Chapter 28: A Choice
“Hey, can’t you react a little?!”
Of course, that shout came from Armand.
Even though Evelia did hope Armand would react to what just happened, she at least wouldn’t go rushing right up to someone like a sudden gust of wind.
From the moment he took off his coat to the moment he threw it over her front, only a few seconds passed. For a knight like Armand, that kind of short dash was nothing. But when he grabbed Evelia’s shoulders tightly, he was bent over and out of breath.
“……”
Evelia looked down at the white knight’s coat now covering her and didn’t say anything. She just calmly slipped her arms backward into the sleeves, though the coat was a bit too big for her, and then looked up at Armand. He looked so flustered… it was rare to see him like this.
“Listen…” Armand’s fingers twitched a little, then he straightened up and pulled his hands away from her shoulders. “No… sigh… What’s wrong with you, seriously…”
He ran a hand through his messy bangs and looked around helplessly.
Maybe it was true that this small path had poor security, hardly anyone walked here. It was shady and cool, but also cold and eerie. When the wind blew just now, only Armand and Evelia were here. The scene just now was something only Armand had seen.
“…Eve.”
“I’m here, Mr. Armand.”
Compared to the clearly rattled Armand, Evelia’s face didn’t show any emotion at all. She was just wondering if Armand had liked that dramatic, “novel-like” moment when the wind blew in. She was a bit disappointed too, her carefully prepared “gentle expression” had been completely blocked by her skirt flying up.
Though, honestly, even if the skirt hadn’t covered it, her expression wouldn’t have looked that gentle anyway. Evelia’s face muscles were pretty stiff.
“……”
Armand let out a sigh through his nose and tapped his fingers on his forehead.
He really didn’t get it. Why was Evelia not even the least bit embarrassed about showing that much?
He knew she was a cold and calm person, but… she was still a girl. Wasn’t she supposed to feel at least a little shame?
If some other noble lady had something like that happen, she’d probably run off in tears, screaming about how she’d never get married now.
“You didn’t… walk all the way here like that, did you?”
Evelia didn’t care, but Armand suddenly really did.
That wind hadn’t just blown once. They’d had gusts along the way. And Armand suddenly imagined, what if this girl had been walking all the way here with her skirt flying around?
Armand wasn’t a noble and didn’t care about noble manners, but even he thought… this was terrifying. It wasn’t about manners anymore, it was just…
“I did. It was like this the whole way back.”
To anyone listening, “like this” would obviously mean the skirt incident.
But Evelia didn’t seem to understand the hidden meaning. To her, a skirt flying up wasn’t something that needed to be talked about so carefully. She thought Armand was asking if she had been wearing this new outfit the whole time, and she had, because she really cared about this new outfit.
It’s just underwear. What’s the big deal? If Armand liked it, she could even give it to him.
Of course, Armand didn’t seem like the type to have that kind of… unusual interest.
“…? Huh? Wait… What…?”
But when he heard what she said, Armand’s brain suddenly filled with strange images.
A young girl with long pink hair, wearing a flowing white dress… and every time someone looked at her with admiration, the wind would lift her skirt, showing underneath the soft white…
“……”
…No, no. Can’t keep thinking about that.
Armand had already imagined the scene perfectly, but he forced himself to shut it down.
To be honest, Evelia had nothing to do with him.
Right now, she was just a suspected spy of the second prince, with no proof either way. Whether she lived or died didn’t really matter much. If she died, it would just be troublesome to find a new spy and get used to their way of doing things all over again. But if something did happen to her, Armand wouldn’t feel any particular emotion about it.
To be honest, Armand had already figured it out, unless he was just overthinking things, Evelia was clearly using her beauty to grab his attention. In other words, she was using the classic “honey trap.”
But seeing that blank, emotionless expression… he couldn’t tell whether the girl was just too innocent or simply silly, or perhaps both.
“Sigh… you really are something…”
Armand felt frustrated.
Not at Evelia, but at himself.
Maybe if he found a quiet place and got rid of her now, he could avoid doing something he might regret later.
But… he was still hesitating.
He’d had some dealings with the "House of Nightingales" before. He thought the assassins from that group were kind of pitiful. But even so… if they were from an opposing faction, then getting rid of them early was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?
Should he… observe her a bit longer?
After all, she seemed kind of interesting. But, she was also like a ticking time bomb. Who knew when she might go off…
Armand looked at Evelia, still wearing his coat backward. Her golden eyes met his, and reflected his own confused expression.
His head itched. It felt like his brain was starting to grow.
He should kill Evelia now. There was no one else around. If he acted while she wasn’t on guard, it wouldn’t even be that hard…
But—
“Ahhh—fine.”
It felt like Armand had been arguing with himself in his head. In the end, he gave in to himself.
It really was a huge gamble…
Just whose life was he gambling with, anyway?
Whatever… forget it.
He’d just keep seeing her as an enemy for now.
Things looked fine at the moment, but if anything suspicious happened in the future, he would have to kill her for sure…
Thinking that, Armand looked at Evelia again. Even though he was having serious thoughts about life and death, the words that came out of his mouth continued their casual tone from earlier.
“You really walked all the way here with your skirt flying like that?”
“Hm?” Evelia tilted her head. “Flying? You mean like this?”
As she spoke, without hesitation, even while still wearing Armand’s coat backwards, she lifted her skirt with both hands like she was going to repeat what had happened earlier, right in front of him.
Of course, Armand quickly reached out and pulled her skirt down.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, blinking.
“Nothing… You really don’t care at all, huh.”
Hearing that, Evelia paused for a second, still holding her skirt. It was like something clicked in her head. She stared straight at Armand.
“Wait… do you care?”
“Huh?”
Armand gave her a look that said, “Why would this have anything to do with me?” But inside, his heart skipped a beat.
“Do you really care that much… about my skirt flying up?”
“I…”
Armand was at a loss for words. He thought, Why is she suddenly being sharp about something like this, of all things?
“…Forget it.”
He let out a long sigh. Imagining that she might do something weird again, he curled his finger, signaling for her to follow him.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Didn’t you say you were heading back to the estate?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Evelia followed behind Armand, watching as he led her to his carriage. Unlike ordinary little carts, this one had the knight order’s emblem carved into it. It looked grand and impressive. The white and gold colors were elegant and regal, clearly something only royalty could use.
“Eve,” Armand said, standing next to the carriage and holding out his hand to her.
“Get in. I’ll take you back.”