Chapter 100: There Will Be an End Someday
Lately, Evelia had been deep in thought.
Or maybe it wasn't really just "thinking" anymore, because even in her dreams, the same problem kept showing up.
It all started with that one joke from Melian, ‘You could easily have eight kids.’
That sentence stuck with her. The ball had ended days ago, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
For most people, that kind of talk would sound crazy. But Evelia had never been someone who thought like a normal person. And more than that, she used to be a man. She had been raised and trained by the Second Prince since she was young, so how would she know anything about having children?
The person she had spent the most time with in her life was the Second Prince. But he was cold and distant, never married, never had kids, and didn’t care about those things at all.
So now she was really wondering, ‘Do I really have to figure out how to give birth to eight children just to finish this mission?’
Even if she kept having kids one after another, each one would still take about ten months. That meant almost seven years in total.
Seven years, that’s not a short time. Up until now, Evelia had only lived through a few periods of seven years.
Does this mission really need to last that long? Evelia couldn’t help but wonder.
Would she really have to stay by Armand’s side for seven whole years? Was that really necessary? Wasn’t she supposed to leave once the mission was complete?
Even if it took time, sure, it wouldn’t be easy to fully win Armand’s heart. But couldn’t it be done in two or three years?
Maybe… having three or four kids would be enough.
Suddenly, it all felt a lot more manageable.
It wasn’t as impossible as she first thought. Even though the task was the same, once she cut the number in half, Evelia felt a lot less pressure.
Should they be boys? Or girls? If they were twins, the number would go up faster. Usually, people said a boy-girl twin pair was the best, was that true?
Should she go buy some medicine that helps with fertility? Or maybe she should request permission from the Second Prince for the medicine and the funds?
But just as she let out a small sigh of relief, her thoughts drifted a little further. Then, another realization quietly crept into her mind.
This mission… will end someday.
That thought suddenly hit her.
She had only been here for a few months, but it already felt like she was getting used to this life.
It was completely different from the place she used to live.
No longer trapped in a dark little room with no sunlight.
No longer forced to eat only the meals the Second Prince allowed.
No longer wearing a cloak that hid her face every day, keeping silent and distant from everyone.
Even though the face she showed now wasn’t her real one, she could stand under the sunlight.
Even if it was a fake appearance, the girl named Evelia Croyelle could finally look toward that warmth she had once never dared to even glance at.
But when the mission ends, she’ll have to return to the darkness again, won’t she?
Thinking that, she looked down at her own hands.
She had only just started to hold on to this "firework." Was it really going to disappear so quickly?
After so many years of slavery, she still couldn’t break free from those chains in her heart. Even when she had a spark of hope, it disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Just like a firework, bright and beautiful, but gone in a second.
Right now, she was still allowed to stay here. But in the end, the day will come when everything ends.
Evelia had once believed so firmly that she would complete this mission. But now, thinking about the end made her hesitate.
Still, she decided not to think about it anymore. There was no point in worrying about something she couldn’t figure out.
Right now, what she needed to do was find a way to get closer to Armand. As for the rest… she would leave it to her future self to deal with.
But when it came back to the actual matter of having children, Evelia didn’t know where to start.
So once again, she went to see her “strategist”, Anna.
“Children?!”
As expected, Anna shouted in shock at Evelia’s sudden topic.
“Miss Evelia, you… you’re already thinking about having kids?”
She was so surprised she almost dropped the teacup in her hand.
“Yes.” But Evelia just nodded calmly, not thinking much of it.
“N-no, I mean how far have you two gone?”
“...” Evelia paused and thought for a moment. “Gone?”
“Yeah! After the party, did you two… do anything? Like, you took that chance and... did that, right?!”
Although this topic clearly excited Anna, something she was both familiar with and very curious about, she still found it hard to say those "naughty" words out loud, especially in front of someone who looked as innocent as Evelia.
“That? Which that are you talking about?”
But Evelia’s curiosity made her ask the question directly.
“You know, that! Were you wearing the dress I designed? Let me feel a little involved at least!”
Anna’s face turned bright red, but the more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She moved closer to Evelia, clearly more eager than Evelia herself.
It seemed Anna’s curiosity was especially strong when it came to this kind of topic.
“I was still wearing that dress,” Evelia replied honestly, not fully understanding what Anna meant. She just remembered that from the time she ran away to the clock tower, she had been wearing the dress Anna gave her.
“Ohhh—Ohhhh—!”
Anna let out two hot breaths through her nose, like she was saying, ‘I was there... I was the dress.’
“And then, Miss Evelia, did you start taking it off?”
“Take it off?” Evelia tilted her head in confusion. “Of course I took it off.”
That dress was so complicated, of course she’d take it off at home. Who would rest while wearing something like that?
“And then! Miss Evelia, did you kiss or cuddle?”
“Kiss or cuddle…?”
“Yeah! After taking off the clothes, shouldn’t the real stuff begin? Start with a kiss, then gently open your partner’s mouth and taste each other. Touch each other softly until both of you feel the same… and then join your bodies as one…”
“……”
As Evelia listened, she realized this sounded a lot like something from a romance novel she once read.
“Ah, Anna, are you talking about se—”
“Mmph—!” Before she could finish, Anna, her face now bright red, quickly covered Evelia’s mouth. “Don’t say that out loud! It’s way too embarrassing…”
Even though her mind was already full of ‘naughty scenes.’
“We haven’t gone that far yet.”
Evelia didn’t fully understand everything, but she had learned a little about these things from books. And during her missions, she had seen such acts in some dirty and messy places.
“Not that far?” Anna blinked, surprised. “So you and Mr. Armand… haven’t even done that?”
“No.”
“Then why are you talking about kids?!”
“Is that not okay?”
“Absolutely not!”