Villainess X Villain: They are obsessed with each other!

"Huh?"

Rosalina’s head tilted like a confused puppy as the loud creak echoed beneath her feet.

She blinked once, twice, staring down at the perfectly normal-looking floor.

"Creak!"

The ground suddenly gave way like cheap cardboard.

One second she was standing tall with her rusty sword raised high, the next she was dropping straight down into a dark hole like a cartoon character who just stepped on a trapdoor.

"Not again!!!" her annoyed shout echoed up from the darkness as she fell, arms flailing wildly.

Crypian and Alia stood frozen, still clutching each other like scared kittens.

Their faces were ghost-white, eyes huge with terror... and now total disbelief.

"Wh-what just happened...?" Crypian stammered, taking one shaky step forward.

Everyone stared at the fresh hole in the ground.

The Love Guardian, still pinned down by the spears like a giant bug on display, gawked with his mouth wide open.

Tiny Elizabeth’s tiny jaw dropped so low it nearly hit the floor.

The Love Guardian’s eyes suddenly sparkled with fresh excitement.

His massive body shook with pride even while stuck.

"So I was right..." he muttered, a goofy grin spreading across his face.

"Their love really is heavenly protected! Miracles keep saving them at the last second!"

He started struggling even harder against the spears, veins bulging on his neck.

"No matter what, I must protect them! They are the future of sacred love!!"

Tiny Elizabeth, on the other hand, looked like someone had just slapped her with a fish.

Her big red eyes were wide as dinner plates.

"What the fuck...?" she whispered, completely flabbergasted.

"The sword was literally one inch away from turning them into chopped salad!"

She was still trying to process the ridiculous luck when Julius’s hand twitched beside her.

A low, tired groan slipped out of him. "Ughhh..."

The second he made a sound, Tiny Elizabeth forgot everything else.

She leaned in so close that her cute round face filled his entire view.

Her long blonde hair tickled his nose as she stared at him with those huge, curious red eyes.

"Son...? Are you awake?" she asked in the sweetest voice, gently rubbing his cheeks with her tiny soft hands.

Julius’s eyes fluttered open slowly.

Before he could focus properly, Tiny Elizabeth grabbed his eyelashes like a tiny doctor doing a check-up and gently pulled them up for a better look.

The very first thing Julius saw after nearly dying was a small, adorable face staring back at him, big sparkling red eyes, chubby cheeks, and flowing blonde hair.

Even half-conscious, he knew exactly who it was.

"Mom...?" he croaked weakly.

The moment the word "Mom?" slipped weakly from Julius’s lips, Tiny Elizabeth couldn’t hold back anymore.

She launched herself at him like a tiny rocket. "My baby boy! You’re alive!!"

Her small body crashed into his chest, arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

Big, shiny tears rolled down her chubby cheeks and plopped onto his shirt.

"Sniff... You know how hard it was pulling you out of me? Wuuah! Wuuah! Wuuah!"

She started bawling like an actual baby, her face turning bright red, nose running, and tiny shoulders shaking with every sob.

The creepy little murderer from a minute ago had completely vanished.

Now she just looked like an overly emotional tiny mom having a full meltdown.

Julius blinked slowly, still dizzy from nearly dying. His brain tried to catch up.

One second he remembered the sharp pain of a sword slicing into his waist on the 10th floor of the Lone King’s inheritance tower.

The next second... this?

He stared at the tiny face buried in his chest.

Cute round cheeks, big sparkling red eyes, long blonde hair... and the voice that sounded way too young.

’Why is my mom... a child?’ he thought, completely confused.

Before he could ask anything, his eyes wandered around the hall.

The giant Love Guardian was still pinned to the ground by those nasty spears, grunting and struggling like a trapped bull.

"I must protect their sacred love!" he kept muttering under his breath while trying to lift his massive body.

Then Julius looked toward the gate. Sure enough, Crypian and Alia were still very much alive.

They stood there clutching each other tightly, faces pale but eyes wide with shock as they stared at the fresh hole in the floor where Rosalina had disappeared.

Julius’s eyebrows slowly rose. Everything felt wrong.

He had been seconds away from getting chopped in half... and now the "pure love" couple was hugging like nothing happened, his tiny mom was crying all over him.

"...What the hell is going on?" he muttered weakly.

He slowly turned his head, scanning the hall for Rosalina. No sign of her anywhere.

The only thing left was that suspicious hole in the floor where she had vanished.

"Where’s Rose...?" he muttered under his breath.

He gently lifted Tiny Elizabeth into his arms.

She was still sniffling loudly, her tiny hands clutching his robe like she never wanted to let go.

Julius reached beside him, grabbed the mask lying on the ground, and slipped it over his face.

Then he pushed himself up.

Surprisingly, despite the deep sword wound he remembered, his body felt completely fine, strong, refreshed, like he had just woken up from a good nap.

He held Tiny Elizabeth comfortably in one arm and looked straight at her. "What happened to you, Mom?"

She sniffed hard, her little nose bright red from crying.

"My... main body... sniff... left me on the ring," she said in a shaky, sobbing voice.

"I knew you would do something reckless again, so my main body separated one of her soul fragments and placed me inside the ring! Sniff!"

Hearing her, Julius let out a long, heavy sigh. "You really are something..."

He couldn’t believe how obsessive his mother could be.

Splitting off a soul fragment hurt like crazy, he still remembered the horrible pain when he did it to create Uriel.

His mom always complained about the "childbirth pain," yet here she was, doing the exact same thing just to watch over him.

And thanks to her, he was still breathing.

A warm smile crept onto his face under the mask.

That deep gash on his waist would have killed him if it hadn’t been treated fast.

Rosalina didn’t know any healing spells, so it had to be his mom’s doing.

"Haa..." He breathed out and loosened his grip a little.

The moment he did, Tiny Elizabeth started floating gently in the air like a little balloon.

"But why are you so tiny?" he asked, tilting his head.

The second the question left his mouth, Tiny Elizabeth froze solid.

Her shoulders shook and she quickly looked away, trying to whistle innocently.

"Shhhshhhshhh..." Only a silly airy sound came out instead of a real whistle.

"Well?" Julius nudged her shoulder with a teasing grin.

He had already guessed the reason, but he wanted to hear her say it.

She kept avoiding his eyes.

"Why are you so small?" he asked again, nudging her a few more times.

Then he leaned in and whispered in a low, playful voice, "Is it because you thought the avatar would go after Dad again like last time, huh?"

Tiny Elizabeth’s big red eyes rolled around as she tried desperately not to react.

But her bright red face gave everything away.

"Hehehe..." Julius let out his signature creepy chuckle.

He turned toward Crypian and Alia. Their faces still looked terrified, like they had just survived a horror movie.

It was obvious Rosalina had tried to finish them off... but something stopped her again.

His gaze dropped to the fresh hole in the floor right in front of them.

"So the floor creaked this time, huh?" he thought out loud, another amused chuckle slipping out.

He turned back to Tiny Elizabeth and leaned in close so no one else could hear.

"Anyway... where is Rose?" he whispered.

Her tiny face instantly turned pale with disbelief....all the other things she had in mind vanished and only the disbelief of the time she saw Rosalina fall into the hole remained...."You know what happened just now?" she asked, eyes wide.

"She was about to kill them, but right when the sword was about to land, boom, the floor suddenly.... "

Before she could finish, a loud, wild laugh boomed from somewhere below.

"Bwahaha!!! You think you can stop me?!"