Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss Chapter 28: Strange Stranger

Ren turned to et her gaze. He tilted his head, a slow smile curled on his lips. "What do you an?"

Lilith narrowed her eyes, staring at him with eyes that said she knew exactly what he was doing.

"You're strange." She finally said.

Ren chuckled. "I've been told that before."

Lilith's gaze sharpened and her eyes narrowed into slits so thin, it looked like her eyes were trying to disappear.

"You're not like the others." She said seriously. "People hesitate when they're around . They fidget, their eyes... they never stay in the sa place, always looking for an exit."

"But you," she scoffed, "you're calm. Too calm. And that's suspicious. So I'll ask again. What's your deal, Terence Ross?"

"I much prefer to be called Ren. And maybe," Ren shrugged, "I just don't scare easily. That explains everything, doesn't it?"

She frowned, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Do you think my father is a coward that scares easily? He was one of the heroes that beat back the invasion of the Tidecallers twenty years ago."

"And guess what? He's afraid of . So, don't be stupid. If even he's afraid, you should too."

"Should I?" He asked with a smile, feigning ignorance.

Lilith stared at him, her lips curling into a smirk, but there was no warmth in it. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"Neither do you." Ren said imdiately, watching as her expression flickered with sothing unreadable. "Not yet."

Lilith's fingers twitched slightly, but she quickly clasped them behind her back. "You're avoiding the question. Why don't you flinch? Why don't you look at the way the others do?"

Ren smiled at her then kept walking, his posture relaxed. She was curious. This was progress.

He waited until she moved to join him before he spoke. "Why does it bother you so much?"

She looked away. "It doesn't."

"Then why keep asking?" He countered.

Lilith huffed, clearly growing impatient. "You think you're clever, don't you?"

"I like to think so." He admitted.

She scoffed and tilted her head. "Fine. Then, let ask you sothing?"

Her voice took on a sharper edge, intending to cause hurt. "You're the youngest son of a noble house, betrothed to soone who could kill you with just a touch. Does your father not care for you?"

"Must be pathetic," she spat, "knowing you were tossed away like the waste of a tavern."

Ren only chuckled. "You say that like you had a choice either."

Lilith stiffened, her nostrils flaring slightly. "At least I wasn't thrown into a family that fears ."

"No, you were born into one." Ren replied without hesitation.

Lilith blinked, taken aback. She quickly recovered, her expression darkening as anger took over. "You must think you're very funny."

"I think I'm observant." Ren said, stopping to face her. Her anger was still within acceptable levels.

The coin he'd left behind at his room shined in the back of his mind. He was ready to teleport there at the drop of a hat. So, he was safe to push a bit. Greater risk, greater reward.

"You keep trying to push away, but I'm still here." He stopped, turning to stare at her. "Why do you think that is?"

Lilith took a step closer, her eyes growing darker, but Ren didn't move. At least not physically.

His coin shined in his head but he didn't reach for it.

She was just testing him, searching for a weakness like a hungry predator searching for signs of prey.

When he gave her none, she finally asked plainly. "Why aren't you afraid of ?"

Ren exhaled, the playful glint in his eyes fading. "Because I know what it ans to be different."

Lilith's brow furrowed slightly.

"I have a Divine Gift too." He confessed, his voice even. "Maybe not like yours, but enough to know that people fear what they don't understand."

That was the first ti he had admitted out loud to having a Divine Gift.

"Enough to know that being different ans standing alone more often than not."

Lilith's expression darkened. "You think we're the sa?" She scoffed, her voice rising. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You don't know what it's like to have people flinch when you walk by. To hear whispers about how dangerous you are, how you should be locked away just in case."

Her voice trembled slightly, but she clenched her fists, pressing on. "You think you understand because you have a Gift? You're stupid."

Ren stood there, unfazed by her outburst. After all, she wasn't making a move towards him. And unlike his trial, he had a way out if things turned sour.

"I'm not saying I know everything about you, Lilith." He said calmly. "I'm saying I understand what it's like to be different."

"No, you don't!" She snapped. "Because you still have a choice!"

"You can hide your Gift if you want. I can't! It's in my blood, in my breath, in every step I take."

"People don't fear because of what I might do. They fear because of what I will do. It's only a matter of ti before I hurt soone."

"Everyone knows it. Even my father! Even my sisters! Even Elias!"

Ren watched her, letting her anger pour out. Letting her be honest, raw, unguarded. Then he finally spoke, his voice quiet but filled with conviction. "I don't."

Lilith flinched. "What?"

"I don't believe that." He said, taking a step closer. "You don't have to beco what they expect. You don't have to be what they fear."

Lilith's breath hitched, and for a second—just a second—her anger wavered. But then she scowled, her face twisting in frustration.

"You're just like the rest of them." She hissed. "Pretending to care, pretending to understand. But I know what pity looks like!"

She pointed a finger at him, her entire body trembling. "I don't need your sympathy. I don't need your kindness. And I don't need you!"

Ren held her gaze, unflinching. "I never said you did."

Lilith's entire body tensed, and then, just as suddenly as before, she turned on her heel and stord off.

Ren exhaled, watching her go. He had expected her to resist his attempts, but this? This was pure, unfiltered pain.

She wasn't just defensive. She was angry. Furious that she had been dealt this fate. Furious that people feared her. Furious that she couldn't change it.

But Ren had seen sothing else in that anger. Beneath all of it, beneath the rage and the walls and the barbed words, there was sothing raw.

She wanted soone to prove her wrong.

Ren sighed, raking a hand through his hair. She's not ready to listen yet.

But he would be patient. He had to be.

Because if he failed, there wouldn't be a second chance.