Uwah...I am a Rarity?! (Reincarnation) Editing

Chapter 69 (H.E.)

"Lord Raphael~"

The sweet voice of the "angelic" heroine rang out at the entrance of the laboratory.

Stopping his work, Raphael got up to greet her.

"Princess Claire, what brings you here today?"

"Oh, no need to be so formal. Call me Claire." The princess said, closing her fan to touch his hand gently.

Raphael merely shook his head.

"I'm afraid I cannot to that. Forgive me, Princess Claire."

"If you insist, I cannot force you." She said softly with the barest hint of sadness in her large eyes.

"So what is it that brought you all the way here, Princess?"

"Actually, I have been feeling slightly unwell lately. Luckily your apprentice was nearby and agreed to brew the same herbal tea from before. I wanted to thank her."

"You were unwell? Where?"

Inside Claire was gloating over how worried the cool Raphael was. However for her act to work, she maintained the weak, pitiful gaze she had on. Swaying, she fell on Lord Raphael.

"Princess Claire?!"

"Oh...I am sorry...How odd...I feel so...dizzy...

Hmph...as the Head Healer, you should be able to start noticing the symptoms of someone having been poisoned.

Sure enough, Raphael's eyes narrowed.

"Quickly! Bring me the red potion."

An apprentice ran to get him the desired potion.

Quickly opening it, he told the Princess to drink it. Once satisfied that she would be safe, he carried her to her chambers.

Now that I have sent messengers concerning Princess Claire's poisoning, the kings should be aware of the incident...From the looks of it, she was definitely poisoned by liquid...
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Angry footsteps were heard throughout the hallways causing the servants to look up in confusion, wondering what had angered the Head of all Knights, Lord Eduardo.

Arriving at the apprentice section, he scanned the room before catching sight of the person he was looking for.

Emma was dutifully engrossed in recording the documents she had to take care of for the day when she heard footsteps approaching her table.

"Come with me." Eduardo said coldly, catching her attention.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, but he paid her no mind, glaring at her coldly until she did as she was told.

Once they were out of the room and away from prying ears, he turned on her.

"You would dare to poison the princess?"

Shureii's eyes widened at his words.

Poison...the princess...?

Seeing her confusion only enraged him even further.

"Don't feign ignorance! Lord Raphael himself confirmed that the Princess had been poisoned by your tea!"

"My...tea?"

But I never brewed tea for the Princess ever since the day Master Raphael told me to...

"The only reason why I am not arresting you is because Princess Claire is so merciful. She told us to not do anything to you because it was most likely a mistake. However I have heard of your skills in herbs."

Eduardo's eyes narrowed into slits as he slammed his fist on the wall she was against.

"There will be no second time."

With that he stalked off. Soothing her aching heart from seeing one of the villainess' loves treat her with so much hatred and anger, Shureii watched him leave.

So it has started...
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In the ensuing days, Shureii found that she was treated differently by her peers and other servants. They began to distance themselves from her, excluding her. Soon that escalated to bullying. Shureii found that more often than not she ended up getting dirtied by water, trash, and mud--not too noticeably as bullying was frowned upon in the palace. Also, more often than not, her body suffered small wounds and bruises.

Moreover the hateful gossips and hurtful comments against her kept growing. Even Raphael, who had started to warm up to her due to her hardworking nature now had resorted to his cold state and did nothing to help her. In fact, he increased her workload. He more than anyone could not deny the near flaw-proof evidence that Shureii had been the one to poison the princess because only she had access to and knowledge on such poisons in the palace. Then again, he wasn't aware of the full extent of the hardship Shureii was going through because she healed herself of the most obvious signs of bullying.

All this was because of the heroine. People had gotten word of a jealous servant who tried to poison the Princess with an appearance-scarring potion but the Princess had been kind to spare her, passing it off as a mistake. Not to mention, other rumors told of how that very servant did shameful things by trying to get Lord Raphael's attention. Jealous women also spread false lies about how she even extended her flirtatious nature to Lord Louis and Knight Eduardo.

Still Shureii did nothing to stop the vicious acts against her. The moment she had seen the parchment that night, she knew that her fate as the villainess was sealed. She could not run away. That was why she took on the treatment she was getting.

Cleaning her clothes of the mud-stains, Shureii winced at the pain in her leg, courtesy of a particularly jealous apprentice (jealous of her former favor with Lord Raphael) who had taken the chance to trip Shureii while she had been carrying heavy books.

It is good that Yuki was sent away somewhere by Prince Albrecht before this whole thing started...It was hard enough dealing with Albrecht...with Yuki...it may have been impossible to stay in the palace...Who am I kidding, if Albrecht personally sees what is going on, even he would forcibly drag me away from this place...

Letting out a shaky breath, she looked up at the stars.

Just a little longer huh...

She laid her face on top of her crossed arms.

This would be so much easier to handle if the villainess didn't have such strong feelings of love...

She folded into herself, tightening her arms around her knees.

Even though I told Albrecht I was okay...it actually is getting hard...

She bit her bottom lip.

It hurts...