Chapter 14: Red Crow
In the royal palace, Armand and the Crown Prince, Solor, were closely studying the movements of “Red Crow.” The atmosphere between them was heavy and tense, with both of their brows furrowed in thought.
Every time “Red Crow” showed up, he brought trouble, serious and messy situations. And with the Second Prince secretly fanning the flames behind the scenes, these harmful events were twisted in the public eye into something that looked like “robbing the rich to help the poor,” like acts of justice.
The most dangerous part was that the common people didn’t even know that Red Crow worked for the Second Prince. These polished-up “hero” stories were perfect for influencing young people frustrated with an unfair society.
They would stir up strong emotions, and if a chance for a rebellion came, the Second Prince could count on some of the public to support him. As long as someone took the first step, the rest would follow.
On the Crown Prince’s side, there was Armand. A true war hero, well-loved by the people. But when it came to sympathy and emotional appeal, the common folk still leaned toward Red Crow, the mysterious figure said to be an ordinary orphan.
The Second Prince knew he couldn’t beat the Crown Prince when it came to influence among the nobles. While he had his own allies, they could only slow things down through clever speeches and politics, they couldn’t truly match the Crown Prince’s power, let alone overpower him. So, the Second Prince turned to the commoners. Just like how he had created the entirely fictional “Evelia,” he had also created the identity of “Red Crow.”
And to clean up the image of the “House of Nightingales,” the Second Prince had even funded a complete rebuild of the “Saint Fleurs Church” in recent years. Inside, he built another orphanage, presenting it as the new version of the “House of Nightingales.”
He claimed that homeless children were being sent to the church to be cared for. Each year, he poured a large amount of money into it. Publicly, the old organization was shut down and replaced, when in reality, it had simply gone underground.
It was really just a way to sort people. The ones with talent and potential were kept by the Second Prince. The ones without any value? He handed them over to the church. It didn’t cost much, and at the same time, he gained the people’s praise.
As for Red Crow, the carefully trained agent who gave both the Crown Prince and Armand headaches, at this very moment, she was standing under a tree, calmly reading a pink-covered romance novel for girls.
After realizing that the previous version of the book wasn’t exactly suitable for her, Evelia had returned it to the maid who gave it to her. That poor maid, once she realized she had accidentally handed over her “special” private edition, was so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. Evelia didn’t seem to mind at all, but the maid’s face turned red as she ran off with the adult novel clutched in her arms.
Even so, the other maids who had come along with her were full of energy and excitement. They asked Evelia to wait just a few minutes and then rushed back to their dorms. Soon after, they came back with a different book, thicker than the last one, and eagerly pushed it into Evelia’s hands.
“Miss Evelia! This one is really good! What happened earlier was totally a mistake, you have to read this one!”
Now, standing quietly under the tree during her break, reading the new book, Evelia could still remember how excited the maids were when they handed it to her. She even remembered one of them whispering, full of enthusiasm.
“Who doesn’t like spicy romance stories?”
【…This is a story about a beautiful young girl. The kind maid named Goleya finally found her true love in the grand estate.
As the warm spring breeze brushed against her face, you could see tiny green buds on the bare branches, swaying with her long hair. Her love was just like those soft pink blossoms, waiting quietly for the moment to bloom…
When the flower petal landed on the young man’s forehead, their eyes met. But just like the warm spring breeze couldn’t melt the cold heart of the knight, the soft pink petal on his brow didn’t move the corners of his mouth at all. They remained still, like thick snow on a frozen land.
The girl watched the knight walk away, staring until his figure disappeared from her sight. But even then, her eyes stayed fixed on the end of the little path lined with budding green branches. In the distance, she thought she saw a single pink petal floating gently in the wind… slowly drifting into the palm of her hand.】
It was Evelia’s first time reading a romance novel for girls, and as she looked at the book in her hands, she was completely lost for words.
There were so many weird and silly parts… but she couldn’t even start to complain about them.
She flipped through the book quickly, hoping to find something useful inside. In just thirty minutes, she had already read more than half of it. She went from lines like “His sword was cold, his knife was cold, his heart was cold…” all the way to “Ah—Master, it’s too dirty there… You can’t…!” Somewhere in the middle, she even flipped back to check the front page just to make sure this wasn’t the same edition as the one she had returned earlier.
“So this is a romance novel for girls. I see now…”
At that moment, it felt like Evelia had stepped into a whole new world.
“Calling Armand ‘Mr’ really is too formal. I should start with ‘Master’ instead…”
Standing under the tree, Evelia murmured to herself, staring at an illustration in the novel where the male and female leads were close and affectionate. She began wondering how she could make her relationship with Armand this warm and close, too.
“In the book, the girl first called him ‘Master’… and then it slowly changed to ‘Darling’… and then… ‘Husband’...?”
Evelia instinctively felt a little uncomfortable with those names, but after thinking it over, she figured, it’s just for the mission. It’s just a nickname, what’s the big deal?
She even wondered if skipping all the formal steps and calling him “Husband” right away might quickly bring them closer.
But… that probably wouldn’t work...
No matter how she looked at him, Armand didn’t seem like the type who would fall for her just because she called him “Husband.” Evelia could tell that Armand was interested in her, but not in a romantic way. It was more like he was trying to figure her out. If she acted too forward too soon, he would only get more suspicious of her.
“So I really have to start slow…”
Evelia closed the book and held it close, thinking seriously under the tree.
Based on what she read in the story, the male lead fell in love with the female lead because she was gentle and caring. Through small, thoughtful actions, she showed she understood him. At the same time, she would accidentally reveal her charming side. There were even some “lucky pervert” moments that made the male lead’s attention stay completely focused on her.
And there were also things like whispering in his ear, feeding him food, letting him rest on her lap… Evelia had already learned exactly how to grab Armand's attention.
She also had to become friends with the other maids around her. At the right time, those friends could help her too.
And so, with a completely emotionless face, Evelia took a deep breath and said in a flat voice:
“Understood, I need to become a gentle, sweet, caring woman who takes care of Armand in every possible way and makes him fall in love with me. When he gets home, I’ll say that line, ‘Welcome home, Master ❤️’.”
—In truth, she completely missed the point.
To sum it up in one sentence.
Lewd romance novels are dangerous.