Chapter 106: The Kid Eats People?!
There was a good line in the parenting book Evelia bought.
“If you want to teach a child responsibility, let them take care of their own things.”
So the very first task Rachel was given… was to clean up the mess she made on the floor.
Poor little Rachel had to follow Evelia’s orders, holding a cloth and wiping the floor covered in tomato ketchup little by little, just like a Cinderella being forced to clean up a “crime scene” by her evil stepmother.
Logically speaking, Rachel should have been the “parent” who created Evelia’s physical body. But now, their roles had completely reversed, the "creator" had become the cleaning assistant to her own creation.
“……”
But Rachel didn’t dare complain.
Who would dare to complain in front of someone like Evelia?
Especially when she had already killed her once before.
“Miss Evelia—”
To help air out the room, Evelia had left her door half-open. So when a maid came to deliver some children's clothes as instructed by the old butler, she knocked gently, peeked inside, and walked in.
She had expected to see Evelia gently caring for the poor little girl, a warm scene filled with motherly love and instinct.
Instead, what she saw was Rachel working hard, scrubbing a blood-red stain off the floor,
with tomato ketchup still not fully wiped off the corner of her mouth.
“—Eeeek!!!”
A normal maid had never seen something like this before.
Although she had smelled tomato ketchup when opening the door, the shock of the scene made her completely ignore the sweet and sour scent. She let out a shrill, girly scream, the kind that could pierce eardrums.
“Waaaaaaaahhhhh—!!!”
Startled, Rachel screamed too. The combined shrieks of a child and a young girl made everyone’s ears ring.
“Th-this… no way… Miss Evelia was eaten——??!!”
“——???”
Rachel quickly looked around. Who would have the guts to eat Evelia?
That alchemy-forged body? That stuff would probably break your teeth!
“Guh?!”
Before Rachel could turn her head, a pile of clothes was thrown straight at her and smacked her in the face.
They were made of soft, high-end fabric, so they didn’t hurt. But when they unfolded and covered her, the sudden darkness made her panic and thrash around.
What’s going on here?!
Why is it that ever since I got here, all I do is suffer?!
What’s wrong with all the women in this place?! Is this cursed land somehow against my fate?!
“I’ll avenge Miss Evelia…! You horrible, child-eating monster!”
Child-eating monster?
Seriously?! I should be the one worried she’s gonna eat me!
“Wah—stop—ahh?!!”
Before Rachel’s vision even recovered, she felt something heavy swing down along the side of her head, and there was even a whoosh sound as it cut through the air.
If that hits her head, wouldn’t she just die instantly?!
Maybe because she had already died once, Rachel had become like a frightened bird, even the slightest noise could send her into a panic.
If someone mocked her by saying she was “afraid to die,” Rachel wouldn’t argue back, because honestly, who isn’t afraid of dying?
Especially someone like her… who had literally lost her head once already.
Seriously, what’s wrong with the people in this place?! Are they all violent or something?!
“What’s going on? What are you doing?”
Just as Rachel was running around in a panic like a rat stealing food from the cafeteria, Evelia’s calm voice came from the darkness.
Then, the clothes covering Rachel’s head were pulled away. As her vision cleared, Evelia picked her up.
For the first time, Rachel felt like Evelia was her savior, someone who could give her a real sense of safety.
She clung tightly to Evelia’s maid uniform, shaking and refusing to let go.
“Eh? Huh? Miss Evelia?”
The maid holding a broom froze when she saw Evelia coming out of the bathroom with a mop.
She looked at Evelia, perfectly unharmed, then looked at the pale-faced Rachel trembling in her arms.
Although she didn’t fully understand what happened, she obediently lowered the broom.
“Was it a rat?” Evelia asked casually.
“Ah, no...” The maid looked embarrassed. “I thought this girl ate you, Miss Evelia...”
“Ah,” Evelia replied with a simple nod. She glanced at the little one trembling in her arms. “I don’t think she has that big of an appetite yet.”
It sounded like just a normal comment, but to Rachel, it carried a hidden warning and threat. Even without looking up, she could feel the cold stare.
“I-I see... so it was just a false alarm then.”
Now that she had calmed down, the maid finally noticed the sour smell of ketchup. She remembered Evelia’s strange obsession with ketchup and figured out what had really happened.
“By the way, Miss Evelia, are you planning to adopt this child?”
“Yes,” Evelia nodded.
If keeping Rachel around counted as “adoption,” then that’s exactly what she intended to do.
And if she ended up dying under her care?
Well… she’d just get another one.
“Alright, I’ll stop bothering you then. I’m just glad you’re okay, Miss Evelia. That really scared me…”
Even though she now understood the situation, the sight of ketchup splattered all over the place had really shaken her.
The maid took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then patted her chest and left Evelia’s room.
Later, after Evelia helped Rachel change into clean clothes and thoroughly wiped off the remaining ketchup from her body, she decided to take the girl out for a walk.
After all, the book said, “Let children experience the outside world. It broadens their perspective from a young age, and helps them grow up cheerful and open-minded.”
Evelia figured that walking a kid around was probably the same as walking a dog. So she started searching through her suitcase for a dog collar or something similar.
But the only collar she used to have, a cat bell collar, had already been taken away by Armand.
Now she had nothing like that on hand. A bit annoyed, she looked at Rachel, who was now sitting on the table, and asked.
“You don’t bite people, right?”
“...What?”
“I don’t have a collar. If you run around or bite someone, that’ll be annoying.”
“N-no! I won’t bite anyone! And I… I won’t run away either!” Rachel quickly shook her head when she heard the word collar.
Though the second part of her sentence lacked confidence, she was planning to escape this devil if she got the chance. But for now, staying alive was more important.
“Alright then.” Evelia picked Rachel up. “Let’s go for a walk.”