I will not die a Villainess's death

Elysia felt the empty feeling in her heart as her hand rested on her stomach. The mere fact of knowing that she was going to have a son in the future was enough to draw a smile on her face.

"Elysia, I will be heading out now. Do not even think about leaving your room, or you will suffer the consequences of your actions."

Lucas yelled as he snapped the door shut behind himself. Elysia watched him go with a heavy heart, knowing that her freedom had ended up after pulling her earlier stunt. It was only because she had cried that Lucas had not said anything to her.

But that did not mean he was not angry with Elysia. Lucas just had a different way of showing his anger.

Elysia looked over the empty garden beneath her balcony, the only measure of freedom she had been awarded by Lucas and she tried to keep herself engaged.

Someone also made their way toward Elysia, but she did not pay much attention to this intruder. Elysia was convinced that it was Sorias who had come in to check up on her.

"You will poke a hole in the ground if you keep on glaring at it. Are you that bored?"

Elysia jumped around, a dagger held ready in her hand at the unfamiliar voice. Red eyes blinked back at her with a calm expression even as they faced the threat of death.

Head Priest Akane stood in front of Elysia with his hands raised high. Elysia's blade was inches away from his neck but Head Priest Akane seemed to not care.

He was currently hanging upside-down from the upper balcony railing and only his face reached Elysia's line of sight.

"Ya! It's nice to see you again. I hope you missed me in the short period I was not here."

An impish grin broke free on Head Priest Akane's face that made him look years younger than he was. As soon as Elysia pulled her knife back, he jumped down from where he was hanging and landed at Elysia's side.

A single line of scar ruined the illusion that nothing had happened to the Head Priest but Elysia was not worried. The wound she had created would heal in a matter of minutes.

"Lady Dirac, I am so happy I get to meet you again so soon. And look what I have here. Written permission for you to assist the temple in whatever way you can. Now you do not have any excuse to avoid me or say no to me."

Head Priest Akane sounded far too happy with himself and what he had managed to achieve. His eyes sparkled with a desire to be praised.

He even held his head out for Elysia to pet. And since Head Priest Akane was taller than Elysia was, it required him to bend forward a little.

"I…can you hold your head back up, please. I don't feel comfortable seeing the highest-ranking member of the temple bowing down to me."

All her life, Elysia had seen the Head Priest in a prominent position. People in that position had to be careful and uphold their public image.

Neither the previous Head Priest nor Head Priest Yohan had ever apologized to anyone. As far as Elysia remembered, it was not something they ever did.

Seeing Head Priest Akane bow his head so swiftly and easily was a blow to Elysia. She had to swallow her nervousness and ask him to straighten back up.

"Oh! Did I make you nervous? It was not my intention to do so. I guess I got a little too excited again. I hope Lady Dirac would forgive me since we will be working together pretty soon."

Head Priest Akane held the letter out for Elysia to take. She hesitantly took it, choosing to observe the situation before she talked it out with Lucas.

The letter in her hand was an official notice for Elysia to cooperate with the temple and it did hold Chrome's magical signature on it.

"See, I did not lie to you. So can you promise to help me now? I had to do some awful things to get this permission so you better not complain now."

Elysia found herself somehow not surprised to see the order in Head Priest Akane's hands. He might look like a gentle person but he did not feel like a good man to Elysia.

She was sure that there were a lot of shady deals that Head Priest Akane was involved in. she was no stranger to the dark side of the temple.

"This order looks genuine but I will need to confirm this before I can make a decision. I am also under house arrest so you need to leave now."

Elysia pocketed the order she held in her hand. She needed to show it to Lucas as soon as possible.

She half expected Head Priest Akane to panic and demand the order letter back. But he just smiled a calm smile while looking at Elysia.

"You can have that order letter if you want. I already took precautions and made a copy. So don't think you can get away without helping me out."

Elysia was about to reply when her room door was knocked down. Sorias's angry eyes met Elysia's as her familiar charged in.

"Time for me to head out now. I will see you soon, Lady Elysia Dirac~"

The way Akane said her name sent shivers down her spine. She did not feel safe when she was in the company of Head Priest Akane.

Sorias had his claws out already as he took a swipe toward Akane but the man dodged it by the nick of his hair. As a result, he lost his balance and ended up falling down the balcony.

"Shit, he'll fall."

Elysia ended up curing in surprise as she tried to reach out to grab the Head Priest. She did not want to start any kind of international incident. But one would happen if the Head Priest was hurt in any way.

She expected Head Priest Akane to reach back for her hand to steady himself. But he did not reach back.

Head Priest Akane fell down the balcony and into the green patch of bush beneath in the garden.

"Elysia, stay here for now. I will go and check up on the intruder."

Sorias jumped down the balcony as well, finally heading toward where the head priest had fallen.

Elysia wanted to yell and inform Sorias that the intruder had been the Head Priest, but Elysia did it dare risk it after more and more people started arriving.

Soon, everyone realized that her familiar was looking around for something and they joined the search as well. But no one except Elysia and Sorias knew what they were looking for.

In the end, Elysia never managed to find the Head Priest. It seemed as if he had been swallowed by the earth without leaving any evidence behind.

Elysia clutched her letter tighter in her hand, wanting to clear out of the air as soon as possible. She knew that if Chrome had signed this letter, then there was a reason behind it.

She needed to hear him out before making any decision on his actions.

"Elysia, I heard you had an intruder in your room. Did he do anything to you?"

Lucas had come rushing back to the room as soon as he had heard Elysia's room had been invaded. He was concerned about the security of the palace but that was not all.

Whosoever had managed to slip into Elysia's room had to be skilled enough to juke Sorias. And that was no easy task to accomplish.

Even Elysia was surprised once she realized that Head Priest Akane was so apt at sneaking around that he had managed to fool Sorias as well.

"Lucas, look at this. My intruder turned out to be an overly-excited Head Priest Akane."

Elysia whispered it to Lucas, not wanting other people to hear her conversation. Lucas opened the letter Elysia handed to him and instantly.

She could feel her brother's anger clashing against her senses and Elysia did nothing to calm him down. If Lucas was going to be angry about her circumstances, then she might as well let him be.

"Looks like we will have to visit Emperor Chrome soon. He seemed to not have gotten my message when I asked him to stay away from our matters."

Elysia felt a flash of guilt and sympathy for landing Chrome in trouble. But her feelings neutralized out once she remembered that she would have to be the one to pay the price for his decisions.

And Elysia had no contention of doing anything for the temple anymore. She had finally made effort to leave that life behind.

"I would like to hear cousin Chrome out as well before I decide on his punishment. I have a feeling that he was forced to sign this agreement. Not that it will exempt him from any blame."