I will not die a Villainess's death

"You sure have one hell of a butler in your household. He planned for this outcome to happen."

Sorias spoke about what Lucas had been thinking about. And as much as Lucas wanted to refute that claim, he could not.

"It seems like Hector is a little too pushy when it comes to his nephew's well-being. He wants to push Victor closer to me."

Lucas had a feeling that Hector was trying to foster a friendship between Victor and Lucas by making them stick together. It was similar to the tactic he had pulled in the past when Lucas had been younger.

There had been a time when Victor had come to live in the Dirac mansion. At that time Hector has done his best to make Victor stick with Lucas but that did not work at that time.

But it seems Hector had not given up on his attempt just yet.

"It's one problem after another. I don't understand why these humans won't see Elysia for who she is. All they want to see is the puppet this 'world' wants them to see."

Lucas complained about that fact but he knew in his heart how tough it was to go against the world. For a normal human, the word of the 'world' was law.

'I wonder if I would have even cared about all this if Elysia was not involved in this mess.'

Knowing himself, Lucas knew that the answer would have been 'no'. He would not have cared, nor would he have tried to even change things.

"Humans are such creatures so you don't need to beat yourself up over this. For now, just know that you did what you could have."

"And I should go back and pack my stuff up. I have a new tent to get used to now."

Lucas sighed at the mess. His headache had not gone away and now he had more things to check over.

The soldiers were not going to have a good time with the drills he will be heading to later. But that was the price they would pay for going against his back and participating in this mess.

_________________________________

"S-Sir Victor, you are here!"

Victor flashed the flustered maid a grateful smile as he neared her. The maid swooned at his closeness which made Victor's smile even larger.

"You did well Emily. Thank you for arranging my tent so close to my lady. I was afraid that something would happen to her in the wildness out here."

"Ah, no need to than me. The list was just there so it was no problem. But are you sure you want to stay near the outskirts? Isn't it dangerous being this near Lady Dirac in this wilderness?"

The maid went red as soon as she realized what she was suggesting to Victor. But the maid did seem genuinely concerned for him.

'How hilarious. I know the people call Lady Dirac a demon but she's not that impressive in real life. She cannot even see properly, much less become a threat to me.'

Victor was confident that he could defeat Elysia if they fought. From what little he had seen of Elysia's magical capabilities, all she had was control and no power behind it.

It made the rumors he had heard about Elysia's powers feel like lies. He could easily overpower her when it came to fighting.

"Lady Dirac is just a lonely soul and I am trying to help her out. You don't need to be worried about me so much. I am much stronger than I look. Rather, you should look after yourself, Emily. Have you lost weight in the past few days?"

The girl flushed at hearing those words of concern. It was so easy to get people on your side when you had a good-looking face and magic.

"N-No, I am just on a new diet. U-Um, Lord Victor, do you have some time in the evening? I was thinking-"

"Victor, I need to talk with you. Oh, Emily, what are you doing here? Do you need to talk to Lucas?"

'Impecible timing Uncle. You just saved me a lot of trouble.'

Victor turned toward his uncle immediately after flashing a regretful smile to Emily. He knew what Emily had been about to say and it was fortunate that his uncle stopped her.

The image Victor had set for himself would not have allowed him to refuse the lady a date. And that would have been a big loss in time for Victor.

Not to mention, the rumors that would arise due to this would jeopardize his chances with Elysia.

"A-Ah, Head Butler H-Hector? I-I….I'm sorry. I should head to work now." Emily had an almost guilty expression on her face as she fled from the scene.

As soon as she was gone Victor took in a deep breath.

"Victor, pack your things and move to your new tent. I managed to get you the nearest tent to Lord Dirac so make sure you deepen your relationship with him."

Any good mood Victor had felt as soon as he heard those words.

In a single sentence, his uncle had managed to undo all his hard work. Victor had been working hard to be near Elysia and now he could not be further away.

"Uncle, why did you do that? I never asked you to help me get closer to Lord Dirac. I was already working on getting Lady Dirac to like me."

Victor could not hold back his voice once he heard what his uncle had done for him.

Why did he not ask Victor before pulling a move like this? Better yet, why was he interfering in Victor's work when Victor had asked him not to?

"Victor, are you not seeing the bigger picture? Even when Lady Dirac's marriage with the Crown will fall apart, she will have a lot of prospects to choose from. It is futile for you to chase that fish, nor does it have a future."

"Lord Dirac on the other hand is the only Duke of this kingdom. He is just basking in the glow of being a brother but that novelty will wear off soon enough. You need to get close to him if you want to succeed in life."

Victor did not understand why his uncle did not see the bigger picture? Even Victor could see that Lord Dirac's favor was no 'novelty'.

Not only had Lord Dirac allowed Elysia to wear the Dirac family crest, but he had also chosen to wear the crest for the first time.

This was not the behavior of someone who was known to be quite a ruthless and cold-hearted person.

Besides, Victor had seen Lord Dirac in Elysia's presence, and those feelings he had for his sister were real. This relationship will not fade away.

But Lord Dirac's position was absolute and he was too powerful. As his only weak spot, Elysia would be the key to everything the Dirac household had.

Once the Royal Family realized that, it would be too late to stop them. They would push for this match despite the noble's protest.

It was better if Victor managed to solidify his position before that and make himself the only candidate worthy of Lady Elysia.

As for the age difference? It was not the biggest out there and Victor could make it work.

"Uncle, you are the one who is not seeing the bigger picture. But fine, you win. I will try getting closer to Lord Dirac in the future."

Victor did not feel a need to tell his uncle any of his plans. If his uncle felt wanted to be in control then Victor will give him the illusion that he was in control.

But Victor will follow his path. And that path was to take advantage of Lady Elysia.

_________________________________

Elysia patted her new bed in a worrying motion. She had realized pretty early that she had been isolated by being placed in this part of the camp.

There was no other tent nearby baring her tutor's and that made Elysia even more nervous.

Elysia did not want to be near that man during the camp but the current arrangements left her no other choice but to do so.

'I wonder if I should talk to my brother about these arrangements.'

Elysia just made up her mind to do so when the tent to her cabin opened. The sudden motion caused Elysia to become alert but she soon relaxed at the familiar magic she felt.

"There is a change in plans. I am shifting into Victor's quarters while he will get mine. Finally, I can get some peace."

Lord Sorias pushed his small body through the door with an irritated look. The maid who had led Lord Sorias to Elysia flinched and quickly left the room as soon as her eyes met Elysia's.

This was a pretty common occurrence by now and Elysia was tired of seeing it happen again and again.

At this point, she had simply stopped ordering the maids to not flinch when they met her eyes. It was an impossible order anyway.

"They are still afraid of you? These people should use their brains a little more than their mouths. Maybe then they will be able to see the truth in front of their eyes."

"Sora, what are you in my tent? Shouldn't you be out there unpacking? And how did you manage to change tents too fast? Didn't changing accommodations require a lot of paperwork?"

Sora shook his head in a motion that said, 'don't worry about it.'

"Things happened that made it all possible. Besides, I would have just camped in here if I was denied that switch. I don't feel comfortable leaving you out here all alone."

Elysia felt touched by Sora's concerned voice. It was rare for people to be worried about Elysia this openly.

This concern touched her heart and even caused Elysia's eyes to get wet.

"Oi, don't start crying now. If you have a problem with me then I can leave you alone  now."

"NO! No, that's not it. Something just fell into my eyes that is causing them to get wet. There is no need for you to go anywhere."

Elysia quickly refuted Sora's words. She did not want to be alone right now. This forest was not enchanted but there was weird wild energy in here.

Elysia was sure that it belonged to the wild beasts that were around the forest. Elysia had often dealt with these wild and dangerous beasts as training but she always felt uneasy about them.

Now that she thought about it, their magic seemed as 'unnatural' to her as well. But Elysia never had any vision about them so she had never cared.

"I see. Then I'll stay here for now. Will you be going to sleep?"

Elysia was not tired right now but the day was coming to an end. She should really sleep now but something inside her was afraid of falling asleep.

But in the end, it didn't matter as Elysia fell asleep anyway.