I Am The Game's Villain

Alyssa\'s heart sank as she drew closer. "L-Layla?!"

"M-Mommy?" Layla\'s weak voice trembled. "I-Is that you?"

"Yes, dear, it\'s me," Alyssa reassured, gently patting Layla\'s head. "Can\'t you see me?"

"I-I\'m scared... I can\'t hear well... And e-everything is....sniff...dark..." Layla\'s red eyes, now clouded with a milky white haze, stared blankly ahead.

Alyssa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, witnessing her daughter\'s deteriorating condition.

"Yes, it\'s me, Layla. I\'m here," Alyssa whispered, her voice filled with both love and anguish.

"M-Mommy! I-I\'m scared...!" Layla burst into uncontrollable sobs, her pain echoing through her cries. "It hurts!"

Alyssa held Layla tightly, trying to soothe her, but the pain was too great for her little girl to bear.

"Do you want me to read your favorite story?" Alyssa suggested, desperately trying to bring comfort.

"Awaaa... Mommy... I can\'t sleep..." Layla\'s voice quivered with anguish.

"I-It\'s your favorite story about the Prince and the Princess, Layla?" Alyssa mustered a smile, determined to lift Layla\'s spirits.

Sniffling, Layla nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "Y-Yes... Um..."

….

….

Alyssa opened the door to the room and was surprised to find Edward standing there, accompanied by his smiling mother. "Sorry, Alyssa, he insisted," his mother said, patting Edward\'s head.

Alyssa smiled tiredly and knelt down, patting Edward\'s cheeks affectionately. "Can you keep her happy while I\'m away?"

Edward looked at Layla lying on the bed and nodded in response to Alyssa\'s request.

Alyssa gently stroked Edward\'s cheeks before leaving the room with his mother. As she left, Edward caught a glimpse of Alyssa hugging his mother and crying.

"L-Layla?"

"...."

Silence.

Edward approached Layla once more and called out to her. "Layla?"

"W-Who?" Layla finally spoke, her voice weak.

Edward let out a sigh of relief. "It\'s Ed-"

"Your Highness?!" Layla spoke up again, her voice barely above a whisper but loud for her weak state. There was a tinge of hope in her voice.

"..."

"I-It\'s you, Prince Alfred! Ouch!" Layla asked once more, wincing in pain.

"..." Edward stared at Layla\'s face.

Dried tears were still on her cheeks, and her expression showed signs of pain, but there was also a glimmer of happiness in her eyes.

Edward offered a bitter smile and placed a bunch of flowers on the small table next to the bed. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, he replied, "Yes, it\'s Alfred."

….

….

….

Alyssa couldn\'t believe her eyes as she watched the heartwarming scene before her.

"Ahaha! I-I won, Y-Your Highness! Cough!"

Edward chuckled and gently wiped the blood on Layla\'s mouth with a handkerchief before offering her some water.

"T-Thanks!" Layla beamed a smile. "T-Then! Now you have to grasp my hand for one hour!"

"As you wish, Princess Layla," Edward replied, playfully putting on a regal tone that made Layla giggle.

"L-Layla…"

"...!" Edward sprang to his feet when he noticed Alyssa at the doorway. He gestured towards himself, trying to convey a message to her.

Alyssa quickly caught on. She already knew about Layla\'s affection for Alfred.

Stroking Edward\'s hair, she approached Layla. "Layla, are you okay?"

"M-Mom? Is that you?! Look! Prince Alfred and I played a lot of games! H-He also told me a lot of stories!"

"Is that so, dear?" Alyssa smiled, feeling relief seeing her daughter happy.

"Y-Yes, but…" Layla puffed out her cheeks. "Mommy! In your story, the Prince kisses the Princess and she is healed, right?! Prince Alfred doesn\'t believe it and doesn\'t want to try it!"

"Oh, why not?" Alyssa glanced at Edward with a teasing grin.

"A-Ah, t-that\'s…" Edward stammered, his face flushing red.

"It might work though?" Alyssa said with a hint of mischief.

"Y-Yes! That\'s what I said too, mommy!" Layla was delighted that her mother supported her idea.

"N-No…it won\'t-"

"Edward." Alyssa suddenly whispered. "For her and for me?" She asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

She just wanted to see her daughter happy.

"Y-Yes, Aunty…" Edward didn\'t hesitate and timidly approached Layla before kissing her forehead.

"Ah!" Layla flinched a little but a big smile bloomed on her face.

"S-See you tomorrow, Layla!" Edward quickly left the room, trying to hide his own emotions.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Layla replied with a shy giggle but right after, her body convulsed again, and she lost consciousness.

"S-Sophien!"

Sophien, who was waiting outside, quickly came and cast a blessing on Layla.

Edward looked horrified at Layla, whose happy expression was replaced with a pained one. She wasn\'t giggling anymore. She was crying and asking for help from her mother. Her pained voice was echoing in the whole floor of the palace.

"Amael?" Suddenly a hand covered his eyes.

"Mommy…"

His mother lifted Edward and hugged him tightly from behind. "So, my cute son became Layla\'s stylish Prince?" She asked teasingly.

Edward lowered his head. "S-She thinks I am Alfred, mom…"

"But you will always be her Prince in shining armor, Amael." She said and pecked Edward\'s cheek.

"Yes, mom," Edward let out an adorable laugh and nodded, feeling the warmth of his mother\'s love.

****

[3 Months Later]

"I-I\'m sorry, Alyssa…" Sophien muttered, her voice heavy with despair. "She won\'t see another day…"

Alyssa\'s heart shattered as she looked at her daughter, Layla, lying in Edward\'s embrace. Layla was no longer able to speak, having lost all her senses except the sense of touch. Yet, Edward remained by her side, speaking to her with a gentle smile and holding her hand.

Layla\'s frail body had wasted away.

Eating had become excruciatingly painful for her.

She could no longer nourish herself.

With a trembling step, Alyssa turned away.

"A-Alyssa!" Edward\'s mother cried, her voice laced with desperation. "There must be something we can do, Sophien! Please, there must be a way, perhaps in Sancta Vedelia?!"

Sophien shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

Suddenly, a spurt of blood echoed through the air.

""...!""

They both turned in horror to see Alyssa slumped on the ground, blood flowing from her stomach and neck.

"A-Alyssa!" Edward\'s mother rushed to her side, cradling her head in her arms. "W-Why?!"

"I-I can\'t bear it…" Alyssa sobbed. "I-I can\'t bear to watch my daughter die…"

"Alyssa! Sophien, heal her!" Edward\'s mother pleaded, her voice filled with desperation.

"I-I can\'t…" Sophien sobbed, her heart breaking. "I-I have exhausted all my remaining blessings on L-Layla…and she drank some poisons…" She said seeing a purplish liquid flowing out of Alyssa\'s mouth.

"W-We have to get her help-"

"..."

"Alyssa?"

Edward\'s mother pressed her ear against Alyssa\'s chest, but there was no sound of a heartbeat.

"Alyssa!" Edward\'s mother cried as immense sadness overwhelmed her.

Next to her Sophien had a broken expression but she suddenly clenched her fists.

"I-I\'m sorry… I\'m sorry, Maria… Sera…" Sophien whispered, tears streaming down her face. She turned to Edward\'s mother with a solemn gaze. "C-Can you please tell Maria and Sera that I-I love them?"

"S-Sophien?" Edward\'s mother, on the brink of a mental breakdown, watched as Sophien returned to Layla\'s room.

....

"..."

Edward had a horrified expression.

The Saintess Sophien was on the ground with a white pale face. She wasn\'t moving at all.

Layla\'s complexion was getting better by second.

"Ah!" Layla suddenly yelled. "I-I feel better! I-It doesn\'t hurt a-anymore! M-Mommy! Your Highness!"

Edward slowly stepped back of the room and his gaze fell on his right. Alyssa was laying dead on his mother\'s arms.

"M-Mommy...? I-I feel better....Y-Your Highness, a-are you here?"

.....

On that day, Alyssa Tarmias, the Duchess of the Tarmias Duchy, breathed her last breath.

The Saintess of the Garden of Eden fell into an irreversible coma, deemed to be brain dead.

Following these unfortunate events, King Charles Celesta accepted the engagement proposed by Edith Celesta to Alyssa and Jarett. between his eldest son and Layla Adriana Tarmias.