Favored By The Villain

“Hey Elizabeth, Levisia is leaving.” Lidan pointed them out.

“I saw it, too.” Elizabeth said as she jumped to her feet. “Aren’t we going to follow them? What are you doing?”

Her purple eyes urged Lidan for an answer. He glanced in the seat Levisia had been sitting in and got to his feet. As they were gathering up their belongings, two officials scuttled over to them.

“It’s a privilege to finally meet the guests of honor. My master told me to serve you very sincerely.” One of them said as the other bowed.

“It’s about Roycal’s necklace, are you available to talk about it somewhere else?”

“I’m sorry, we are kind of in a hurry.” Lidan said, impatiently folding his arms and tapping his feet. Elizabeth let out an almost inaudible hiss, having never seen Lidan this irritated before.

He looked like an animal that had just lost its prey.

“You take your time. I’ll get going. You deal with them and I’ll catch up with Levisia,” Elizabeth whispered in Lidan’s ear and patted him on the shoulder. “Good luck.”

Lidan bewilderedly called out to her, but she didn’t look back even for a split second.

After leaving the hall and checking the surroundings, she took the stairs down to the  lower level.

Not too long after Elizabeth had walked down the stairs, she could sense a strange commotion coming from the back of the mansion. Her curiosity running wild, Elizabeth set off down a long corridor.

The closer she got to the source of the commotion, the more she felt Levisia’s presence. And finally, when only one corner was left, a scent she hadn’t smelled in a long time tickled her nostrils.

* * *

When Levisia suggested they raid the home of the unknown person who had taken the necklace, Pel shook his head. Levisia was shocked. It had been his idea in the first place, after all.

“I’d rather move now.” Pel said, getting to his feet. He tucked his chair in and held his hand out for Levisia to take.

“Now?” Levisia took the hand and rose from her chair, smoothing her dress down with her free hand.

“I think it’ll be better to steal the necklace before it gets into their hands than to lay our hands on them.” Pel led Levisia out of the hall. She couldn’t help but get the feeling that he knew who the unknown bidder was, given his urgency to get the necklace before it was too late.

Outside, they ran into a masked gatekeeper.

“Is there something wrong?” They asked, their gaze altering between the two.

Levisia knew that, seeing as he was the one who checked their invitations earlier, there was a high chance that he would figure out their real identities. Levisia hurriedly locked her arm with Pel’s arm. “Nothing caught our attention.” She replied, hoping her voice didn’t betray her emotions.

“You seemed to have been really excited about the necklace. I take it because it has been sold, you are no longer interested in anything else?”

“My wife’s upset over that, and we were on our way out; is there a problem?” Pel spoke up, holding Levisia close to him. Levisia flinched at how casually he said ‘my wife.’ She was still getting used to them pretending to be married, and there he was stating it loud and proud like it was the most natural thing in the world.

She quietly admired Pel, and the gatekeeper nodded in accordance. Perhaps, as Pel had said, she really might have been deeply hurt because she couldn’t buy the necklace.

“Of course there’s no problem. I’ll escort you to the carriage boarding platform. You just have to wait while the carriage is pulling up.”

The gatekeeper’s words struck fear into their hearts, as neither of them were ready to leave. If they didn’t act fast, they were going to end up in a carriage and away from the mansion without the necklace.

Pel, probably thinking the same thing, looked down at Levisia and let go of her arm the moment their eyes met. And then he put his arm out, grabbed her waist, and pulled her close to him.

She blinked slowly to figure out the situation, trying to piece together why she had suddenly become locked in Pel’s arm.

“I wish to go for a walk with my wife. If that is acceptable to you?” He raised his voice, dragging Levisia away from the gatekeeper and down a corridor.