I will not die a Villainess's death

"Lucas, go a little easier on the guards here. They might be the ones to save us from a lot of trouble later on."

Elysia looked toward the terrified guard who had fled away from her because of her over-protective brother and the emperor. She felt sorry for the guard but it was also hilarious for her to see a grown man retreat like this.

"Well, these people could stop being cowards and grow a backbone if they want to talk to you. Besides, I don't think a coward is going to be of any help to me in the future."

Lucas dissed the guard who had run away from his ire. If the stuttering fool could not even look him in the eye now, then how would he ever follow Lucas's orders out in the field?

He preferred his soldiers to be loyal because they respected him and not because they feared him. But above all, they needed to not disrespect his sister in front of him or Lucas would snap at them.

"I don't agree with Lucas over most things but I agree with him right now. You do not need to worry about those fools, Elysia. There would never come a chance when we would need to rely on them in this life."

Chrome sounded too arrogant and Elysia could not help but compare him to a villain right now.

She just hoped that Chrome would not fall as a villain did in the end. He deserved so much better, even if his attitude right now was trashy.

"Now that everything is decided, I guess it is time to say goodbye to Elysia for now. I received a message from the temple and it seems as if they are calling for Elysia early."

Chrome helped up the message the guard had dropped. Elysia had not noticed the familiar energy that the message contained but now she could feel the holy energy of the temple all over it.

She wanted to smack herself for not realizing it before but now she could not look away from the message.

"They want her to come in early? And the temple thinks that we will just sit back and let it happen? I am not sending my sister anywhere near those hyenas."

Lucas seemed mad and for good reason.

He had never liked the temple, be it this side of the map or the other one. So it was clear that his irritation showed so openly. Elysia was surprised that it had taken him so long to snap like this.

But then again, the temple had not tried to interfere directly with him before.

"I agree. This smells fishy for some reason. But we have no solid reason to deny the temple as well. The best we can do is to send someone in with Elysia to act as her escort."

Chrome and Lucas looked at Enma as one and he had a bad feeling about their interest in him.

He tried to pretend like he did not notice their stares but that did not make them look away from him either.

"W-What do you both want from me? T-There is no way you want me to escort Elysia, right? I might be the 'god's envoy' but I don't have much authority in the temple. Nor have I ever used my status before."

Enma looked ready to cry and Elysia felt bad for the kid. He was just trying his best to survive.

But both Chrome and Lucas held no mercy for him. Lucas especially looked like he did not care about Enma's circumstances and was going to force him to comply.

"Enma, it will be better for you to give in now. I am not sure if you will be able to escape Lucas if you refuse him now."

Sorias's hand landed on Enma's shoulder in a consoling manner. Enma's eyes filled with tears as soon as he realized that his last ray of hope had abandoned him as well.

Elysia felt bad for him but she also knew that if she tried to comfort Enma then it would just make things worse for him. It was just better for Elysia not to interfere with his fate.

So when Enma looked at Elysia to gain her support, she pretended like she did not notice. She felt sorry for him but she knew that she would need his support.

"Fine! I get it. Push me into the snake's pit with Elysia, I don't care. But just know that I will not take all this lying down."

Enma sounded pissed but Elysia knew that he was defeated and would agree with anything he was asked to do for now. It was a flaw of his that people around Enma abused him again and again.

"Then it is decided. Both Enma and Elysia will enter the temple today and keep an eye out for things. I will try to lessen any danger from our sides and look for an excuse to exempt the queen from the rite."

Chrome made the final decision and that was it. Just like that, things had been decided for their side and Elysia made her way out.

She did look back at Lucas and Chrome once, just to make sure that they won't call her back. But they did not and Elysia went her way out and toward the temple.

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Lucas sighed knowingly once Elysia left and then he picked up a pen and paper to write a message to the empire's emperor.

Adam and Eve needed to know how close they had come to losing Elysia. Lucas was sure that it would kick their instincts in motion and make them hurry up and secure the empire.

"You are planning something, right? I can see the scheming look on your face even from a mile away."

Chrome pointed out as he watched Lucas work on the parchment in his hand. It had a few words written on it but the address was very familiar to him.

Lucas looked at Chrome, daring him to try and stop Lucas from writing this letter but Lucas had no reason to do so.

After all, friendship with the empire was something Chrome wanted as well on his end. And his best bet was to use Elysia and Lucas as a bridge to achieve this.

"I just have a feeling that Adam and Eve should know about how close they came to losing Elysia. Maybe it would kick start some things that should have started a long time ago."

Lucas quickly finished drafting the letter and called for a messenger bird. He needed to be swift about this letter's delivery but it also needed to be anonymous.

He did not doubt that Eve would be able to recognize his bird since she had seen it a lot during the rebellion days. So he was sure that his letter would be delivered.

"Heh, you are playing matchmaker now? I thought you did not like Adam and Eve becoming too familiar with Elysia in that way. Did spending time with them change your mind suddenly?"

Chrome tried to tease Lucas now since he did not have the chance to do so often. He expected Lucas to look back at him in irritation, or even snap back at him.

But nothing like that happened. Instead, Lucas just looked deadpan when he faced Chrome and his eyes held irritation.

"Shut up and write your reports. I have too much work to do to find time to deal with you. Both Adam and Eve are insurances for Elysia's bright future in case I do not make it and die because of my curse. Even now, it is pulsing beneath my skin."

Lucas looked at his hands, feeling how cold and lifeless they felt. He had lied to Elysia when he said that he was getting better.

Nothing was curing him and not even the divine power could help him at this point. His hands were beginning to lose all feeling in them, and soon Lucas could not even move them.

He was in a bad condition but he could not tell Elysia that. It would break her heart and Lucas did not want to make her cry.

"Lucas, tell Elysia that you do not have a lot of time left. Do you think she will not cry if you died without telling her anything? I am sure that the anguish she would feel would be worse-"

"Don't lump Elysia up with you. Just because you blame your sister for dying-"

Chrome's eyes were empty when Lucas looked at him. He had forgotten about Chrome and his circumstances.

Lucas wanted to apologize to Chrome but it would not do anything for anyone right now. Words had been spoken and now it would take some time for these words to be forgotten by both of them.

"So, what are we going to do about the temple again?"

Sorias was the one who broke the awkward silence and both Chrome and Lucas pretended like the conversation from before had not happened.