Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 316

Chapter 316: Where Love Failed

[Lavinia’s POV — Black Wall Fortress—Continuation]

Osric didn’t move.

Not when I turned my back. Not when I told him to rest. Not even when the room exhaled with the weight of everything unsaid.

His voice followed me—low, tight, cracking at the edges. "Lavi... I don’t trust him near you."

I froze mid-step.

For a moment, neither of us breathed. The faint candle on the war table flickered as if caught between us—caught between flames.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Osric... go rest."

He didn’t.

Instead, he stepped toward me. Slow. Controlled. But his eyes—sharp and stormy—were anything but calm.

"Why won’t you take this seriously?" he asked, jaw clenched.

"Because," I said evenly, "this is not the time for your jealousy."

His breath hitched—like I had slapped him.

"...Jealousy?" he whispered.

I turned to face him fully. "Yes. That."

His lips parted, but no sound came out. For once, the smooth, confident Grand Duke had no immediate words.

He swallowed hard. "Lavi... I’m not—"

"You admitted you want to kill him," I cut in, voice slicing cleanly. "For what? For standing too close? For breathing the same air as me?"

His fists tightened. "Because he—he gets too close. He forgets his place."

"And what place is that?" I asked quietly.

Osric’s eyes darkened. "Not at your side."

The room went still. Even the candle stopped flickering, as if the flame itself was afraid of what would come next. A hot, pulsing anger curled beneath my ribs—sharp, cold, and dangerous.

"And what makes you think you get to decide who stands beside me?" My voice was low. Deadly.

Osric swallowed, but his voice trembled with something fierce and desperate.

"Because I love you."

A cruel, humorless smile tugged at my lips.

"I love you too," I said evenly, "but I never gave you the right to decide who can stay beside me and who doesn’t."

His jaw clenched. His fists curled.

"So... mind your position, Grand Duke Osric."

The title hit him like a slap. He inhaled sharply, and his anger sparked—ugly, messy, nothing like my refined fury.

"Advising a crown princess, I never knew, was a crime, your highness, and Do not forget," he snapped quietly, "you were jealous too. You almost killed someone for getting too close to me."

My blood froze.

Not because he was wrong. But because he dared to bring that up. The memory flashed— Him kneeling before another woman. My sword at another woman’s throat. His eyes were on anyone but me.

A flame licked up my spine.

"So," I whispered, each word soaked in venom, "for you... I was the wrong one?"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Then—

"NO. Your Highness, You weren’t the wrong one. But....Taking decisions recklessly and aiming a sword at an innocent—"

"UTTER ANOTHER WORD, GRAND DUKE—"

My voice cracked like a whip.

Osric flinched. The air thickened. Even Marshi and Solena tensed behind me.

"—AND I WON’T HESITATE TO SLASH THAT THROAT OF YOURS, GRAND DUKE OSRIC."

The title again. Sharp. Deliberate.

He straightened, pride wounded, but his eyes—His eyes stayed on mine, cold and arrogant.

"As if you’re not being unreasonable," he hissed. "There is—there has always been—a difference between Sir Haldor and Eleania. He is a man. A man, your highness. He stays too close to you and forgive me but....he is being too close to you. So, for me there is no difference between Eleania and—"

"Don’t you dare finish that sentence."

He froze.

I stepped forward, voice rising—not loud, not hysterical— But tyrant-cold, imperial, and absolute.

"Sir Haldor is my captain. My soldier. A man who earned his position with blood and loyalty.Not a ’mere’ anything."

My glare sharpened, cruel and merciless.

"And I will never tolerate the insult of my people, Osric. Not from people working for me.Not from those arrogant nobles. And not even from the man who claims to love me. He fights for me."

His breath caught.

"So I can’t say anything?" he argued, voice cracking with frustration. "Am I not working hard for you? Am I not fighting beside you every day?"

"You are," I said calmly. "You are working hard for me, Grand Duke Osric. I appreciate that."

The calmness cut deeper than any blade.

"But ever since the day you became Grand Duke..." I tilted my head, studying him like a specimen. "... I don’t know where you found this confidence that you have the right to command the Crown Princess of the Empire."

His face fell.

"Lavi—"

"CALL ME YOUR HIGHNESS. I never gave you such rights during working hours. A harsh silence snapped between us. "So learn your place. My life doesn’t just revolve around you, Osric. You are just a part of my life. Not my whole life, know the difference. "

This was a Grand Duke blinded by old guilt. Blinded by overpossessiveness. Blinded by a love that didn’t see me—Only his fear of losing me again.

Osric’s breath shuddered. His voice came out low, rough, trembling with something raw. "You’re speaking as if... you want to end this relationship of ours."

. . .

. . .

I held his gaze, steady, cold, sovereign. "I think... it’s not a bad idea, Grand Duke."

His eyes widened—something inside them cracking, violently. "Lavi—"

"Let’s take a break until the war ends." My voice was flat. Controlled. Dead calm. "Because I cannot handle your tantrums and a war at the same time."

"Just say you want to end it." His throat bobbed. "Why call it a break? Why pretend?" A bitter laugh escaped him, hollow and painful.

"Let’s Just end this relationship, Your Highness."

"...Think whatever you want, Grand Duke." My voice was cool as winter steel. "Now... Just get out and leave me alone."

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