Chapter 33: Are You Mad?
Even though Armand was in his office thinking hard about whether he had said something wrong, Evelia, the one who looked like she was feeling sad, actually wasn’t as upset as he imagined. Just like always, she walked out of the main building of the estate with no big changes in her expression or emotions.
“Was there something wrong with my plan?”
After Armand asked her to leave, she didn’t complain with a sad or hurt voice like Armand had expected. Instead, she quietly started wondering if she had done something wrong.
Since she arrived at the estate, Evelia didn’t think of herself as overly obedient, but she had always done what Armand needed. Wasn’t that enough to make him like her?
At the start, Armand used to talk to her more and seemed more open. But now… why was he pulling away?
Why?
Could it be… had he found out her true identity? That she was working for the second prince?
But that didn’t make sense… If he knew, he would’ve gotten rid of her already. Why would he keep her around?
Evelia walked back to the tree where she often went to think, and tried to remember exactly when Armand started to avoid her.
“…The carriage.”
She softly said the words to herself.
When she had first arrived at the estate, Evelia could clearly feel that Armand was trying to get closer to her. She even had to be very careful not to slip up. In the kitchen, when she wanted to test Armand’s reaction, she chose to make the first move. Armand didn’t really resist, he just joked around like usual. He was a bit distant, but not rejecting her.
But in the carriage… Evelia had felt something strange in Armand’s emotions. Even though the red marks on her wrist disappeared that same afternoon, she still remembered how tightly he had grabbed her.
“I followed everything from the books…”
Her wrist no longer hurt, but she still turned it slightly out of habit.
She had followed what the novels said, so why did it seem like Armand didn’t like her anymore?
“I didn’t get to see his face that day…”
Thinking about it made Evelia a bit annoyed.
The wind that day was just too strong, and her dress had flown up too high. The “gentle look” she had practiced so carefully, Armand never saw it. And at the same time, she never saw the expression on his face either. All she knew was that he had rushed over quickly and put his coat on her.
Maybe… he didn’t like it? Maybe that’s why he reacted so strongly? Maybe Armand doesn’t like romantic scenes with wind blowing?
Even in the carriage, Evelia noticed he didn’t seem to like the fancy underwear she had picked out just for that moment. He never even looked directly at it and quickly gave it back to her.
So this plan… doesn’t work after all?
Evelia started to feel unsure. Even now, under her maid outfit, she was still wearing that set of underwear she had prepared, thinking maybe it would be useful one day.
“This isn’t good…”
For the first time, Evelia felt truly frustrated. Her plan had failed so easily.
“Looks like… I need to take my time and really watch him.”
She needed to understand what kind of person Armand really was.
Evelia thought, only by knowing what he liked could she find the right way to approach him.
So after thinking for a long time, she decided to do the same thing Armand had just done, wait and see.
It seemed like, in this strange situation, the two of them finally shared some kind of understanding.
“For now, I’ll just stick to the original plan…”
After settling on this simple idea, Evelia got up from under the tree. She walked around the estate like usual, making sure everything was in order as part of her job. Then, as always, she headed to the kitchen.
“Miss Evelia, what do you want to make today?”
Evelia came to the kitchen so often that she had gotten to know the chefs well.
Even though she was a bit cold in personality, the chefs were moved by her love for cooking. The older chefs, who had been cooking for decades, treated her like a daughter. The younger ones saw her like a little sister. Whenever she needed help, they were happy to offer it.
“I want to try making orange cake today.”
Evelia walked over to her small stove, took out a box of oranges she had prepared ahead of time, and also brought out her usual drink, tomato sauce.
Even though she had told herself, “I really shouldn’t be drinking tomato sauce like this anymore!”, in the end, she just couldn’t give it up.
To her, the tomato sauce wasn’t just tasty. It was also her very first step in trying something new.
Back when she lived in the “House of Nightingales”, everything Evelia ate and used was already decided for her. If she needed to go outside, even the food for the trip was prepared in advance.
But this time, it was different. The tomato sauce was something she chose to try on her own. It wasn’t something the second prince ordered her to eat. To her, it felt like the first time she made a choice for herself, and that’s why she was so attached to the tomato sauce.
What she liked wasn’t just the sweet and sour taste, but more the feeling of “freedom” she tasted for the first time.
Still, she thought, someday this so-called freedom would be taken away by the second prince. But at least… she had experienced it once.
‘If you want to do something, then do it. If you don’t want to care, then don’t. That’s how it should be!’
Those were Armand’s words, and they stayed in Evelia’s mind. In all her years of life, this was the first time someone had said something like that to her. Even the word “run away,” which she used to think was cowardly, had now left a mark in her heart.
But in reality, running away was probably impossible.
Evelia stopped thinking about these things. With a loud clack, she brought the knife down on the cutting board and split the orange in half. It was like she was cutting off a piece of longing she shouldn’t have.
“Ah… there’s not enough.”
When she reached for her usual tomato sauce to cook with, she found that the last half-pack had already been eaten by her just now. Even after squeezing it hard, only a few drops came out, completely useless.
“What’s wrong, Miss Evelia?”
A nearby chef saw her almost crushing the tomato sauce pack and came over.
“I’m out of tomato sauce.”
“I see…” The chef looked at the box next to them. “That was the last of it. The person in charge of buying supplies just went out. He won’t be back until this evening…”
“This evening…” Evelia looked at the ingredients she had already prepared. If she waited until the evening, they wouldn’t be fresh anymore. Still… she could make a new batch later if needed.
“How about this, Miss Evelia? Maybe don’t use tomato sauce today. The master could use a bit of surprise once in a while too.”
Just as Evelia was about to give up, the chef’s words gave her an idea. She was planning to quietly observe things for now, but changing her approach a little might help her understand Armand better.
“Alright.”
And so, for the first time ever, Evelia followed the cookbook’s instructions exactly and made a beautiful orange cake without any tomato sauce, using the orange peel as a bowl. She had help from the chef too.
When she finished, that same chef thought to himself, Miss Evelia finally made something normal, without tomato sauce!
After arranging the cake neatly as part of Armand’s lunch, Evelia took off her apron. She asked one of the kitchen staff to deliver the meal, then left the estate to go buy more tomato sauce for herself. She planned to keep her own supply separate from the kitchen’s so that she wouldn’t run out again.
Since Evelia had gone out, Armand’s lunch was brought to him by his old butler.
Armand was still sitting in his room, feeling stuck. He had spent the whole morning thinking, but still couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.
He wondered if Evelia had been hurt by something he said. But the problem was that he didn’t even say anything bad!
He had planned to ask her about it at lunchtime when she came to deliver his meal. But when the door opened and the butler came in instead, Armand’s heart sank halfway.
While eating, Armand kept looking for Evelia’s usual tomato-sauce-flavored snack. He even looked around the plate, wondering if she had hidden it inside some normal-looking food. But the butler just gave him a strange look.
“Ah—”
Armand put down his knife and fork. He hadn’t taken even one bite. He covered his face with both hands and let out a groan through his fingers.
‘Evelia didn’t even cook for me today… she’s really mad at me, isn’t she?’