When The Male Lead's Obsession Turns To The Villianess

 

Chapter 8

 

Elysia, let’s go out. A heavy stillness settled around Eden again.

 

The cold sensation he felt in his hazy mind enveloped Eden’s entire body as he became sober.

 

Eden disliked the emptiness and silence he felt in his foggy consciousness.

 

It was the same even when his mind cleared.

 

In fact, as his mind became clearer, the silence became more poignant, and fear grew.

 

With no memory and unable to engage in thought, Eden breathed and blinked his eyes.

 

He found the situation terrifying, with nothing to do and nothing he wanted to do.

 

“What should I do?”

 

He simply wanted to wait.

 

For the moment when the sun sets, and Elysia reappears to fill the empty surroundings.

 

So Eden sat still, waiting for time to pass.

 

How many hours had passed?

 

“Bed. Blanket. Fireplace. Picture frame.”

 

In the end, he passed the time muttering the names of the furniture in the room.

 

Those were the only pieces of knowledge he had.

 

 

“Elysia.”

 

 

Occasionally, he murmured her name.

 

“Elysia Partin. But she doesn’t like being called Partin.”

 

He replayed their conversations several times in his mind.

 

“Elysia. Elysia.”

 

Other than this, there was nothing else for Eden to do here.

 

Originally, Elysia had a set schedule. Countless classes and endless tasks to attend to throughout the week.

 

Elysia’s routine involved holding onto all of these for an entire week.

 

Whenever there was a scheduled break or occasionally when time unexpectedly freed up, Elysia always spent it with Ariel without fail.

 

However, due to the sudden appearance of Eden, Elysia had to slightly adjust her daily routine.

 

Of course, since it was a decision she made herself, it wasn’t particularly bothersome or inconvenient.

 

But she couldn’t help feeling tired.

 

Just by looking at Elysia’s face as she put down her pen with a thud, you could tell how exhausted she was.

 

Having met Eden, she had to finish her studies earlier than usual, cramming them in during the early morning and now.

 

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

 

Elysia rose from her seat, her hand that had been holding the pen pressing against her stiffened eyes.

 

It was time to have dinner with Ariel.

 

 

“Ariel, even if you don’t want to eat, try one or two.”

 

 

Ariel was about to enter adolescence soon. So, Elysia thought she should try to minimize nagging as much as possible.

 

But seeing Ariel secretly picking out broccoli while sneakily looking at her, Elysia couldn’t help but pour out her habitual nagging.

 

“…It’s not tasty…”

 

Though she stopped poking at it with her fork, Ariel still responded with a reluctant tone, as if she had no intention of putting it in her mouth.

 

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

 

“……”

 

“Just try one, and if you still don’t want it, I’ll eat it.”

 

Even among family members here, offering or giving away food was considered impolite. Even without learning it in etiquette classes, it was a common courtesy that everyone naturally followed due to hygienic reasons.

 

However, Elysia often ended up eating the food Ariel rejected. To her, the food left by Ariel could never be considered food waste.

 

“Eugh! No, it’s gross!”

 

Ariel, closing her eyes tightly, shoved the broccoli into her mouth after Elysia’s persuasion, only to shiver in disgust.

 

What am I going to do with her?

 

Watching Ariel express her reluctance with her small hand covering her mouth, Elysia couldn’t help but push her plate towards her.

 

It was a signal for Ariel to pick out from her plate.

 

As if waiting for this, Ariel picked out the broccoli onto Elysia’s plate.

 

“If the chef were here, he would have been really hurt, wouldn’t he?”

 

The chef also subtly wanted to fix Ariel’s picky eating habits, so he would have felt even worse.

 

To Elysia, it seemed like some sort of battle of pride.

 

“But what if it doesn’t suit my taste buds?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

As Elysia silently listened to Ariel’s adorable tantrum, she suddenly called the nearest maid.

 

The maid, suddenly singled out, hesitated as she approached Elysia.

 

‘She’s not going to call the chef and scold him, is she?’

 

The maid was filled with dread.

 

“Go to the chef and tell him.”

 

Elysia’s face, with her cheek firmly clenched, was too hard to believe it belonged to a child.

 

‘Oh, am I getting fired starting from today?’

 

It would have been better if she had asked to call the chef.

 

As a fellow employee, it was too cruel to go and tell the chef not to come from tomorrow onwards.

 

“Ask him to cut some fruits into bite-sized pieces.”

 

“Yes?”

Elysia was usually expressionless when dealing with servants. So, it wasn’t like she was particularly angry about something right now.

 

After finishing the meal, Elysia felt a little awkward because of her cute younger sister, Ariel, following behind her.

 

Instead of going back to her room after the meal, Ariel followed Elysia right away.

 

With the worry that Ariel might follow her all the way, Elysia eventually spoke first.

 

“Ariel?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Why are you following me?

 

She didn’t say those words out loud because she could roughly guess why Ariel was following her.

 

“Are you wanting to have dessert with me?”

 

Are you trying to play with me?

 

Unable to hide her anticipation with her clear eyes, Ariel, Elysia subtly averted her gaze.

 

Days when Elysia asked the chef for something usually meant spending time with Ariel.

 

So, naturally, Ariel thought Elysia was going to play with her.

 

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

 

“Ah… Today it’s not like that….”

 

Because she had unintentionally rejected Ariel’s requests several times since Eden arrived, it wasn’t easy to reject her again this time.

 

When she hesitated, only her lips moved, and then Eden, who was probably sulking alone in the annex, came to mind.

 

A brief moment of remorse passed through Elysia’s determined face.

 

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

 

Once again using work as an excuse, Ariel’s eyebrows lowered.

 

As Elysia asked Ariel to understand, Ariel clearly showed her disappointment.

 

Not knowing this, Elysia tried to soothe Ariel with a gentle tone, sweating coldly.

 

But Ariel, who was already hurt inside, opened her mouth roughly.

 

“I feel like you’ve been neglecting me lately.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Trying her best to comfort Ariel, Elysia abruptly closed her mouth.

 

Elysia also felt that the time spent with Ariel recently had decreased compared to usual, so she couldn’t deny it.

 

Seeing Elysia frozen without finding anything to say, Ariel quickly changed the subject.

 

 

“No… I know you’re busy, sis….”

 

The slight scratching of her cheeks seemed to be enough to prick Elysia’s conscience.

 

Not content with that, Ariel turned back with a sly smile.

 

“So, will you have lunch with me tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll definitely do that.”

 

To anyone else watching, it might have seemed ridiculous how they were creating such a solemn atmosphere, but for Elysia and Ariel, it was a very important moment.

 

Elysia nodded vigorously, even though she knew Arielle couldn’t see her.

 

“Sorry. It’s all for us to survive.”

 

Clutching the fruit basket tightly with both hands, Elysia murmured inwardly.

 

She thought she was doing her best to make sure Ariel didn’t feel lonely.

 

She seemed to have overestimated her efforts.

 

Ariel had been pitifully neglected, just like her mother in the original story.

 

With a father who was blinded by Meldeon’s legacy and neglected to take responsibility for the child he brought into the world, and a sister who constantly tormented her like a lamb desperate to escape her grasp.

 

If it weren’t for becoming “Elysia” herself, Ariel  would have lived with such a gloomy expression that she could have died soon, just like in the original.

 

Even at the gallows of Elysia, she was a pitiful and kind child who begged for forgiveness for their sins at the moment her family was falling apart.

 

That was perhaps the only silver lining in her misfortune.

 

Unlike in the original, Arielle didn’t strive to gain recognition from Duke Partin.

 

In fact, she disliked Duke Partin as much as Elysia did. It was the first change Elysia made to the original story.

 

 

Therefore, Elysia was confident that she was giving Ariel as much love as she needed.

 

After all, her body was the same as Ariel’s.

 

“Did you really come?”

 

Looking at Elysia, who came with a basket of food despite being a weakling during the day, Lizbeth whispered with an admiring look on her face.

 

Even a small voice seemed loud in the dead of night.

 

Elysia casually nodded her head as if it were obvious.

 

“Isn’t it a bit too late for you to be awake?”

 

It seemed like a dark night on the surface, but it wasn’t actually very late.

 

Even so, considering the lack of anything to pass the time in the annex where there was no one of Eden’s age, she might have been asleep out of boredom.

 

“I’m not sure.”

 

Lizbeth, who didn’t know Eden’s sleep schedule even after finally waking up yesterday, gave a grumpy answer.

 

Her gaze was still fixed on the fruit basket Elysia was holding.

 

Lizbeth’s forehead gradually creased.