Reincarnated as the Villainess's Unlucky Bodyguard

Chapter 158 The Art of Avoidance and Other Useless Skills

Liria was getting really good at pretending everything was fine.

Too good, actually.

If there were awards for feigning normalcy while internally screaming, she'd be a grand champion, gold medalist, reigning titleholder.

Outwardly, she did all the usual things ate breakfast, insulted Ananara, ignored Enara's judgmental looks, and pretended she didn't feel like she was being dragged into a black abyss by a mother she had absolutely no intention of bonding with.

"Liria."

She blinked. "What?"

"You've been staring at your plate for five minutes." Enara's voice was clipped, but her midnight eyes held something dangerously close to concern.

Liria glanced down. Her fork was hovering an inch above her scrambled eggs, unmoving.

Well. That was embarrassing.

"I'm just savoring the moment," she said dryly. "I don't get to enjoy my food before it gets interrupted by some life-threatening nonsense."

Ananara, perched smugly beside her plate, sniffed. "If you don't eat that, I will."

Liria shoved half the eggs in her mouth out of pure spite. "Over my dead body."

Enara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "If you're done bickering with a pineapple, I'd like to talk."

That sounded suspicious. "About what?"@@@@

"You."

Nope. Absolutely not.

"I suddenly feel very busy," Liria said, pushing back from the table. "Urgent meeting with literally anyone else."

Enara caught her wrist before she could stand. "Liria."

There was something in her voice. A quiet demand. Not anger, not impatience something far worse. Genuine concern.

Liria swallowed. "I'm fine."

"You're not."

"Listen, Princess of Overanalyzing, I'm perfectly—"

"You're different."

That shut her up.

For a moment, silence stretched between them.

Liria looked away first, pulling her wrist free. "People change."

"Not like this."

Enara's words followed her as she grabbed her plate, stood, and escaped to the other side of the dining hall, where she could eat in peace.

Or at least, she would have, except that fate or possibly just her abysmal luck had other plans.

Because the moment she turned the corner, she slammed directly into someone very tall, very solid, and very unamused.

Seraphis.

The last person she wanted to see.

Liria stepped back, scowling. "Ever heard of personal space?"

Seraphis raised a silver brow. "You've been avoiding me."

"Bold of you to assume it's just you. I'm avoiding everyone."

Seraphis was unimpressed. "We need to talk."

"I'm all talked out, actually."

"I wasn't asking."

Of course not.

Liria exhaled through her nose, throwing a glance over her shoulder. Enara was still at the table, watching them with sharp, narrowed eyes. If she saw Seraphis dragging her off for an interrogation, she'd follow.

And Liria... Liria really didn't want Enara anywhere near this conversation.

She turned back to Seraphis and crossed her arms. "Fine. Talk."

Seraphis glanced around, then stepped closer. "Not here."

And just like that, her choices were stolen from her yet again.

Ten Minutes Later Somewhere Way Too Isolated for Liria's Comfort

Liria leaned against the cold stone wall of Seraphis' office, arms crossed, jaw clenched.

Seraphis stood across from her, looking her up and down like she was trying to see through her.

Liria hated that.

Hated how it made her skin crawl, how it made her feel exposed.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

Seraphis tilted her head. "You tell me."

"What?"

"You've changed."

Liria rolled her eyes. "Wow. Incredible observation. Maybe you should be a detective."

Seraphis didn't rise to the bait. "I know what power looks like when it begins to take over. And I know what happens when it isn't controlled."

Liria stiffened.

A slow, amused smile curled Seraphis' lips. "Ah. So you do understand."

She understood too well.

She understood what it felt like when something slithered beneath her skin, whispering in her thoughts, coaxing her toward destruction.

But Seraphis didn't know that.

And Liria wasn't about to let her.

She scoffed, pushing off the wall. "Are we done? Because this whole ominous, vague warning thing? Not working."

Seraphis watched her for a long moment, then finally, finally stepped back. "For now."

That sounded like a temporary mercy.

Oh.

Wonderful.

Enara stood in front of her, arms crossed, glaring.

Liria took a step back. "Uh. Hi?"

"Don't you 'hi' me. What did Seraphis want?"

"Just a friendly chat."

Enara's brow twitched. "Right. Because she's so well-known for those."

Liria smirked. "You never know. Maybe I'm just incredibly charming."

Enara did not look amused.

"Liria."

There it was. That tone. The one that meant you can joke all you want, but I know something is wrong, and you're going to tell me.

Liria did not appreciate that tone.

"I'm fine."

Enara took a step closer, eyes narrowing. "You're lying."

Liria groaned. "Gods, you're annoying."

"And you're deflecting."

"I'm always deflecting."

"That's not a good thing!"

Before Liria could respond, a third voice cut in.

"Am I interrupting something?"

They both turned.

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And of course.

Of. Course.

It was Milara.

Liria had never prayed before, but she was seriously considering starting.

Maybe if she begged hard enough, some higher power would just remove her from this situation entirely.

"Interrupting? No, of course not," Enara said, rolling her eyes. "Liria was just about to tell me the truth about—"

"No, I wasn't."

Milara raised an eyebrow. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Don't."

"I'm just saying," Milara continued, flipping her ridiculously perfect hair, "you two really do act like an old married couple."

Liria scowled. "We are twelve."

"And?" Milara smirked. "Age is just a number, darling."

Liria immediately turned to leave.

She was done. So done.

"Come find me when you two are finished flirting," Milara called after her.

Enara made a strangled noise. "We are not—"

But Liria was already gone.

Liria stormed into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

A moment later, a very unamused pineapple rolled into view.

"You look miserable."

Liria didn't even glance at him as she threw herself onto her bed. "I am miserable."

Ananara waddled closer. "Let me guess. Enara pried, you lied, Milara flirted, and now you have a headache?"

Liria groaned into her pillow. "Why are you like this?"

"Because I am brilliant."

She peeked at him through her fingers. "More like infuriating."

Ananara huffed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Liria rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was still spinning from her conversation with Seraphis. From everything.

She hadn't told anyone. Not really.

Not about the darkness creeping inside her. Not about the way her mother's voice echoed in her mind.

And she wouldn't.

Because what could they even do?

[You could let them in,] the system suggested.

Liria laughed—short, humorless.

"I could. But I won't."

She knew how this went.

She knew what happened when people found out the truth.

They looked at you differently.

Like you were a problem that needed to be solved.

A threat that needed to be handled.

No.

She'd handle this herself.

The system sighed.

[You are so stubborn.]