Chapter 132: The Mark Holder
"......"
"......"
After that, both of them fell into silence. Armand moved his lips slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but after a long time, he still didn’t say a word. Evelia stood quietly on one side with a blank expression. She looked calm, but her eyes kept moving around, secretly observing her surroundings.
Neither of them spoke, and while they were deep in thought, they both kept part of their attention on Rachel.
Because they had moved a bit during their conversation, their positions were now Evelia on the left and Armand on the right, both leaning against the railing. Behind the bushes on the other side of the railing, Rachel was hiding while holding up a tree branch.
…What are these two even doing?
Rachel was so anxious, secretly watching from behind like she was watching drama.
They had already said something as bold as “Do you like me?” and yet… nothing followed?
Come on! Make a move already! Go for it! Throw a straight pitch and knock out his front teeth! Why did the topic just end like that?
Rachel really wished she could’ve brought a record player and played some romantic background music for them, maybe even blow some bubbles to set the mood, then maybe they would’ve just started kissing right there.
But all she could do was imagine it. Even if her past self could’ve done those things, her current self couldn’t anymore.
Back then, she had the “Alchemy Mark.” After all, she was an alchemist. She used to experiment on herself all the time when she didn’t have test subjects, even including the experiment of changing bodies. She was her own first test case.
Once she discovered she could switch bodies, she went even further with her experiments. Since her body could be replaced anytime, she wasn't afraid of damaging it. If anything went wrong, she could just swap it for a new one.
But creating a new body required expensive materials, which is why she agreed to work for the royal family. She needed money for her experiments, so she helped the former Second Consort with shady jobs.
You could say that the current methods the royal family uses for “Alchemy Marks” all came from Rachel’s research. So in theory, she could use any alchemy mark that was based on her original designs.
Of course, only she knew that.
She never told anyone everything she could do. It was her way of staying safe. She almost couldn’t use that knowledge again. But luckily, she survived.
Still, she wasn’t all-powerful. Even if she could use someone else's alchemy mark to a certain extent, it wasn’t like magic in novels where you just snap your fingers and things happen. She had to use the energy inside her body and be physically close to the mark, just like its original owner. And it took time to unlock it.
Alchemy marks couldn’t be activated without pain. Not yet, anyway. It always felt like tearing your skin open. No one could just ignore that kind of pain. So it wasn’t really possible for Rachel to secretly get something from someone else's alchemy mark without them noticing.
Besides, everyone kept their marks hidden. Even if she tried to “resonate” with them, the owner would likely sense something was wrong. And if she got caught doing that, it would be a huge risk for her.
Right now, the only mark she knew for sure was Evelia’s, the one she personally engraved. It was on Evelia’s upper thigh.
But touching Evelia’s thigh just to access that mark? That would be asking for death.
Other than Evelia, Rachel figured Armand might also have an alchemy mark. Important people working for the royal family usually had one, just in case.
But knowing that didn’t help much… She couldn’t reveal her identity to Armand, and she definitely couldn’t just go poking around his body trying to find the mark.
Sigh... This was so hard. If only she had carved one on her current body before. Yeah, it would’ve hurt, but at least it’d be useful right now…
"Eve."
Just as Rachel was worrying about her difficult days ahead, Armand spoke again, pulling Rachel’s attention back to the love story unfolding in front of her.
"I'm here, Mr. Armand."
As always, Evelia replied with a blank face and the same emotionless tone.
"......"
Armand looked at Evelia’s face as she turned slightly toward him. He was silent for a few seconds. From the look on his face, it seemed like… he didn’t really like that cold, stiff reply.
“Eve, I think you could try speaking in a different tone.”
“A different tone?” Evelia tilted her head slightly, looking a little confused.
“Yeah… how do I put it… your tone always sounds a little too stiff.”
“Really?” Evelia looked thoughtful. “Did I make things difficult for you, Mr. Armand?”
“Ah, no, not really—”
Armand stopped halfway through his sentence.
He suddenly realized that Evelia seemed to care a lot about what he thought of her.
He could’ve just said that her tone didn’t bother him at all… but what if he said the opposite?
What if he told Evelia that her way of speaking made him unhappy, made him feel troubled, would she actually change?
It might be a little mean… but maybe this was one way to help her improve?
Maybe being a little strict with her… would actually help?
“Ahem… yes.” Armand said, purposely lowering his voice a little. “Evelia, when you talk like that, it really troubles me.”
He said it in the same voice he used when scolding knights, and to make it sound more serious, he even used her full name.
“——”
Evelia clearly didn’t expect Armand to say something like that. She froze for a moment.
“I see...”
Her mood clearly turned gloomy. Even though her face still didn’t show much, the way she slightly lowered her head made her look really downcast from Armand’s point of view.
“I’ve troubled you, Mr. Armand… I’m very sorry…” Evelia’s voice now sounded rougher than before. “Really, I’m so sorry…”
“...Ah, no… um—”
Seeing Evelia react this strongly, way more than he expected, Armand suddenly felt really guilty. Even though Evelia was the one apologizing, he was the one who felt more and more ashamed.
“It’s my fault, Mr. Armand… I still can’t meet your expectations… I’m not a good maid… I’ve disappointed you…”
“Aaaah—no, no, that’s not it!”
Seeing how Evelia had gone from fine to completely gloomy so fast, Armand instantly realized he had messed up badly. Why did I think this dumb idea would work!?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Armand…”
“No, no, this is my fault! I’m sorry… Eve!”
“No… it’s still because I didn’t do well enough…”
“No! You’re already doing great!”
“…Really, Mr. Armand?”
Evelia looked up as she heard that. Her eyebrows moved a little, and she looked like a sad little kitten hoping for comfort.
“Ahhh… yes…” Armand couldn’t even look her in the eye. “Yes… you’re really amazing… You’re the best maid I’ve ever seen…”
As soon as he said that, her gloomy sky suddenly turned sunny again.
The cloud over Evelia’s head vanished, and in its place appeared a tiny sun, and even a faint little rainbow.
“Thank you, Mr. Armand…”
“No… no need to thank me… really…”
Armand looked at Evelia, whose mood had clearly returned to normal, and after watching for a while and confirming that she was really “sunny” again, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Then, quietly, he turned around and gave himself a small slap on the face.
I’m such an idiot…