I will not die a Villainess's death

To say that Eve was pissed off would be an underestimation of the century. How dare that little kid say all that bad things about Elysia without even knowing her?

It was not that upsetting to know that the kid didn't like Elysia because he knew her personally and found fault with her behavior. It was upsetting to know that the kid didn't like Elysia because of something he 'read'.

The kid, Enma, might believe that Eve's world was a novel with a 'fixed' ending but Eve refused to believe so.

Because if that was it then Eve was going to lose it and end everything herself. No fate was going to decide who Eve did and did not end up with.

Under the sun with the rays of light shining over her head, Elydis looked like an angel. Her black hair was matted dirty and her dress had spots of dirt on it as well.

But her eyes still had their radiant shine and her arms still looked inviting.

"ELYSIAAAAA. I MISSED YOU."

It took everything in Eve to not do anything inappropriate to Elysia but she could still not hold back her feelings of wanting to express herself fully. Elysia's lips felt soft and inviting under her own.

And they also responded shily to Eve's searching tongue. For the first time, Elysia was kissing her back and it felt fulfilling to have her love returned in such a way.

And then that moment had to be broken by a pair of hands separating Eve's lips from Elysia's.

"Alright, that's enough. We will have plenty of time to do this once we return home."

Adam looked jealous of her interaction with Elysia. Eve could see how much visible effort it took for Adam to not shove her outright as he pulled her arm.

'Sheesh, he could afford to put a little less effort into snapping my arm. I bet my arm will bruise where he is holding on to me.'

Eve was in pain but even that could not stop her from clinging to Elysia. And the best part about it all was that Elysia was not even pushing her away right now.

She finally had Elysia in her arms and that was all that mattered at that moment.

"Wow, someone is jealous of me. Adam, you were alone with Elysia for so long and you didn't do anything? How unfortunate that you didn't manage to make any progress with her."

Adam looked red in the face but he stared Eve right down.

"Progress? I am the reason Elysia is not pushing you away right now. And don't *you* dare tell me anything about progress. You were with her for over ten years but never managed to convey your emotions to her. You don't get to-"

"But that was in the past and-"

"Pffhahahah"

The pair stopped as soon as they heard Elysia's laughter. The girl hardly ever laughed like that so every joyous sound was a miracle to hear. It stopped the argument from happening in front of her in an instant.

Both Adam and Eve had soft smiles on their faces as they watched Elysia trying to control herself and failing.

The soft atmosphere helped everyone relax but it could not last forever. It was disturbed by the earth quaking and both Eve and Elysia lost their balance.

They fell back at the same time and Eve felt Elysia hold her closer as if to protect Eve from the pain of the impact.

Which never came since Adam managed to make Elysia land on his chest with Eve on top of her. Elysia was as good as sandwiched in between them both.

"Be more careful", "Look after yourself."

Twin voices scolded Elysia who looked to be in a daze before realizing what had happened and then she went red in the face.

"Sorry, I reached out by instinct. I hope you did not get hurt and—Adam, get up. Your wounds, we need to get your wounds treated."

"I am alright. My wound healed a long time ago."

Adam said that but Eve could see the hint of red on his back. It seemed like Adam's wound had reopened and he would need a lot of help getting it stitched back up.

There was also a chance that it could get infected and leave Adam out of commission for good. And normally Eve would have welcomed it, but not right now.

"Move over and let me see. Just so you know, I am doing this so that you don't worry Elysia, and not because I want you to be alright. You better be grateful to me later on and let me have my sweet time with Elysia."

"No need to treat me. I told you I am alright – hey, don't touch me so freely."

The pair bickered but there was no animosity in their fight. It almost felt like seeing a pair of siblings duking it out.

Most of the people in the vicinity were used to seeing this side of the pair so they didn't even bat an eyelash.

All except the new face who looked gobsmacked at the display happening in front of his eyes.

"I would have never believed that they had this kind of relationship had I not seen it with my own eyes. I guess there was some truth to what you all were telling me about. I will try to keep an open mind from now on."

The kid whom they had picked up on the way here looked uncomfortable but he could also not keep his eyes away from the trio.

More specifically, from the smiling face of Elysia. Eve quickly positioned herself in a way that hid Elysia's body behind her own.

And it was not difficult to do either since Elysia was shorter than her in height.

"Alright, enough paying around. I checked out the reactor and it is ready to operate. But we will need to power it up so that we can finally go home. But this upcoming year will be difficult to deal with since we don't have the sacrifice with us."

Lord Dirac finally entered back into the room. Eve had not even seen him leave but his hard expression said that everything was under control.

"Ah, about that. I found this Crystal core in the area where the main power crystal was. Isn't this the real power source behind the sacrificial animal that is brought forth by the Holy Chalice?"

Elysia's hand did have a crystal and a diary which had gone noticed all this time.

It was beyond suspicious for this crystal to have ended up in this desolated world without magic but it was what it was.

With this in their hand, they had successfully managed to procure their objective and now they needed to return.

"Elysia, we will talk about the dangers of handling unknown objects once we reach home. And we will have a talk about it soon."

Elysia flinched at hearing those words but that talk would have to wait.

Before that, Eve had a few words she needed to have with both Elysia and Adam.