When the Villainess Became the Male Lead’s Obsession - Chapter 19-1

Chapter 19 – Part 1

The day after Elysia lost her garments to Ariel and Eden, no, it was the day after she had no choice but to hand them over.

“Our class is concluded here for today.” said the geography professor as he closed the book with a thud.

That was the end of her morning class.

However, there was still an afternoon class waiting for her.

The class that began immediately after lunchtime, economics, was one of Elysia’s least favorite.

For Elysia, neither her geography nor her economics classes sparked an interest in her.

And, the same sentiment applied to her magic, history, and military science classes.

No, it was more appropriate to say that Elysia didn’t just like any of her classes.

Nevertheless, Elysia bid her professor with a bright smile that seemed she had learned something from the class.
“Yes, Professor. I’ll see you next time.”

Elysia’s geography professor bowed his head to her and walked out of the room.

When she was finally alone, Elysia’s shoulders slumped.

She couldn’t fall asleep until dawn the night before.

The cause was always the same.

She had backlogs of assignments.

There were always piles upon piles of assignments in every one of her classes. Nevertheless, Elysia endured and resolved not to complain and just silently finished her tasks.

Soon thereafter, the professors decided the level of difficulty was just right for Elysia.

The professors of Elysia were all hailed as prominent in their respective fields within the Empire, so there were expectations that their disciples would be as excellent as them.

Therefore, the professors thought that Elysia was at the same level as them.

And so, Elysia had tried to live up her professors’ expectations and match their standard of excellence.

‘But isn’t 20 pages per class too much…’

And to memorize all those pages within a week, too.

Drained and exhausted, Elysia looked at her opened book.

On the white paper, black letters fully occupied the page; Elysia felt sick to her stomach.

It’s suffocating.

A voice rang inside her dazed mind.

Elysia flipped a page, but her brain couldn’t keep up.

The map of a continent, drawn large enough to occupy both pages, unfolded before her.

Elysia stared at the map with sleepy eyes.

Elysia was sure she had memorized the map last week, but she could not remember it.

And so, she returned to the previous page, sighing at her level of intelligence.

She couldn’t remember what she had read.

Elysia felt that her brain was not cooperating more than usual.

‘Ah… What’s wrong with me today?’

Her head throbbed. Then, at that moment.

Splat

“Oh?”

Blood dripped from the end of the book and spread onto the desk.

There was a warm feeling inside her nose.

Surprised, Elysia hurriedly grabbed her nose.

She felt a wet, warm blood in her fingertips.

“…It’s a relief.”

Even though Elysia had a nosebleed, she still muttered in relief.

Relief that the blood did not spread on her book.

“A handkerchief…”

Elysia pinched her nose with her fingers as she opened a drawer with her other hand and rummaged through it.

A handkerchief was found in the first drawer.

She took out a light purple handkerchief, bowed her head and pressed the cloth in her nose.

Elysia often experienced having nosebleeds; as it was just like a second nature to her, she applied pressure to block the blood flowing in her nose with familiar movements.

As she lowered her head, Elysia could finally read the letters again.

She couldn’t take it anymore.

Elysia suddenly came to her senses.

Perhaps due to her exhaustion, Elysia kept thinking negative thoughts.

“I need to calm down. Calm down, Elysia.”

And it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

It used to occur frequently when she was younger.

Elysia continued to whisper and soothe herself.

She had finally calmed down, but the tiredness remained.

She wondered how long she had been enduring it.

Elysia carefully placed down her handkerchief after sensing that the blood flow had stopped.

On the other hand, her handkerchief was drenched in blood.

Frowning at the sight, Elysia threw it in the trash bin.

She fixed her expression and immediately headed down to eat lunch.
After taking her lunch, Elysia stopped by her study and picked up a book then returned to her room.

She carefully packed the candies that she couldn’t take the day before.

Before she knew it, Elysia was in this pattern every day.

* * *

Even if Elysia and Eden were together, there was nothing special to mention.

All they did was tell stories from the children’s book or repeat those words that Eden did not know in the book.

Such days were insignificant by Elysia’s standards.

So Elysia thought she could stand for it to continue that way every day.

Elysia’s face was always filled with affection, her expression always calm.

However, she couldn’t help but notice.

Was it the third day?
When Eden asked, “Elysia, are you ill?”

“Eh?”

A mix of worry and anxiety filled his eyes.

Such concern expressed toward Elysia, Eden stared at her.

“You seem ill…”

“No. I’m not sick.”

Elysia really meant it.

She was tired, but that was all.

Elysia’s head throbbed as she was reminded of the fatigue she was trying to suppress.

Maybe if Eden were to ask Elysia if she was tired, she would have answered yes.

But since Eden asked if she was ill, Elysia flatly said no.

Yet, even though Elysia had said no, Eden continuously looked anxiously at Elysia.
Warmth penetrated with his eyes as he stared at her apprehensively, wanting to ask more.

Pure eyes, clean face.

Elysia rolled her eyes when she noticed Eden’s wounds had finally healed.