I will not die a Villainess's death

"How is your body feeling now? What about the wound on your back? Do you want me to check it for you-"

Elysia's hand was brushed off even before it could touch Adam's back. It would have been an insulting gesture if not for Adam's flushed cheeks and his inability to look at Elysia.

And with that expression came the memory of what happened back in the cave and Adam's sudden confession.

"Leave it be. It's thought enough for me to resist without you touching me. I won't be responsible for my actions if you made a foolish move now."

It was taking everything in Adam to admit that. Elysia could see his hands shaking with effort and she instantly backed off.

She did feel sorry for Adam but now was not the time for it. Even more so because Eve was not here with them to discuss things.

Even if Adam and Eve assured Elysia that there was nothing between them, Elysia's brain refused to believe that fact.

'You will be left behind by them once they realize that they love each other. Then why even take a chance to get hurt by them?'

Elysia wanted to say that she was not afraid of that possibility but it would be a lie to do so. In actuality, Elysia was terrified of being left behind.

"What's that in your hand? Where did you find a diary and an energy crystal in this god-forsaken place?  Is it even safe for you to handle it?"

Adam pointed right toward the crystal in Elysia's hand and the Diray she had picked up.

Elysia did not know why but she found herself hiding the diary from Adam's gaze. Something in her was telling her not to let Adam ever open this diary or things would happen that would compromise everyone's safety.

"This diary? It was just something I stumbled upon. You don't need to worry about it. Moreover, look at this crystal. Isn't the energy resource inside it familiar? I think this is what will become a sacred animal this time around."

Elysia held the crystal out toward the Crown Prince. The familiar energy of the Sacred offering shined brightly from inside the crystal.

"To find something like this in a place which had a lack of magic is beyond suspicious. I don't think we should take it back with us. Who knows what will happen."

"But if we don't then this ceremony would be called a burst. Winter would become dangerous for us all without god's blessing. We have no other choice but to take it with us."

Elysia saw the reluctance in Adam's eyes to not take the thing back. And Elysia did understand his fear of being caught in a trap.

But even he had to understand that Eve's position as the Saintess would become shaken up if things went wrong on the way.

After all, Saintess was not an inherited position but a title bestowed by someone. Once it was given it could not be taken back.

But until then, everything was fair game.

"You are right. Then, I guess that rules out the possibility of this being a foul play against the Saintes's successor. The person who did this would not need to send us this sacrificial crystal if that was the case."

"For now, let's head back to the estate. I am sure that my brother is heading toward the same location as us."

Elysia was sure that Adam had memories of this world as well. When he had entered her mind, he had walked around this place like he knew where he was going and what he was doing.

Elysia believed that he had a connection with this world but she would not push him to reveal his secrets.

"If that's what you want to do. Come here, I will take you back since it will be difficult for you to climb back up. You don't want to exhaust your magic, right?"

Adam held his hand out toward her and Elysia hesitated. That did not stop Adam from grabbing a hold of her arm and hauling her into his arms bridal style.

"A-Adam, what are you planning? Whatever it is, you should think twice before making a move and ahhhhhhh-"

Adam had lept up and wings broke out from his back. Elysia did not even have the presence of mind to notice what kind of wings they were or why it was possible for Adam to have them.

And why even question these things when the world had magic in it? Things like these were quite common after all.

______________________________

"Look, we are almost there. We can go back home as long as we can gather enough magic power. And I am sure we will be able to manage something between all of us. Even if some of us can't, I am sure we will be able to cover for them."

'He said that to me, right? How can someone be so rude to someone they just met? And not to mention that this kid is a no-name character in the novel world as well."

When Enma had died, he had not thought much of it. It was simply his time and he had enjoyed his life so far.

The only regret he had was not being able to get a girlfriend when he died in his late 20s. He had died a virgin and that was something he even regretted during his death.

And then the light had shined all over his body and a hand had reached out to him before he had been pulled into a vortex.

He did not remember much about what happened in that light. The only thing he remembered was that someone had asked him to help out in correcting a world's destiny because it was all messed up.

If he did, then Enma would get his one wish fulfilled no matter what it was.

And Enma had agreed without much thought. After all, what did he have to lose at that point? He had already died.

That was when that person in the light told him about the world he was being sent into. It was a world he was familiar with since he had played the Visual novel a little.

The world was titled, 'The Saintess and the Crown Prince.' It was a straightforward love story between the sweet and innocent Saintess Eve and Crown Prince Adam who were star-crossed lovers.

And of course, like every love story, there was a villainess in this story as well and it was Elysia Dirac, the only younger sister of Duke Dirac but she was abandoned at birth and brought up in the temple.

And there she had been engaged to the Crown Prince since young and was a constant obstacle in the budding romance of the Crown Prince and the then-Saintess candidate, Eve.

It was safe to say that she was the first villainess of the story and now he was about to meet her for real. He wondered how scary she would look.

"-Oi, are you even paying attention? Hurry and keep up or we will leave you behind."

The no-name kid yelled back toward Enma with a proud grin. Seeing that smirk irritated Enma but he held his temper in check.

'I should not get angry at a kid. I am the elder one here so I should be the bigger man and let the kid go.'

"I'm coming. By the way, what is this place?"

As a reader who knew the spoilers of the game and the character's past, he knew that this place was the original Dirac mansion. It had been mentioned only once in the route where Elysia had been killed off by Lord Dirac.

There was a small flashback of her time being neglected here but that was it. It had not left a lasting impact on anyone and it had never been mentioned in the sequel either.

"Look, there they are. Hey, I missed you both."

At that moment, Eve looked like the young and naive heroine of this series in Enma's eyes. The look she supported was none other than her love-sick one which was seen later on in the story.

'To think that things had changed so much in this story for their love to have progressed this much already. I guess I should not have underestimated the power of–'

"ELYSIAAAAA. I MISSED YOU."

Enma trailed off as soon as he saw Eve's target. She pouched on the female partner that stood on Crown Prince Adam's side.

"Eve, calm down a little. I am alright and so is the Prince. How about you? Did you suffer any injuries that need to be treated? I don't care that you can heal yourself, I just want to know."

The new voice was calm and melodic without any undertone of malice. His brain was still having problems associating that kind voice and beautiful face with the same villainess he saw in the visual novel.

Elysia had never been shown on-screen. She had always been a darkened space in the novel to allow the readers to picture her as they wanted.

So Enma had never thought that she would be so beautiful or look so dignified.

"Get off of her. I think Elysia's had enough of your clinging habits. Look, she's about to turn blue already."

That was the Crown Prince for sure who said that. His white hair and Golden eyes were impossible to miss.

He was the most striking character in the story after all. And he also held Eve back by her dress quite roughly.

The sweetness and delicateness he showed Eve in the original novel were nowhere to be seen currently. It felt like Enma was looking at a completely different story than the one he had read until now.

'I-WHAT-HUH? Is this the world of 'The Saintess and the Crown Prince?' Maybe that person who send me here made a mistake? That surely must be it. Or maybe it is because we are in another world right now. Things would go back to normal once we return to the original world.'

The more Enma tried to reassure himself, the more he was convinced that it was the case. After all, how could the Villainess Elysia be such good friends with the—

'N-No way. Did the heroine just kiss the villainess? I-I am sure I just saw it wrong. I think something is wrong with my eyes.'

"Close your mouth before something enters it by mistake."

The other kid closed Enma's jaw without even missing a single beat. He looked almost used to this scene.

'Are you telling me that this is something common to see? Oh god, what in the world happened here? Have I gone mental?'