I will not die a Villainess's death

People began speculating about possible causes as soon as the Crown Prince and his 'significant other' left the hall.

"It must be because of Lady Dirac's arrival. Maybe the Prince could not stand looking at her any longer."

"Right. He was so desperate to get away from his fiance and spend time with his lover that he ditched us all."

"Why did she have to come? Not only did she drive away the Crown Prince but she's also hovering around Lord Dirac. How will I ever approach Lord Dirac now? He's turning away everyone since he has his sister with him."

People were not sensitive enough to what they were saying, nor were they quite enough to keep their talk to themselves.

Elysia could hear them talking about her and it hurt to hear these things about her. She had managed to get bad-mouthed by simply standing around.

'This is so awkward. When will I be able to leave this Charity Ball? Brother needs to stay here for a few hours but I wonder if he will allow me to return home alone.'

Elysia had wanted to bring Sora with her but her familiar had rejected her invitation.

According to Sora, such places of forced mass social gatherings did not agree with him and something would happen if he tagged along.

In the end, Lucas saved himself from the headache and allowed Sora to stay behind.

'I should have stayed behind with Sora as well. This is so awkward.'

People were giving Elysia the 'stinky' eye and she could read the message loud and clear - 'get away from Lord Dirac. We cannot approach him if you are there.'

These were the most prominent kind of looks she was getting and they were creeping Elysia out.

It did not help that her other senses were sharper due to her bad vision and she could feel the other's ill-will even more accurately.

"Elysia, you look a little pale. Do you need to sit down for some time?"

Elysia was proud of herself when she did not cry out at her brother's touch. The feather-light touch had been enough to snap Elysia out of her mind's mirage.

But that touch was accompanied by even harsher glares that were dragging her back.

'Sheesh, he's my brother. Why are these girls so insecure? They can approach my brother-'

"Excuse me, Lord Dirac-"

"Let's get you some rest Elysia. I am sorry but I am not free to talk right now."

A girl finally gathered enough courage to talk with her brother and Lucas turned her down without even thinking.

And of course, the girl blamed Elysia for that. Elysia could feel that dagger-like glare tearing into her.

'Why are you blaming me? Blame Lucas who does not want to deal with you.'

But these words remained inside Elysia's mind this whole time. She could not open her mouth to say anything.

What she could sense was the familiar presence of the Head Priest Yohan nearby.

"Lucas, is Head Priest nearby? I think I should go and greet him."

It had been a while since the Head Priest had any sort of contact with Elysia and that lack of communication made Elysia worried.

Had she been abandoned by him? Or was there a reason he had not contacted Elysia in a while?

"The Head Priest? Ah, he's nearby the Royal Table. Let me accompany you to pay those respects. I still need to thank him for taking care of you all this time."

"No, that is…."

Elysia wanted to go alone since she knew that Head Priest Yohan would not say anything in her brother's presence.

But she had no excuse to make to not take him along.

"Alright, let's go."

Lucas took Elysia's hand as he dragged her toward the center table. The whole room was looking at them right now. Their eyes were stabbing daggers into Elysia's back.

'How does Lucas not feel all these interested stares? Or does he simply not care for them? That would be too much like Lucas to do that as well.'

Elysia was happy to see that her brother was not bothered by anything that was happening around them. He looked happy and that was it.

However, there was one annoyance that decided not to sit back around and make his move as well.

"Ah, Lucas, it is nice to see you and little Elysia again. Was there something you needed from me?"

The one who addressed them first was the king. Elysia could feel Head Priest Yohan's curious glare asking her 'what she was doing' but he did not mouth them to her.

'It must be because Lucas is here with me.'

There was so much Elysia wanted to tell the Head Priest but she did not have words to start. That was why she stayed quiet so far.

"Your highness, it is my pleasure to greet you again. But I am afraid my purpose of this visit is not you but to thank the Head Priest for looking after my sister this long. I wanted to talk about compensation for the same with him."

Lucas did not even falter when he was questioned like that by the king. One could see how much confidence he had.

"I see. It is fortunate of Lord Dirac to find us because I have something to request of him as well as compensation and it concerns your sister, Lady Elysia Dirac, and her engagement with the Crown Prince."

"As you know, the current arrangement of this engagement was suggested as a sign of trust between the temple and the Royal Family but it is no longer possible with the currently engaged pair. So both I and his highness were trying to brainstorm a way to get over this problem."

Elysia felt her blood turn cold at the words she heard. So it was finally time for this to happen.

Head Priest had promised that he would do everything in his power to annual this engagement and let Adam and Eve reunite. So this was something that was bound to happen.

'But why do I feel so bitter about it? I don't want to break off what I have.'

If you ask Elysia if she loved Adam or not, she would not be able to answer. The same was the case for her feelings for Eve.

She did love them but Elysia had never thought about it in-depth. So she did not know why this break-up hurt.

They were not together in the first place and Adam had seldom shown interest in romantic things.

"So you want me to agree to break off this engagement? It is not an impossible request but I don't feel like it's appropriate for me to decide on Elysia's and the Crown Prince's behalf. Their feelings should be taken into consideration"

Lucas's words felt like a ray of hope to Elysia even when they should not have. This was an engagement that could not last.

"I know my son's feelings. He's fond of Lady Elysia but he's also really fond of the next saintess. And I feel like he would agree once we tell him who his new partner would be."

The king just laughed this matter off. Elysia could see the queen sighing from the corner of her eyes and pleading with Elysia to not take it all to heart.

But what was there to take to heart anyway? This had always been the desired outcome of this world.

"I know this is a hard-hitting truth for the Dirac house but the Crown Prince indeed loves the next saintess and no one here would dispute this fact. Shouldn't we give him his happiness?"

The Head Priest's words felt like a sharp jab at Elysia. She had never expected a rejection to hurt this much.

'Would it have hurt more if it was Adam who rejected me instead of everyone else?'

Elysia was not sure what to think anymore. Her head and heart, both hurt at what was happening.

Moreover, she could feel people pointing at her and whispering behind their hands, and laughing at her.

Elysia had forgotten that this was a public setting and people could hear what was going on around them.

And so had the king. His face was flushed a little red but he looked determined to end things right now.

"Lord Dirac, please take your time to think things over."

The king seemed to want to end this matter for the public for now. This was a delicate issue that involved two of the biggest powers in the empire so it needed to be handled delicately.

However, no one was going to get their wish today and it was because of the new arrival at the scene.

"Lord Dirac, shouldn't you let the Crown Prince go? After all, you did make a promise to us about it. Now that the Crown Prince had fallen in love with someone, you should let this connection go."

Elysia felt like she should not be that shocked to see Lord White stepping up.

He was someone who knew her brother well and was likely looking out for him.

'Or maybe he is pissed after what happened with Lady Emma. Does he blame Lucas for her injury?'

Whatever the case was, it did not matter. Lord White had an impassive look on his face when he looked at Lord Dirac and her brother also had a closed-off face.

The stare-off continued for a few seconds before Elysia pulled at her brother's sleeve to get him to back down.

There were too many people eying Lucas currently. He was not safe here and they needed to go home.

"Well then, if you cannot conclude then we should have the related party make the decision. What do you think about this engagement, Lady Dirac? The one who would be most affected by this is you so I would like to hear your opinion."

It was the Head Priest who asked that question, his eyes were warning Elysia not to mess it up or she would regret it.

'It's now or never.'

"I think it would be better to end this engagement. Neither I nor Adam is in love right now, nor is there a political gain here. It would be better for us to end this relationship. Besides, I feel like Eve and the Crown Prince would make a better pair."

Elysia finished, only to catch two startled pairs of eyes. Adam and Eve had entered the hall together with twin expressions of shock on their faces. Their hands were clutched together tightly as well and it convinced Elysia.

'I made the right decision. They are made for each other.'