Chapter 87: Preparations
Even though the main events of the celebration happen at night, the public festivities usually start earlier than the palace's formal dance. While waiting for Armand to return, he had mentioned to Evelia that she could go see the fireworks show at the nearby square in the evening.
Because everyone knew Evelia would be Armand’s dance partner that night, no one asked her to do any tiring chores. They wanted her to save her energy and be in her best condition to accompany Armand to the palace.
As the celebration approached, the whole area became lively. Even inside her room, Evelia could hear the excited voices of people in the estate through the window.
Since today was a holiday, there wasn’t much work to do. After finishing some basic tasks, most people just stayed home.
Armand was going to attend the ballroom that evening, so the estate’s dinner was fully taken care of by the old butler. With his leadership, many of the idle servants went to the kitchen to prepare their own special dishes.
Evelia didn’t go to the kitchen today. Since Armand wouldn’t be back for breakfast or lunch, and they’d eat dinner at the festival, there was no reason for her to go there. With nowhere else to be, she stayed in her room.
Of course, she wasn’t going to just sit there quietly.
Whoosh—bang!
The dagger hit the bullseye.
Evelia pulled a throwing knife from the alchemy mark on her thigh and threw it straight into the center of the target. The second, third, and fourth knives followed, all hitting the bullseye without a single miss.
Unlike Armand’s mark, which was filled with potion bottles, Evelia’s alchemy mark held various hidden weapons for different situations. The most basic ones, throwing knives, numbered over a hundred. All her equipment was provided by the Second Prince, so she never had to worry about quantity or quality. Whatever she needed, she just used it freely.
Even though Evelia hadn’t gone on any missions recently, she hadn’t stopped training. She practiced basic moves in her small room and even ran laps around the room to keep up her stamina.
Even though she was now a maid, she was still an assassin, and that meant she couldn’t afford to slack off. She needed to quickly get used to her new body, adjusting to Evelia’s height and weight, so she wouldn’t make any mistakes during future assassinations.
At first, she thought she’d be weaker after turning into a woman. When she first started using this body, which had been altered through alchemy, she could feel that her now slender wrists weren’t as strong. But when she lifted Armand up in a princess carry just to prove she was “reliable,” she realized this body still had a surprising amount of strength. Later on, she even noticed she had become more agile.
Of course, even with those improvements, her abilities still only counted as “a slightly stronger human.” The alchemist didn’t seem to have added any powers from monsters. Otherwise, Evelia wouldn’t be considered human anymore.
The Second Prince probably didn’t want the “Red Crow” he had worked so hard to train to become a monster.
Evelia’s plan for today was simple.
First, kill the target hiding in the clock tower.
Second, attend the ballroom with Armand.
And for now, her job was to rest and wait for night to fall.
Outside the window, the world was full of excitement, but Evelia chose to lie on the bed and rest her eyes.
This estate wasn’t truly her home, but compared to the House of Nightingales, she was actually sleeping better here.
Still, of course, sometimes she had nightmares.
Just like how Armand was often visited by dreams of an old friend because of the hard choices he now faced, Evelia also struggled in her sleep.
These quiet moments reminded her of the past.
To be honest, she wasn’t supposed to dream at all.
She was someone who had abandoned her past. Her true memories had vanished along with her real name.
But now… she found herself walking back toward the past again.
If she had another chance… Would she still believe the person who once promised so seriously to take her away?
Right now, she hasn't run away. But that didn’t mean she had never thought about escaping.
She shouldn’t leave, and she couldn’t leave. But if someone truly reached out their hand to her again, she—
The dream ended suddenly.
In the dream, her hand still didn’t manage to touch the person’s outstretched hand. But she had, for sure, tried to reach back.
“……”
Evelia sat up, letting out a small sound of frustration through her nose.
She quietly looked out the window. Night had fallen, and the stars filled the sky.
The ball hadn’t started yet, and Armand still hadn’t returned. Evelia glanced at the clock on the wall and silently thought, “It’s time.”
She stood up, took off her maid’s long dress, and put on tight-fitting, light black clothes. Then she slipped out through the back door of the dorm, blending into the night.
She had already planned her route. Moving through the shadows of small streets and alleys, she kept her head low and merged into the crowd. Eventually, she stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley beside the clock tower.
If she could just squeeze through a crack in the wall here, she could reach the clock tower quickly and quietly.
“……”
But she had miscalculated.
“Ugh…”
Her chest got stuck.
Yes, her chest.
She had carefully calculated her height and weight. But she forgot to take her body shape into account.
Her curvy figure made it impossible to squeeze through the wall gap she had picked. Maybe her head could go through, but her chest definitely couldn’t.
She even tried stubbornly to push her body in harder, but her two soft burdens were already being squished awkwardly and still didn’t fit.
After all, they weren’t pancakes, she couldn’t just flatten them. They were too thick and couldn’t be easily squished into shape. Evelia’s chest hurt from being pressed, and she still couldn’t get through. And even if she did manage to get in, she would probably get stuck halfway.
So, Evelia had to take a different route. She found a fairly hidden spot and took out her “gear” from her alchemy mark.
She didn’t wear a chest binder, so she just took off her clothes and tightly wrapped bandages around herself several times. After checking that the bandages were secure but didn’t make it hard to breathe, she pulled out her chest armor. As expected, it didn’t fit anymore.
So she gave up on that. She put on her gloves and wrist guards, then threw on her cloak.
A deep red cloak, the cloak of the “Red Crow”.
This was also an alchemy item. It could hide the wearer's identity. It wasn’t as powerful as full invisibility, but it could cover up her presence, letting her approach targets without being noticed.
It even had the ability to slightly mess with others’ senses. People might see her, but they wouldn’t know who she was. All they’d remember was “a person in a deep red cloak.”
Not her face, not her voice, not her body. None of the details would be remembered.
Of course, that only mattered if the witness survived.
Click.
Evelia fastened her wrist guards and stood up. Now, she was no longer a maid. She was the “Red Crow”, the one who moved in the shadows of the night.
The public celebration was about to begin. People laughed and cheered, gathering in the square.
But Evelia turned her back on the fireworks that lit up the sky. Hiding in the shadows, she walked into the deeper darkness.