I will not die a Villainess's death

A year was a long time. It was how long it had been since Elysia had fallen into this new world and had been forced to adapt to its strange customs.

It had been tough to get used to it since everyone had avoided Elysia. But it had not been something she was not used to.

In the end, it just pointed out how 'wrong' Elysia's existence felt no matter which world she ended up landing in. She was an invasive specie no matter what world she ended up being in.

The only difference was, no one here knew who Elysia was and they were not afraid of her. As such, they openly showed their hostility to her.

But many had come to like as over the year as well. Elysia finally felt like a normal human being.

"Are you ready to go to today's hunt? Your progress has been massive for someone who only began to study a year ago. You might have broken the record for the fasted graduate as well."

Lexus's praise felt good but it was also embarrassing. Especially with all the eyes looking toward her with envy and annoyance right now.

"It was not all my effort that made it possible. I am a lot older than a normal academy student so I had an advantage over everyone else. Plus, I also had a great teacher."

Elysia replied, trying to keep her reply normal and truthful. She did not want any credit she had not earned.

But her words awarded Elysia with even more envious glares from the students around her. They all wanted to get to know Lexus since he was a legend and the head of a noble family,

'It is the same look people used to give me when I was engaged with Adam. They are envious of me for a reason that doesn't even exist.'

Elysia had given up taking people out of this misunderstanding. For every thread she untangled, a lot more sprouted up in its place. It was a mess no matter how much Elysia tried to keep it simple.

"Elysia, focus. Do not get lost in your thoughts like that or you will make me angry."

Lexus snapped his fingers in front of Elysia's face to snap her out of the daze she was in. Elysia blinked a few times to clear her vision due to the sudden action.

It had scared her and her reflexes had gotten the better of her. She managed to snap Lexus's hand away from her face and saw his proud smile.

He had gotten Elysia into a habit of reacting out of reflex whenever she felt threatened and Lexus could not have been more proud of this fact.

Lexus was so proud that he always reminded Elysia of this fact and gloated over her.

"I am focusing the best I can. It is not my fault that everything is so distracting for me. Besides, I am not entirely comfortable being the only one in her late teens. Even our caretaker is younger than me so it makes me worry."

"Hey, I might be young but I am much more powerful than you. Do you want me to show you how much better I am than you? Huh?"

As expected, Lexus took offense to Elysia's world but in a mocking and friendly manner. It was how Elysia had imagined siblings to be with each other.

Not that Lucas was not great. He was the best brother Elysia could have asked for but he was not particularly friendly with her.

His being Elysia's brother but being older made it so much more distant and difficult to get close to. But it was not the case with Lexus here.

"Alright everyone, pay attention to me now. As you know, the one in charge of your group will be Lord Lexus so pay respect to him and listen to his words. You are free to go out and tackle any monster you want to but come back alive. Now, go out and make us all proud."

With that mechanical order in place, Elysia left the group to join the hunt. It would be a good experience for her and she was sure that she would be able to keep up with the others.

She had trained hard in this new method she had learned and Elysia would take it back to her world to help her brother and Adam combat the upcoming disasters.

___________________________

In the early hours of the morning, the royal palace of the empire heard the sound of marching. No one paid much attention to it at first since many such drills were being conducted regularly by the soldiers.

There were talks of an uprising taking place in the kingdom since the normal civilians were not happy with how the country was being handled.

And ever since Lord Dirac had left and the monster attacks had become more frequent, the anger of the normal mob was too much.

As a result, hearing such noise in the morning was not such a rare incident.

What should have alerted the guards was the location of that march. It was headed toward the temple rather than the royal capital. But the temple was a holy place so the thought of it being the destination of this march crossed no one's mind.

The soldiers reached the temple and stopped to rest. No one bothered them anyway since they wore the imperial uniform.

Everyone knew that the temple and the Royal family had excellent relations. It was thick to the point of even the Saintess getting engaged with their Crown Prince.

Just because there was no news of such a happening did not mean that it was not real. Everyone already knew about that marriage that was going to take place soon.

The news of the soldier's arrival reached Eve's ears as well but she showed an uninterested face. She did not associate with the royal soldiers no matter how much she was asked to.

"My lady, you should reconsider your decision not to show up. Head Preist Yohan said that it would serve you well if you cultivate a good image in front of these soldiers. N-Not that you don't already have one."

The sister who was in charge of Eve today tried to get her to go out. Head Priest Yohan had promised her a generous reward if she managed to get Saintess Eve to mingle with other people.

But as always, Saintess Eve seemed not to listen to her words and chose to ignore her again. This was a common enough scene at this point that the sister did not take it to heart.

Saintess Eve only appeared for the official ceremonies that required her and for nothing else. She was an aloof figure.

"I don't want to mingle with the soldiers. They can die if they want to but I won't heal them unless the royal family agrees to listen to my words and aid me in finding Elysia."

Eve had tried everything she could. The only thing she could not try was the methods of summoning present in the hidden library of the temple.

But it was not a place even the Saintess could walk in easily. She needed a lot of permissions and a lot of convincing to be allowed in.

And that was where Lucas Dirac's plan came in. He had promised to allow Eve entry to that forbidden section if she followed along with what he wanted her to do.

Eve would have agreed with his idealogy even if he did not promise her the forbidden area but it was a pleasant bonus nonetheless.

'Now that I think about it, wasn't the agreed date today? Then, could those soldiers be the ones who are supposed to 'get me out of this place?'

It was likely not the case but Eve felt hopeful. And she wanted to take this chance if she could.

"My lady, please reconsider your stand. No one had seen your face for a long time and.."

"Alright, fine. If you are so desperate to get me out of here then I will comply with you. Now, hurry up and prepare for me to go out."

Eve finally agreed to that request she had not wanted to before. The sister looked startled but also glad to have Eve's cooperation in this matter.

She could see her promised reward shining right in front of her eyes now. She would finally be able to buy the necklace she had been eying.

"Of course, my lady. Do you need me to get Head Priest to come along as well? It would be good for your reputation to be seen together with him."

After all, it was what the head priest had asked the sister to do.

"No need. I want to show up alone and take initiative. If you call father then I won't come out with you."

The sister backed away as soon as she heard that. She wanted to follow orders but her greed was much more prominent than her desire to look good.