I will not die a Villainess's death

To say that Elysia was nervous would be an underestimation.

Lord Lucas Dirac was a name she had heard a lot through her line of work but she had never seen the man. The man was not someone who was supposed to be in life and yet, here he was.

"Elysia, take a seat and make yourself comfortable."

Lord Dirac had a nice and cool voice. Anyone would have been charmed to have heard it.

Anyone except Elysia could hear the undertone of charm magic in his voice. It didn't seem like Lord Dirac was doing this on purpose either.

And then there was his aura which was brimming with magic. Lucas Dirac had so much magic that it was impossible to suppress. It almost rivaled Elysia's own but hers was being suppressed by external means.

Head Priest Yohan had said that it was due to the special medicine she took that helped her suppress her magic. It was tailor-maid for her and Elysia always took it in routine.

"Is something wrong? Is the chair not to your liking? I can ask Hector to get it changed."

"N-No, that won't be necessary. I was just having trouble making out the arrangement of the furniture around me but the chair is comfortable."

To prove her point, Elysia quickly sat down on the huge chair. The soft cushion sank under her weight, causing Elysia to almost drown in the cushion and disappear.

The softness of this cushion was uncomfortable and Elysia disliked it immediately. She preferred her sitting surfaces to be a little harder than this.

'Adam's lap was nice and firm. So is Eve's lap...and I should stop thinking these weird thoughts now.'

"Does it cause you problems often? Your lack of vision? Have you gotten it checked out at the hospital?"

Lord Dirac's voice snapped Elysia out of her thoughts and made her focus on her brother. She could not make out his expression or his aura by looking at him.

Her blurry vision did not make things easy for her but Elysia could not show weakness.

"I can go about my day easily even with my hazy vision so it's alright. I did get it checked out when I had my accident of losing my vision but the hospital could not do anything due to its magical nature. Please don't worry about me being a liability because of my vision."

Elysia quickly assured Lord Dirac about her usefulness. She could not let Lord Dirac think of her as a useless burden and then be tossed aside.

Elysia needed to gain Lord Dirac's trust and favor to support Eve's position as the saintess.

"I don't care if you become a burden or not. Since you carry Dirac blood inside you, you are a part of the family and will be treated as such. And I'm also sure you know why I called you back to the family."

Elysia could not say anything for certain but she did have an idea why she was called back to the family.

"Is it because of my coming-of-age?"

Elysia never had her coming of age in her visions. The Dirac family was never concerned with her and they didn't care about her.

The one who sponsored her coming of age was the royal family in her past life. Since she was the crown prince's fiance, they made sure she got the best treatment.

'I wonder what changed in this life for Lord Dirac to call me back. I'm sure I took care to follow the path along with my visions.'

"Your coming of age is one factor but there is more to it. But I will tell you more about it once you have settled down in the family. Let Head Butler Hector know if you need something and he will arrange it for you. He will also hold your allowance so don't hesitate to ask him for money."

"Oh. Thank you, Lord Dirac, for showing me your favor."

Elysia bowed her head in gratitude. She did not particularly like money but it was handy to have.

But Elysia was not sure she would be able to ask for it. The Head Butler did not seem to like Elysia and his blatant rejection felt cutting to Elysia.

"There is no need to thank me since we are siblings. You should also call me Lucas and not Lord Dirac."

"I understand. I will try."

Elysia would likely not be able to call Lord Dirac by his name anytime soon but he did not need to know about it.

It was not like Elysia would run into him a lot and she would also become independent once her coming-of-age was over.

"Get some rest tonight. When you feel like taking up the family duties, let me know. I will arrange for you to do something." Elysia did not know what to say to that.

She was being dismissed but Lord Dirac's words did not make it seem like that. There was something about his voice that Elysia found to be sincere.

Even as she exited the room, Elysia's thoughts were full of questions. Lord Dirac had not asked anything of Elysia and he had not forced her to do anything either.

He was allowing Elysia to settle down and take up her responsibility at her own pace.

"Lady Elysia, should I show you to the dining hall and then to your room? Lord Dirac had his dinner already since he needs to head tonight."

It was the Head Butler who suggested this and Elysia nodded in agreement.

As much as she wanted to hide away in her room and not show her face tonight, she knew she could not hide.

The dinner was tense and Elysia felt like she was being judged throughout the dinner. The servants were looking at Elysia and her table manners.

Too bad that they were not going to find anything wrong with her table manners.

Her room was sparsely decorated which helped Elysia navigate around easier. But it still radiated a feeling of wealth and comfort.

Considerable effort and thought had been put into designing her room. Elysia liked this attention to detail.

The only thing she hated was the extra-soft mattress that made her sink as soon as she laid down. But Elysia could not complain about it.

She had to endure it for the sake of her mission.

That night, Head Priest sent Elysia a letter about Eve and her new mission. It seemed like Elysia was going to get busy very soon.

_____________________________________

Once Elysia was settled in, the Head Butler made his way toward Lord Dirac's room where he was waiting.

Hector had been asked by the young lord to report to him once Lady Elysia was settled down and went to sleep.

"Hector, come in. don't bother knocking on the door."

Head Butler Hector took in a deep sigh before opening the door. He knew that the cold voice of Lord Dirac had spelled doom for him and the maids.

"My Lord, is something wrong?" The Head Butler sweated bullets when he felt Lord Dirac's gaze aimed at his face.

Lord Dirac was looking at him Hector with an offended gaze. It spelled doom for anyone it was aimed at.

'What did I even do?' the Head Butler cried out inside his mind but he kept his face neutral on the outside.

"Hector, replace all the cushions in our home with harder cushions. Also, replace Elysia's mattress with a harder one as well. And control the servants or I will have your head. Don't you dare think that I cannot see the looks you give her when I am not there?"

Head Butler Hector felt his heart stop when he heard that cold voice.

He had not expected Lord Dirac to pay this much attention to what was going around Lady Elysia. It had not even been a full day and Lord Dirac was already mad.

'I knew that Lady would be trouble for us. But I did not expect she would sway Lord Dirac so easily in their first meeting.'

However, Hector kept his thoughts to himself. He was in enough trouble already. He did not want to make life any more difficult for himself.

"Understood, my lord. I shall do as you wish."

Hector felt his breath fasten when Lord Dirac's eyes met his own. But thankfully, Lord Dirac seemed to have calmed down considerably and his mood also seemed better.

Lord Dirac's eyes shifted from Hector to look outside his window. Hector followed his gaze, only to see a familiar Golden Eagle the temple used for exchanging letters.

Someone in the Dirac territory had gotten a letter from the temple and there was only one person that fitted the bill.

"Hector, is there any case in our territory where the temple is trying to get involved?"

Lord Dirac's words shocked Hector. His master had never cared about the temple and its moments as long as it did not cause him trouble.

For him to ask this question was a big deal and Hector was all too happy to tell him about the cade.

"There is one such case. The official title for it is - 'The case of dehydration in Kalvin town'. The temple decided to interfere because one of their sisters fell victim to it. The current person heading the case is Sister Eve, the candidate for the next Saintess and Head Priest Yohan's adopted daughter."

"Eve, huh? I should have guessed it was something like that. I guess we will be getting involved in this case, after all."

Hector was all too happy to narrate this information for his lord.

As much as Hector did not like the temple and Head Priest Yohan, he did find his adopted daughter of common birth, Eve, to be quite a lovely lady. He had run into her a few times and he found her capable.

In his opinion, a lady like sister Eve was a perfect match for his Lord. But anytime he brought it up, his Lord refused to even hear him out.

'But it seems he is finally getting interested in Lady Eve. I can finally get them to meet each other. Even if Lady Eve already has the crown prince, I'm sure she will not be able to see how great Lord Dirac is and fall for him instead.'

"My lord, shall I prepare all necessary documents related to this case for you? I can even contact Lady Eve to come here in person."

Lord Dirac's mood fell as soon as Hector made that offer but the Head Butler did not take it to heart.

His Lord's love life was about to bloom about now.

"No need to call the next Saintess over. I'm going to hand this case over to Elysia as soon as she gets settled down. I have a feeling she would like it as well."

Head Butler Hector felt his dream-paradise break at his lord's words. He wanted to hand this case over to Lord Elysia?

"B-But my lord, aren't you interested in Lady Eve and why she was assigned to this case? She must be a remarkable lady to be able to head a case this big, right?"

"I don't care. I already know this was planned by Head Priest Yohan and why he send the next Saintess over to head this case. And I also know that Elysia will want to participate in this case so I'll give her a hand."

Hector wanted to cry at his broken pairing. His ship had not even sailed and it already crashed to the bottom of the sea.

Lord Dirac watched his Head Butler leave his room with a frown on his face. He could only shake his head at his butler's misunderstanding.

"Just where does he get these ridiculous ideas from? Love? I'm incapable of feeling that for anyone except your sister now. I know this is what you would have wanted from me as well when you gave me this life, Ash. I shall treasure her well."

The only witness to these words was the moon outside the window and the Golden Eagle which flew back out in the night sky with a new message.

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