The next morning, I felt like I had just survived a battlefield far more treacherous than facing ten Earth Drakes.
My body was aching, not from physical training, but from the sheer mental strain of being under Elara's thumb for hours. And the worst part? There was a stark, reddish-purple mark at the base of my neck. A "claim" Elara had intentionally left right over my pulse.
"Keep your collar higher, my Alex," Elara whispered at the dormitory door, adjusting my tie with a satisfied, bone-chilling smile. "I wouldn't want anyone to miss the message that you're already taken."
I could only snort, looking away so she wouldn't see my ears still flushing. "You're a literal demon, Lady Heist."
The Royal Magic Academy's canteen during breakfast is the loudest information hub in the kingdom. Yet, the moment I stepped inside, the noise came to a dead halt, as if someone had just pressed the mute button on the world.
I walked with a lazy gait toward the bread stall, trying to ignore the stares of a hundred pairs of eyes. In the corner of the room, I saw Clarisse sitting alone. She looked pale, her eyes puffy. As soon as she spotted me, she stood up and ran toward me.
"Alex!" her voice trembled, drawing everyone's attention.
"What now, Miss Pink?" I asked flatly, trying to keep my distance. "If you're here to thank me for the forest, save it. I only did it because I was forced to."
"It's not that..." Clarisse stopped right in front of me. Her eyes immediately locked onto my neck. Even though I had tried to hide it with my uniform collar, the rhythm of my breathing caused the mark to peek through. "That... that mark on your neck... did Lady Elara hurt you?"
She reached out, attempting to touch the red bruise with a face full of naive pity. "She... she's so cruel. If she's forcing you to do something you hate, I can talk to Prince Julian! We can protect you from—"
"Pull your hand back, Saintess."
The voice didn't come from me.
A chilling, oppressive aura suddenly smothered the canteen. The room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees in an instant. Elara emerged from behind a pillar, her blue eyes flickering with an incredibly unstable light. Her hand gripped her magic staff so tightly her knuckles were white.
"L-Lady Elara..." Clarisse stepped back, trembling.
"I told you, never touch what belongs to me with your filthy hands," Elara walked closer, each step creating thin cracks of ice on the canteen floor. She stood beside me, immediately wrapping her arm around my waist, pulling me so close our bodies were pressed together.
"She didn't hurt me, Clarisse," I said, trying to de-escalate the situation even though I knew it was futile. "Go, before she actually freezes this place solid."
"But Alex! You look like you're suffering under her! I know you're just a good person caught in—"
"A good person?" Elara laughed, a sound that made the hair on everyone's neck stand up. "He's not a good person, Clarisse. He is my monster. And the mark on his neck? That's not a wound. It's proof that last night, he thought only of me, sighed for me, and became entirely mine."
The entire canteen erupted in hushed gasps. Elara's blatant confession utterly demolished the noble reputation she had spent years maintaining.
"You... you're disgusting!" Prince Julian shouted, suddenly appearing behind Clarisse. His face was beet-red with rage and jealousy. "Alex! You've truly defiled Lady Elara's honor! I won't wait for next month's duel! I challenge you right here, right now!"
I looked at Julian with pure disdain. "Honor? Julian, the only one defiling honor here is you. You failed to protect your fiancée, you failed to kill me in the forest, and now you're failing to see that this woman doesn't want you anymore."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, COMMONER!" Julian drew his sword, holy light exploding from the blade. "I will kill you!"
Julian lunged forward. However, before he could reach me, Elara raised her hand. An ice wall a meter thick manifested instantly, stopping Julian's strike with a deafening thud.
"Don't you dare touch him, Julian," Elara hissed. Her beautiful face now looked genuinely deranged (Yandere-mode: ON). "If you try to hurt him again, I don't care if you're the prince. I will level the Sun Palace and let this kingdom freeze forever."
"Elara... you've gone mad," Julian whispered in terror.
"Yes, I'm mad because of him," Elara turned to me, her gaze suddenly shifting to something terrifyingly tender yet possessive. She traced the red mark on my neck with her thumb. "Let's go, Alex. The scent of losers in here makes me nauseous. We'll have breakfast in my room... just the two of us."
She dragged me out of the canteen in front of everyone. I stole a quick glance back, seeing Clarisse crying and Julian kneeling on the floor with a snapped sword.
Well done, I thought cynically. One more chapter toward the total destruction of the original plot. And it looks like I won't be escaping this woman's grasp, ever.
As soon as we reached a deserted hallway, Elara suddenly halted and pinned me against the wall. She stared at me with watery eyes, filled with both rage and longing.
"You spoke to her back there," Elara whispered, her voice shaking. "You let her get close to you."
"I didn't do anything, Elara! She's the one who came to me!"
"I don't care!" Elara grabbed my face, kissing me harshly, biting my lower lip until I let out a groan. "Next time, if she gets near you, I'll kill her. I swear I'll kill her, Alex. You are only allowed to look at me. Only me!"
I could only fall silent, wrapping my arms around her waist to calm her down. Apparently, being a Yandere's personal assistant isn't just about fan service—it's about surviving the thin line between love and madness.