The Terminally Ill Villainess Goes on a Journey - Chapter 8

It all happened in an instant.

Derek, the pickpocket, charging toward Finn.

Harry desperately calling Finn’s name as he chased after him.

Finn, eyes wide, frozen in place as Derek ran straight at him.

And then…

“Lady!”

In the middle of Lisman Central Market, I threw myself to the ground, shielding Finn in my arms.

It was instinctual.

The thought that I had to protect this small child.

The thought that, at this moment, I had to keep Finn safe.

“I have an illness.”

“The doctor said I might not live long.”

Maybe it overlapped in my mind.

The way I had felt in my past life.

The way I had felt when I was diagnosed as terminally ill.

The suffocating feeling this little boy must have had upon hearing his own fate at only seven years old.

I couldn’t completely save him.

But I didn’t want to just stand by and do nothing.

I couldn’t change his fate, but if I could ease his pain even a little, I wanted to help him.

I wanted to protect his beautiful smile for as long as possible.

It was the least I could do as an adult.

Truthfully, more than anything, my body had simply moved on its own.

“Damn it! Get out of the way!” Derek cursed and swerved, running off in another direction.

“Lady! My goodness!”

As Derek disappeared, Sophie rushed toward me, where I lay on the ground with Finn in my arms.

Knowing my condition, she looked utterly terrified.

“Lady, are you alright? You can’t afford to get hurt like this!”

“Finn! Lady!”

Harry, who had been chasing Derek, ran up, breathing heavily.

He, too, looked shocked by what had just happened.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes, I’m fine.”

I got to my feet and looked at both of them.

I was truly fine. I had just held onto Finn tightly and rolled once from the impact. There was no real injury.

More importantly…

I looked down at the child in my arms, his face buried against my chest, his breath shaky.

I gently lifted his brown hair away from his face and saw his small, trembling figure.

“Finn, are you alright?”

“…Ah, yes.”

Finn answered in a dazed voice, pressing his small hand to his chest.

“I was just… startled.”

“Finn!”

His eyes fluttered shut, and before I could react, he collapsed in my arms.

***

I carried Finn back to the train, where it was preparing for departure from Lisman Station.

I laid him down on the bed in my first-class cabin. The accommodations were far better than third-class, so I thought it would be best for him to rest here.

Then, I turned to Sophie. “Please call for a staff member.”

Not long after, a knock came at the door, and an attendant stepped inside.

“Excuse me, miss. I heard you called for assistance.”

“The child has collapsed. He has a heart condition. Is there a doctor on board?”

“Oh dear, the child is unwell.”

The attendant quickly approached and checked Finn’s condition before answering.

“There are no official doctors aboard, only first-aid supplies… But I will check if there are any passengers who may be able to help.”

In both my past life and this one, being a doctor was a prestigious and lucrative profession.

If there was a doctor on board, they were likely traveling in second-class or higher.

“If you can find a doctor to help this child, I promise a generous reward. And, of course, the doctor will also be compensated.”

“Thank you, miss. I will find someone as soon as possible. Please wait a moment.”

The attendant bowed respectfully and left the cabin.

Turning back, I saw Harry sitting by Finn’s bedside.

His hand, holding Finn’s, trembled slightly, reflecting the emotions he struggled to contain.

“I asked them to find a doctor as soon as possible. Try not to worry too much.”

“Thank you, Lady. I don’t know how I can ever repay you…”

Harry wore an expression of weakness I had never seen before.

His long eyelashes trembled as he gazed down at Finn, his lips quivering.

This must be the face he had always hidden in front of Finn.

“This was Finn’s first request. He wanted to travel. So I spent everything I had to bring him onto this train.”

“……”

“But I never expected something like this to happen. This is all my fault.”

Honestly, there was nothing I could say to Harry.

Because I already knew Finn’s fate.

Finn was going to die. That fact wouldn’t change.

But precisely because I knew that, there was one thing I could tell him with certainty.

“…Don’t worry too much. Finn will wake up safely.”

At the very least, Finn wasn’t going to die today.

Even if we couldn’t find a doctor, Finn would still open his eyes.

For now, I decided to focus solely on that truth.

“You can stay by his side until he wakes up.”

“…Thank you.”

“I have something to take care of, so I’ll step out for a moment.”

I patted Harry’s shoulder twice before turning and leaving the cabin.

As I stepped into the corridor, the train let out a long whistle, signaling its departure. The floor beneath me trembled slightly as the train began to move.

And just like that, my expression turned cold.

“…He must be on board by now.”

There was still unfinished business to handle.

I had to catch that criminal.

I hadn’t wanted to interfere and risk disrupting the original story, but I had changed my mind.

Now that Finn had ended up like this, it was no longer just a matter of letting the culprit escape.

The only thought in my mind now was catching the man who had done this to Finn.

“Deon.”

I called out to the escort knight standing behind me.

“Yes, my lady.”

“That man still hasn’t been caught, has he? The pickpocket.”

“That’s what I heard.”

“…Listen carefully, Deon.”

I gestured for him to come closer, using the discreet signal I only used for secret instructions. Deon immediately approached.

“I saw the man holding a train ticket earlier. It was a third-class ticket for the Lamiere Express.”

“……!”

“You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”

The pickpocket, Derek, the one responsible for all of this.

He was on this train.

***

Derek sat quietly in a corner of third-class, trying to make himself as small as possible.

The cramped space was packed with people, noisy and suffocating. Wearing a hooded cloak that covered him completely only made him stand out more, and passersby occasionally shot him curious glances.

Derek let out a frustrated sigh and clenched his teeth.

‘Damn it… I thought this job would go smoothly.’

From the moment he entered the market, he had felt that luck wasn’t on his side.

The moment he locked eyes with that woman, he had felt uneasy.

As a pickpocket, he had developed a keen sense for when someone was watching him. And that woman had definitely been watching.

And in the end, he had been caught red-handed.

A man had stepped forward, claiming to have seen him, and helped the knights. In no time, a sketch of him had been drawn, and before he knew it, he had become a fugitive.

Although he had managed to escape…

His face had been exposed to too many people, and now, he was constantly on edge, worried that someone would recognize him.

‘…Damn it. Looks like I’ll have to get off at the next stop and catch a different train.’

The problem was, it would take an entire day to reach the next station.

But Derek decided to endure it.

As long as he escaped safely, all the money he had stolen today would be his.

‘…I’m exhausted. I should get some sleep.’

His tension had lessened a bit, and sleepiness began to creep up on him. Just as he let out a yawn and started to close his eyes—