I will not die a Villainess's death

Lucas rubbed his brows as he felt a headache coming his way. He rubbed his head to drive the headache away before he sat back down on the sofa.

The speed Chrome had shown as he had fled had been incredible. Lucas was sure that Chrome would be able to get him the information soon enough.

"Don't be too rough on him. We know that Lucas had no other choice but to sign this agreement with the temple. And I think he has suffered enough for his decision."

Lucas looked at Elysia, the one who was the most affected by Lucas's decisions. His sister looked tired as well but she was looking much better than before. But it would be good if Elysia blamed Chrome for at least a little bit.

He could not help but feel like Chrome was getting away too lightly.

"Elysia, you need to be a little more rigid if you do not want these people to walk all over you. Even now, most of them do not see you as someone they should respect."

Lucas was not talking about Chrome when he said that. He was mainly talking about the various court officials who looked at Elysia with a look of disdain.

They regularly compared her with Lucas and pointed out how much softer she acted.

Being nice and soft was a good thing most of the time but the court was a different place. It needed a firm and solid hand if you want to not be swept away.

"I know that I need to be a little firmer in my approach but that is not easy for me to do. I just don't want to see anyone be disappointed because of me."

Both Lucas and Elysia went quiet after that confession and Elysia could not help but feel like she had spoken out of turn. She had not meant to disappoint Lucas with her words.

But she was not going to interfere in the court politics that was taking place in the Akatsuki kingdom. She might be forced to help the temple out but that was the extent of her involvement with everything.

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The day was pretty dry after that. Once Chrome and Lucas had gotten busy, Elysia also started to look around. She was roaming around almost listlessly when her feet found their way to the queen's castle.

She wanted to turn away but then she noticed a familiar figure entering the building.

Elysia did not know the name of that shaggy brown haired man but she did remember him coming to Rahan's rescue. That, more than anything, solidified Elysia's decision to follow after him.

But as soon as she entered the queen's castle, she heard footsteps headed her way. Someone was following after her and they were not very skilled.

Elysia decided to deal with her shadow first before spying on the queen and her associate.

"Eppp, let me go. I do not know anything."

Her shadow turned out to just be Enma. As far as Elysia had heard, Enma had been put in charge of documents and other special work by his brother as a punishment for aiding Elysia.

She had not seen a single hair of this child until now. Elysia had not been worried this far but now she suddenly wanted to know if Enma was alright or not.

"Sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I was just trying to follow someone suspicious."

"I know you were. Elysia, can you not keep out of trouble for a single day? I will go bald before I become an adult at this rate."

Enma was angry and disappointed. His eyes were flashing with irritation as he tried to glare Elysia into submission.

It was not very effective because of his small status as well as his clear eyes. It just looked like a kid throwing a tantrum in front of his siblings.

"You are not very convincing since you are so short. Also, you could have pretended  not to notice me if you are worried about getting in trouble."

Enma's glare worsened when he heard Elysia's words. He did not want to be called 'short' since it was not something he could help with.

"I *tried* that before already so don't say that to me. And anyway, you should be more concerned about yourself. You are not giving your body enough time to heal before you get injured again."

Enma seemed to have a lot to say about Elysia's habits and she wanted to hear him out as well. But then she noticed that crazy-haired man getting out of her sight.

"Sorry Enma, but I need to go now. I till listen to your complaints later."

Elysia hurried after the fleeing figure, not wanting to lose the person she was tailing. She left Enma behind and the child watched with wide eyes as that happened.

And then, at the halfway point, he realized what was happening and instantly followed Elysia with hurried footsteps.

She had no idea why Enma decided to follow after her but Elysia could not risk turning back and sending him away.

Not if she wanted to get to the bottom of this matter. And Enma would have to wait for her to be finished first.

Elysia finally caught up with the intruder who had given her and Lucas such a hard time a few days ago and she ducked behind the wall to not be seen by him.

From the hand moment, she could see the man make, it seemed like he was in an argument with the guards of the palace.

Elysia was finally about to go out and catch the man when someone unexpectedly stepped out to greet the man. It was Feize who had come out to collect the man.

The guard looked frustrated but then Feize took out a locket from his pocket and they were finally allowed entry. Elysia knew she could not use the same route the other two had taken.

"Enma, how good are you at sneaking around?"

Elysia asked as she observed the wall that needed to be crossed. It was not that high so Elysia should have no problem with this.

And even though Enma looked short, Elysia was sure that he had enough elasticity in him to accompany Elysia.

"I have to admit that I am not very good but I can manage fine. Why do you ask-wooohhhh."

Elysia picked up Enma from the back of his shirt and jumped up. Enma looked sick as he watched the ground move further and further away from him. He tried to get himself free but Elysia did not allow him to.

The jump was simple and easy to make. Elysia was easily able to carry Enma over and onto the other side.

"Y-You idiot. Did you want me to die of a heart attack because you forgot to inform me that you were going to jump? I thought I was going to die."

Enma panted those words as he was finally let go. His face was red and flushed because of the exertion he had not done. Elysia was worried about him but she knew that he was not feeling sick because he was hurt.

"Enma, keep your complaints to yourself for now. You are the one who decided to follow after me so you have no right to complain. And if you cause any trouble for me, then you will have to pay for it."

Enma yelped as he faced Elysia's fury. He had never seen Elysia like this. He had not expected Elysia to say anything to him even if he complained to her about her every moment.

But something seemed to have changed in Elysia. It was not an outward change but he could still not help but notice it.

"C-Calm down a little and let's talk about it. Now that I think about it, we do not need to cross each other, right?"

Enma sounded nervous now and Elysia was sure it was because she looked a little angry with him.

While Elysia did not want to be harsh on Enma, she had no other choice but to show a little bit of strictness. Lucas had been right in the end. Things would not go Elysia'a way unless she was a little bit tougher on people around her.

'But maybe I should apologize to Enma for being a little too harsh.'

Elysia was about to open her mouth before she saw her target move in front of her vision. And that made Elysia forget everything she had been about to do. She instantly moved toward her target, leaving Enma behind.

"-And be careful. His holiness is doing his best to maintain our peace."

Feize spoke softly but Elysia was still able to hear him. She tried to get even close to them to hear more.

"I know I need to be careful but it is tough. Rahan is already out carrying missions and…wait. Did you hear it?"

Elysia froze, not even breathing now. She was afraid that she had been caught just now.