This Villain Is Mine Now - Chapter 7

“It’s you again.”

“Yes, it’s me again.”

National Day, which marks the end of the social year, has arrived.

This year’s National Day ball was held in an outdoor ballroom. The winter weather was breathtakingly cold, with fluffy snowflakes flying.

Dressed in a light fur coat, Elaina looked like a fox with fluffy white fur. With a fresh face, Elaina said so without hiding the slightest hint of her dislike for Lyle Grant.

They were facing each other now, in front of the dance floor.

“I didn’t think you’d be so stupid as to not understand what I said.”

“I never said I didn’t understand. I wonder if you are so smart that you heard an answer I didn’t give, Your Grace.”

Lyle chuckled, amused at Elaina’s sarcasm at being called stupid.

“It’s not like you didn’t understand the warning.”

“Of course I understood what Your Grace said that day. How could I not when you spoke with such a terrifying expression on your face?”

“But?”

“Well, now that I think about it, Your Grace was right.”

She held out her hand to Lyle and raised an eyebrow.

“You said then that I’d be able to live with friendship and love and all that warm stuff, right? Like you said, I was lucky enough to come from a good family and have good parents and not have any trouble, so I’m using that power I have now.”

Elaina’s face took on a determined look as she said that.

“Ha.”

“You said Diane has no power, no? I’m going to be her power. I’m not going to stand by and watch her become unhappy between you and the Marquis.”

The music began to play. Elaina and Lyle moved gracefully to the music. Though he’d spent nearly a decade in the harshness of war, by the time he was fifteen, he’d received the best education in the Empire. The Archduke’s dancing was flawless, much to the chagrin of Elaina, who had previously criticized him for his clumsiness.

“I was a little frightened that day, but in retrospect, I realized I’d missed the obvious: Your Grace would never turn Duke Winchester into an enemy,” Elaina said, smiling knowingly.

“Thank you for reminding me of that.”

As their clasped hands tightened, Elaina stomped her long, pointed heel down hard on his foot.

“I realize you’re a strong man, Archduke, but you need to keep it in check when you’re dancing. Holding a lady’s hand so tightly is not appreciated.”

Grumbling, Elaina continued, “Anyway, what I was trying to say is that intimidation doesn’t work on me anymore, you know that.”

She’s right. Lyle could not turn Duke Winchester into an enemy.

Instead of responding to Elaina’s words, he stared at her quizzically.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Ah. I was wondering what the reason was.”

He genuinely couldn’t understand Elaina.

“The way you’re wrapped around her is so sweet, I thought you’d been friends since childhood, but that’s not the case. Why would you go to such lengths for someone you’ve only known for a few months?”

Lyle had ears, too, and he was familiar with the gossip that spreads in social circles.

“The things you like to talk about cause misunderstandings between you and me, and unlike me, who has nothing to be sorry for, you’re only going to get yourself in more trouble.”

This time Elaina’s mouth clamped shut.

He was right, Elaina and Lyle were the talk of the social scene these days.

Why?

Why on earth would the only daughter of the Duke of Winchester be interested in Lyle Grant, a man of little consequence, when all he has is the tenuous title of Archduke…….

Time and time again, Lyle tries to approach Diane, and Elaina stops him. After a few repetitions of the same scene, people began to speculate that these three are in some sort of love triangle.

Some say Elaina is too fond of her new friend, Diane, and doesn’t want Lyle to take her away from her.

Others say it’s not that, but that Elaina really likes Lyle. That Elaina’s infatuation with Lyle is getting in the way of Diane and Lyle’s relationship.

Still others say that Elaina has no interest in him at all, and that Lyle is deliberately using Diane to get Elaina’s attention.

Whatever the answer, they are all intriguing hypotheses.

“Take a look around you, lady. See how others look at you.”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace, but I’ve been the center of attention since I was born. I don’t mind rumors that will die down over time, but you seem to find them quite disturbing.”

Elaina chuckled. If you’re so bothered by the attention, you could have just given up on Diane.

“You said you wondered why I’d go to all this trouble for Diane. Have you ever heard the saying, you see as much as you know?” Elaina asked, taking Lyle’s hand and spinning around.

“Like you said then, I didn’t know the world Diane lives in or the world you’ve been through. But now I do know, and it’s only because I know that I see more of it.”

It’s one thing to be ignorant, but it’s quite another to know and pretend not to see.

“Diane is sure to be unhappy if she marries you, and I can’t pretend not to know that.”

Basically, Diane prides herself on living a good life without harming others. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t a remarkable person.

Before the Debutante, Elaina had never made the first move on Diane, merely giving her a passing glance when she didn’t fit in. Sometimes pathetically, sometimes uncomfortably.

After reading “Moonshadow” in her dream, her first feelings for Diane were simple curiosity and sympathy. Every time she saw her at a social event, she wondered if the seemingly glamorous Marquis’s daughter was really living such an unhappy life.

The moment she saw Lyle approaching Diane, she reflexively intervened, but not for Diane’s sake.

What if she let it happen and the book became a reality? She would feel guilty every time she heard about Diane’s unhappiness.

So, it wasn’t for Diane’s sake, it was for Elaina’s sake. Not for Diane’s happiness, but for Elaina Winchester to remain a good person.

But not now.

“Diane is a good person. She’s timid, but she doesn’t say things that hurt other people, and she doesn’t resent people who hurt her.”

I wonder if I would be able to laugh like Diane if I had to live with someone hating me every day from the moment I was born.

I don’t think I would have been able to smile as brightly as Diane. After everything in the book turned out to be true, Elaina felt a surge of anger when she thought of the Marquis and Marchioness.

It was almost admirable that Diane had grown so good after all the abuse she had endured.

“What would you do, Your Grace, if someone hated you and tried to hurt you?”

“I would kill them, in the most painful way possible.”

“I have to agree with you, Your Grace. You said I live in a world full of love, but I’m not so good as to forget my grudges, so I’ll take revenge in the most painful way possible, if not kill.”

Elaina paused for a moment, then spoke again.

“But Diane is different.”

Even if her blood father mistreats her.

Even if her non-blood mother hates her.

Even when her half-brothers look down on her and say she’s lowly blood.

Diane Redwood was so foolishly good that it didn’t even occur to her that she should hate them, but rather blame herself.

“I want Diane to be happy, because she’s a good person, a nice person.”

Elaina smiled. “In case you haven’t noticed since you’ve only been back in the capital, today is National Day, which means that all social events for the year are over, which also means that Your Grace will have no more opportunities to meet Diane.”

By the time the next social season rolls around, nobody will remember the love triangle that surrounds the three of them. That’s the way socialite rumors go.

“Hopefully, we can see each other next season with a fresher relationship.”

At her triumphant final words, Lyle relaxed, his eyes closing and opening lazily.

“Okay.”

“That’s it?”

Elaina frowned at the deceptively simple answer.