I will not die a Villainess's death

"Don't even think about running away from us. I won't allow you to pretend that yesterday did not happen."

A pair of arms dragged Elysia back into a soft chest. Eve's voice sounded low and sensual in her ear.

Adam was still lying fast asleep in front of the pair, his face showing its young age for the first time since Elysia had known him. She even dared to say that he looked happy right now.

"He's not the only one who is happy right now. Waking up with you in my arms felt like a dream come true for me. I can tell you how long I've wanted to do this."

"Looking back at it, it feels like I've always been in love with you for as long as I can remember. So please don't deny what happened between us."

Elysia's heart skipped a beat at hearing Eve's pleas. She knew she should give in to her but Elysia still felt herself melt into the twin body behind her.

"What are you doing awake? Go back to sleep."

Adam's eyes opened up at the disturbance he felt happening in front of him. He opened his arms and Elysia couldn't help but feel like this was a test for her.

She had a feeling that she would not be chased after if she denied the pair right here and now. Right now, they were all seeing that most vulnerable part of each other.

Elysia could have put an end to this relationship but she didn't. Her body burrowed itself in Adam's embrace without any input from her brain.

Eve's arms closed around her body as well and Elysia felt sleep take her.

In the morning she was gone without any notice or even re about her whereabouts. But neither Adam nor Eve looked too worried about her sudden disappearance.

They expected Elysia to run away but the very fact that they had not been rejected outright spoke volumes about their chances.

______________________________

Elysia walked up to her brother and his party while pressing a yawn. She was too tired to explain why she had not been in her room yesterday. (Not that her brother asked her about it .)

But what was surprising to see was the kid, Enma's presence joining her brother and Sorias. He was white-faced and panicking as he looked around.

"I am telling you that it was no person I bumped into yesterday but a cursed person. Did you not see those orange eyes? They still send chills down my spine and -"

Emma clamped up tight as he watched her come near. The kid seemed scared of her for some reason.

'I know I should stop getting sad about getting this reaction but it still catches me off-guard sometimes.'

Elysia knew that it was not the kid's fault that he was hyper-aware of Elysia's presence. And he was not the only one who felt like that either.

"Are we going back home now? Will it be alright to leave when nothing has been resolved yet?"

Elysia approached her brother and her familiar with audible footsteps. Now that she had been discovered already, she did not mind letting her presence known outright.

The unfamiliar kid flinched as Elysia stepped behind him before his expression turned neutral. Elysia passed him a bright smile to let him know that everything was alright but he turned his head away from her.

And that was Elysia's cue to not address him again.

"We already handed the case over to the temple, so we no longer need to dip our feet into this situation. It would be better for us to remain as non-suspects."

Sorias quickly explained the situation to Elysia as her brother finished his final farewell to the emperor.

The man seemed to be in a joyous mood today for some reason but Elysia chose not to look too deeply into it.

Once the emperor left the scene, Head Priest Yohan joined the scene. His eyes met Elysia, causing her to freeze in her place.

The look he gave Elysia said it all - he was not pleased how yesterday had ended and he was especially crossed with her.

"Elysia, can you come and see me before you leave for this Dirac estate? There are some important *temple* matters I need to see you about."

The Head Priest sounded as calm and kind as always. But Elysia had known him since forever so she could tell that he was pissed off.

'Of course, he is. The Head Priest asked me to get Eve and Adam together and to distance herself in the process to make them lose interest. But I completely failed.'

Elysia did not remember much of what happened yesterday but even then she knew that she had been the focus of attention yesterday for both of her partners.

They had all but ignored each other which was not alright in Head Priest Yohan's books.

Elysia took an unconscious step toward the Head Priest before her way was blocked by a solid and wide back.

"I am afraid that this talk will not be possible right now. We need to leave the temple for some important work and I cannot leave my sister behind under any circumstances with people that have no relation to us."

'Lucas, don't make it worse for everyone. We need to show a unified side with the temple.'

Elysia wanted to say that out aloud and even Enma looked like he had swallowed a lemon when hearing those words.

On the other hand, both Sara and Sorias looked like they had expected this to happen a long age ago. Sara slid a little toward Elysia's side in a show of silent support.

"Hey, do something. It is not right for the Dirac house and then temples to fight this openly. This is making things worse."

Emma hissed out from Elysia's side. He looked between the Head Priest and Lord Dirac in a worried and knowing manner.

It made Elysia suspicious to know what exactly he knew. The world knew about the bad relationship between the Dirac house and the temple but Enma's tone made it seem like what was happening was something unnatural.

Perhaps he knew something about this world and the future Elysia saw in her visions but she was not willing to risk asking him that. (The relationship between the temple and the Dirac family was only good in her visions and only because they both backed the new Saintess Eve.)

"What can we even do? They are not going to listen to us anyway. We can only sit here and wait for this fight to end."

Sorias sounded like he was used to it happening all the time. But Elysia knew that this was his second time seeing this passive aggression as well.

And she also knew that this was not to end until someone made it end forcefully.

And that someone would have to be Elysia. Lucas was unlikely to listen to anyone else.

"Brother Lucas, we should return home for now. We have too much to do and we left a lot of work undone due to this sudden shift in schedule."

Elysia did not look at the Head Priest until the very end. She had no courage to face him but she knew that she would hear from him soon.

And that thought terrified Elysia a lot right now.