I will not die a Villainess's death

'This is so uncomfortable. Why is it always me that is stuck in such weird positions? It should be like a dream come true for me but I feel like my neck will go flying off any second now.'

Enma wanted to cry in outrage as his cheeks were pinched by a noble lady again. Even though her hands were soft, they hurt when they pulled his cheeks.

It was every man's dream to be surrounded by big-busted beauties and be doted upon. But Enma could not feel that satisfaction as he felt hands coming closer to his neck.

He quickly looked at Elysia for assistance but her attention was diverted somewhere else right now. She was not even looking at Enma and his last hope had been dashed just like that.

'T-Traitor. How dare you ignore me like this?'

Enma was sure he had silent tears streaming down his face at the horror he felt. He was not able to feel safe until Elysia turned to look back at him.

And then her attention was called by the queen which sucked.

"Lady Dirac, how was your stay here last night? I hope nothing unusual happened to you under our watch. You and Lord Dirac might be siblings but it must have been uncomfortable to live with a guy at night."

Those words sounded ominous to even Enma's ears. He flinched as he watched everyone look toward Elysia like a hawk, looking to exploit her.

Enma knew what the Queen was trying to do to Elysia right now. She was trying to frame her character to create a weakness she could exploit.

It was a trick she had tried to pull in the original book with Eve but had been killed by Lucas Dirac and Chrome as revenge.

But nothing was going according to the original book so Enma was not sure what would happen to her. And Elysia was not Eve so it was difficult to know if Elysia would let this insult go or not.

"I am not sure what the queen is suggesting. Lucas and I are a close-knit pair of siblings and our relationship is like that as well. Unless there is something more to the familiar relationships in this kingdom, I am not sure why anyone had a problem with me staying with my brother at night."

It was the Queen's turn to flinch and back down. Enma cheered for Elysia inside his mind but then he frowned.

Had Elysia's tongue always been this sharp? If so then Enma had never noticed. He knew that Elysia's real setting had been that of a villainess so she had a lot of such qualities but she hardly ever exhibited them.

Enma should have been scared of Elysia right now but he only found himself to be more excited. He wanted Elysia to go off and show the Queen her place.

"Lady Dirac sure had a way with words. She is so funny that I cannot help but laugh at her jokes."

A noble lady tried to lighten the mood but the Queen's glare made her back down. This was currently a competition between the Queen and Elysia for supremacy but Elysia was not even trying.

Enma could see that Elysia wanted to get away from her. Her agitation was clear in her body language.

Finally, someone interfered and Enma preyed on the brave soul who tried to change the status quo of the situation.

"I think this stuffy inside air is not doing any of us good. We should get out of here and spend some time outside. Maybe visiting the temple and praying there would be a good idea?"

But he took his words back as soon as he realized who was the person who tried to lighten the situation was none other than the crazy lady who had dragged him and Elysia into this meeting.

"A visit to the temple? Sure, I'm in."

He was so sure that Elysia would not agree with this suggestion that he almost gave himself a whiplash when Elysia did.

Enma's wide eyes looked at Elysia and he waited for her to laugh at the joke. But it seemed like she was serious.

"Ugh, Elys-I mean, Lady Dirac, I don't think this is a good-"

'Well, it is an excellent idea. The temple is open today for visitors so we should all head there and pray. I also heard that Lady Dirac grew up in a temple so it would be nostalgic for her to visit her origins, right?"

Enma flinched at the obvious jab in the queen's words. It had been an insult to Elysia, made to humiliate her.

It would be good for Elysia to turn around and rebut the queen right now. But Elysia never did that.

"You make a good point. All my duties at the Dirac estate made me unable to make time to visit the temple for some time now. I should go and pray there today."

Elysia's words caused the queen to be taken aback and the other nobility frowned at her boldness as well.

They all would not be caught dead admitting to their lowly origins but Elysia seemed to not have that problem.

She was not only openly admitting to having been raised by the temple but also seemed proud of that fact. Enma was not sure if this was foolish or brave of her to interfere like this.

"Very well then. It will be a good idea to visit the temple today. We should head out in a few minutes if no one has any problem."

Many noble ladies looked uncomfortable with going to the temple. Their heavy make-up and dress were going to hinder their moment and they had not dressed for going out today.

But they could not make that excuse in front of the Queen because it would end up landing them in hot waters. The Queen was still the most prominent female figure in their lands after all.

"I am alright with any time you chose. I will just wait here for the arrangements to be made."

Elysia was being cooperative right now and Enma things were going too smoothly. That was what made him nervous and he instantly wanted to pull back and send a message to Sorias.

'Darn it. If only I had magic that I could use. Maybe I can make an excuse to stay back and inform Sorias or even Lucas about this.'

"By the way Lady Dirac, what should we do with your charge? We usually don't take boys with us since they have a different section in the building. Do you want to hand him over to servants to look after?"

Now was his chance. All Enma had to say was that he wanted to stay back and that he would be able to make his plan go off without a hitch. He would be able to stay safe as well.

Besides, the past year had been stressful in this matter for Enma. Words of him being an envoy of god had spread in the Akatsuki kingdom as well but only the temple knew his face.

And they kept on bothering him to read 'forbidden' texts for them. Enma was tired of that shit so he was going to be forced into it if he set foot in the temple.

"I can stay behind-"

"I would like to take Enma with me as well. He has a deep connection with the temple and I am sure the temple would also appreciate him coming to help them out."

Enma's words and his hope died on his lips as soon as he realized that Elysia had no intention of letting him stay behind.

If he had realized that he could inform Lucas and Sorias about her leaving, then Elysia had realized it as well. And she was currently trying to close all her options to getting into trouble.

"I see. I should have realized that your charge was not a normal person either. If this is what you want then we can take him with us. The male guards can handle him and the other kids."

The other kids looked happy to be going to the temple. It was an outing for them but Enma felt like he was being dragged into the lion's den.

He tried to open his mouth in protest again but he never got a chance to speak anything. The Queen had already waved her hand to call for a servant and everyone had accepted that they were going.

"Enma, don't you dare try and betray me right now. I am not going to forgive you if you go back and babble about this outing to my brother or Sorias. Are you understanding what I am saying to you?"

Enma's intention of telling Sorias and Enma fled away as soon as he heard Elysia's scary voice.

She had somehow stepped behind Enma and was now whispering directly into his ear. It sent shivers down Enma's spine and he did not dare turn around to face her.

'E-Elysia is scary at times.'