Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 168

“Sis!” Edith, who was dying from boredom, instantly sat up when the bride entered.

“You’ve been so busy these days! It’s been a long time since I last saw you! I think you’ve gotten prettier over the days….” Edith held Lila’s hands tightly, telling her how she’s just fallen in love with her again.

“Can we cancel this wedding? I don’t want to lose you, sis!”

“Edith. Calm down….” Hearing her seemingly endless talk, Lila tried to stop her out of second-hand embarrassment.

Senior laughed, pretending not to notice Lila’s pleading eyes asking for help. “Hahaha, I feel like I’m watching a funny play.”

She didn’t have the time to hear Edith’s boundless blaber. “I was going to praise you for your work, but if you keep talking about that, I won’t.”

“Ah… No! I went everywhere spreading rumors just for your praise!”

It was always surprising to Lila how easily Edith was persuaded. “If so, you should calm down and take a seat. Then things will go the way you want them to.”

“Hm, that’s true! You’re so smart as always. This is why I love you, sis!”

Lila tried smiling as a response to the compliments but what came out of it was an awkward grin. I’m thankful that Edith likes me, but the weight of her love is a bit too much….

“Sis!” Edith’s twinkling eyes couldn’t seem to get enough of Lila. She looked ready to compete with Lacias for a spot as her groom.

She once looked very charismatic like a beast. But now she reminds me of a loyal puppy that gives too much affection to its owner… Exactly like Lacias.

The only difference between the two was their sizes, Edith was like a petite puppy and Lacias was like a sizable one.

Edith gently stroked the back of Lila’s hand and winked with a cute smile on her face.

“Are you not going to praise me? I’ve been waiting for your reward all this time. Don’t make me wait any longer.” Edith said something that only an obsessive male lead in a novel would say. Lila laughed and stroked her head.

“You two are so funny.”

Edith ignored that, not wanting to be reminded of the competition. “I think your idea to present myself in front of people disguised as a suspicious person was brilliant. I would never have thought of it.”

“That’s an exaggeration. It was just a shot in the dark.”

“Even so, I would never have thought of it. Your idea deserves praise. Don’t be too modest, Duchess.”

“Haha….” Lila still wasn’t ready to respond to all these new titles. ‘Duchess’, ‘Wife’, she just reacted awkwardly to them.

Senior felt that she wasn’t adding much to their conversation so she decided to give Lila her own report. “Anyways, things have worked out very well. And Hiln volunteered to conduct the investigation. Soon, Baron Doug Blake’s evil deeds will be revealed. Besides those who share blood with me.”

Senior couldn’t help but laugh as she remembered the image of her brother drowning in rage. “I’ve waited for this day all this time. A few days ago, my father visited me. He told me he wanted to discuss something important regarding the Hiln family. When my brother found out about it, he must have banged on his desk with his face and turned red like it’s going to explode.”

Senior looked genuinely happy. Lila also empathized with those feelings. “I told you. If you stay by my side, you’ll achieve anything you want.”

“Choosing to be by your side was the best choice I made in my life.” With that, Senior reached out her hand for a handshake.

Lila extended hers to do the same when Senior suddenly held her hand tightly, shook hands twice, and kissed the other side of her palm.

“Oh my god.” Lila’s eyes widened in surprise because it appeared like Senior was pledging allegiance to her master.

“Thanks to you, my status has risen so much.” She announced standing back up. “There’s no reason for you to be surprised.”

Edith nodded her head vigorously in agreement and added her own bit. “Ugh, I’m jealous! Let me do that too!”

***

“The bride cannot leave the hall for too long. Especially if you left me alone.”

A deep voice sounded from across the room making Senior jump from surprise. “Wha- what?! Since when have you been here?”

Lacias responded by shifting his eyes from Lila and quickly glanced at all the others before returning them to his bride.

Edith, who had been whining about why she wasn’t allowed to kiss on Lila’s hand, also widened her eyes with her mouth open. Then, her eyes became cold, giving a disapproving glance at him. “No matter how many times I look at him, Lila deserves more….”

It was a quiet small mumble, but Lacias’s sensitive ear picked up every word. He glanced over back to Edith and smirked coldly. Edith frowned at the sneer that held the clear meaning of, Don’t you think she’s out of your league?

“Didn’t you encourage me to go and have my own time?” Asked a puzzled Lila, used to his random appearances.

“I never encouraged you, but I did say that I have no right to stop you. And I followed hard on your heels, but nobody paid any attention….”

Trying to get her sympathy, Lacias made a downcasted face. He spoke cleverly, leaving out the part that he followed her by hiding his footstep so professionally that ordinary people couldn’t notice.

He hid on purpose and followed me secretly.

However, such a trick did not work for Lila. After grasping the situation, she crossed her arms with a stern look on her face. “What you did was very wrong.”

His sorrow-filled expression was instantly replaced with a genuine regretful one. “I’m sorry. Next time, I will get your permission before following you.”

Seeing him immediately admit his mistake, Lila had nothing more to say. When she uncrossed her arms, Lacias clung to her like a dog wagging his tail.

Like a clown changing faces seamlessly, he now had the expression of a bored child wanting to try a new ride. “Can we go now? It seems like the conversation is over.”

This time it was Edith’s turn to lead. “The conversation was not over. It was cut off by a disruptor, wasn’t it?”

As the socialite, there was no way Edith was unaware of how rude her words were to someone higher in rank than her. It was clear that she intentionally spoke to provoke Lacias, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. Just like how one would shoo away flies when they got near instead of getting mad at them.

When Lacias saw that Lila was hesitating to return with him he knew that he would have to use his last resort. “I heard Hir is waiting.”

“I think I’ll have to leave now.”

Just like that, Lila walked over to Lacias’s side once more. Lacias smiled triumphantly, knowing full well of the burning glare he was receiving from Edith. It was simple, he thought.

*