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25.77% The Author Who Became A Villainess / Chapter 25: Arc 2: Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Arc 2: Chapter 25

Elenor was horse riding like usual around the fields.

...With Lloyd at the royal palace.

It happened so fast that Elenor was still processing the events that led to this. She was getting ready to ride around the fields with her horse, Ace when suddenly Lloyd burst in with a wide grin.

"Elenor! Let's go horse riding today~!"

"Wait how-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Lloyd grabbed her hand and eagerly dragged her out of the household and into the carriage. Without being able to inform anybody about her whereabouts, she was brought to the palace.

Now she was riding a horse Lloyd had prepared before he left to get her. Elenor hated herself for not being able to stop him from recklessly taking her away to the palace. In the end, she went along with his plans whether she liked it or not.

She let out a long sigh before Lloyd came over to her, riding his horse as well. He was wearing his usual attire just without his coat and only in a vest. His hair was tied and braided so it wouldn't fly around while he rode his horse.

"Why the long sigh?" he asked, pretending not to know why.

Elenor pursed her lips together before shaking her head. She knew he was playing around with her so she lightly whipped the reins and rode off. Unfortunately Lloyd followed her, pacing perfectly with her horse.

"Hey don't ignore me," Lloyd childishly said, poking Elenor on the shoulder.

"I'm not ignoring you,"

"Yes you are,"

"If I was, I wouldn't reply back," she retorted, making him pout.

"You're so mean to a royal member!" he fake cried.

Elenor let out a snort. Well at least he was entertaining plus his looks were good. A good candidate to be an eye candy.

"Next time don't drag me out of my own home, your highness."

"It's Lloyd. Ll-o-y-d!"

"Yes yes Lloyd. Please inform me earlier before you burst into the estate,"

Lloyd nodded, "Fine, next time I won't do that."

The two trotted around the large fields, talking to one another casually. Although Lloyd's personality was slightly eccentric, it was quite easy for Elenor to speak to him as if he wasn't a prince.

"What do you want to do now?" Lloyd asked once they stopped horse riding.

Before she could answer him, a voice was heard along with quick paced footsteps coming towards them. Elenor looked over to see who it was and let out an annoyed sigh.

Lloyd plastered on a smile, "Lady Isabella. I did not expect you to be here today."

She came to a halt in front of Lloyd and sent him a sweet smile, her cheeks red as she shyly spoke, "I wanted to surprise you with my presence, your highness."

Lloyd nodded, "I appreciate the thought but I am with Lady Elenor at the moment,"

Isabella side glanced at Elenor. Elenor smugly smiled, moving closer to Lloyd wanting to provoke her more. Isabella turned back to Lloyd and tugged on his sleeve.

"But I came all the way here for you, your highness." she pouted, trying to use her cuteness on him which didn't work.

He blankly stared at her before calmly pushing her hand away, a smile still on his face.

"I truly apologise but Lady Elenor has been here with me this whole time."

She scowled at Elenor who just stuck her tongue out, mocking her even more. Lloyd turned to Elenor and grabbed hold of her hand.

"Shall we go inside Elenor?"

Elenor smiled at Lloyd and nodded, "Can we eat some desserts?"

"Of course, I'll ask them to prepare for you."

"Thanks Lloyd!" she beamed.

Her voice was loud enough that Isabella was able to hear it. Isabella turned to her with wide eyes. Elenor only smirked before walking inside with Lloyd. How fun it was to see her enemy eat dirt. Once they were inside, Lloyd suddenly burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Elenor asked, raising an eyebrow.

They were walking through the lines of halls, every servant they saw bowing at Lloyd as they passed. Elenor was glad Isabella didn't decide to suddenly follow them when they headed inside.

Lloyd kept holding his stomach as he kept laughing. Elenor sighed and waited for him to finally stop laughing.

"You and Lady Isabella are truly amusing when you two fight,"

Elenor shrugged, "It's fun to provoke her,"

He wiped the tears around his eyes caused by laughter. He still had small fits of giggles as he calmed down.

"If you ever want to provoke her again please by any means go ahead in using me,"

"You dislike her?"

Lloyd nodded with a brief frown showing on his face, "Can't stand her."

"Makes sense. If you disliked me then of course you would have disliked her too."

"See you understand me well! I knew becoming friends with you was a good choice,"

"Ha ha…" Elenor laughed dryly.

'I can't understand what goes through his head.'

"Wait," she suddenly halted.

Pointing at Lloyd, she spoke with suspicion, "Do you not have work to do?"

He grinned and shook his head, "Nope! I already finished-"

"Your highness!!" his sentence was cut off by Richard, speed walking towards them.

'Perfect timing'

Elenor heard Lloyd softly saying "Ack!" once he was caught by him. Richard pulled Lloyd's ear, furious.

"Where have you been!? There are still stacks of paper for you to finish and you decide to run off?! Do you know how long I have been searching for you!!" Richard continued scolding and nagging at Lloyd as he kept pulling his ear.

Elenor suddenly felt a slight pity on Lloyd but not enough to actually stop her brother from nearly ripping his ear off. Richard then noticed Elenor standing at the side and turned to her.

"Elenor? What are you doing in the palace?" he questioned before he realised and turned back to Lloyd.

"Not only did you run away from your duties, you dragged my sister over to spend time with you..?"

"Now now, let's not get angry here Rich…" Lloyd spoke, trying to calm his friend down but it only made things worse.

In the end, he was dragged away by Richard who continued scolding him like a mother. Elenor waved goodbye to Lloyd who looked like he was about to cry. The storm came and left quickly and now Elenor was standing alone in the long halls, wondering what she should do now.

Then she remembered that the library in the palace was large and had a variety of books. Asking help from a servant, they guided her to the library. She spent hours in there before leaving the library after being able to borrow some books for her to read back home. Happily, she returned back to the marquess' estate.


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if you enjoy this chapter or book please do consider giving a vote to this shameless author (〃` 3′〃) it would mean a lot <3

Chapter 26: Arc 2: Chapter 26

Arriving back at the estate, the gate guards greeted her and allowed her through. Not even a quarter way through walking inside, she hears someone calling for her.

"Milady!"

Alec came running towards her before grabbing hold of her shoulders forcefully, "Where have you been?!"

'Ah. This reminds me of brother Richard.'

"I got dragged out by Lloyd," Elenor answered, scratching the nape of her neck.

Carefully glancing up at Alec, she could see the distress in his eyes. There was a frown on his face, his brows wrinkling up. He looked frightening to others yet Elenor didn't see that. Holding the books in one arm, she gently brushes the strands of hair away and smoothen out the frown.

"Stop frowning, you're only 16 so if you keep frowning like that when you get older all you have are wrinkles," she nagged.

The gentleness from her caused him to freeze up on spot. Elenor didn't pay any heed to this and patted his shoulders.

With a smile on her face, she said, "Nobody likes a man who looks older than his age,"

Heading inside the house, Elenor hummed to herself wondering if she should ask the chefs to make some desserts for her before dinner. Alec was still standing in the same position while Elenor disappeared into the house.

The feeling of her fingers touching his hair lingered. The warmth from them was still there. An unfamiliar warmth once again. Alec clenched the fabric at his chest before releasing his hold on it.

"..What is happening to me..?" he whispered to himself before heading back inside to return back to his usual work.

Elenor was oblivious to Alec's drift of thoughts, only interested in what kind of desserts she should ask the chefs to prepare for her while she read the new books she borrowed from the palace library.

The next couple of weeks, Lloyd often came over or wrote a letter to Elenor asking her if she was free to hang out with him. Sometimes he would ask Richard to relay his message but it usually resulted in him getting beatings from him.

(She found out by Lloyd himself complaining about it.)

At first, she would reject or ignore the invites but she finally gave in and agreed after many long struggles of pestering from Lloyd. But because of him, Elenor's days were filled with excitement and amusement. Other than Alec, she could say Lloyd was another friend of hers which came off surprising to others since before this she was 'in love' with him and he disliked her.

"Milady, are you meeting with his highness today as well?" one of the maids that always helped her dress up, asked with glee in her tone.

Elenor nodded, "That's right, he said there was a new dessert cafe in the capital so we were planning on checking it out."

Another maid, the second one clasped her hands in together, her eyes sparkling, "What shall milady wear today! I was thinking of something cute for once,"

"No no how about something more on the pretty yet mature side? Milady fits it so well!" the third and last maid that helped her get dressed said.

"I say something perfect for a simple date in the capital!" the first one voiced out.

Soon the three maids had a bicker, showing each other the dress they wanted Elenor to wear for the day. Elenor watched as they continued bickering about clothing choices before something that the first maid had said fully registered in her head.

Sighing, she pushed back her hair, "How many times must I say that every time I go out with his highness it isn't a date? We're friends,"

They turned to Elenor which looks of doubt washed over their face before continuing to bicker once more. Elenor shook her head, knowing that she had to choose which one to wear in the end or else they would never stop this fight.

She chose a simple white long sleeve blouse with a long red silhouette skirt that covered her feet. The blouse had ruffles at the chest area and the sleeves were slightly poofy at the shoulders to the elbow before it wrapped around her wrist perfectly. The skirt waistband wrapped tightly, showcasing her small waist. Its silhouette flowed perfectly, not too big or small.

She paired the outfit with a pair of black ruby slipper heels, making it less prone to falling. For her hair it was curly and braided into a waterfall braid all around the head. The maids did her usual makeup and added accessories on her. She wore jeweled earrings which matched her outfit and attached a red gem brooch in the middle of her collar, completing the look.

"As always milady looks splendid!" the maids praised, nodding proudly.

If it was back then, Elenor would continue assuming they were only giving fake empty compliments but now that she was quite close to them, she knew they weren't giving empty compliments. She smiled and nodded. After she bid them goodbye, she walked out of her room to find Alec waiting for her.

"Ah Alec. Is he here already?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

He shook his head and took out his pocket watch, "You have about ten minutes before the time,"

Elenor nodded, keeping note of the time, "I see, shall we walk around the gardens then?" she suggested.

"As you wish, milady." Alec bowed.

Elenor noticed these days he has been distancing himself from her. It was like the wall she thought she broke down was built back up and this time it was made out of iron instead of bricks. She didn't know what she had done to have made him like this. She has been good to him this whole time!

Although she wanted to find out the reason and solve this problem, she couldn't if he won't even let her try. Wallowing in her sadness silently, they walked around the gardens before Lloyd came to get her. It was a rule created by her family that if he ever wanted to bring her out, he had to personally come and get her. Elenor knew this rule was implemented by Richard after he convinced their parents to agree with it.

"Alec, remember when I pricked myself on the thorns?" Elenor laughed as she remembered what had happened months ago.

Alec kept quiet, merely nodding. Elenor released a small sigh before smiling. She reached out to touch the flowers when a strong hand came in view and held her wrist. She tried to shake the hand off but it didn't budge, holding on to her firmly.

"You'll get pricked again," Alec stated, bringing her hand further away from the flowers. His hands felt warm yet his voice was cold.

"Alright.." she nonchalantly said, bringing her hand back to her side.

Silence fell on them as they strolled around but Elenor wanted to ask a question. She took in a deep breath, licking her lips before turning to Alec.

"Alec,"

"Yes milady."

"Have you been distancing yourself from me?"

"..."

"Why have you been?"

"..."

"Have I done something to you?"

"..."

He wouldn't respond to her questions which made her grow agitated but she kept her cool. She continued waiting for his reply but nothing came. Elenor let out a soft scoff before shaking her head.

"Never mind. If you aren't going to respond then forget I asked,"

"Milady-"

"Milady, his highness has arrived." a gatekeeper called out.

"I will be right there." Elenor replied back.

She turned her heels and headed to the entrance, leaving the garden. She didn't bid Alec goodbye as she walked past him without a glance. Her heels clacked against the floor until she disappeared.

Alec's hand stretched out towards her but stopped midway. Curling his fingers inwards, he dropped his hand down and watched as she walked away from him.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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dun dun dunnn, conflict (*゜ー゜*)

if you enjoy this chapter or book please do consider giving a vote to this shameless author (〃` 3′〃) it would mean a lot <3

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