I will not die a Villainess's death

"The Dirac house welcomes the delegates of the Akatsuki empire and the Crown Prince of the kingdom. Can I talk with the Crown Prince before we begin if you do not mind?"

Lucas gave a low bow to the delegate who had a suffering look on his face. Somehow, there was a bitter smile on that man's face but that was not directed toward Lucas or their kingdom.

"I am afraid that it would not be possible for now. Our Crown Prince is a little tired after traveling all this way alone. I hope you understand that he needs rest for now."

The servants immediately begin gossiping about the rude gesture Lord Dirac was met with. Lord Dirac was someone even other nations held in high regard.

Even the servant looked nervous as he delivered the news but did not succumb to the pressure. It seemed like there was no way for Lucas to be able to meet the Crown Prince right now.

"I understand. In that case, you should take your Crown Prince to rest right now. I will visit him later."

Lucas gestured toward his back and the delegate gave a low but grateful bow. Lucas could tell that he was genuine in his gesture.

He extended his hand inside the carriage and a strong hand grabbed the servent's hand as the Crown Prince exited the carriage.

The servants were the ones who were most excited to see the Crown Prince's face. According to the rumor, Crown Prince Chrome looked very similar to Lord Lucas. And that had to be given since they were related from their mother's side.

But all these were rumors and the hungry servants were eager to be able to confirm their theory.

But all their hopes were dashed as the Crown Prince exited the carriage covered from head to toe. One could not even see a strand of his hair in that get-up.

"Y-You see, his highness is a little shy and does not like to show his face often. I hope you understand and forgive him."

The servant immediately tried to cover the mishap that was happening. As more and more eyes turned disappointed, his sweat became that much more prominent.

The only one who did not look taken aback by this happening was lord Lucas himself. His expression said that he had expected something like this to happen.

And so far, nothing was outside his calculations.

"I know how Chrome is. Since we are only a few years apart, I was forced to grow up with him. It is no problem if you want to go in and rest for now."

For some reason, everyone could see both the servant and the Crown Prince heave out a sigh of relief. They both looked to be troubled by this.

Lucas lead them inside, keeping his distance from his 'cousin' and the man did not make any move to close that gap either.

As for Lady Dirac, no one even remembered who she was or whether she was there or not. The servants could not care less and Lucas did not draw attention to that fact.

The only two people who noticed this were Sorias and Enma. But both kept their mouths close for different reasons.

_____________________________

Elysia tried to fight back against the hand that was dragging her away. The shock factor of being dragged away in such a manner had rendered Elysia useless for a second.

Before she knew it, she had been taken out of the group she had been standing in and behind the densely condensed bushes.

"I will make you pay if you did not let me go right now."

Elysia was not making an empty threat but the man likely took her words as such. And for that, Elysia decided to throw him over her shoulder with ease.

The man looked stunned, his orange eyes widening at having been dealt with so easily even without magic.

Had it not been for that familiar face, Elysia would have ended up hurting the man even more badly.

"You! What do you think you are doing right now? Can you not see how dangerous what you just did was? What if I had somehow killed you?"

Elysia was freaked out as she helped the man stand. Her benefactor just laughed her concern off with an easy smile.

She could not understand what that orange eyes man was doing in the Dirac estate but the thought of him being caught in her home scared Elysia a little.

"So, did I surprise you? Are you in awe of my powers and charisma? Does your heart beat a little faster after seeing me again?"

Elysia was not amused at the carefree display that was happening in front of her. The man was taking this all far too easily.

Did he not fear his life being threatened? How dare he just come out and make himself known to Elysia like this?

Elysia's body moved on its own, her anger not being able to take it any longer. She took the man's arm in her hand and threw him over her shoulder.

The only reason Elysia managed to do this was that she had full confidence that the man would be able to defend himself from her attack.

And as expected, that man managed to catch himself before his back made contact with the ground.

They both ended up being at an awkward angle to each other.

"Hey, be careful. My back is too important to make it give out like this. How will you manage to compensate me if I get hurt like that."

Elysia did not want to stop for such a reason but she felt like she should stop for now.

After all, she did not know the true identity of this man and it would be troublesome if he turned out to be someone important.

There was the sound of footsteps hurrying their way that made Elysia tense up. But she did not need to move as she felt the feeling of a spell falling on her head.

It was the invisibility spell that the other black-haired man had placed on her.

He gestured for Elysia to keep quiet for the time being. It seemed like the man had recognized the footsteps and that was why he had asked Elysia to keep quiet.

"Your highness, you cannot run away like that. Do you know how bad it would be if someone realized that you were not the one in that carriage? It would have caused an international incident and…"

"You are too loud. If you do quiet down now then even those people who should not know about it would end up knowing."

The servant quickly closed his mouth in horror. He looked terrified of having let that secret out but the person he had called 'his highness' looked utterly unconcerned.

The shock Elysia heard at knowing that man's real identity was unimaginable. Elysia had to take in a sharp breath to stop her scream from coming out.

However, her voice was still loud enough to attract the servant's attention.

"Huh, is someone there? Lord Chrome, I think we should take care of this rat before it gets troublesome…"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to open your mouth unnecessarily? You might trigger someone you should not."

As soon as Elysia heard that name, she knew who this man was and why he was so confident all the time. He had to be confident to lead a country.

But why the Crown Prince of the neighboring nation wanted to help Elysia out or even found her interesting was beyond her.

"Crown Prince Chrome, please stop it. You know that we cannot afford to start something right now. We are facing a lot of problems on our end."

The servant that was saying all this sounded like he was about to cry. Elysia wanted to hear more about it but Chrome did not want to tell anything more.

His eyes met Elysia's as he spoke the next words.

"This is something we will talk about later. For now, keep it all to yourself and your head down. I will see you soon."

Even though Chrome said that to the servant, Elysia had a feeling that those words were meant for her. She quickly nodded to show that she understood before realizing that Chrome will not be able to see him.

As the Crown Prince walked past Elysia, she placed her hand on his arm to show that she understood his words.

Chrome looked surprised for a single second before he gave Elysia an understanding look and walked out with his servant.

The poor guy looked back at Elysia with a confused look on his face. It must be weird for him to see his lord interacting with empty air like this.

But Elysia did not envy him or his experience. She was too busy with her thought process. And she was too deep in her thoughts to realize that she was not alone either.

"So you knew Chrome as well? This seems like an interesting story to hear. So, do you care to share with me?"

It was Lucas who had come for her and Elysia was torn between lying and telling him the truth.