I will not die a Villainess's death

One's subconsciousness was the most private thing one could have. In that sense, Lucas was taking a big risk in approaching Elysia.

She likely had secrets she did not want to share with Lord Lucas and the man would try his best to respect Elysia as much as he could.

But he had to recognize the underlining truth behind his actions as well. He was a selfish man who would do anything for his goal.

"Lucas, you are taking a big risk. Death is inevitable if you do that but if you fail then you will die immediately."

Lucas heard those words with one ear and let them out with another. He knew the risk of what he was doing pretty well so Sorias did not need to remind him of this.

"Lucas, I am sure there is another safer way to do this. You don't have to make the same mistake my brother made a long time ago."

Soria was a persistent beast. He was like a brother Lucas never had and the term also fitted well with the current relationship they both shared.

Sorias's elder brother had been Lucas's partner and familiar. They had also been lovers but it had ended up as a tragedy. But his beloved had seen Elysia as a little sister when Lucas had been unable to in the past.

And his beloved had also paid the price for saving their lives.

"If there was another way then he would have found it by now. I am not going to waste my time any longer."

Lucas focused his mana on Elysia's unconscious body. There was some kind of barrier protecting her soul but Lucas would need to penetrate it to drag her conscious out.

"Lucas, you are mixing obligation with love. Don't put yourself in danger because of what my brother did. He would not have wanted to see you in such despair -"

"Don't mock my feelings. It might be true that my care for Elysia started because of my partner but you cannot keep on observing someone for this long without forming a bond. I am a human as well."

Sorias fell quiet at the admission, his eyes widening at Lucas's words. He had never seen Lucas this agitated before.

'I should not have said all that. I knew how Lucas was and what Elysia meant to him. I should not have pushed him like this.'

And since Sorias knew Lucas, he knew that no matter what he said, Lucas would do what he had set out to do.

"Good luck. I hope you both make it back safe to me."

Lucas heard those words and he treasured them. But he did not reply.

He could not reply because the magic was taking over for him. It was pulling Lucas's consciousness into Elysia's own and it would not be long before their magic interacted.

'Good, we both have similar cores to each other. It makes the flow of magic easier to maintain.'

The magic was flowing like a downhill river. There was no obstruction in its path and Lucas was glad to see that.

And why would there be when Elysia had his familiar's core inside her as well? Lucas's partner had placed it inside Elysia to keep her safe a long time ago.

At the same time, he cursed her with a burden she was not meant to carry in this world.

"I missed you a lot but please let me in. I need to take my sister out of here so that she can live her life."

Lucas knocked on the barrier of magic that was stopping him.

Just as he recognized the magic, the magic also recognized him. But it was still trying to be careful of the foreign magic he possessed.

This was a new world after all and no matter how little Lucas has changed, his magic was bound to be a little different.

'Familiar magic. Familiar rhythm. Should we let you in?'

"Please let me in. I promise to leave soon as well."

To Lucas, it felt like a pair of familiar gold was looking back at him. The magic surged around him and it felt so liberating.

And then all of a sudden, as soon as the rush had come over, the world around Lucas began to dilute. He felt his body balance break and his body crashed into a hard one.

"Hey, watch it. You could severely injure someone by falling on top of them."

The voice was small but familiar in Lucas's ear. It felt like it had been years since he had first heard it.

By all means, it should have been impossible for Lucas to hear again since Elysia had far outgrown that age.

But his ears didn't lie and something sharp bit into Lucas's leg. He was about to blast that offending thing away when a small pair of hands stopped Lucas's rampage.

"Noctis, no! Bad boy. You don't bite people like this without knowing where they are from or what kind of diseases they carry. What if you get infected? Brother will be angry with me if that happens."

For some reason, the line brought a pang of nostalgia to Lucas's mind. Lucas picked himself up and instantly saw the familiar face Elysia had.

The female, no the teen looked far younger than she had in the real world. The one in front of him looked to be around twelve years old, an age Lucas had never seen her before.

'Not true. I've seen Elysia look twelve before, just not in the current world. But then again, I was never really attentive to her back then as well. I mostly left her with my partner...'

Lucas trailed off, his eyes moving toward the beast that was looking back at him with knowing eyes.

"What is going on here? Elysia, I told you to stop playing around and study. Do you want to fail tomorrow's exam? Go back to your room now."

The more Lucas heard, the more he realized that he was in the memories of Noctis's core. Elysia should have no memories about this time but this place has none of Lucas's essence as well.

It had to be Noctis's core that managed to create this place to prevent the magic from interfering with Elysia even more.

"Ah, I'm sorry brother. Noctis, I need to go now. C-Can we play again later if brother allows it?"

Elysia's voice was hesitant in asking this. Even without Lucas's past self-present on the scene, she seemed to be feeling the pressure of his existence.

"Elysia, don't make me repeat myself."

It was odd hearing your own voice almost–yell at someone else. If possible, Lucas would have stopped himself from yelling.

"By mister who looks like my brother in the future. I hope you have a nice day."

Elysia's voice was so pleasant. She was speaking like she had done so in the past when they still shared a relationship. (Not that it had been much of one back then as well)

But this was neither his memories nor his illusion to control. He was all but a bi-standard here as well.

He tried to reach out toward Elysia, trying to pull her soul back but the girl was unexpectedly elastic and managed to get away.

It suddenly hit home for Lucas that this might be a memory for him but this was a foreign place for Elysia of today.

And that flexible soul that had managed to escape from Lucas was the Elysia of this world.

Beside him, Noctis gave a muffled laugh. The beast seemed to be enjoying watching him suffer like this and a wave of nostalgia washed over Lucas.

This past was something he had left behind in his brain. But it had never really vanished from his heart.

Maybe Lucas could also stay here for some time and enjoy this.

"What do you think you are doing? I thought you came here to help Elysia out. What kind of weird thoughts is your brain cooking up?"

Lucas tried not to jump once he heard Noctis's familiar voice. It never failed to surprise him and make Lucas melt in its presence.

"So I am not allowed to want for anything even here? Have you come to hate me that much Noctis?"

"Of course now. But you do make me frustrated. You never knew what your priorities were or how to approach your emotions. I had to do all the work and it looks like I will have to do all the work this time as well."

Lucas knew Noctis's spirit was teasing him but it was still difficult to not rise at the tease.

"Go after her. Your time with me is over but it's not too late for Elysia. You came here to help her, right? Do what should be done."

And suddenly Lucas knew that Noctis had realized what he was about to do. It was weird to be read so thoroughly by the spirit.

"I know. And I hope I get to see you soon as well."

The spirit nodded before disappearing. Lucas did not waste his time looking around either. He hurried his footsteps and followed Elysia.

He had an idea about her current location and he was glad to see that he was right.

The girl was standing in front of his office door, her eyes looking between the handle and the floor in a worried expression.

And then Elysia finally decided to open the door. It was also how Lucas came face to face with his past self who had an angry expression on his face.

"I'm sorry I was late. It will not happen again and-"

"Don't make excuses since they will not help you better your performance in the future. Instead, spend your time studying. I had these books' memories by the time I was your age. Why can't you do the same?"

The girl flinched and so did Lucas. He had not realized how harsh his words had been back then.

Back then, Lucas had no idea how much of a freak he had been. For him, his learning curve had been normal and something everyone should have been able to do. No one else had ever said to him otherwise as well.

That was why Elysia felt like such a disappointment to him.

"I….am sorry? I will try my best to be better."

"Try your best. Trying your best is not sufficient. You need to show results and…."

"But for what? No one will care about those results and you always yell at me no matter what I do. I cannot do anything."

Seeing this scene, there was only one thing Lucas could think of.

'Ah, this happened. I remember how frustrated I felt when she said that. The pressure of society back then was something but I should not have pushed her like this.'

The child in front of Lucas also huffed at the display.

"She is going too far. Does she consider me as 'no one' as well? I should let her calm down before talking to her again."

Both Lucas and Elysia had been kids back then and their mental states had not been the best. This argument was also a result of that mental gap they had.

But as much as Lucas wanted to help out, he knew he could not do that anymore. The past had already happened and this was all but an illusion.

The only thing Lucas could do for now was to talk with Elysia and convince her to come back with him.

The rest they could think of later.