The Male Lead isn't Following the Script!-Chapter 319: You Are Pathetic

"And regardless of my fear, I respected that. I never once told you not to go. I never once asked you to stay behind for my sake."

Aaron’s lips pressed into a thin line. He stared at her for a long moment, searching for some hesitation, some flicker of doubt in her eyes. But Adeline just met his gaze head-on, chin lifted with the same stubbornness that ran in their blood.

"So we’re doing this?" he asked finally, voice quiet but heavy.

Adeline nodded without a second thought. "You can’t talk me out of it."

Aaron exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face like a man accepting his fate. "I had a feeling you’d say that..."

But Adeline? She felt no fear. Not even a sliver. If anything, her confidence had swelled tenfold. Why should she be afraid? She had holy powers. The literal blessing of the Goddess, and lightning powers! If the Goddess herself had chosen her, then surely that meant something, right?

She folded her arms with a satisfied little nod. "My holy powers can keep us safe. Those monsters won’t even dare come near me."

Aaron raised a brow. "I don’t think that’s how it works—"

"Shh." She waved him off with a sage-like expression. "Just believe me."

Layla snorted into her hand, pretending to cough.

---

Back in the Holy Temple, Annora held onto Dimitri. She was being held by Dimitri for quite some time. Ever since she reached her room, she ordered Dimitri to hold her. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Annora clung to Dimitri as though her entire being would collapse if she let go. Her fingers dug into the fabric of his clothes, trembling as if she were holding onto the very last thing keeping her tethered to the world. She pressed her face against his chest, but she felt no warmth.

"Tell me that you love me," she whispered, voice raw, breaking, like the words themselves might shatter her throat on the way out.

She knew that making him speak to her was basically her having a conversation with herself. But she could not stop herself...

Dimitri obeyed in that same detached monotone, his dead eyes staring forward. "I love you, Annora."

Her chest tightened painfully. The way he said it—it didn’t sound like love. It sounded like she was forcing him to breathe out hollow words into a void. But she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t bear the silence.

"Tell me that you will never leave me," she begged, voice quivering.

Again, he echoed her demand. "I will never leave you, Annora."

The sound of her name on his lips only deepened the ache inside her. It should have been sweet, it should have been hers, but all she could hear was the lifeless echo of a puppet. And still—still she needed more. Because if she stopped, if she let herself sit in the quiet, she knew the crushing loneliness would devour her.

Her throat tightened as tears streamed freely down her face. Her lips trembled, and the words nearly broke apart in her mouth. "Tell me that... You will never betray me."

And like the broken mirror of her heart, Dimitri gave the same reflection back. "I will never betray you, Annora."

Her knees weakened, and she nearly sank to the floor, clinging desperately to him like a child clutching a doll. Her sobs were muffled against him, shaking her small frame. It didn’t matter that his voice was lifeless. It didn’t matter that his eyes were vacant, that his touch was mechanical, that he was no more than a shell.

What mattered was that someone—anyone—was saying the words she was starving to hear.

Because Annora was broken, and pathetic, and so, so desperate for love that even this pitiful illusion was better than nothing at all.

Just then, she heard the sound of the door opening.

Annora’s nails dug into Dimitri’s sleeve as if he could shield her from Edward’s voice. She turned her tear-streaked face toward the door, eyes burning with fury.

"Come on, Annora. Stop being so pathetic," Edward’s voice cut through the air, sharp and merciless. He stood there, arms crossed, a cold smirk tugging at his lips as if her brokenness was little more than an inconvenience.

Annora’s chest heaved. For a moment, she was too stunned to speak, but the words clawed out of her throat anyway. "You—! Aren’t you mad? The marriage agreement fell through, the royal family will now target you!" Her voice cracked, but she shouted anyway, desperate to wound him the way his words wounded her.

Edward rolled his eyes as though she were a child throwing a tantrum. "Don’t be stupid, Annora. The Holy Temple means nothing to me. I don’t care if it gets destroyed—in fact, I hope it will. But sadly, the Empire still needs the healers, so the temple will stay the same."

His tone was detached, too casual, as if he were talking about the weather and not the downfall of everything she clung to. That indifference was the last straw.

"Of course you don’t care!" Annora spat, trembling as she rose to her feet, clutching Dimitri’s arm as if she would collapse without him. "You don’t care about anything! You are a selfish, pathetic man chasing after someone who doesn’t even want you!" Her voice grew shrill, breaking with rage and despair.

Edward’s smirk faltered, but she pressed on, every word sharpened by her pain. "You would kill for her. You would burn the world down for her! And yet she—" her breath hitched, her body shaking, "she would rather die than be with you. Isn’t that right?"

Her scream filled the room, raw and agonised. "You are just as pathetic as me!" She jabbed a finger at him, her face twisted with fury and tears. "Seeking affection from people who never wanted us. That’s who we are, Edward. Pathetic! Empty! Throwing ourselves at people who will never look our way."

Her voice cracked at the end, turning into a sob.

Edward looked dangerously cold, "I will never lose, Annora. That is the difference between you and I."