BJ Villainess Chapter 355

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Ilya had spent the past few days in a haze. On the day the daughter of the Holy God appeared, he was given the duty to become her guardian and mentor, to protect and guide her, but he refused. As the price for defying the will of God, he was suffering from a fever for the first time in his life.

 

It was a truly strange sensation. While tormented by the fever, his body’s functions deteriorated sharply, and his thoughts became duller than ever before. Not a single part of his body, normally kept in peak condition, was working properly. If he continued to reject her, he might have to live the rest of his life broken like this.

 

Even so, Ilya didn’t overturn his decision. Such a life did not particularly frighten him. In fact, he felt an odd, indescribable thrill. Until now, he had been nothing but God’s puppet, faithfully carrying out the tasks assigned to him. All his thoughts were aligned to the will of the Holy God, and there had never been such a thing as an individual thought belonging to ‘Ilya.’ He hadn’t been dissatisfied with that—it had been the only way of life he’d known since birth, and thus seemed perfectly natural.

 

Then, for the first time, he felt a desire. Ilya wanted only Theresa by his side. He had no need for any disciple other than her. The mere thought of another person intruding upon the space used solely by him and Theresa was unpleasant.

 

Was this possessiveness? It was a feeling he had never experienced before, so Ilya couldn’t explain why he was acting this way. But he realized two things with certainty: First, he cared for Theresa far more than he consciously recognized. Second, when it came to matters involving Theresa, he found himself unable to control his own behavior.

 

Is this state really appropriate? He didn’t know. But he felt no need to fix it.

 

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

 

Ilya had, for the first time in a while, dressed himself properly and come out to the library. His fever had not gone down at all, but unlike the past few days, he wasn’t so debilitated that he could do nothing. He had simply grown used to the pain. His monstrous body had enough adaptability to function even under divine punishment.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better to just rest?”

 

Ilya shook his head weakly. “I need to get used to this condition.”

 

“…Why don’t you just accept the daughter of the Holy God?”

 

The daughter of the Holy God and a cultist of the Evil God couldn’t coexist in the same place. That was something neither the Holy See, the Empire, nor the nobles or commoners desired. That was also why Ilya had firmly refused that duty.

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

Theresa looked troubled. She was happy he wanted her by his side, but she didn’t want him to be ill because of it. “But still…”

 

“I’d rather die than send you away.” The words slipped out in his feverish haze, and only afterward did he frown. That’s extreme.

 

Was that truly his sincere thought? It seemed an absurdly foolish notion. Yet, upon reflection, it wasn’t entirely wrong—after all, refusing the will of God just because he didn’t want to send Theresa away had already been a mad decision.

 

At that moment, Theresa glanced at him in surprise, then lowered her head. Just like when he had pierced her ears, the rim of her ear was flushed red.

 

Ilya set down the book in his hand and gently touched her ear. Then, flicking the pearl earring, he tilted her head back up. Her cheeks, tinged with a peach hue, looked tempting—like chilled summer fruit, sweet and refreshing, something he wanted to sink his teeth into.

 

“L-Lord Ilya?”

 

Apparently, the thought hadn’t remained only in his head. By the time he regained his senses, he was already holding Theresa in his arms, having lightly bitten her cheek. Ilya spoke honestly. “You looked so refreshing.”

 

“…”

 

Theresa didn’t openly sigh, but she gazed at him with a troubled expression, as though she were looking at a drunkard.

 

“When will this fever ever go down…?” Murmuring in concern, she touched his forehead. Everything strange about his recent behavior was being blamed on the fever. And that gave Ilya a new realization.

 

So this is why humans act spoiled when they’re sick. Because the other person accepts it, thinking it’s understandable.

 

Pulling Theresa into his arms, he said abruptly, “Just stay like this for a moment.”

 

“Are you feeling dizzy?”

 

Even without him giving a reason, Theresa had interpreted his actions and assigned meaning to them.

 

“A little.”

 

“That’s why I told you not to overexert yourself.”

 

“I feel fine when I’m holding you. You feel cool.” His own body was like heated iron, making Theresa feel cool by comparison.

 

“…You know you’ve been acting strange lately, right?”

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“It’s strange. Definitely.”

 

Ilya pressed his cheek to her head and gave a faint smile. “Do you dislike it?”

 

“Huh? No, that’s not it… But even you can tell you’ve been acting differently than usual.”

 

“I don’t know. Don’t even feel like thinking about it.”

 

“…Hah.”

 

While Theresa was looking exasperated, the butler knocked on the door.

 

“Master, priests from the Holy See request to see you.”

 

“Tell them to leave. I’m unwell.”

 

“That…”

 

At that moment, the library doors burst open and Heden entered.

 

“I figured you’d say that, so I came in person… What exactly are you doing?” The moment Heden stepped inside, he saw Ilya holding Theresa, and his expression twisted. “So you’ve fallen under the spell of that wicked woman and lost all sense of judgment!”

 

Theresa tried to slip out of Ilya’s arms before the situation escalated, but he didn’t let her go. Instead, he held her closer, as though to hide her from Heden’s sight.

 

“Lord Ilya…!”

 

Ilya looked at Heden with sharper eyes than usual. The way Heden barked at him as though Ilya had lost his mind from love, but that wasn’t the truth—it was pure jealousy. The burning look in his eyes was that of a man who wanted to tear the woman from another man’s arms and strike him down. That struck a nerve in Ilya.

 

“Didn’t I tell you to mind your attitude?”

 

“And don’t you think your words and actions are far different from what you used to preach?”

 

“Do you actually like that cultist of Evil God?”

 

Ilya clicked his tongue at the foolish remark, but then fell silent.

 

He cherished Theresa—that was an undeniable fact. The feeling of willingness to be responsible for her welled up in him, and he would protect her in his arms until the day he died. Those feelings for Theresa weren’t something so shallow as ‘liking’ her; they were far more sacred and overwhelming. But… was that all?

 

Ilya wanted to monopolize all of Theresa’s firsts, and he fully intended to. He would never allow anyone else to share time or experiences with her. Everything else was worthless, inferior—no, worse than that, filthy like Heden, who was now looking at her with a revolting, hungry gaze.

 

“How dare you, without knowing your place.”

 

“State your business and get out.”

 

“That’s exactly my intention. Tomorrow, you will appear at the Papacy with that cultist of Evil God. I advise you not to think of disobeying the order—unless you want a nationwide arrest warrant issued.” After saying that with a hard tone, Heden left.

 

Theresa slipped out of Ilya’s arms, looking drained. “What about accepting the daughter of the Holy God? I could just find a house nearby and live there.”

 

“I will never allow it.”

 

Ilya knew the real reason the other cardinals were so insistent on him fulfilling his duty. It was because they wanted Theresa for themselves, by any means necessary. And if they couldn’t have her, they would certainly kill her under the pretext of her being a cultist of the Evil God.

 

He stroked Theresa’s head as her expression darkened with worry. “If it’s a mentor she needs, it doesn’t have to be me—any other cardinal could do. But none of them are willing to take on the daughter of the Holy God.”

 

“Because even as the daughter of the Holy God, she’s just an ordinary priestess with nothing right now.”

 

Raising her into an exceptional force would take enormous money and manpower—none of them wanted to take on such a burden. If it had just been about money, it would have been easily solved—Ilya could have funded it himself. But what they ultimately wanted was Theresa. And in that, Ilya was no different.

 

Theresa worried that he might overexert himself while unwell. “Will you be all right tomorrow?”

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

“You’re dizzy, aren’t you? Lean on me. Let’s go back to your bedroom.”

 

Ilya, pretending to lean on her, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, reluctant to let go. To hold her whenever he pleased, to keep close physical contact, to have her lying beside him until he fell asleep… These were things he had never experienced when protecting her behind solid walls.

 

His first taste of living as the weaker one wasn’t so bad—and tomorrow it would all end. But Ilya was already addicted to these sensations. I’ll just have to come up with another excuse.

 

That day too, Ilya didn’t send Theresa out of his bedroom. Now that he had tasted this sweetness, he had not the slightest intention of stopping.