Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss Chapter 24: A Brewing Soul Storm

Lilith Underwood walked through the gardens, the morning air crisp against her skin.

The scent of roses and lilacs filled the space, but she kept her gaze forward, paying little attention to the beauty around her.

Her guard, a tall man in dark full body armor, walked beside her in silence. To her, his presence was a familiar comfort in the suffocating expectations of her life.

"You're unusually quiet today, Elias." She noted, glancing at him.

Elias gave a small, knowing smile. "I could say the sa of you, my lady."

Lilith let out a soft sigh. "There isn't much to say. My life is already decided for , isn't it? My father makes the choices, and I simply follow."

Elias regarded her carefully. "That is the burden of noble blood. But it does not an you are without choices."

She scoffed. "Easy for you to say. You are not the one everyone fears. You're not the one people avoid, as if touching you might bring death itself."

Elias's expression grew somber. "I do not fear you, Lilith."

She turned to look at him, searching for any trace of hesitation, any lie in his words. But he t her gaze steadily, offering nothing but sincerity. Sothing in her chest twisted at that.

"Maybe you should." She muttered, looking away. "Because one day, everyone else will."

Elias didn't answer imdiately, but his silence spoke volus.

She exhaled, feeling it inside of her. A pang of sadness, sharp and deep.

A reminder of the loneliness she had long accepted. That loneliness curled around her like an old friend, and before she could stop it, her Gift misfired.

The flowers near her feet wilted instantly, their colorful petals turning brittle and black. The life drained from them as if stolen by a divine thief.

Edric took a step back, instinctively putting distance between himself and the affected area.

Lilith's hands curled into fists. Not again.

She willed her emotions under control, pushing the sadness deep down where it couldn't harm anything else. She took a shuddering breath and looked away from the ruined flowers.

A voice called out from the garden entrance. "Lady Lilith, your father has requested your presence."

She turned, schooling her face into an expression of indifference. "Very well."

Edric followed as she made her way back to the estate. She knew her father wouldn't summon her unless it was sothing important.

The last ti they had spoken alone had been weeks ago. Normally, he left her to her studies and training, keeping his distance in ways that had beco painfully routine.

As she stepped into his study, she halted.

Her father was seated behind his desk, laughing. Lilith's two older sisters stood near him, their smiles warm, their voices light as they shared a joke with him.

Lilith's stomach twisted. When was the last ti he looked at like that?

As soon as he noticed her standing at the doorway, his laughter faded. He cleared his throat and gestured for her sisters to leave. They glanced at Lilith as they passed, their expressions unreadable.

Now, they were alone.

Her father studied her, trying but failing to hide the grimace on his face and pain in his eyes. Lilith couldn't bla him.

"Co in, Lilith." He said. "Close the door."

She obeyed, standing before his desk, her back straight, her hands folded in front of her.

"I have news for you," he began. "You are to be engaged."

Lilith's breath hitched. Engaged? Her fingers tightened against the fabric of her dress.

"To who?" She asked, forcing her voice to remain steady.

"The youngest son of the Ross family. Terence Ross. He will be coming in a week's ti to formally et you."

Lilith's body tensed, anger flaring inside of her. "And you made this decision without consulting ? Without even considering that maybe I would have a say in the person I am to spend my life with? Or maybe, just maybe, I didn't want to get married?"

Her father sighed, rubbing his temples. "This is not about your personal feelings, Lilith. The union will strengthen our house. More than that, it will provide you with soone to stand by your side."

She let out a bitter laugh. "Stand by my side? Like who, Father? Like my sisters, who can't even look at without a flicker of fear in their eyes? Like my so-called friends, who all disappeared after they t ?"

"Or you an yourself, the man who hesitates to touch his own daughter!"

Her father's expression darkened. "Lilith, that is enough."

But she was not finished. "Enough? Enough? Have you ever once considered what it is like to be ? To know that no matter what I do, no matter how much I try to control it, people will always see as a monster?"

"And now, you think handing over to so noble's son will sohow fix that?"

She felt her gift trying to slip past her but she gritted her teeth, her grip on her dress tightening as she forced it back into its cage.

"This marriage is not a punishnt, Lilith." Her father said gently. "It is a chance. One that not everyone is afforded."

"You will have soone who is bound to you, who cannot turn away as so many others have."

Her hands curled into fists. "And what if he does? What if he runs the mont he realizes what I am?"

"What if he's just like the rest? What then, Father? Will you marry off to soone else? Or will you finally admit that there is no place in this world for ?"

Her father's face hardened. "You will et him, and you will try. That is all I ask."

Lilith's breath ca fast and uneven. Her power fought against her, thrumming beneath her skin, begging for release. But she swallowed it down, forcing herself to turn away before she did sothing she might regret.

She stord out of the study, slamming the door behind her.

The rage, the pain, the overwhelming frustration boiled within her, burning hot like a fla she couldn't extinguish.

They think they can decide my future for ?

Fine. She would et her so-called betrothed. But she wouldn't make it easy.

If he thought he could waltz into her life and pretend to care, she would show him exactly why people feared her.

She would make sure he regretted ever stepping foot into her world.