What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

“Elaine!”

 

It was L’Arch. He seemed very displeased with the way Elaine greeted a young man with a smile.

 

Serge also looked at L’Arch disapprovingly.

 

Elaine, who was stabbed in the stomach by his cold eyes, said as if she were making an excuse.

 

“It’s my cousin.”

 

“The one who locked you here?”

 

“No. He’s their older brother.”

 

“Looks like he is busy cleaning up their mess.”

 

Meanwhile, L’Arch, who had come up to Elaine’s side, grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him.

 

“My name is L’Arch Newt. It looks like you helped my cousin. thank you.”

 

“Your family style seems a bit unique. Locking your cousin in the morgue from the first day of the new year.”

 

“It looks like my younger siblings are playing a practical joke. Children often cannot predict the consequences of their actions.”

 

“Well, I’m sure you’ll take care of your siblings, L’Arch, and you’ll take care of your cousin’s bruised hand, won’t you?”

 

At those words, L’Arch’s gaze turned to the slender wrist he was holding.

 

Elaine’s little hands were red and swollen from how many times she knocked on the door of the mortuary while she was confined. Not only that, but her eyes were also wet.

 

L’Arch gritted his teeth as she remembered Martin and Damon. This was not going to look like a lighthearted prank to anyone, and the embarrassment of being seen like this by another noble was too much to bear

 

“Of course, and thank you for not letting it slide. Would you mind telling me your name?”

 

“why? Are you going to give me a reward?”

 

“The Newt family never forgets grace.”

 

“That’s enough. If you repay the favor, that lady will pay it back, not you. I delayed too much time in an unpleasant place. Then bye.”

 

Serge nodded, then turned and walked away.

 

L’Arch, who had been watching him until he left the cemetery entrance, slowly looked back at Elaine.

 

Elaine’s eyes were still fixed on Serge’s back.

 

“Elaine.”

 

Elaine looked at L’Arch without answering.

 

“I could have come and opened the door for you if you’d just waited patiently, you couldn’t stand it and made a fuss to the point where someone else came to see it?”

 

Elaine was fed up with L’Arch blaming her again, though she didn’t want any kind concern.

 

“If I’d just been quiet and waited, you Would come and open it for me, when did you ever give me that assurance?”

 

“What?”

 

“When I was locked in a closet or storage room, did you ever come and open it?”

 

“In the end, someone opened it.”

 

“I was once locked in a corner closet on the third floor for over a day, L’Arch. I didn’t get a sip of water, I had to pee on the spot, and I banged on the closet door until I was exhausted. And you know who opened it? A maid who happened to be there to get something, and if she hadn’t come up to get it, I would have died.”

 

It was when she was ten years old. Because of that, Elaine has been afraid of the dark or small spaces all her life.

 

Elaine suffered two full days of bouts and nightmares, but no one apologized to her. Rather, they even punished her two days later by telling her to clean the closet she had soiled herself.

 

As a bonus, Martin and Damon, who had locked Elaine in there, came over and teased her.

 

“How can I trust you to come and open it for me if you never did it?”

 

Anger that had been kept in mind in the past came pouring out.

 

Elaine said coldly, shaking off L’Arch’s hand that was holding her wrist.

 

“And are you so stupid that you can’t even tell the difference? It wasn’t my fault that I screamed for help because I was afraid of being with a corpse, but your proud younger siblings who locked me up there did it!”

 

L’Arch was startled by Elaine, who was even sarcastic without hesitation.

 

This was not Elaine he knew.

 

“Elaine, what happened?”

 

“What are you talking about? It’s been a while since I’ve been abused by your family, but I never think you are asking about it again.”

 

There was no shyness or anticipation in Elaine’s eyes as she stared at him.

 

There was only a cold, sharp accusation.

 

‘No.’ 

 

Not knowing what was going wrong, L’Arch just thought that this shouldn’t be the case.

 

It seemed as if the pretty flower, which he had been holding tightly until not long ago, turned into sand and slipped through his fingers.

 

* * * 

 

It didn’t happen that Elaine had to walk alone back to the mansion like that day in her previous life.

 

L’Arch, who took Elaine back, got into the same carriage as he did when he came to the temple, and as soon as he got home, he called Martin, Damon, and Ellie and scolded them.

 

At first, Count Newt and his wife, who were puzzled by the rare appearance of L’Arch, raised his voice, but after hearing everything, they said one thing to Martin and Damon.

 

Of course, it wasn’t because they had locked Elaine in the morgue, but because he did it in a place where a lot of people gathered and was eventually caught by other nobles.

 

“It’s fortunate that he was a boy your age, but be careful from now on. If something like this spreads out, It’s not good for our family’s image!”

 

“Elaine is a problem too. How on earth did you have to make a fuss there to be noticed by others? I don’t like it anyway.”

 

L’Arch was sick to his stomach when he saw his mother give complaints with the same content he had initially blamed Elaine for.

 

He thought he was different from his parents, but it was ridiculously similar to shoot an arrow at an easy victim.

 

“Mother, Father. I’ve been keeping my mouth shut until now, but you can’t exonerate these guys like that.”

 

“What are you talking about, L’Arch?”

 

“Every time these guys harass Elaine, you just blame Elaine for their fault, so these guys have a bad habit. That’s why they did this without knowing what to do even in the presence of other people’s eyes.”

 

L’Arch’s normally dry face was full of displeasure.

 

“What’s the point of hating Elaine? If you raise her well, she will benefit our family.”

 

“That’s because you don’t know yet. Do you know how much we were humiliated because of her?”

 

“It wasn’t Elaine’s fault, right? Mothers and fathers, please do not respond emotionally any more.”

 

“L’Arch!”

 

“Elaine is my property I will use, so I mean, don’t hurt it.”

 

At that moment, it was as if a terrifying feeling ran down Rubaine’s spine.

 

The possessiveness that L’Arch is showing now doesn’t seem very different from what he felt for Mariel.

 

“What do you mean, Elaine is your property, Lark?”

 

“I’ve always thought so. Mariel is nothing more than the property that my grandfather gave to father.”

 

The countess’ face stiffened at the mention of Mariel’s name.

 

L’Arch noticed his mother’s feelings, but pretended not to know.

 

“Then, shouldn’t Elaine, whom Mariel gave birth to, be my property? And unlike my father, I intend to put Elaine to great use.”

 

L’Arch, who tilted his head slightly and arrogantly glared at his eyes, could hardly be regarded as a new adult.

 

And while L’Arch was talking about Elaine as if it were a simple property, Rubaine realized that a dangerous desire lurked behind that layer.

 

The moment he saw Mariel for the first time, he thought, ‘That’s mine’.

That possessive desire was the beginning of all ruin.

 

He lost Mariel, suffered ridicule from society, started a feud with his wife, and lost his heirloom, the dragon stone.

 

‘I can’t just leave it alone. If L’Arch ends up like me… !’ 

 

Unlike Rubaine, L’Arch had to be a flawless, perfect successor. He has been raised that way, and L’Arch has also grown up to meet and exceed his parents’ expectations.

 

It should not have been tainted by the stain of Elaine.

 

* * * 

 

[Did you have a good trip to the damn temple?] 

 

As soon as Elaine entered the attic with her exhausted body, Rabes, who was waiting for her, asked.

 

It was only when she saw the strange being tilting his little head that Elaine felt at ease.

 

“There have been some accidents.”

 

[accident?] 

 

“I thought Martin had prepared something, but now he played a very mean prank on me.”

 

Elaine slumped back on the bed and told him about her imprisonment in the morgue.

 

In her previous life, she had to be alone even if there was an unfair thing, but now that she could confide in Rabes, she felt much better.

 

But when Rabes heard that, he ran wild as if he was about to spit out fire.

 

[Those naughty guys! That’s why I told you to kill them all!] 

 

“When I’m trapped in it, I have all sorts of thoughts. If I had been able to borrow Lord Rabes’s power, I might have done something really big.”

 

[ah…!You tried to borrow my power.]

 

“Yes. On the subject of not using Lord Rabes’s power without permission, you know that’s the first thing I can think of since I’m in a hurry? even though I failed because I was inside the temple.”

 

Rabes’ tail quickly dropped when he heard that she couldn’t borrow his power even though she had memorized the ‘Rekuro’ spell.

 

[The temple is surrounded by several layers of divine power.…] 

 

“It was too late for me to come up with that idea. The reason you asked me to find something in the temple was because you couldn’t enter the temple, right?”

 

[To be precise, it’s okay to go in, but I can’t use great power there. No, I can use it if I want to, but it comes with a lot of pressure.] 

 

Rabes scratched his cheeks sheepishly, then suddenly looked up, adding.

 

[Ah, light magic like making my body invisible to others is okay! When you enter the church, I will follow you, so don’t worry too much.] 

 

Elaine’s heart was warmed by Rabes’ willingness to follow her.

 

‘He said that I couldn’t use his magic much in the temple, but it was clear that just having Rabes by my side would give me great strength.’

 

* * *