and had to raise his sickly younger brother alone.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t he mention in the novel that he had gone on a train journey?’

Harry first met the heroine, Emily, in the Hasit Empire, where I currently lived.

At the time, unlike now, he was traveling alone, having recently lost his younger brother, who had suffered from a heart condition.

‘Since Finn is still with him, that means this is before the novel’s main events begin.’

I had a vague feeling, but now I was sure.

I bit my lip slightly.

‘Which means… soon after this train journey…’

Finn was going to die.

I recalled the bright, innocent smile Finn had given me as he stood beside Harry.

He looked perfectly fine, yet he was doomed to die soon…

“…Damn.”

Knowing the child’s fate filled me with a strange sense of sorrow.

That cheerful, adorable boy—so dearly loved by Harry—was going to die.

But what could I do about it?

I couldn’t change their fate.

‘After all, I came on this journey to accept my own fate, not to interfere with theirs.’

That’s right, Se-hee.

They’re just characters in a novel. Don’t get involved.

Besides, hadn’t I already decided to avoid all the male leads?

Now that I had seen what I wanted, I had no reason to return to the lower-class cabins.

Even if I did encounter them again, I had no intention of getting entangled with the male leads.