I will not die a Villainess's death
Chapter 23 23: An Apology Is Demanded

At first glance, there was nothing special about Kelvin town. No residual energy clung to its building and no citizens were out and about doing any harm.

It was as common a city as you could replace anywhere in the empire. It made one wonder why this place had been chosen as the place to be cursed.

The more Eluysia read about the case, the more she was sure that it could be nothing more than a curse.

'Dehydration' or in this case, 'being sucked the blood out of' could only happen if a vampire was involved. But such supernatural beings could not exist naturally.

There had to be a medium somewhere that was facilitating the conception of such creatures.

"Sora, let's head to the inn first and regroup with the temple's team. I am sure they will be able to brief us better about this issue."

Elysia was not sure if the temple would have more information available than the Dirac's soldiers but that was not Elysia's main objective in heading toward the temple's inn.

To be honest, Elysia could care less about the available information. All she needed to do was to wait for the next kill to happen and then take care of the enemy.

The main reason Elysia wanted to head toward the tower's inn was to meet Eve. It had been ages since Elysia had last seen Eve and the Head Preist's last letter had left Elysia worried about the red-head.

According to the Head Preist, Eve was refusing to eat more than one meal a day and it was causing her performance to suffer.

Elysia was not sure if it was due to her suffering from a disease or just because of stress. But Elysia needed to do something before this condition became fatal for Eve.

"Are you sure you want to do to the temple's inn? We came all the way here and you're heading straight to work?"

Since Sora was a kid, his childish words matched his tone. Elysia could see a real kid asking this question to her and it caused her to chuckle.

"I am quite sure. If you want to go out and explore, then you can go on your own. I will call you back if I need your help."

Elysia could see that Sora was getting bored. Moving around would do him some good.

"Nah, I will stick around for now. I still don't know what to make of these 'temple' people so I would rather not risk things going south."

"Nothing will go 'south'. I have lived in the temple my whole life and they are like family to me."

Elysia assured her familiar but she could tell that he would not bulge at her words. She had no other choice but to bring Lord Sorias along to the temple's inn.

For some reason, Elysia felt nervous to face Eve again. She had known Eve forever but this meeting felt different.

'Is it because I have a new identity now? I wonder how Eve would react to me now?'

The inn was visible as soon as Elysia turned the corner. She quickly approached the door and handed the Dirac insignia to the gatekeeper.

"I am from the Dirac house, here to join the investigation under the Duke's orders. Is the temple's investigation team still inside?"

Elysia tried not to sound off as she handed the insignia over. The man at the door didn't even spare her a polite greeting when he stared her down.

There was visible tension between Elysia and the guard before the guard let out a sneer.

"I've heard about you. What? The temple was not good enough for you that you had to run to the crazy duke? But maybe your kind should stick together. Anyway, go in."

The insult brushed off Elysia without even registering. She had heard such words too many times to even let them register on her radar.

But just because she did not care, did not mean no one else did.

Before the gatekeeper knew it, he was being held upside down and Lord Sorias'a stood in front of his face with a glare.

"I dare you to insult my master again. I will make sure to give you a slow and painful death as a result."

"A k-kid? Where did you come from?"

The guard seemed to unhear the warning he was getting from Lord Sorias. Instead, he turned his head toward Elysia in an attempt to mock her more.

"Really? A kid? I heard you got a familiar but a kid? How low will you falllllllllllll"

The guard did not finish his sentence before Lord Sorias's tightened his hold over his legs. Elysia could hear the sound of bones cracking and the guard let out a pained cry.

Elysia wanted to help the guard out but Lord Sorias's eyes warned her not to move. And Elysia did understand the message he was trying to send her.

'It is for Lord Dirac's honor. I cannot interfere.'

As much Elysia did not mind being ridiculed, she had forgotten an important fact. She was a Dirac as well. Any insult dealt to her was also an insult dealt to the Dirac name.

Lord Sorias likely acted on his own to defend her due to this connection. There was no other reason for him to act like this for her.

"Hey, what is going on? What is the matter here? H-Hey, let Joseph down."

The interaction did not go unnoticed. The temple's team arrived on the scene pretty quickly and most of them seemed shocked to see the display.

But Elysia's eyes were focused on Eve. The girl looked like she had lost weight and she even had dark circles under her eyes. It seemed like the case was taking its toll on her.

"Hey, who are you? Why are you treating Joseph like this? What gives you the right to do this to a temple's guard?"

The sister who stepped up was brave for doing so. Elysia had only seen her face before but she already knew this confrontation would reach the Head Preist's ears.

"I am just doing what I must. This guard tried to insult my master so I must punish him."

"Oh, and who is your oh-so-great master? I will talk with him myself and make sure you receive the punishment for hindering our work."

The sister was really stupid if she could not even see Lord Dirac's coat of arms on Sora's clothes. She would likely not live long.

"I will let Lord Dirac know what you think about me. I am sure he would be all too happy to hear from the temple as well."

As soon as Lord Dirac's name was dropped, everyone went quiet. The bold sister also went white with fear at the name of the fearsome duke.

The temple might have its influence and the royal family's support but they had nothing on Lord Dirac and his mystic powers. He was someone no one wanted to anger.

"I-I understand that you are angry but please let Joseph down. I am sure this is a misunderstanding. He would never insult Lord Dirac since he respects him so much."

Now that the mistake had been made, the sister tried to smooth over the situation. But nothing she could say would make the situation any better.

Lord Sorias was not in a mood to let the guard go.

"Let me handle this. My lord, I am sorry for the misunderstanding that happened but can you let our guard go? We still need him."

Lord Sorias looked toward the shining red-head that stood in front of him and he instantly knew who she was.

'Ah, she must be the chosen one of this world. Should I try and end her life now? Otherwise, she would be a problem for Elysia. She might even end up getting Elysia killed.'

"I don't want to let him go. This man might respect Lord Dirac but he doesn't respect him enough not to open his mouth and curse out his younger sister. Any insult made to my master is an insult made to me as well."

Lord Sorias's words caused everyone to quieten down. All eyes turned toward him and then toward Elysia who was still standing stiff behind him.

Elysia had not said anything yet but Lord Sorias could feel her intention to flee away.

"Elysia? What are you doing here?"

For the first time, the voice of the world's chosen one broke. Lord Sorias did not know what to think about this development but it did confirm that the hero and the villain of this world knew each other.

"I-Ah, I was assigned to this mission by Lord Dirac so I decided to join the temple to exchange information. But since Lord Dirac did not want me to go alone, he appointed Lord Sorias as my guard and familiar."

Everyone looked stunned to see Elysia. The sisters were eying the duo with contempt as well as hate while the hero had an unexplainable emotion in her eyes.

"I see."

That was all the chosen one said. The guard struggled in vain while the conversation took place and lord Sorias could see many people going pale.

"L-Lord Sorias, please let Joseph go. I will apologize in his stead for anything he did but please let him go."

The sister that had been brave enough to stand up to him begged. She looked white on the face and her eyes were filled with tears.

If this was a way for the sister to gain his sympathy, it was not working. The more she begged, the more she irritated Lord Sorias.

"If you want forgiveness then ask it if my master."

"I u-understand. I will send a message to Lord Dirac as soon as possible-"

"Wrong. My master is Elysia Dirac. Since the guard insulted her, the apology should be addressed to her as well."

Elysia wanted to stop Lord Sorias from making a mess of things. This was the kind of behavior Elysia had tried to avoid all her life. These actions were what the 'Elysia' in her vision was used to.

It was also what caused Elysia's end.

Elysia looked at the sister in front of her who looked unwilling to even entertain the idea of speaking with Elysia. The hate and contempt in her eyes were like sharp needles digging into Elysia.

She wanted to ask Lord Sorias to stop this at once but she could not. Lord Sorias's aura was agitated and triggering him could cause a bigger incident.

In the end, it was Eve who stepped up to rectify this situation.

"Lady Elysia, I apologize for any insult our staff from the temple might have issued you. I hope you will take my apology and let this matter go."

Lord Sorias looked toward Elysia for an answer and Elysia nodded toward him to let the guard go. She had already caused enough trouble for the temple.

"I accept your apology. I would also-"

"No, the fault lies with us so you don't need to apologies to us. Kindly come in so that we can talk our differences over tea. I will make sure no one else, not even the sister will be able to disturb us."

The sisters and others from the temple protested but Eve refused to hear them out.

Lord Sorias watched as Elysia had no other choice but to accept the hero's invitation. But there was a weird air around the duo which made Lord Sorias curious about their relationship.

But one thing was clear to Lord Sorias - things were about to get amusing around him.