When the Villainess Became the Male Lead’s Obsession - Chapter 8

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 8

As Elysia left outside, a heavy silence fell around Eden again.

The cold energy that he felt in his hazy mind surrounded Eden’s whole body, which had become inert.

Eden hated the emptiness and silence he felt in his hazy consciousness.

It was the same even after his mind cleared up.

Rather, as his mind became clearer, the silence became more oppressive, and the fear doubled.

Because he doesn’t remember anything, he’s unable to lose himself in thought, leaving Eden to only blink as he breathes.

Eden was afraid of the situation where there was nothing he could do, nor was there anything he wanted to do.

‘What should I do?’

He just wanted to wait.

As the sun set, he hoped that Elysia would reappear and fill his empty surroundings.

In just that manner, Eden sat and waited for time to pass.

How many hours had passed?

“Bed. Blanket, fireplace, photo frame.”

He eventually spent his time muttering the names of the furniture in the room.

This was the knowledge Eden had acquired.

‘Elysia.’

He would sometimes mutter Elysia’s name.

‘Elysia Valtine. But she said she doesn’t like to be called a Valtine.’

He repeated their conversation in his mind several times over.

‘Elysia. Elysia.’

Other than this, there was nothing Eden could do here.

Originally, Elysia’s schedule was fixed. There was a terrible load of classes and so much work to the point that she wanted to vomit.

It was Elysia’s routine to hold on to all of this for a week.

Elysia would invariably spend time with Ariel during her break time, or sometimes when her time was freed.

But then, thanks to Eden’s sudden appearance, Elysia had to spend her day slightly different from her usual schedule.

Of course, it wasn’t cumbersome nor troublesome as it was a decision she made herself.

But she couldn’t help being tired.

Just by looking at her face as she put down her pen with a loud clicking sound, she could tell herself how tired she was.

In order to meet Eden, she was busy studying early in the morning, and she should have finished by lunchtime.

Before having dinner with Ariel was the only rest time for Elysia.

Elysia pressed her eyes tight with the hand that was holding the pen and rose from her seat.

It was time to have dinner with Ariel.

“Ariel. Even if you don’t want to eat it, try at least a bite or two.”

Ariel will soon reach puberty. Elysia was thinking that she should reduce her nagging as much as possible.

However, when she saw Ariel secretly picking out the broccoli from the side while stealing a glance at her, she habitually nagged.

“…it doesn’t taste good…”

Her movement holding the fork stopped, but Ariel answered in a stern tone, as if to indicate she had no intention of putting it in her mouth.

“You dislike it so much that I specifically asked the chef to make it tasteless as possible.”

“. . . . .”

“Try a bite, and if you don’t want to, I’ll eat it.”

It was poor etiquette to share food that was already on their plate, even to the family members. Even if they didn’t learn it in the etiquette class, it was a manner that everyone followed because it was unsanitary.

However, Elysia often ate the food Ariel had skipped instead. Ariel’s leftover food to her could never become food waste.

“Eup! I-It doesn’t taste good!”

Ariel closed her eyes and put broccoli in her mouth at Elysia’s persuasion and then rebelled.

What the hell was that.

As Elysia saw Ariel’s will to eat while she covered her mouth with her small hands, she pushed her plate to Ariel.

It meant moving the offending item to her plate, too.

Then Ariel picked out broccoli from Elysia’s plate as if she had waited.

“Perhaps if the chef was in the restaurant, wouldn’t he have been hurt?”

The chef seemed to be secretly wanting to correct Ariel’s picky eating habit, so it must be more so.

Elysia felt it seemed like a battle of pride.

“But, why doesn’t it suit my taste?”

“Well…”

Elysia had been silently listening to Ariel’s cute whining, then suddenly called the nearest maid.

The maid who was beckoned hesitated and approached Elysia.

‘You don’t think I’m going to ask for the chef and harm him, do you?’

The maid was frightened.

“Go to the chef and tell him.”

With her soft cheeks so stiff, it was incredibly hard to tell Elysia’s face belonged to a child.

‘Oh, will he be fired today?’

Would it be better if I asked her to call the chef?

It would be too hard to let her say it herself to the chef to not come out tomorrow.

“Cut the fruit into bite-size pieces.”

“Yes?”

Elysia was usually expressionless when dealing with them.

So, even now, she’s not really angry about anything.

After their meal, Elysia was a little troubled because her cute sister was following her.

After finishing their meal, Ariel did not return to her room but instead followed Elysia.

Elysia was worried that she might be tailed all the way to the end, finally spoke up first.

“Ariel?”

“Yes?”

Why are you following me?

The reason why she didn’t say that out loud is because she had a rough idea of why Ariel was following her.

“Do you want to eat dessert with me?”

You’re going to play with me, right?

Ariel couldn’t hide her expectations with clear eyes, and Elysia quietly turned away from her.

The day Elysia asked the chef to cook was generally the day she spent time with Ariel.

That’s why Ariel, as a matter of course, followed Elysia, thinking Elysia would play with her.

It was Elysia’s fault for not telling Ariel beforehand.

“Ah… It’s not like that today…”

Since Eden unexpectedly rejected Ariel’s request several times after he came, it was not easy to say no again this time.

As Elysia hesitated and licked her lips, she remembered Eden who was alone and hungry in the annex.

A look of regret passed over Elysia’s face, as the image had captured her heart.

“Sorry, Ariel. Shall we eat dessert next time? I have work today.”

Ariel’s eyebrows drooped down every time Elysia used her work as an excuse.

As if she wanted Elysia to see, Ariel showed her disappointment.

Unaware of Ariel’s moue, Elysia coddled and soothed Ariel with a gentle tone.

However, Ariel was already upset and pouted while saying:

“You seem to neglect me too much these days.”

“Huh?”

Elysia had been trying her best to comfort Ariel and shut her mouth at once.

Elysia also felt that she had been spending less time than usual with Ariel recently, so she couldn’t deny it.

Looking at Elysia, who was speechless, Ariel shook her head and spoke quickly.

“Nothing… I know well that you are busy…”

Ariel scratching her cheeks was enough to prick Elysia’s conscience.

Not only that, Ariel smiled bitterly.

“Then will you have lunch with me tomorrow?”

“Yes. I will.”

If others had seen it, they would have laughed, saying, “Why is this creating such a desperate atmosphere?”

However, it was a very important situation for both Elysia and Ariel.

Elysia nodded her head eagerly in response, knowing that she would not be seen by Ariel who was turning away.

‘I’m sorry. It’s all for us to live.’

Holding the fruit basket tightly in both hands, Elysia muttered to herself.

Elysia thought that Ariel was trying not to be lonely in her own way.

Elysia thought she overestimated her efforts.

Elysia felt pity for Ariel, who had lost her mother early on.

Especially since she knew what happened in the original.

A father who is blind to Meldion’s legacy and left a child that he was not responsible for, and an older sister who harassed her younger sister.

It’s fortunate that she became ‘Elysia’, otherwise Ariel would have lived a life so gloomy that it would not be strange if she died early as in the original.

Such humans are also a family, and Ariel prayed for forgiveness of their sins even at the moment the family collapsed.

Even during Elysia’s execution, she was a pitiful and kind child who begged her sister to be spared.

Should I say that it is fortunate among the misfortunes?

Compared to the events in the original work, Ariel did not struggle to be recognized by the Duke of Valtine.

Rather, she hated the Duke as much as Elysia. It was the content of the original that Elysia changed for the first time.

Because of this, Elysia was confident that she was giving Ariel enough love.

After Eden came, their personal time decreased, which ultimately made Ariel sad, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Unfortunately, Elysia had only one body.

“Are you really here?”

Rizbeth whispered to Elysia, who had arrived with a medicine box during the day and a basket of food at night, and whispered with a smile on her face.

It was the middle of the night, so it felt like a small voice could be heard.

Elysia shook her head with a calm face as if it was a natural response to the sound of doubt.

“He’s not sleeping already, is he?”

It looked like it was already dark at night, but in reality it wasn’t that late.

Even so, he may be sleeping because he can’t overcome the boredom, considering that there is nothing to kill Eden’s time.

“I don’t know.”

Half-asleep, Rizbeth gave a bland answer without knowing Eden’s sleep time.

His eyes were still fixed on the fruit basket Elysia was holding.

Rizbeth’s forehead slowly wrinkled.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────