Chapter 71: The Recognition I Long For
“Ah… I can’t wear it?”
Seeing Anna snatch the lingerie away from her, Evelia didn’t try to fight back. She simply stood quietly to the side with an innocent expression, looking at Armand’s odd reaction.
“Of course you can’t…!”
Anna rolled up the sheer lingerie with trailing lace and stuffed it into a nearby box. “How could you wear this kind of outfit to a ballroom?!”
“But wasn’t that black one you gave me last time meant for dancing too?”
“Last time?” Anna didn’t quite catch it at first, but then — “Ahhh—!” — she realized what Evelia meant. And by then, Evelia had already started using hand gestures to describe it.
“You know, the black one. The semi-transparent one. With the gold pendant on the chest. And the lace panties.”
Evelia gestured as she explained, and Armand, who was listening nearby, started to feel like it all sounded weirdly familiar.
“Ahhh—that one.”
Anna noticed Armand watching them and suddenly felt a little guilty for some reason.
But even so, Anna was still curious if the outfit was as impactful as she imagined. Ignoring the pressure of Armand’s gaze, she quickly pulled Evelia aside and whispered.
“That one… did you use it?”
She tried to whisper, but of course Armand heard everything clearly, especially since he was very interested in that part of the conversation. His ears were practically perked up.
“Yes, I wore it,” Evelia answered very seriously.
“And? How did it go?” Anna’s eyes were full of anticipation.
“Well…”
Evelia lifted her head and looked directly at Armand, who had been watching them the whole time. He clearly didn’t expect her to turn and look at him, and he blinked in surprise. For some reason, he instinctively avoided her gaze.
“So, what was the result, Mr. Armand?”
In the end, Armand couldn’t dodge it.
Evelia asked him directly. After all, he was the one who had been there that day. If anyone could give an honest review, it would be him.
“—Uh… huh?”
Of course, Armand had heard the entire conversation between Evelia and Anna, but now he pretended not to understand, shaking his head and letting his eyes wander around the room like he was following some invisible fly.
If it were someone else, they might try to kindly change the subject. But Evelia was not someone like that.
She tilted her head slightly and raised her hand, waving it in front of Armand’s face.
“Mr. Armand?”
She wanted an answer from him. She wanted to hear him say it out loud.
“Whoa…”
Sensing the awkward tension in the air, Anna made a soft gasp and stepped back a few steps, covering her mouth with one hand. She watched as Evelia and Armand locked eyes, big eyes versus slightly guilty ones. It looked like Evelia wouldn’t back down unless Armand gave her an answer.
— ‘I want to know what kind of impression I leave on you.’
That’s what Evelia was curious about.
Ever since that day when he said, “Your dancing was amazing,” she’d started to want Armand’s recognition. Some kind of feeling had grown in her heart since then. A feeling she didn’t quite understand, but it made her care deeply.
Why did she care? She didn’t know.
What exactly was that feeling? She didn’t know.
She just wanted… to hear it again.
To hear that he truly approved of her.
Even if… it was over something small.
“Mr. Armand, what do you think?”
Seeing that Armand still hadn’t answered, Evelia asked again. This time, she even stepped half a pace closer.
Though they were still not standing very near, Armand somehow felt a strange pressure, as if she were closing in on him.
‘She didn’t seem like the type to act this way…’
Armand quietly muttered this to himself.
Although he knew Evelia could be quite stubborn at times, that kind of stubbornness usually only showed when she was doing something. It was the first time he’d seen her so eager to know something.
“Eve…”
Armand hesitated, troubled, as he looked at Evelia’s eyes, eyes that refused to look away from him. It wasn’t even a big deal. He could’ve just followed his heart and said, “Yeah, it looks good.” But for some reason… the words just wouldn’t come out.
“…Looks like you don’t like it.”
His silence led Evelia to assume a different answer. She pulled back the body she had leaned slightly forward, as if snapping back to reality. The longing in her eyes slowly faded.
‘…Just a useless feeling, that’s all.’
Maybe the reason she wanted his approval so badly… was simply because it was part of her job. After all, her task was to win over this knight captain. If he praised her, it would mean she was making progress.
Maybe that desire in her heart… was just because the mission was going well.
“Miss Anna.”
Seeing Evelia turn her head slightly to the side, Armand called out to Anna, who had been watching them like someone enjoying a soap opera about two beautiful people falling in love.
“Ah! Sorry! Am I interrupting something? I’ll step outside real quick—”
The moment she realized Armand was talking to her, Anna knew she’d become the third wheel. She didn’t even care that it was her own shop. She turned to leave, thinking she could even pull the curtains and hang up a “Closed” sign to give these two some alone time.
“This is your store. Why are you leaving?”
Armand let out a helpless chuckle and stopped Anna, who had already reached the door at lightning speed.
“That outfit, did you make it?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
For some reason, even though Armand was still smiling, that polite kind of smile made Anna nervous.
“Don’t make anything like that again.”
The moment he said this, both Anna and Evelia turned to look at him. Now he was the one under pressure from two women’s stares.
“Mr. Armand… you don’t like it?”
Anna thought she had done something wrong and nervously shrank her shoulders. After all, Armand didn’t look like some “ordinary knight.” If she had made him angry, she might really end up in trouble, maybe even thrown in jail just for guessing his tastes wrong.
“……”
On the other side, Evelia didn’t say a word. She just silently looked at Armand. With that expressionless face, he had no idea what she was thinking.
“Ah— no, it’s not like that.” Seeing their reactions, Armand hurried to explain himself. “It’s just… I don’t want her to wear clothes like that again.”
‘But wasn't that basically the same thing?’ Anna thought to herself.
“Ugh— this is driving me crazy…”
Armand ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated that they still didn’t seem to understand.
“What I mean is that outfit was way too revealing. Evelia can’t wear things like that. She just… just don’t give her weird clothes like that again, okay?”
“Hm…” Anna pondered for a moment, trying to grasp the meaning behind Armand's words.
The ever-so-eloquent knight captain didn’t even know how to explain himself clearly today.
“Ahhh, I get it now.”
Suddenly, Anna’s eyes lit up with realization.
“You don’t want other people to see Miss Evelia like that, right?”
“…Something like that.”
Those three words made Anna smirk.
“Mhm~ mhm~ got it. I totally get it now~”
She said it proudly, strutting over to Evelia, who looked a little confused. Anna patted her on the shoulder and declared with pride.
“Don’t worry, Miss Evelia! This guy right here, he totally loves you in that outfit!”
“You didn’t have to say it that bluntly…”
Standing nearby, Armand couldn’t help feeling embarrassed by how direct Anna was.
But when he saw Evelia’s face relax a little… he let out a soft sigh.
…Oh well. Maybe this was fine too.