The Villainess Does Not Reflect! - Chapter 46

It was the next morning when Gilbert-sama told me in a troubled tone that someone seemed to have entered the lost forest. I listened to this in a daze, rubbing my eyes on my bed.

My body was a little heavy, probably because I was under the influence of magic for a long time last night.

A thorny vine extended from the imprint of my palm and circled my wrist like a wedge. The glowing red colour was somehow ominous, yet  it made me feel sacred.

“The forest is vast, isn’t it?”

“Because of the barrier that surrounds it, I can feel something like a fluctuation in the magic power but this is…”

I peeked at Gilbert-sama, who was raising his upper body on the bed and wrinkling his eyebrows

“I feel the presence of the king. It seems that… Evandia King has come for you, Lydith.”

The current King of Evandia is Sariel Evandia, Rafael-sama’s father.

He is a mild-mannered man of few words, who leaves most of the politics to Prime Minister Willis Amber, and has only recently been seen on ceremonial occasions. It is said that since the queen died of illness about three years ago he has since lost his energy.

I don’t think Rafael-sama seemed too depressed. We attended the funeral together, but he seemed a little lonely and said, “It’s no use, I’ve been down for a while now.”

I remember him smiling at me and saying, “Since I have Lydith to take care of me, I’ll be fine.”

At that time, I had no idea that Rafael-sama would turn his heart towards anyone other than me.

Still, it is hard to believe that King Sariel would voluntarily enter the Lost Forest.

He is old and I have the strong impression that he is a conservative person.

If so, he may have already handed over the throne to Rafael. In any case, it was decided that Raphael-sama would ascend to the throne after he graduated from the Royal Academy and after he officially entered into marriage with me.

Since that was only a few years earlier, it is perhaps not so surprising.

“What is so special about being King?”

“The Royal family of Evandia, together with the goddess Elvisa and the King of our race, Heinzolde, were created by the gods. It is also because of the power of the royal family that we lost the great war in the past.”

“The power of the royal family…”

“It is also called the power of sealing. The King of Humans, the legitimate son of the Royal family, has the power to extinguish our magical power. In other words, if you enter the Lost Forest with the king himself, you can get through the forest without the wards being of any use. No one has ever been that clever before.”

I had never heard of such a thing. Rafael and Orcis of the Amber family must have known about it. Perhaps also Cynthia-san, the vessel of the Goddess.

Gilbert-sama grabbed my wrist and pulled me close, then dropped his lips to the thorny wedge.

“Lydith… I will not give you to Evandia.

“I have decided to give myself to you. I will not leave your side, no matter what Rafael-sama feelings are.”

“…You might want to leave when you see his face.”

“You love me so much that you are worried about that, right?”

Gilbert-sama had said dissatisfiedly, so I hugged his head and stroked his hair.

I’m not treacherous enough to change my mind after coming this far, but Gilbert-sama didn’t know the real reason why I left Rafael-sama, so I could not help but feel uneasy.

Gilbert-sama likes to spoil me, but he also likes to be spoiled by me, and he doesn’t mind when I stroke his head or hug him.

For a while, I thought about Raphael-sama while enjoying the feel of his hair.

It was hard to imagine that Rafael-sama set his foot in the lost forest in pursuit of me, without any destination in mind.

It’s been a long time since he acted out of passion, and Rafael must have been aware of his role as heir to the Evandia Royal family.

If Rafael were to leave, the Royal family would collapse, so if he tried to act recklessly, Orcis would stop him.

If there were any chance of winning, perhaps, surely, he would have brought the vessel of the goddess, Cynthia-san.

In that case, Gilbert-sama reaction is not very strong.

If he can recognise the presence of King Evandia, he should be able to recognise Cynthia, who has the soul of Lady Elvisa.

“Connecting the world. It was something I was going to have to face one of these days anyway if I was going to give you what you wanted…It’s a good opportunity, and if they are coming over, I’ll give them a polite welcome”

Gilbertol-sama said, staring at me as I move my body away from him.

His strong-willed eyes were full of confidence, shining like they are on fire.

“Okay. Gilbert-sama… Please don’t let me go.”

The bad premonition that suddenly came over me was probably because I remembered a memory from the past.

Whether it was school life, evening parties, or school ceremonies, Cynthia-san was always next to Rafael-sama, who was always there to protect her. I didn’t understand at the time, but if Rafael-sama also believed, like Orcis, that I had committed the unremembered crime of abusing Cynthia-san, then I can understand that he kept Cynthia-san by his side as if to protect her from me.

I, who oppressed Cynthia-san in the shadows while openly talking to her and giving her opinions in the open, would have been like a rare evil woman.

Of course, I didn’t do anything to mistreat Cynthia secretly in the shadows, but if everyone believes it, it becomes the truth.

I wonder if this time Rafael-sama hasn’t lost his heart to Cynthia-san.

I have heard that the further one leaves, the more one wants to chase after them.

Maybe he’s only eager because I tried to leave him.

“Liddy.”

When I thought I heard a low, sweet voice call my name, my body was pinned to the bed. A hot tongue parted my lips and enters from the space between our gently touching lips. My breathing was laboured by the end of the long, intense kiss, as if everything was being taken away from me. I was exhausted on the bed, gasping for air.

Gilbert-sama’s fingertips wiped away my overflowing tears.

“I won’t ask you what happened anymore, but if you came here to escape from Evandia, you must be scared. Take it easy, just wait in your room.”

That’s not why so I shook my head.

When I asked to join him, he laughed and nodded.

Gilbert-sama said he would talk to Ria and Astaroth and got ready, he left the room, and Mercuris came in instead

She helped me get dressed and groomed my hair, saying anxiously, “Things look different in the Castle.”

Fearfully touching my left hand as I changed into my black and deep red dress, Mercris lovingly stroked the thorny wedge that clung to my wrist.

“Oh, how awful… Liddy, does it hurt?”

“No, it’s nothing special.”

“If we were exposed to this much of the King’s magic, we would surely lose our minds. I wonder if it’s necessary to go this far… Master Gilbert probably wants to turn Liddy-chan into a demon.”

“Can a Human become a demon?”

I tilted my head and wondered if it was possible.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know, but I had a feeling that it was possible. Because I can feel a strong magic power from your body right now.”

I looked intently at the imprint on the back of my hand, but I couldn’t understand it at all. I tried to focus my attention as much as possible, thinking that maybe I wasn’t concentrating enough, but there was just a pattern and nothing more happened.

At the urging of Mercuris, who told me that Gilbert-sama had told her not to let me leave my room, I had a simple breakfast in my room and then sat down in a chair to talk about other things over a cup of tea.

Mercuris wanted to know what kind of dress was popular in my country, and asked me about various kinds of tea, confectioneries and many other things.

It wasn’t until a while later that Ria came calling me.

“Lydith-san, come with me.”

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