Chapter 4: Going Out? Take Me With You!
“Umm… Iliya…”
“It’s Evelia.”
“Haah—okay, let’s forget the name thing for now. Are you going out?”
Armand gave up trying to argue with this serious little maid. He sighed deeply while fiddling with his bangs.
There were just too many names that sounded like “Evelia,” and he couldn’t get them straight no matter how hard he tried. Honestly, he felt it was the maid’s fault. Her name was just too plain and hard to remember.
“No, Evelia isn’t planning to go out. Evelia is preparing your first dinner here at the manor.”
“You know, you don’t have to keep calling yourself that way…”
“Evelia is only doing it because she’s afraid you’ll forget her name, Mr. Armand.”
“Well… even if you say that…”
“Then let me ask you, Mr. Armand, what’s my name?”
“Iluria?”
Crack.
Evelia felt like something in her brain had snapped.
“I’m just really bad at remembering names… especially… sorry, especially names like yours that are super common and sound alike.”
“Haah…”
In all her years as an assassin, Evelia had never felt this helpless. But it was all part of the mission, she had to endure it.
“Mr. Armand, do you remember your own name?”
She took a deep breath, trying hard to hold back a certain urge inside her.
“Armand Systalia.”
“And the name of His Majesty?”
“Pandelata Cleia.”
“What about the Crown Prince and Second Prince?”
“Solor Cleia and Eric Cleia.”
“And that old butler you seem to trust a lot?”
“Lug Lazer.”
“Then, what about me?”
“……”
Armand paused for a moment.
“Eve… Evelyn?”
“Wow, impressive. You got four characters right, but you got the number of syllables wrong.”
Evelia stared at Armand’s awkward expression, almost unable to hold back her urge to kill.
How could someone be this frustrating?
How did this guy even manage to climb up to the position of Knight Commander?
Did the Crown Prince actually like this airhead?
Wait, could the Crown Prince be into men?
Did Armand get promoted just because of his looks?
Could the rumors that he doesn’t like women be because he’s actually the Crown Prince’s secret lover?
—That Evelia could even think of things like this showed just how unreasonable this handsome man in front of her was making her feel.
Even someone like Evelia, who usually had little emotion, couldn’t help getting irritated.
“Sorry, I’m just really bad at remembering people I haven’t spent much time with… The people you just named are ones I deal with all the time, both in daily life and paperwork, so their names stick.”
He continued, “If you asked me about the names of my soldiers, I probably wouldn’t know most of them either. Everyone just uses nicknames for each other. You know how it is, lots of people have names that are four or five syllables long and sound nearly the same.”
“I’m your personal maid. From now on, we’ll be seeing each other every day, so please remember my name.”
“Is ‘Pink Hair’ really not okay—?”
“That’s not allowed, Mr. Armand.”
“…Alright then.”
“By the way, are you planning to go out?”
“Huh?” Armand looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“Because you kept asking me if I was going out. It seemed like you really cared, so I thought maybe you wanted to use it as an excuse to go outside yourself, or maybe you wanted me to bring something back for you. But judging by your personality, I think it’s the first one.”
“Haha, wow, you’re pretty sharp.”
“If I weren’t, I probably couldn’t be your maid.”
“Fair point…” Armand smiled, narrowing his eyes. The second half of his sentence was so quiet that even Evelia, who was standing right next to him, couldn’t hear clearly.
But she did catch a strange look in Armand’s eyes for just a moment, something that made her feel uneasy. It was the look of someone who was “watching” her.
Not just casually looking, but really watching her, like he was trying to see right through her.
“I was able to get this job because I understand what my master needs. But if you don’t like me guessing things like this, I can stop saying such things.”
Evelia sensed a bit of danger, but her face didn’t change at all. She kept her expression blank, and her voice stayed as calm as before.
“Why would I hate that? If someone understands what I’m thinking, it makes working together much easier. I really hate arguing and wasting time on small talk.”
That strange look in Armand’s eyes was gone as quickly as it came. He went back to smiling like always. But unlike those creepy smiles with squinty eyes some people have, his smile looked real, like a happy, clumsy big dog.
Even so, Evelia somehow still felt pressure.
“If you need a reason to go out, I can go with you to buy the wine for tonight’s dinner.”
“That would be great!” he said, then quickly went back inside and came out with his coat. “Let’s go now! I hate being stuck in the manor.”
Evelia nodded and quietly followed behind Armand. As she walked, she couldn’t help but wonder, if Armand was the owner of this manor, why couldn’t he just go out whenever he wanted?
Just then, the old butler named Lug, whose name she’d heard from Armand, rushed out of the office after hearing the noise.
“Where are you going?!” he asked, clearly worried, his white beard bouncing up and down as he spoke.
“I’m going out with my maid to buy wine,” Armand answered cheerfully, like it was no big deal.
“There are people assigned to buy things like that. You don’t have to go yourself, do you?”
The butler looked at Evelia behind him and frowned, though it was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking.
“But wine is the soul of a good dinner! How could I not go pick it out myself?”
“If you go out alone… you might end up buying all sorts of strange things again! People already think badly of you outside. Please, care a little about your image! You represent the Royal Knights, after all!”
“An image doesn’t fill your stomach. Stuff like that doesn’t matter to me. Besides, my reputation didn’t stop my knights from getting married and starting families, did it? Don’t worry. I’ve got Ev—”
He dragged out the word and turned to look at Evelia.
“Evelia.” She wanted to roll her eyes, but held back.
“Right, Evelia. She’ll be with me. Don’t worry.”
“You’re just… ugh. Once you make up your mind, nothing can stop you, huh? Fine then, Evelia, I’m counting on you. Please keep an eye on him and don’t let him run wild again or come back with a bunch of useless junk. We can’t afford to keep fixing his messes, there are so many knights we still need to feed!”
The old butler gave Evelia a very serious look, as if he was giving her an important mission. Evelia nodded again and again, saying things like “Don’t worry” while Armand stood nearby, smiling and waiting for the long speech to end so he could finally take Evelia with him.
“Alright, alright, don’t act like the world’s ending just because I’m stepping outside. We’re going now.”
Armand looked at the butler, who was still rambling, and decided not to wait any longer. He gave Lug a pat on the shoulder, urging him to let Evelia go.
Then, without another word, he turned and walked out of the manor, only recently arrived, with Evelia following behind.
“Sigh…” Lug let out a long breath. After Armand and Evelia were gone, his face looked more complicated than before. “You really do love making a mess of things, don’t you…”