Saving The Villainous Monster From The Male Lead-Chapter 20 - 19: A Night With The Villain

Eleanore turned her gaze to her left, where a huge single bed was prepared for her, it looked very comfortable and from nowhere looked like a couch.

"I was surprised when you didn’t come yesterday. Turns out you are truly trying to get over me, but it looks like you can’t get over that night." He said, raising his head up after, reading the last word on the document he was holding. On seeing her standing at the foot of the door, he brought together his eyebrows, puzzled by this action.

"I understand that you want to get over this, however I feel you should give yourself some time."

"Why are you suddenly being so—- nice?" Eleanore only wanted to say that to herself but somehow she had said it out loud. She immediately realized that she had made a mistake from the puzzled look that Caelestis flashed at her.

"I— I mean, thanks." Eleanore tried to end her conversation as she advanced to the bed called couch, by the grand duke, to lay down and finally grab some sleep.

Her eyes, however, got locked at the ceiling that was very high, unlike the ceiling of her third floor bedroom. It had amazing, colorful carvings of stone instead of marble, not just the ceiling but the whole room seemed to have been made from wood and stone.

When after minutes she couldn’t get any hint of sleep she turned over facing Caelestis and while it might seem like she was looking at him. She was actually looking towards the window behind him, and the dancing red curtains that matched the color of her iris.

After a few minutes, however, she realized that her mind was far from quiet. Her thoughts drifted back to her new task, finding clues, to find the baroness. Where could Stella be?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange question, shot her way.

"If you keep staring at me, then I won’t be able to concentrate on my work, Lady Eleanore." Caelestis said feeling awkward, thinking Eleanore was checking him out. He said it without even batting an eye on her, missing out her extremely surprised and nasty expression.

"But I wasn’t looking at you." Eleanore said. "The curtain grabbed my attention, it has the same color as my eyes." When she finished, a chuckle left her mouth.

"Did I— Perhaps, make you uneasy, Grand Duke?" She added, teasing him.

He ignored her question.

Eleanore turns over to look back at the ceiling. "Do you like assuming that I am looking at you?" This made him unknowingly shift his attention to Eleanore from his records that he was hardly reading since the last few seconds. Ever Since she entered the room.

"Turns out you really loved the attention I used to give you." She turned her face to look at his blank expression, wearing a sweet smile that Caelestis had never seen, making his cheeks flushed up.

"Nonsense, I — I — absolutely despised that behavior of yours." He stammered, clearing his throat before uttering anything else. "I deeply apologize for misunderstanding your actions right now."

"Ha! So the great Grand Duke Lancaster can also have an awkward moment." She continued smiling while moving her gaze back to the ceiling. "How funny is that? Looks like you like this behavior more than that madness I had been portraying up till now." She chuckled a little. "Should I change my ways?’

"Do you not want to sleep or not , My Lady? If you want to crack jokes here, you might as well leave this study, right away, instead of bothering me." He said in a harsh voice, which seemed forced.

Immediately, Eleanore shut her eyes and within seconds fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she found the morning brisk, falling on Caelestis’ jet-black hair, making them shine in a light brown color.

He had fallen asleep on the desk like always, unintentionally. Normally, he would return to his room connecting the study after he is done with work.

Eleanore got off her bed and walked towards him silently and carefully. He is indeed the most handsome man she has ever seen, more than Hael, who is supposedly the protagonist of this world.

’Why are the villains of these kinds of novels so handsome?’

A question no book lover could ever answer rose in her mind and yet here again, Eleanore was caught in a dilemma.

"How can I not fall for this man, whom I have adored all my life and give him to some other woman?" Eleanore whispered, feeling sad that she could never have her favorite character to herself and would have to try her best to make Stella fall for him instead.

"This is for the best. For all of us, I must let go. You must let go, Eleanore. Stop making my heart flutter at the sight of him. Damn it!" Eleanore cursed the original owner’s body, that kept reacting weirdly whenever she faced him. These feelings that do not belong to her, were confusing her. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’Are they even real? These feelings.’ She wondered.

Knowing very well that any wrong step would lead to her death, her heart still slipped for a moment. As her hands reached out to his face that was getting disturbed by the sheet under it.

She gently pulled it from below him and then arranged them a little away from him, giving him space to rest.

"I should stop now." Eleanore whispered again, turning around to leave the room, unaware that the one she had touched was completely awake from the moment she had started to approach him.

***

|| Chapter 2: The Shatter of Stella’s Pride

Caelestis felt like the only way left to have Stella by his side, went ahead and confined her in a secret room of the Lancaster Mansion. His intention is to shatter Stella’s Pride and hope, so that she has no one else to rely on. Once achieved, he would go ahead to marry her, leading to the downfall of Stella.

Quest 1: Find Baroness Stella

Task 2: Gather clues

Do you accept the task?

Yes/No

Note: Reward: + 1000 coins

Penalty: -1000 coins

Total Reputation: -200,000

Total Coins: +90,100 ||