I Plotted The World Destruction With The Male Lead - Chapter 11

The place Eleanor led Van to was her own room. It couldn’t be helped, as she wasn’t sure about the state of the other rooms.

“At least this room is clean.”

Though it was small, filled with old furniture, and the yellowed curtains were bothersome, there wasn’t much she could do. She wanted to save as much money as possible and get out of this house quickly.

To Eleanor’s annoyance, Van looked at her with a pitying expression. Swallowing the urge to snap, “This is a place where people live, you know!” she gestured for him to sit. The only available seat was the bed.

Van, perhaps feeling it would be rude to hesitate, sat on the very edge of the bed. Eleanor, on the other hand, made no move to sit, instead standing a few steps away as if to keep her distance.

“How is the Duke of Carlyle?” she asked.

At her question, a pained look crossed his face.

“We lost him. He used magic there again.”

The second magic Carlyle had likely used was one to open a gate. Eleanor had expected Van wouldn’t be able to kill him.

Carlyle’s unique ability was “magic.” However, since he still didn’t have his guide, much like Van, he probably wasn’t able to use his abilities to their full potential.

“Both of them came looking for me, not Charlotte.”

Eleanor began to suspect that the two men who had sought her out might have returned to this time period around the same date.

If that were the case, they should have been looking for Charlotte instead of her. After all, Charlotte was an A-rank guide.

But both Van and Carlyle had found Eleanor first.

While Van’s actions made sense, Carlyle’s did not. From the beginning, he had only relied on rumors about A-rank guides and received the bare minimum of guidance from Eleanor.

“If that day was both their first night together and their first guiding session…”

Not only had Charlotte’s compatibility with Van been poor, but her compatibility with Carlyle was the worst as well. That much could be inferred simply from the fact that Carlyle had come to Eleanor immediately.

Realizing this, Eleanor nearly burst into laughter.

She didn’t harbor any naive thoughts that Carlyle might actually love her.

Even the version of Carlyle described in the original novel seemed like nothing more than a polished, self-deceptive illusion to her.

What he longed for was Eleanor’s guiding, not Eleanor herself. She believed the same was true for Van.

It was foolish to expect any feelings of love from royalty. What they wanted was guiding, not Eleanor as a person.

“…I’m sorry. Carlyle will definitely come after you again,” Van said apologetically.

“Even though Lady Enric is around?” Eleanor replied.

Charlotte Enric.

At Eleanor’s words, Van finally remembered Charlotte, whom he hadn’t thought of until now because his mind was entirely preoccupied with Eleanor.

Aside from the Empress Luria, Eleanor and Charlotte were the only two guides in the current continent. Van, too, was pondering the significance of Carlyle coming here instead of heading to the north, where Charlotte resided.

“He came here first… so what Carlyle wants must be you, my lady.”

If Charlotte had treated Carlyle the same way she had treated Van, she wouldn’t have even allowed Carlyle to hold her hand before their engagement ceremony.

Even when she escorted Van, she always wore thick gloves. And, of course, she hadn’t easily granted him guiding, not even when he desperately needed it.

Van was aware that Carlyle was more closely related to him by blood than other members of the royal family. He suspected that Carlyle’s compatibility rate with Charlotte wasn’t much different from his own.

Moreover, with a guide who had a higher compatibility rate with him, Carlyle had no reason to come here. The guide Carlyle wanted must be Eleanor. Charlotte was likely his second choice.

Van recalled Charlotte’s guiding, which had been an awful experience for him. Even so, he had convinced himself that he loved her, though it seemed Charlotte didn’t feel the same.

After their guiding sessions, she had disliked even touching him.

While it was just a guess, Van had a hunch that Charlotte had been the same with Carlyle during their guiding sessions. If Carlyle had received the same kind of guiding Van had…

“He must have thought of Eleanor. He would’ve become that desperate.”

That was likely why Carlyle had personally appeared in the underground catacomb-like secret passage. Otherwise, as someone who had risen to the position of Emperor, he would have had no reason to go to such lengths.

“I… If you would only permit it, my lady… I would like to protect you,” Van said.

Eleanor silently stared at Van, who spoke of “protection” without addressing the most crucial part of the matter. She couldn’t help but think that, in the end, his intentions weren’t much different from Carlyle’s.

But Van was the male lead of the original story.

Eleanor didn’t think it was such a bad thing for her life to diverge from the plot of the original novel.

“In any case, Carlyle won’t let me live.”

Whether it was because she still held some utility or because he wanted to prolong his revenge, Carlyle might keep her alive for a few years, but in the end, she was sure a brutal death awaited her.

She had shattered the dream he had so desperately wished for.

Yet Eleanor wasn’t afraid of Carlyle’s grudge. Instead, it amused her.

With his power, Carlyle had drawn the Duke of Armoir into his plans, using him to keep Eleanor thoroughly cornered.

All of his efforts, all of his ambitions, had been destroyed by her.

Having once lost everything, Van would prepare more meticulously to face Carlyle.

And…

“I will be by his side.”

The one thing Eleanor had to avoid at all costs was ending up in the same miserable position as in the original story. She couldn’t bear that.

“Is this protection… or possession?”

When Eleanor asked this, Van lifted his gaze slowly to meet hers. As he rose from the bed, his lowered eyes were suddenly above hers, towering over her.

But only for a moment.

The next thing she knew, he knelt before her on one knee.

“I won’t lie and say I don’t desire you,” he said softly. “I, too, wish for you to be my guide. But…”

His outstretched fingers hovered near Eleanor’s hand, close enough to feel their warmth yet not quite touching. Van looked up at her with eyes that carried the weight of a sigh.

“I will make you the second most powerful woman in the Empire. So, I beg of you.”

His fingers, trembling with fervent emotion, carefully wrapped around hers. Eleanor allowed him to take her hand without resistance.

“Please, make me your man. I will protect you… and serve you.”

Don’t turn away from me.

His whispered plea made Eleanor catch her breath. She was already startled when he uttered the words “serve you.”

He was royalty, after all. A royal was meant to rule over others, not to serve anyone. And Van wasn’t just any royal—he was the man poised to become the next Emperor.

When she thought of Carlyle, Van felt like an entirely different person.

Through their connected hands, Eleanor could sense Van’s condition. He had used a significant amount of his power, though it was nowhere near as dire as the state he had been in that night in the underground prison.

Still, he clearly needed guiding.

Without saying a word, Eleanor began pouring her guiding energy into him. She noticed how the hard, resolute look in his eyes began to soften, his gaze growing hazy.

Before either of them realized it, Van pressed his cheek against the back of her guiding hand, as if seeking comfort.

Of course, she thought. This is nothing compared to that night.

Back then, she could only provide minimal guiding, as their contact was limited to just their fingertips. Even so, it had worked, likely because of their high compatibility rate.

But a mere 8% effectiveness was the best she could achieve under those circumstances.

Now, with more skin-to-skin contact, a broader range of guiding has become possible. She let her power flow more freely, observing Van’s reaction.

Even Carlyle, who prided himself on his composure, struggled to lie while receiving Eleanor’s guiding.

“Serve me? Those words are unbecoming of a royal addressing a commoner like me,” she whispered, her tone sharp yet calm.

“It’s… not unbecoming,” Van murmured, his voice faltering as he struggled to stay coherent. “You’re… my guide… my… master…”

Maybe he just has… unique tastes, Eleanor thought wryly.

But she was certain of one thing: her compatibility with Van was far higher than with Carlyle.

Carlyle had never reacted like this. Even when she guided him through hugs or holding hands, his response was far more restrained. And if he ever felt like things were getting out of hand, he was quick to pull away from her.

Van, on the other hand, was staring at her with a flushed face and an unfocused, dreamy expression.

It was just a thought, but he looked almost like…

“…a man in heat.”