Chapter 82: Distant Cousin
When Evelia visited Anna’s clothing shop again, she opened the door and saw someone she didn’t expect.
“Miss Evelia?”
The vice-captain of the Knights, Carle, was sitting on the customer sofa in Anna’s shop. There was a cup of steaming hot tea beside him, and judging by the level of the tea, it had probably just been served.
“Sir Carle.” Evelia gave a polite bow. Carle nodded lightly in return.
“No need to be so formal. Just call me Carle. Are you here to get some new clothes, Miss Evelia?”
Carle was a very logical and calm person. Compared to Armand, who was always smiling, Carle seemed a lot colder. But his coldness was not the same as Evelia’s lack of emotion, it was actually the opposite. Carle was thoughtful and paid attention to detail. He thought a lot and did a lot, which is why he could be a key figure in the Royal Knights.
But if you really looked closely, you’d notice that Carle and Armand were actually pretty similar in personality. Both of them kept their thoughts and plans hidden inside and didn’t let others know what they were thinking. The only difference was how they expressed emotion.
Carle always looked serious and strict, making people feel he was hard to approach. Armand, on the other hand, always smiled and acted carefree, as if he didn’t worry about anything. They were like the classic "serious face and smiling face" duo.
“I came to see Anna, Mr. Carle.”
Evelia’s goal today was to buy some perfume from Anna.
She didn’t really care what kind of perfume she used. She only knew that Armand never seemed to dislike the scent. In fact, when they were close, she sometimes felt that Armand would quietly breathe in the light fragrance from her body.
But last night’s perfume that she worked so hard to rub onto him… Armand had washed it all off.
Yes, completely washed it off.
When Evelia went into Armand’s bedroom this morning, she couldn’t smell even the slightest trace of the perfume she left on him last night.
She even took the chance while he was eating breakfast to lean in close to his neck, saying “excuse me,” and tried to smell whether her scent was still there.
Of course, the answer was no.
That’s because Armand had taken another bath after that, and washed everything off again.
For a moment, Evelia wondered if Armand had some kind of obsession with cleanliness. But then she remembered how he often came back from the training grounds covered in dust, so she figured he probably wasn’t someone who had to be super clean.
Still, he really did wash off all the scent she left on him. When he woke up this morning, there wasn’t even a hint of any fragrance, he was so clean it almost felt... empty.
In the past, Evelia never wore perfume. Her job was special, and she couldn’t have any scent on her body. Now, she only used perfume for Armand’s sake. And when necessary, she could also clean herself completely to move silently and without a trace.
But Armand was the captain of the Knights, was it really necessary for him to be so clean?
Evelia couldn’t help but wonder in her heart.
He didn’t seem like the type to hate nice smells. After all, his favorite blue roses had a soft floral scent, and he never seemed to mind that. If he didn’t like the perfume on her, he would have said something already. So the fact that he washed it off last night, was that just a coincidence, or did he do it on purpose?
Still, Evelia didn’t want to think too much about it. After all, she didn’t know Armand well enough yet. Personal habits take time to understand.
The reason Evelia came to Anna’s shop to buy perfume this time was just to use it for the upcoming dance. If Armand usually didn’t wear perfume, then maybe if she added a bit of scent to him at the ball, it would help keep random women from getting too close to him.
After all, she had looked through some romance novels and saw that noblewomen were very sensitive to perfume. Just by sniffing the air slightly, they could tell who a scent came from.
In a way, the way cats mark their territory might work on people too.
“Looking for Anna? Ah—so that’s how it is.” Carle lifted his teacup thoughtfully. “So the friend Anna mentioned recently is you, Miss Evelia.”
“You know Anna?”
“Yes. She’s the daughter of my uncle’s family, so she’s my cousin. Her family has always done business in the North. I heard before that she wanted to start her own fashion shop. I only recently found out she actually came all the way to the royal capital. Oh, and this fashion brand belongs to my uncle’s business too. She’s probably just trying out a branch store here for practice. Even if it fails, it doesn’t matter much.”
“Cousin? Branch store…?”
Evelia felt a bit confused by all this, but the only thing she clearly understood was Anna seemed to be quite rich.
“Are you talking bad about me again?”
Just as Carle finished speaking, Anna came out of a nearby storage room, holding a small, beautifully decorated box. It looked like it contained expensive jewelry or accessories.
Evelia looked at Anna, then at Carle, and suddenly noticed that the two of them did look a little alike. Although one had silver hair and the other creamy-white, they were both shades of white. And their eyes were especially similar, greenish-blue like the color between the sea and the sky. Not as clear and bright as Armand’s deep blue eyes, but still very striking.
“Nothing bad. I just happened to know your friend here and was chatting a bit.” Carle spoke calmly and took another sip of tea.
“Wah~ Evelia! You’re here!”
When Anna turned and saw Evelia standing nearby, her attitude changed completely compared to how she spoke with Carle. She excitedly grabbed Evelia’s hand and pulled her down onto the sofa beside her, squeezing Carle into the corner of the couch.
“……”
Carle didn’t say anything. He just kept calmly sipping his tea while checking the piece of jewelry Anna had handed him.
“So tell me, Miss Evelia, did your man look stunned when he saw the dress I made?”
This topic seemed to catch Carle’s attention. His gaze shifted slightly.
“I haven’t shown it to him yet.”
“Ah—” Anna looked a little disappointed, but she quickly cheered up again and returned to her excited mood. “Oh right! I forgot, it’ll be way more dramatic if you surprise him on the day of the festival!”
“Dramatic? Then I guess I’d better make an explosion-proof outfit... or maybe I should just wear my armor.” Carle commented dryly from the side.
“Oh shut up, will you.” Anna responded with a very annoyed tone.
“Anna, do you still have any perfume here?” Evelia was the one who broke up the strange tension between the two.
“Ah, yes I do. Did you finish the last one already?”
“No, I still have some left, but I want to buy a bottle to give to Mr. Armand.”
As soon as he heard the familiar name, Carle perked up. After all, there’s nothing more interesting than listening to two women gossip about his own friend.
“Perfume? But that’s women’s perfume. You want to give it to Mr. Armand?”
“That guy Armand never uses perfume.” Carle, sitting nearby, kindly added this reminder for Evelia.
“You know her Armand too?”
Anna turned her body, now facing Carle instead of Evelia. Both people on either side were people she knew, yet somehow she felt like she was the only one being left in the dark.
“I’m the vice-captain of the Knights. Of course I know him.”
“Huh? Oh right... I guess that makes sense… You’re both knights, wait a second…” As Anna listened to Carle’s words, it suddenly clicked. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before, Armand. That’s why it sounded so familiar... He’s that—”
“Captain of the Royal Knights.”
“Wha—?!” Anna couldn’t help but let out a shocked gasp.
“Did I just accidentally get involved in something serious with a big-shot?!”
To be precise, it was more of a romance situation, with a lot of responsibility involved.
Although her tone sounded completely panicked, that only lasted a moment. Very quickly, she went from “freaking out” to “super excited.”
“But... no wonder Miss Evelia is working so hard...” However, her tone then softened, and even carried a bit of sympathy.
“I heard that the captain of the Royal Knights is some pretty boy kept by the Crown Prince...!”
“?” Carle showed a rare odd expression. “Can you please stop reading those gossip magazines?”
It was hard to imagine. Here sat the vice-captain of the Knights, and his distant cousin was claiming that his superior, who was also his friend, was being “kept.” On top of that, the girl Armand was interested in was sitting right next to her.
“Isn’t it true? I even heard another version.” Anna frowned and shifted slightly away from Evelia. “I heard that the captain and vice-captain of the Royal Knights are secretly a couple.”
“Would you just shut up already.”
Any more of Anna’s gossip, and she might be “dealt with” for spreading rumors.
At that moment, Evelia peeked out from behind Anna and calmly asked.
“Then... has Mr. Armand ever had any rumors with a horse?”
“?”
“...?”
Both Anna and Carle looked completely confused and silently threw out a big question mark.
Anna and Carle were clearly joking around in a playful argument, but Evelia seemed… completely serious.