So That You Don’t Become Tainted by Evil Again

Even before arriving at the Esfelt Duchy, Sylvia had sensed Kyle’s purpose.

She knew better than anyone that he wasn’t the type to easily grace social gatherings like this party.

Despite that, the fact that he attended suggested he had another purpose, and once she reached that conclusion, one person immediately came to mind.

,He’s definitely trying to meet someone from the Drake family.’

She still remembered the conversation Kyle had with the informant in Ruben, whom she had followed.

Clearly, rumors had spread that the Drake family was secretly supporting the Eyes of Dawn from behind, the old man working as an informant had said.

Also, Kyle’s goal was to get into the Eyes of Dawn.

Inferring his future actions from these two pieces of information, he must be planning to meet a member of the Drake family suspected of being connected to the Eyes of Dawn and join forces.

Sylvia thought she had to stop that at all costs.

,I am Vermillion of the Drake family.’

But, as fate would have it, the man Georg introduced as a close friend was none other than the eldest son of the Drake family.

With the air of a golden-haired nobleman, he was the kind of man who, judging by appearances alone, could instantly win the favor of anyone, young or old, but Sylvia particularly disliked him.

It wasn’t just because she was viewing an innocent person through colored glasses due to the suspicion that a member of the Drake family might be a remnant of the Eyes of Dawn.

,Something feels ominous.’

The faint magical power emanating from him kept prickling her skin.

It was similar to the magical power of the man belonging to the Eyes of Dawn that Sylvia had encountered for the first and last time before her regression.

She didn’t know how, but he seemed to be controlling his ominous magical power very well, preventing it from leaking out, but it was not enough to escape Sylvia’s heightened senses, which were becoming increasingly awakened after her regression.

Even Kyle, who was quite skilled, hadn’t noticed Vermillion’s magical power, so there was no need to explain how sensitive Sylvia’s senses were.

,I need to come up with some excuse to separate them.’

Sylvia outwardly smiled and blended into the atmosphere, but inwardly, she kept staring at Vermillion Drake, pondering how to separate him from Kyle.

However, unexpectedly, the variable arose from elsewhere.

,Princess, I’m sorry to ask, but could you bring me a glass of water? I’ve been drinking hot tea, and my throat feels a little stuffy.’

It was Kyle himself who seemed to be trying to separate Sylvia, providing an excuse for her to leave for a moment.

In fact, Kyle was merely trying to keep her at a distance because he disliked Vermillion’s gaze on Sylvia, but Sylvia, misinterpreting this for another reason, felt a complicated feeling stirring within her.

,So, he’s telling me to step aside because I’m in the way.’

From Sylvia’s perspective, she was misunderstanding that Kyle was trying to make contact with Vermillion and build a friendship with him, so it wasn’t entirely wrong to think that way.

However, coldly refusing here and stubbornly staying by his side didn’t seem like a good option either, so she nodded and decided to step aside for a moment.

To be exact, she pretended to leave and mingled among the people, secretly eavesdropping on their conversation.

,I can’t hear well.’

The problem was that with so many people, mingling among them and eavesdropping on others’ conversations wasn’t an easy task.

Still, through the snatches of conversation she could hear, Sylvia was able to grasp the overall content to some extent.

It seemed Kyle was trying to show Vermillion his skills, and Vermillion seemed to want to test them.

However, that test was something Sylvia couldn’t help but feel uneasy about.

If Vermillion Drake really was a member of the Eyes of Dawn, wasn’t there a possibility that this could be a kind of initiation test?

Perhaps Kyle was also aiming for that and had decided to show Vermillion his skills, which made her feel anxious.

Under no circumstances should a situation arise where Vermillion takes a liking to Kyle. With that thought, she hurriedly moved her feet, approached Kyle, who was heading somewhere, and abruptly grabbed his hand.

Tteopseok.

,Young Lord Lyarde, please don’t go.’

,…Princess?’

A look of bewilderment flickered in Kyle’s eyes, while Sylvia’s eyes, in contrast, were filled with sorrow.

Perhaps it wasn’t just because she couldn’t bear to see him associating with villains, the fundamental reason.

His back, turning away with a solemn expression as if heading to the battlefield, somehow resembled the last desperate back she had seen before her regression, which was why her hand had reached out first.

Somehow, if she let him go like this, she feared that a future where she would lose him again would unfold.

That sense of unease made Sylvia move.

Hadn’t she vowed? That in this life, she would definitely prevent him from becoming a villain.

She would do everything in her power to prevent a future where he made another unfortunate choice, a future where he faced another miserable end.

,Don’t go… What do you mean?’

,It’s exactly what it sounds like. Don’t associate with that person.’

,Why?’

,I just have a feeling. I don’t like disparaging someone upon first meeting, but for some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t get close to that person… I had that kind of intuition.’

Fortunately, the two had already left, so Sylvia lowered her voice and briefly conveyed what she felt about the man named Vermillion Drake.

He could think of her as an impolite bitch who spewed harsh words to someone she had just met.

If there was a way to stop him, she vowed to choose it, no matter the method, and she honestly expressed her feelings.

Kyle’s eyes narrowed as he silently listened.

Anyone else would have treated her like a crazy bitch, but to him, who already had some idea of Vermillion Drake’s identity, it sounded like a very meaningful statement.

,Did Sylvia sense something too?’

Sometimes, a mere hunch can be more accurate than speculation based on clear evidence.

Kyle also knew that Sylvia wasn’t the type to carelessly disparage others, so he didn’t think she would have said these words without any meaning.

However, not moving now wasn’t a good option.

It would mean losing the only route he currently had to approach the Eyes of Dawn.

,Princess Eleanor, listen carefully.’

,Yes.’

However, even if it was an action for her sake, he was reluctant to coldly push away Sylvia, who was showing such sorrowful eyes in front of him, and blindly chase after Vermillion.

So, Kyle looked down at her, who was about a head shorter than him, and opened his mouth with a serious expression.

He didn’t know how much of his sincerity would be conveyed with his inadequate words, but he felt he should at least say something to reassure her before leaving.

,I understand what you’re saying. You don’t think Vermillion Drake is a very trustworthy person, that’s what you’re thinking, right?’

,That’s right.’

,But you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t intend to be close to him either.’

,……’

However, that wasn’t enough to convince Sylvia.

What she considered important wasn’t whether he built a friendship with Vermillion or not.

She was simply worried about the possibility that he might contact the Eyes of Dawn through Vermillion Drake and become their accomplice.

She feared that he might show his strength here and appear as an attractive pawn in the eyes of the villains.

Since Sylvia, who hadn’t heard about the process by which he gained that much power before her regression, was presuming that Kyle’s great power had attracted the villains.

,But for some reason, I can’t stop him.’

Nevertheless, Sylvia found it strange that she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

She clearly knew in her head that she shouldn’t let him go here.

Perhaps this was the moment when he would take the first step towards joining forces with the villains.

,It must be because of those eyes.’

Sylvia guessed that the reason was probably in Kyle’s eyes.

They resembled his earnest gaze when he called her name for the first time and tried to evacuate only her even at that moment.

They also resembled his desperate gaze as he struggled to protect her even while under the enemy’s control.

,You sly bastard.’

Sylvia thought it was truly underhanded.

If you look at me with those eyes and say that, shouldn’t I believe you, no matter the reason?

Why do you bind me and shake me so much, both in the future and in the past, with just a single look?

He really was a man of many sins. Muttering inwardly, Sylvia gave a hollow smile with a sense of resignation.

She had a feeling she couldn’t stop him.

So, she reluctantly nodded, but presented a final compromise.

,I understand. But, promise me.’

,Yes, anything.’

Without the slightest hesitation, Sylvia couldn’t help but chuckle at his willingness to agree to her proposal without even hearing it.

What was he planning to do if she asked him to marry her here?

He was a man whose purity or steadfastness was hard to discern.

She wanted to tease him with some mischievous words, but she didn’t think it would be very effective now, so Sylvia carefully conveyed the request she had been holding in her heart.

,When you’re with me, please come back to me first when everything is over. Not just today, but forever.’

,Is that all?’

,Yes, that’s enough.’

Sylvia was confident that if he stayed by her side, she could somehow prevent him from being tainted by evil.

That’s why she made this request.

If he came back after experiencing something joyful, she would laugh with him.

If he came back after experiencing something sad, she would cry with him.

She firmly believed that just by repeating that, the possibility of him feeling lonely in his difficult life and walking down a dark path, as he had done before, would disappear.

She knew better than anyone what it was like to live a solitary life, having experienced it for so long.

Just as he had become a pillar of support in her life in her previous life, the very person who had brought color to her life.

Sylvia vowed that she would become his pillar of support in this life, and she held Kyle’s hand dearly.