I will not die a Villainess's death

"You are curious about her, right? About Elysia Dirac. Don't you wish to recover your memories of her? If so, then I might know of a way or two to do so."

Even Eve felt her curiosity rise at the unknown man's words. She had met him only because the head priest had insisted that she do. But ever since she had laid her eyes on him, this man had given her mixed feelings.

Her instincts told her that she should like this man. He was good for her and her future. He was someone that cared for her.

But something in her rationality asked her to be cautious. The ease with which her instincts had accepted him was unusual.

And maybe that was why she decided to bring him along to meet Adam this time. She wanted to see if the emperor would feel something different from her if he saw that man.

"Elysia Dirac? Is that the name my wife went by? How do you know it? And how are you able to speak of that name so easily?"

Frankly, Eve was surprised that Adam knew about his wife.

But then again, it was a given that he should know if he had a kid. The existence of the kid had to be explained in some way.

"How do I know the name of your wife? It's easy. It's because I was someone who knew her before her existence was erased from this world. But from your reaction, it seems like someone tipped you off about her. After all, you don't seem surprised to hear her name."

It was not until the grey-haired man mentioned the 'name' part that Eve realized what he meant.

'He said Dirac, right? As in Lucas Dirac's family? That grand duke had a sibling?'

It was shocking news for Eve. She could not bring herself to even think of the grand duke with a younger sibling by his side.

But maybe that was not the case. It felt like she could almost see the grand duke being followed by a black-haired lady who looked like him if Eve tried to.

But as soon as that image flashed through her mind, so did the accompanying headache. In the end, Eve had to give up looking deeper into her erased memories or she would suffer even less.

"Don't force yourself to remember, my dear Saintess. You will naturally be able to see her again if you follow my words. All you need to do is to help me out in saving the world."

Adam suddenly stood in front of Eve. his back was tense and Eve had a feeling that he was not happy with what he was hearing.

"Who are you? Your energy does not feel real and it's too strong to be a human. Are you some kind of spirit?"

Adam's question made sense to Eve. She felt a weird energy coming out of the man in front of her as well. It was as if the world was converging toward him but the man was unaffected.

He should have collapsed by the mere pressure he was being subjected to. Even Eve found it hard to breathe in her current condition.

But the man was alright. No, he was better than alright. In fact, it seemed like he was thriving in his current condition.

"I am this world's consciousness but you both can call me Axia. I am here because someone tried to break the balance of this world and that is what made Elysia Dirac disappear. I am here to offer you a deal to make everything alright again."

The man was either telling the truth, or he was the biggest fool for trying to tell such an obvious lie.

Eve had a feeling that it was the former case and it made her tense up. If this man was the consciousness of this world, then he was not an opponent she had Adam could take on.

Especially since the world was in such a difficult situation right now. It would be impossible to tell what would happen if the consciousness of this world was harmed in some way.

"I can see that you are telling the truth. But so what? I am not going to cooperate with you no matter what you say. So don't waste your time here and run away now."

Adam was the only one brave enough to say all this directly to the world's consciousness. The spirit laughed out loud as soon as he heard Adam's words.

"You are such a funny person, believing that you have a choice. But I can assure you that you will not find any other clue about Elysia Dirac even if you look around. Your only option is to come to me."

"Once you are ready to save Elysia Dirac and this world, come and find me in the temple. But do hurry up, because this world does not have long left in its lifespan."

The grey-haired man turned around and Eve watched as he disappeared into thin air. Adam did try to stop the man, but he disappeared before Adam could stop him.

"Darn it. How dare that man make fun of me like that."

Adam was setting and Eve was shocked at what happened as well. She had not felt Axia use any magic so his disappearance had taken her off guard.

But before she could righten himself, Adam turned around and stormed out. Eve did try to stop him but it was already too late to quench his anger.

"Adam, where are you going? Don't do anything foolish in your anger, alright? Hey, are you listening?"

Eve called out to Adam but he was beyond listening to her. Somehow, Eve knew exactly where he was storming off to.

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Sorias, who watched it all happen could only try and follow behind the two. He had no idea why he was in human society but he was sure to go back now.

This mess would impact the whole world, but he had to make sure the enchanted forest remained unharmed. The human world was none of his concern.

'Why did I step into the human world again? Was it for Lucas's sake? Or was it because of my brother? But no, he is dead. Why is it so difficult to remember?'

Sorias knew something was wrong with his current condition but his head was killing him every time he tried to remember what had happened.

He knew that there were people important to him that he had sworn to protect but he could not remember their faces or how they looked.

"Sorias, is everything alright? You look to be in pain?"

Sorias looked to see Enma headed his way. Out of everyone, Sorias had no idea how he had gotten to know Enma. he did not seem like someone Sorias would give his time to.

And yet, he could feel a bond between himself and this human. How had this come to pass again? Why could he not remember it?

"Enma, what are you doing here? Should you be roaming around like this? Weren't you supposed to do something?"

Enma looked surprised at being asked this and he even looked a little flustered. Sorias had a feeling that he had not expected to be asked these questions.

"I-ugh. I was trying to find Elysia but anytime I ask someone about her, they say they don't know who she is. I am thinking of just going to Lucas at this rate and asking him-"

"Enma, who is the person you are searching for?"

"Not you too. I thought you out of everyone would not joke about Elysia Dirac like this. After all, wasn't Elysia your contractor? How can you even forget someone like her?"

Enma's words were stressed out as if they were true. It did not seem like he was lying about Elysia's importance to her role in Sorias's life. The empty contract mark also made sense now and Sorias finally had the answer to his questions.

But the big question remained - how did he forget about Elysia Dirac? The bond between a familiar and a contractor was sacred and nothing could overturn it except death.

"This all does not make sense. Just what in the world is happening? You! We should go and meet Emma as well to see what she remembered. She might be able to shed some light on this topic for us."

Enma sounded certain about it but Sorias had no idea what Emma would be able to do. Someone like Emma should have nothing to do with what was going on.

"Enma, wait. Why do we need to-?"

Sorias stopped speaking when he saw Emma's face in front of him. The girl had gone chalk white all of a sudden before she turned around and fled the scene.

This was the first time she had done such a thing after her confession and Sorias had a feeling she was afraid of him. And for that reason, he wanted to catch her.