What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

“Hello, Saint Elaine. Did you successfully complete the relic blessing ceremony?”

 

“Yes, I had a valuable experience thanks to you. Thank you for caring for me.”

 

“You’re welcome. If anything happens, please come and tell me.”

 

“hahaha…I will try not to cause any trouble.”

 

Elaine forced a smile and ran away in front of Priest Raoul, whom she met again today.

 

After L’Arch introduced him, she had run into him as often as she had in her previous life.

 

He was pretending it was a coincidence, but now Elaine knows it wasn’t a coincidence.

 

“I don’t know how far his investigation is going. It’s creepy….”

 

[Should I blow that guy’s head off?] 

 

“A human head is not a grape. Please don’t tell me that.”

 

Elaine hurried back to the room, her shoulders shaking.

 

“Oh, Elaine!”

 

“Debbie! You came first?”

 

“Yeah. But Priest Lehman came to visit you earlier. I think someone is coming to visit you in the afternoon?”

 

Debbie handed Elaine a note left by Priest Lehman, who was in charge of the congregation’s life.

 

「Dear Saint Elaine Newt. 

You have a visitation scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today. 

Please be on the first floor of the temple, Room 3, by 2:50. 

 

– Priest Lehman.」 

 

Even as she looked at the neatly written note, Elaine’s brows furrowed.

 

‘Who’s coming for me? no way…’ 

 

Rabes also immediately frowned as he read the note from Elaine’s shoulder.

 

[Hey, this…Isn’t that him?] 

 

He can now roughly guess who it is. No, there was only one person left to come visit Elaine.

 

Elaine hid her reluctant feelings and thanked Debbie.

 

She spent the rest of the time chatting and laughing with Debbie, but her anxiety didn’t go away.

 

She encountered the reality of anxiety in the visitation room on the first floor, which she visited on time.

 

“It’s been a while, Elaine.”

 

“L’Arch…”

 

Now she had no choice but to admit it.

 

L’Arch was the same person as in her previous life, but he completely changed his attitude toward Elaine. To the point of being burdensome.

 

Rabes, who saw L’Arch’s calm face, was pouring out all sorts of complaints next to Elaine, but fortunately, Elaine was a little more calm than Rabes.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“You are asking the obvious. I came to check how you are doing. You don’t send any letters home, so I have no choice but to come and see you in person.”

 

“You really expected a letter from me?”

 

“Because letters are a very common way to say hello.”

 

Elaine laughed out loud at L’Arch’s attitude, which seemed to be becoming more shameless by the day.

 

[Hey, is he always like that?] 

 

Rabes was equally surprised by L’Arch’s sudden change in attitude.

 

Whether Elaine and Rabes were surprised or not, Lark stuck to his new line of “sweet cousin brother” behavior.

 

“I heard you were selected as one with excellent grades and had the honor of being the first to see the sacred relics of Pavelo Temple? That’s amazing, Elaine. I’m proud of you.”

 

“I think you already know too much, considering you came to check on my well-being.”

 

“I know very well what happened to you. What I wanted to know was what you’re thinking these days and what concerns you have.”

 

L’Arch smiled leisurely as he took a sip of the tea in front of her. It seemed like he had no intention of hiding the fact that he had kept an eye on Elaine.

 

“Honestly, when I heard that a monster was encountered in Paddleton Forest, I thought I might hear from you, but you never did…”

 

He even secretly criticized Elaine for not contacting him directly.

 

“I don’t think that’s something you should be saying to me, since you knew about the incident and didn’t contact me.”

 

“I guess you were waiting for my call.”

 

“No, I wasn’t. It would be more accurate to say I didn’t expect it.”

 

Despite Elaine’s stiff attitude, L’Arch laughed as if it was fun.

 

“I guess my cousin was very upset. To ease those feelings, I chose to help in the investigation into the monster incident.”

 

“investigation? Are you trying to figure out who was behind it?”

 

“yes. I received a somewhat absurd report.…”

 

“A report that the person behind it is your fiance?”

 

L’Arch raised his eyebrows as if surprised by those words, but then nodded.

 

“Well, you said you encountered a monster with your roommate, right? I guess you heard everything from your roommate.”

 

“Yeah. But why on earth did she do such a crazy thing?”

 

Then L’Arch chuckled, tilted his head slightly, and asked Elaine.

 

“Why do you think Lorina did such a thing?”

 

There was a hint of seduction in his voice.

 

Elaine felt even more uncomfortable and frowned.

 

“How do I know that?”

 

“Think about it carefully, Elaine. Why on earth does the daughter of Count Dardil, who has everything, hate you so much that she wants to kill you? It means you have something that Lorina doesn’t have.”

 

“What Lorina doesn’t have? Conscience? Morality? Or Sanity? I don’t know what the hell is. The truth is, I don’t care whether she hates me or not.”

 

Seeing Elaine blatantly ignoring L’Arch’s efforts, L’Arch seemed offended for a moment but soon returned to a calm expression.

 

“Okay, whatever.… You may not know it yet. In any case, it seems that the matter will be treated as a simple accident due to the involvement of the Count Dardil family, but I have warned her about it.”

 

After listening to L’Arch’s story and thinking about it, Elaine realized that Lorina had been quiet recently.

 

‘I thought she just decided to ignore me, but she was being careful because of L’Arch?’

 

Elaine laughed helplessly. She couldn’t believe that Lorina, who hadn’t changed despite Elaine’s strong words and warnings, had changed with just one word from L’Arch.

 

Elaine felt embarrassed because she felt like she was seeing herself from her previous life in Lorina.

 

In her previous life, Elaine was also terrified by L’Arch’s every word or look.

 

‘Even though it was a one-sided love that I could never confess, I wondered why I was so anxious about not being liked by L’Arch.’

 

Thinking about it now, she was extremely embarrassed.

 

“Hah…I hope that harsh warning works for a long time. If possible, until the day I leave the temple.”

 

Elaine sarcastically said that. She thought that L’Arch, who gave a harsh warning, and Lorina, who gave up on the warning, were the same, but L’Arch looked completely unharmed.

 

“Leaving the temple won’t be that far in the future, so wouldn’t it be possible?”

 

“huh? What do you mean…?”

 

“Next year, you will make your debut in the social world, and eighteen or nineteen is the age when you can start talking about marriage.”

 

The mention of ‘marriage’ sent a chill down Elaine’s spine.

 

“W-what do you mean?”

 

“You don’t want to stay at the temple for a long time, do you? Of course, it is not easy to find a mate quickly, but I want to find you a decent family as quickly as possible—”

 

“No, no, wait! Are you saying you’re going to get me married before I’m even an adult?”

 

L’Arch chuckled at the sight of Elaine looking at him with surprised bunny eyes.

 

“It’s something you’ll have to do someday, and the sooner the better, right?”

 

“What’s so good about that?”

 

“I guess you’re scared because you’re still young, but the younger a woman is, the more advantageous she is.”

 

“So why is it an advantage for me? it’s an advantage for you and uncle!”

 

Elaine gritted her teeth as she remembered Rubaine from her previous life, who had tried to sell her as the concubine of an old nobleman.

 

‘The sooner the better? The younger you are, the better? It was all about selling, not about marriage.’

 

When Elaine looked like she was going to explode with anger again, L’Arch took a step back. However, even that did not consider Elaine’s position.

 

“If you don’t want to, well, you can postpone it. But I hope you will soon realize that it all depends on my decision.”

 

It was a clear threat. A threat to tell you to listen obediently because you are the one who needs to be seen well.

 

[At this point, is it okay to explode that guy’s head? Can you endure more?] 

 

Rabes, who had been silent until now, seemed to be growing more angry, and his tail, which had accumulated magical power, was waving menacingly.

 

She was tempted to yell at Rabes, ‘Blow it up!’, but Elaine was a 26-year-old with an educated mind, so she held back her anger.

 

And instead of blowing L’Arch’s head, she chose to directly refute his bullshit.

 

“I hope you slowly realize that I am not your property. I am not your sister. I’m only related to you by blood.”

 

“So? What can you do if you don’t rely on me or my father?”

 

“I have no intention of keeping the last name Newt.”

 

Then, L’Arch’s eyes, which had been relaxed and calm until now, suddenly became sharp.

 

“Elaine Newt. I’ve told you before, don’t you dare say such things.”

 

“L’Arch Newt, be careful! don’t talk to me as if I owe you some kind of favor for shackling me with the shackles of Newt Because I feel dirty.”

 

Elaine scrambled to her feet, not wanting to face L’Arch anymore.

 

L’Arch grabbed Elaine’s wrist and spoke in a low voice.

 

“Are you crazy? Why on earth have you changed like this?”

 

Elaine was sick of his absurd attitude. She gritted her teeth and almost laughing.

 

“Before I left the mansion and entered the temple, I tried quite hard to find hope in the people who were my flesh and blood. And I failed.”

 

L’Arch stiffened at the sight of Elaine smiling coldly.

 

“Would you risk your fate in a place where there is no hope?”

 

Elaine shook off L’Arch’s loosened hand. She felt refreshed inside as she felt like she had thrown off the shackles.

 

“Go back carefully. And I hope you don’t come to visit me in the future. I will take care of myself just like I did until now.”

 

With those words, Elaine left the visiting room with Rabes.

 

Rabes kept looking back as if he was angry that he couldn’t blow up L’Arch’s head, but Elaine never looked back.

 

* * *