Chapter 84: The Perfume Is Poison
Knock knock knock.
From the familiar rhythm of the knock, Armand already knew it was Evelia.
He flipped the documents on his desk face-down and said, “Come in.”
“Mr. Armand.”
As expected, Evelia pushed the door open and came in. Since it wasn’t dinnertime yet, she wasn’t carrying a tray this time.
“Hm? What is it?”
When Evelia walked in, she had her hands behind her back. From Armand’s angle, he couldn’t see what she was holding at all. That suspicious posture instantly made him alert. He tightened his grip on the pen in his hand, scribbled a few lines on the paper as if testing the sharpness of the pen tip.
Even now, Armand hadn’t lowered his guard around Evelia.
His attitude toward Evelia was like that of a man who clearly wasn’t serious. He kept her close and took extra care of her, but if anything ever went wrong, he wouldn’t hesitate to deal with her on the spot.
After all, Armand wasn’t just Armand Systalia anymore, he was also the commander of the Royal Knights. His personal feelings had to be kept separate from the greater good. Even though he looked easygoing, when it came to certain things, he had lines he could never cross.
That’s exactly why he was so eager to step down from his position, so he could live the carefree and happy retirement he dreamed of.
Living every day with his nerves constantly tense and always being on edge… it was exhausting.
Even when he had more intimate moments with Evelia, he still stayed somewhat alert deep down. The moment that scared him the most was when Evelia cleaned his ears for him, because if she had wanted to kill him, she could’ve pierced right through his skull.
Ever since that experience, Armand’s already restless sleep had become even worse. His insomnia got so bad that even sleeping pills didn’t work anymore, his resistance to poisons had also made him resistant to medicine. The only time he could get a bit of rest was when he was at the knights' headquarters, sneaking short naps on the sofa while Carle worked nearby.
Sometimes, Armand would mutter to himself, “Why am I putting myself through this?” But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to really do anything to Evelia. Sure, as the commander of the knights, it would’ve been easy to make someone disappear. But deep down, he still told himself, “Let’s wait and see. What if this leads to something bigger? Besides, Eve hasn’t actually done anything yet.”
Those two conflicting voices in his head were already enough to start a debate with himself.
Every step he’d taken so far had been a gamble. But they were his choices. He couldn’t regret them, he wouldn’t regret them.
If the day ever came where he had to draw his sword… he would do it without hesitation. But he also knew that, deep down, it would break his heart.
He was ready for that day, but he really didn’t want it to come.
“Mr. Armand, this is for you.”
Evelia brought her hands forward and placed the perfume box she’d been hiding behind her back onto Armand’s desk, all while he watched her cautiously.
“What’s this?”
Armand opened the box curiously and saw a set of glass bottles in different colors. Judging by their design, they looked like a set of fancy, high-end perfumes from some brand.
“It’s perfume, Mr. Armand. I bought it from Anna’s place.”
“Oh, from Anna’s shop, huh?”
Armand casually picked up one of the bottles and gave the mouth of it a quick sniff. Because the royals had been fascinated by his resistance to poisons, they had done all kinds of experiments on him and made him come into contact with every toxic substance they could get their hands on. At this point, he probably knew more about poison than actual poisoners.
He wasn't completely immune to poison. Depending on the type, his body reacted differently. The most common reactions were things like stomachaches or coughing. It wouldn’t kill him, but if the poison was strong enough, it could still be very painful. During those “experiments” by the royal researchers, Armand had suffered a lot, especially his stomach, which was now in bad shape compared to the rest of his body.
He gently sniffed the soft scent from the bottle’s opening. Since he didn’t feel anything strange, he closed the box again.
“This looks like high-end perfume. Must’ve been expensive, right?”
“Anna didn’t charge me. She said it was a gift for us.”
“She didn’t take money? That woman must really be rich.”
Clearly, Armand didn’t know about the connection between Anna and Carle. He didn’t expect that someone like Anna would be so generous, giving away both a dress and perfume for free.
“Well, we should really thank Anna then. Giving something so nice without asking for anything in return...”
He said it casually, but halfway through the sentence, he looked up, and saw Evelia’s face full of silent resentment.
It wasn’t that Evelia’s expression had twisted dramatically, her face was still calm, but just from her eyes and the slight change in her expression, you could tell she was not happy.
Armand instinctively glanced back at the window. It was bright and sunny outside. But inside, it suddenly felt like a storm was coming.
“What’s wrong...?”
Armand was confused. He really couldn’t figure out Evelia’s mood swings or what caused them. He seriously needed a guidebook that explained the emotional changes of cold, expressionless girls like her.
“Why are you thanking Anna?”
“Huh?” Armand froze for a second, he didn’t expect that question. “Didn’t Anna give it to us...?”
“I gave it to you.” Evelia said coldly, putting special emphasis on the word ‘I.’
“Ah, ah, of course I know you gave it to me. But you didn’t pay for it, right? So it’s kinda like Anna gave it to both of us...”
Armand clearly didn’t realize how serious this was becoming.
“I gave it to you, Mr. Armand. Your Evelia gave it to you.”
“I get what you’re saying, Eve, but since you didn’t pay for it—”
Midway through the sentence, Armand could feel Evelia’s stare getting sharper and more intense. Suddenly, he had the feeling that, for the safety of himself, and innocent Anna, it would be better to just go along with Evelia.
“O-okay, okay, I get it. It’s from you... thank you, Eve.”
Armand nodded helplessly.
Of course, he knew the perfume was from Evelia. He had only mentioned Anna to politely acknowledge the rich lady who didn’t take money. But he didn’t expect Evelia to take it so seriously. She really was the most stubborn person he’d ever met.
“Yes, that’s right, Mr. Armand. You don’t need to thank anyone else, just thank me. I gave this to you, and I hope you like it.”
Seeing that Armand wasn’t arguing anymore, Evelia’s stormy mood cleared up. She stopped frowning.
“Ah… alright. But isn’t this women’s perfume?”
“Yes, Mr. Armand. I want you to wear the same perfume as me, so your body smells like me when we go to the ballroom together.”
“Huh? That’s… a bit much, don’t you think...?”
“Mr. Armand.” Evelia took two serious steps forward and leaned in close, staring straight into his eyes. Her face was still expressionless, but the pressure in her gaze was intense.
“……”
Armand leaned back a little and thought to himself that when it came to being stubborn, he definitely couldn’t win against Evelia. So he gave in with a small nod. “Alright, alright, I got it…”
“That’s good, Mr. Armand. Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me…”
As usual, Evelia didn’t stay to chat or say anything extra once her goal was achieved. She simply gave a small bow, turned around without a word, and quietly closed the door behind her.
Armand had no idea why she suddenly cared so much about scent, but since it didn’t really affect him, he didn’t think much of it. He picked up one of the bottles and looked it over. The smell didn’t seem poisonous, but the most accurate way to test something like this was still by tasting it.
For someone like Armand, who had been through all kinds of poison training, he usually didn’t need to swallow poison to know what it was. Just tasting a little was enough. So after Evelia left, Armand casually picked up one of the perfume bottles, unscrewed the cap, and like he was drinking from a tiny liquor flask, forced himself to take a big sip, even though the perfume was bitter and sharp. At worst, he could just spit it out afterward.
“Um—Mr. Armand.”
Unfortunately, Evelia had forgotten to say something and came back to his office just at that moment. When she opened the door and peeked in, the first thing she saw was Armand chugging the bottle of perfume she had just given him. Her sudden appearance startled him so much that with a loud gulp, he accidentally swallowed the whole mouthful.
Whether or not it upset his stomach didn’t even matter. Just the thought that he had drunk perfume was already making him feel horrible. Not to mention that bitter, burning taste.
“Mr. Armand… perfume isn’t meant to be drunk…”
She added the word “meant”, because after seeing Armand drink it so seriously, Evelia was starting to wonder if maybe perfume could be drunk after all.
“Ah—cough cough…! Of course I know that!”
This time, Armand wasn’t coughing because of perfume, it was just that he’d choked a little.
Even if some perfumes contain ingredients that aren’t good for the body, it wasn’t enough to poison someone like Armand.
“Then why did you…”
“That… that’s none of your business!” Armand quickly screwed the cap back onto the bottle in embarrassment. “Why did you come back anyway?”
“Oh, I just wanted to tell you, the pink one is the one I usually wear. I hope you’ll wear the pink one too when we go to the ball.”
Evelia was going to leave after saying that, but after seeing Armand drink the perfume, she added,
“But if you do like drinking it, I have more at home. I’ll save it for you, so don’t worry about running out.”
“I don’t like drinking perfume!”
Evelia blinked, then slowly closed the door while watching Armand’s panicked expression. Armand wasn’t even sure if she believed him. If she ever made some weird food with ketchup and perfume in it… that might actually be the end of him.
“Pleh, pleh…”
But for now, Armand’s top priority was getting that perfume out of his system. Even his spit tasted like flowers. He didn’t even want to imagine what it was going to be like when he went to the bathroom later.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Evelia had returned to her bedroom. She sat at her desk, took out her own bottle of perfume, hesitated for a moment, then opened the cap and copying Armand, took a sip herself.
“Pleh…”
Now her spit tasted like perfume too.