I will not die a Villainess's death

"Elysia, how are you feeling today? You know that you don't have to go to the academy tour if you are not feeling up to it, right?"

Lucas sounded worried about her and that warmed Elysia. But she also understood why he was so worried about her.

After that midnight encounter with Victor, Elysia had locked herself in her room and refused to come out yesterday.

She might have said that she was to do anything yesterday and people had bought it. They had likely felt too sorry for her to even confront her.

Only Sora had dared enter her room but her familiar had known the real reason Elysia had locked herself in her room. The marks on her arm where Victor had gripped her had been too vivid.

A day had not been enough to heal them fully even with the help of magic and potions but it had lightened those marks enough so that no one would ask questions about where they came from.

Especially not if Elysia hid them well with make-up and other accessories.

"I am alright and feeling much better today. I guess a day was all I needed to bounce back. I am ready to take up my duties now."

Elysia smiled the biggest and most carefree smile she could. She had practiced this smile a lot to fool other nobles.

And she knew that this smile worked most of the time. No one had ever said anything against it and even the Head Priest had acknowledged it.

"I understand so you can stop trying to act tough. But I also agree that going out today and distracting yourself might be a good idea."

'Ah, so Lucas could see past my fake smile. I guess everyone else was too polite to say anything when they saw me smile like this.'

It was disheartening to realize that people were only indulging Elysia most of the time. Had she ever been taken seriously by others her whole life?

The more Elysia discovered, the less likely it seemed to her.

"Oh, and take Sorias with you everywhere you go. Something about these recent monster attacks is not normal and I don't want you to be in danger."

Elysia pushed at her brother's tense tone. He sounded serious about this issue and Elysia did not have the heart to refuse him.

Not that she needed to. Sora was familiar and Elysia liked his company.

Lucas watched his sister leave with that unsure look on her face. He wanted to talk everything out with her but even he knew that now was not the best time.

The letter of annulment that had been forwarded by the temple currently lay on his desk with a personal threat from the crown prince to not even consider doing what was asked of him.

"What should I do next? I doubt Prince Adam will leave Elysia alone even if I sign the cancelation letter that the Head Priest send me but it would be the right thing to do."

This letter was all but a formality. The empire had accepted the next saintess as the lawful queen already so there was no place for Elysia there.

It would not be fair for Elysia to be bound in this marriage and fall victim to these people's talks.

But at the same time, Lucas could not bring himself to sign that letter. Not after he had read the crown prince's heart-felt sorrows in his letter.

He genuinely did seem to love Elysia and that was something that Lucas would have difficulty finding later on.

But despite this choice and the difficulties he was facing, Lucas was not too out of it to not realize the foreign presence in his room.

"Stop trying to hide from me. I can smell a beast like you from miles away. Now, come out and tell me what you want from me."

The presence felt familiar but it was laced in this world's favor. Whosoever this person was, they were quite liked by the world.

"I am sorry for intruding like this, my lord. My name is Sara and I am Lady Eve's familiar. I am here on behalf of her to offer you a deal."

Sara, that name was familiar to Lucas. He had heard about her from Sorias and what all had gone down in that last case.

Somehow Lucas could not find it in himself to be surprised to see that two people favored by this world had decided to form a contract with each other.

But what surprised Lucas was that they had decided to seek him out to talk.

"Sit down. I will hear you out before deciding whether you get to live. Ally or not, you did break into the Dirac estate uninvited."

A flash of fear flashed across the half-beast's eyes before she calmed herself down and took a seat across Lord Dirac.

Her eyes hardened as she took a look at the letters that Lucas had opened in front of him and he instantly knew that the girl was here for matters regarding this contract.

"First, I would like to apologize on my lady's behalf. She wanted to come here personally but I talked her out of it since she was being closely watched."

"Secondly, I want you to have a look at this. It took some time to find but I think you should have a look at the documents I found. You are the first one I am showing this to so take it as my sign of trust."

Lucas extended his hand out and took the papers in his hand.

As soon as he touched it, he felt a static go through his body. He instantly retreated his hand and realized with a jolt that the familiar in front of him was wearing leather gloves that canceled magic.

"This is-"

"A prophecy. I found it in the Head Priest's chamber but I cannot make heads or tales out of it. But one thing is clear, he did not get this on his own because this language does not exist in this world."

Lucas was not sure what Sara meant by it until she opened the page and it turned out to be empty.

No, it is not empty but written in a way no creature could understand it.

"It's written in the god's language. There is no way for anyone to know what it says."

"Yeah, that should be the case normally but I heard the Head Priest say that he knew what it meant. Apparently, someone read this prophecy out loud to him a long time ago."

"That should be impossible? Even if it is a lie! No, a person cannot lie about the prophecy. The rules of the gods would not allow them to do that."

Sara looked worried as well but Lucas paid no attention to her.

Whatever was in this prophecy seemed to be important enough for it to shake apart the temple's roots and to make them play dirty.

"Anyway, I have a feeling that this is not what you are here to talk about. You said that your master had a proposal for us. Well, let me hear what it is."

This prophecy was an issue but it was not the immediate one. Sara had looked at the temple's letter with a burning hatred so Lucas had an idea of what she was worried about.

"Ah that. Well, apparently Eve and Adam talked it out and send me here to 'inform' you that they will be taking Elysia. And by that, they meant that they will 'share' her. I don't know what that means and I am not going to ask as well."

Sara had an uncomfortable look on her face. Just seeing it made Lucas want to laugh it out loud, never mentioning the words he just heard.

'How ironic for things to end up this way in the end? I wonder how things ended up being this way? Was it because someone was looking after Elysia?'

Lucas wanted to laugh out loud but he held it in. Everything was getting tangled up but the world was still a big problem.

It was getting more and more difficult to predict the future but Lucas felt calmer for some reason.

Both Adam and Eve falling in love with the same person might be the biggest fuck you this world could have gotten.

______________________________

The academy was the heart and soul of the empire. One could even say that it was the real breadwinner and resource factory for the empire.

It was mainly divided into the physical and the magic section and only took a selected few students each year.

The entry bad to get in was high and only those who passed the talent qualifiers could enter the gates.

It was a place both Elysia and Eve had been eligible to get into if not for that accident with the ceremony long ago. It had hampered any chances they had (well, for Elysia. Eve still could go but she refused to).

It was a dream come true for Elysia to come here and finally have a look.

The only irritating thing currently with this arrangement was the person who had decided to accompany her and Sora on their round.

"Teacher Victor, I told you there was no need for you to come along with us. I am sure you were quite busy today."

"That's alright. I am a teacher at this academy and I can show you around better than a tour guide can. Won't it be better to see this place from a local's perspective?"

Victor just smiled back his bright smile when Elysia asked him a question. He was refusing to take the hints Elysia was giving him about staying back.

The more she tried, the more that man pushed ahead.

"Parasite. Why can't I kill him off here and now."

At least it was not only Elysia who was feeling annoyed and angry at the man. Sora seemed to be fuming as well.

If eyes could kill then Sora's glare might have ended Victor's life right there and then. How could this day get any worse than this?

"Lady Dirac, Lord familiar, it is nice to see you both again. What a coincidence that we are both here on the same day."

Never mind, it just got worse in a single instant. Lady Emma White had decided to visit the academy as well and now their trio had turned into a group of four people.