The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!
Chapter 155: Won’t Run Away

Chapter 155: Won’t Run Away

Why not give in and come to him? She clearly cared about him. As much as he tried to understand her, he couldn’t. Why give him hope and cruelly take it away?! She needed to be held responsible.

When he brought her back he intended to interrogate her first. He wanted answers as much as he craved her love. How many lifetimes has it been? In his first life, he met her... She was as radiant as ever.

God’s proudest creation, how could he not fall in love with her? But it did not last. In his second he attempted to make use of Annora. How miserably did that life end? And now... Hah... He will not fail again.

Adeline’s body’s unique resonance with holy energy made her the key to his plans. But he couldn’t simply take her soul- not yet. She was still young, her body unprepared for the ritual.

He needed her closer, under his influence, and if that meant destabilizing empires and kingdoms to claim her, so be it.

Adeline crumpled the letter in her hand, the edges burning faintly with her suppressed lightning magic. She thought about Edward’s words, his audacity in summoning her as though she were a pawn. But the Goddess’s earlier warnings resonated deeply.

"Do not expose both your powers, Adeline. The world will not accept what it cannot comprehend."

This was one of the rare moments the Goddess spoke to her seriously. She couldn’t expose both of her powers because dual abilities are impossible. The Goddess said so herself.

One can only possess and master one element. She had healing powers and lightning now... She couldn’t expose both of them. Some people already knew of her healing powers... But it was only those she trusted.

She took a deep breath and decided on one thing. She would reveal only her lightning abilities. It was a natural power that wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Sure, it was rare and hadn’t been heard of for centuries but it was better revealing that she had Holy Powers and becoming the pawn of the Holy Temple. She could play the part of someone blessed with elemental magic, hiding her healing gifts from prying eyes.

Her lightning power surged more setting the letter aflame. She didn’t want to look at that darned letter any longer. She wanted to get rid of it. Seeing it would only make her angry, she didn’t want any reminder.

As the ashes smouldered, Adeline’s thoughts wandered to Annora. There was something undeniably odd about that girl. Every interaction with her was weird. She didn’t act the way the story Annora would.

The Goddess denied any involvement, she swore up and down that she brought only Adeline into this world. She had no but to trust her... Maybe the Goddess didn’t bring her, maybe another force did?

Adeline replayed their previous encounters in her mind. It was anything but normal. It was hostile... It might be out there or it might be on point, but she thought that Annora had also transmigrated.

She thought of this many times before, but now, Adeline seemed sure of it. The bracelet Annora had left behind still rested in Adeline’s drawer, a lingering reminder of that fateful day.

Annora could be another transmigrator, someone meddling in the events of this world. If so, her goals were still unclear, but Edward’s lack of mention of Annora in the letter added another layer to the mystery.

"Why ask for me instead of Annora?" Adeline murmured aloud. In the original story, Annora had been the Saintess. Something had changed, and Adeline suspected that Annora’s fate was tangled with Edward’s schemes.

Does he want to end her so that his dear Annora has no rivals? If anything she learnt from the story was that Edward wouldn’t stop at anything for Annora.

Adeline’s fist balled. So what? She wasn’t afraid. She had powers now. She wasn’t the smartest person so she couldn’t scheme but she will brute force her way out of any trap if she had to!

But what else could she do? Her position was precarious. If she refused Edward outright, he might escalate his plans to forcibly claim her. Yet if she agreed to go to the Holy Temple, she would be walking directly into his grasp.

Confronting him would be the only choice. She should not be the cause of any war, she refused to be the reason any life was lost.

The Goddess’s silence was unsettling. Adeline had grown used to her ramblings, confessions and remarks. She guided her through every step of the forest. She even gave her advice that worked. But now, she was gone.

Adeline didn’t know when the Goddess would be back. She felt lonely...

"I need you," Adeline whispered into the void, her voice barely audible. But there was no response, only the stillness of her room.

Her isolation deepened her resolve. If the Goddess was unavailable, Adeline would have to navigate this world’s chaos on her own. She couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

She tried to ignore thoughts about Annora’s behaviour and her possible transmigration but they kept coming to her.

If she is a transmigrator, Adeline thought, then she’s meddling just as much as I am. Perhaps more.

For a fleeting moment, Adeline felt a strange sense of relief. If Annora was interfering, then not everything could be blamed on her. The burden of altering the story’s course didn’t rest solely on her shoulders.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow across Adeline’s room. Adeline sat at her desk, the surface cluttered with maps, correspondence, and a single sheet of parchment.

Her hand hovered over the blank page, the quill poised to strike. She had decided. Edward would not win. The time had come to confront him on her terms.

Her heart pounded as she began to write, her emotions swirling. She told herself she wasn’t that powerless girl anymore... She could confront him. She grew stronger. She could do this!

"I know you plan to use me as your pawn," she wrote, as she wrote, she poured her emotions into it.

Her mind drifted to the Empire’s past dealings with the Holy Temple. The agreement that was formed between the Empire and the Holy Temple. The one Edward intended to accuse the Empire of breaking.

Adeline smiled grimly. Edward’s justifications were as flimsy as the parchment they were written on.

She dipped her quill in ink again. "Saying that the Empire hid me from the Temple and broke the agreement in the first place. Using that as an excuse for backing out on your end of the deal is pathetic."

The words felt like a blade, cutting through the layers of Edward’s façade. She imagined his reaction: anger, perhaps, or even amusement. Either way, she was prepared.

Writing this letter was more than an act of defiance.