Villainous Lady, The Obsession Begins

【Chapter 41】

 

“Is this where I sign?”

Finally!

“Yes, that’s right!”

Excitedly, I pointed out where to sign, forgetting about the tingling in my legs, and gestured kindly, urging him to sign here and here.

“You’ve made a wise decision. You’ll find someone much kinder, prettier, healthier, and better than me!”

But Esadien remained unmoved.

“…..?”

At first, I thought he might be looking for a fountain pen or something similar. But as the moments passed and he remained motionless, my patience wore thin, to the point where I started to suspect he had searched through every pocket.

“What are you doing? I told you to sign here.”

Even when I nudged him, he didn’t budge, so I finally looked up, only to find Esadien’s face looming over me, still ashen but now closer.

Chu.

With an unbelievable sound, something warm and soft touched my forehead.

“What… what are you doing!”

Even as I recoiled in shock, Esadien’s eyes were still tinged with red, but he wore a faint smile.

I seriously started to wonder if this person had lost his mind.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you smile… it’s beautiful.”

Did I smile?

No, that’s not it!

“This is harassment.”

“You kissed me without permission too.”

“Oh, are you bringing up the past?”

“My point is, Miuelle…”

Esadien’s voice, as he took back the engagement annulment paper, was unnervingly calm. 

If it had been before, I might have welcomed it, but now, with doubts about his mental state, it felt like cold silk against my bare skin, sending shivers down my spine.

“You will always be the only one who can kiss me whenever you want.”

Ew, no, I don’t need that!

I continued to back away hesitantly, but before I knew it, my back collided with the sturdy trunk of a maple tree, and Esadien leisurely closed the distance again.

“Minuelle.”

Unconsciously, I covered my forehead with my hand and blurted out.

“I refuse that right, so just sign it already!”

“Sorry about that.”

Rip. Rip. Rip.

With an apologetic sound, the engagement annulment paper was torn in half, then again, and again, until they were scattered in pieces like snowflakes.

The smile from earlier was nowhere to be seen as Esadien reverted to his usual expressionless face, carrying out his actions.

“Wh-why… why are you tearing it up?”

“I already said I won’t accept it, Miuelle. No matter how many times you send it.”

Esadien observed my astonished face closely, his eyes so intense it was hard to tell whether he was observing or preying on me.

“I won’t be signing that anytime soon. So, Miuelle.”

Esadien’s gaze lowered gradually until he was kneeling on one knee, looking up at me.

“So don’t leave me.”

‘Is this a dream?’

I pinched the back of my hand. It hurt. I pinched again, unable to believe it, but it still hurt.

‘This, this can’t be happening.’

As I continued to deny reality and pinch the back of my hand, Esadien’s gentle confession reached me.

“Truth is, Miuelle. I was jealous.”

“J-Jealous?”

“That Priest, Ramande, or Theo. I envied them being with you. So I said mean words without realizing it.”

The hand that had been pinching my skin had stopped. This tingling pain was not false.

‘If this situation is not a dream but reality… Then…’

I tightly grasped the trembling hand.

‘Esadien… he might really be losing it.’

You fluctuated between anger, laughter, strange noises, and suddenly tearing up the engagement annulment paper before getting down on one knee! A foreboding sense of being terribly caught up in something swept over me.

“Minuelle.”

Esadien reached out to me again.

I recoiled, pulling the hem of my dress firmly.

“N-No! I don’t want to!”

With a body as weak as paper, I couldn’t even overpower a child, let alone an adult. But how was I supposed to handle a madman, especially one as towering as Esadien!

I just kept running.

I barely remember how I made it home, but the first person I encountered was my father, to whom I cried out in distress.

“The prince is crazy!”

Ah, my strength had reached its limit.

As darkness began to cloud my vision, I felt my startled father catching me.

💧

After I collapsed, our house was in chaos, and later even the Imperial Palace was turned upside down.

“They say the Third Prince is perfectly fine.”

As I lay there, being cared for against my will, Ramande informed me.

“Doctors and priests from various temples have examined him.”

“Is that what they call fine? Fine?”

I couldn’t believe it.

If everyone had truly reached such a diagnosis, then surely it meant Esadien had completely lost his mind.

Wasn’t it so? Like turning 180 degrees would take you in the opposite direction, but turning 360 degrees would bring you back to the starting point.

“Ha… Ramande, I don’t think I can live here anymore.”

“Why? Is the aftermath of the breakup that bad?”

“I’m not joking. Esadien tore up the engagement annulment papers right in front of me.”

“He tore them up?”

Finally, Lamand’s expression turned somewhat serious. It was time to spill the beans about Esadien’s actions.

“No way. Even after sending it countless times, he said he would never sign the papers…”

“And then?”

“Finally, he kneeled down and begged me not to leave him.”

“…”

Ramande turned his head away and ran his hand through his hair. Although I couldn’t see it well from my position lying down, the muttering under his breath was clearly cursing.

‘I shouldn’t mention the kiss on the forehead.’

If he realized what happened, Ramande seemed poised to storm into the Imperial Palace.

I quietly pulled the blanket up to my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Minuelle.”

Finally calming down, Lamand apologized, placing his hand on my cheek. The touch, imbued with divine power, cooled down the previously heated skin.

“I should have gone with you.”

“What are you talking about? You were sent on a mission for training. And it’s not like you knew everything and stayed silent.”

He seemed so calm, but turns out he was actually anxious. Who would have guessed? Certainly not me.

But Ramande was dead serious.

“No more missions or anything like that. I’ll stay by your side.”

“That’s not necessary. The prince surely wouldn’t come to our house every day and follow me around when I go out, would he?”

“You didn’t know? Since sending the annulment papers, he’s been visiting every day.”

“What?”

I was so surprised that I tried to sit up, but Lamand pressed his index finger, forcing me back down again.

“Your mother and father gave a strict order not to open the gate.”

“Ugh….”

“So when you go out, I should go with you.”

Ramande gently stroked my forehead with his finger.

There’s no way he could know, but whenever Ramande’s fingertip brushed the spot where Esadien kissed me, my heart inexplicably raced.

“How will you go on dates if you’re always with me?”

“Dates? Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

“You have someone you like, don’t you, Ramande?”

Not long ago, Lamand got upset when I said it was natural for first love not to work out, and that memory was still vivid. Ramande seemed to recall it as well.

“Oh, that?”

“Yeah? So, um…”

“Who do you think it is?”

“Huh? How would I know?”

I sat up abruptly again, but this time Ramande didn’t stop me and instead wrapped his arms around my shoulders to help.

“Well? But, Minuelle.”

“Yeah?”

“What if I ended up getting along well with that person and even decided to marry her? What would you do then?”

“Marry…?”

“Yeah. Marriage.”

That statement essentially meant giving up the priesthood. Priests can manifest their divine power through their bodies as a lifetime dedication to Flendena.

Even if someone on the priestly path encounters their destined partner, Flendena, as the deity overseeing love, graciously allows them to pursue it. However, I heard that their divine power disappeared entirely.

‘Ramande was said to have a large vessel, enough to ascend to a high-ranking priest.’

As if reading my mind, Ramande chuckled and met my gaze head-on.

“Never mind. How can I be by your side without divine power?”

I remembered the countless nights of fever. Throughout those nights, Ramande stood by my bedside like a guardian angel.

 

“I’m sorry, Ramande. You can’t sleep because of me……”

“Don’t worry about me and get well soon, Princess.”

 

When I looked at him with foggy eyes, surrounded by a faint light, sometimes I really thought he was an angel sent by Flendena.

Thankfully, Ramande had never shown any reluctance, then or now, quietly bestowing his divine power upon me.

So whether he had divine power or not, Ramande was already my benefactor and precious person.

“It’s okay.”

“…What?”

“It’s okay, Ramande.”

Ramande had lived as a priest since he was young.

The fact that he even considered deviating from that path hinted at the depth of his feelings for that person.

“Even if you don’t have divine power, our relationship won’t change.”

Of course, if that lady allows it. Who could it be? If I find out, I’ll do my best to become close to them!

“….Never?”

As much as I could, I pressed my sincerity and gave a firm answer, giving strength to the hand I held.

With all my sincerity pressed firmly within me, I squeezed Lamand’s hand just as firmly and replied firmly.

“Of course!”

Ramande’s lips slowly curled upwards.

 “I… really lucked out with a friend.”

But for some reason, that smile seemed a little sad.

💧

“It seems like the Church of Fire is aiming for the power of spirits.”

The Apostle remarked, rare lines furrowing his brow.

It was a sunny weekend afternoon.

After the service ended, I was strolling through the temple with the Apostle, basking in the warmth of early autumn sunshine.

“It seems they started with some level of control over the power of spirits from the beginning.”

To conjure fire, you need friction to create sparks or transfer fire from another source.

But the fire summoned by the sect appears out of thin air, almost like it’s conjured.

However, they claimed it’s not magic, as there’s no sense of mana.

‘I can’t believe my guess was right.’

“After all, they’ll eventually try to seize the Elemental Stone, won’t they?”

“They won’t be satisfied with lesser power when they know there’s greater power out there.”

And what’s inside me isn’t just scraps either.

In that case, I had to leave Roquette.

The capital is densely populated like any other major city. If a major fire were to break out here, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe.

“Even more serious is the fact that the number of people throwing themselves into the church is increasing little by little.”

“Why would they do that? They’re only causing destruction.”

It was simply incomprehensible to throw oneself into a group that had recently destroyed the very ground they lived on.

💧

Thank you for reading!