Chapter 134: I’m a Genius
"You’re looking pretty good, little one."
It wasn’t until that evening that Armand finally showed up at the estate again. Using the old butler's name as an excuse, he brought Rachel out. As he held her in his arms, he carefully looked her over, checking to see if she had any visible injuries.
‘Haah... thanks to you... I’m still alive…’
Rachel lay weakly in Armand’s arms. Even if Evelia suddenly ran at her at top speed like an Olympic sprinter and yelled at her to get out of Armand’s arms, Rachel probably wouldn’t have the strength to move.
Well, probably. As the saying goes, you don’t know your limits until you’re pushed. Maybe if Evelia really did rush at her, she’d suddenly discover some survival-level speed and strength.
"Do you still know what number this is?"
Armand held up two fingers in front of Rachel, like he was testing whether she had lost her mind from being bullied by Evelia.
"Peace sign~"
Rachel answered and held up two fingers back at him in a playful “V.”
"You’re still joking, so it looks like you’re okay."
"Ahhh..." But the moment Armand said she was "okay," Rachel let out a dramatic cry. "No way I’m okay—Mom, she—!"
That woman was the Red Crow, after all!
Rachel almost said that out loud, but luckily stopped herself just in time. If she had, this family drama might have instantly turned into a full-blown political thriller.
But honestly… Evelia hadn’t really done anything to her. Even though Rachel felt completely exhausted, both mentally and physically, at least she was still breathing normally.
The reason? Probably because Evelia didn’t actually want to kill her.
Even though Rachel could feel Evelia’s killing intent, she never made a move. In Evelia’s mind, her overly logical brain hadn’t realized this was all just a prank from Armand. She had only noticed that Armand handed Rachel to her. If she killed Rachel, wouldn’t Armand find out her true identity?
If she was going to kill her, she’d have to do it silently and without anyone noticing.
Yes, Evelia had definitely considered killing Rachel. She just felt the timing wasn’t right yet, so she didn’t act.
Still, whatever the case, Rachel had managed to escape death. That was something to celebrate.
As for what happened during that time? Rachel didn’t say a word about it. She really didn’t want to talk about it.
All she could do now was lie there, silently thanking her luck for surviving her brush with death.
Meanwhile, Armand looked at her with clear interest. Judging from her exhausted appearance, he didn’t know exactly what Evelia had done, but based on Rachel’s reaction, one thing was clear, Evelia definitely had some kind of emotional response.
—Interesting.
That was the one word that popped into Armand’s mind.
Evelia’s reaction was much more interesting than he had expected. You couldn’t say she had no emotions, not when she acted like that. Someone with no feelings at all wouldn’t respond like she did.
But at the same time, Armand also had a little question in his heart, what exactly did her reaction mean?
What was she thinking?
Armand fell deep into thought.
If she was just pretending, then fine, he’d drop the idea. But if she wasn’t…
Then the question remained, why?
Even though Armand had used the trick of “saying he liked someone else in front of her,” he honestly didn’t know what Evelia was really thinking.
Was it jealousy? Probably not?
That overly romantic thought was quickly rejected by Armand himself.
Armand didn’t think someone like him could really be attractive to Evelia. Even though Evelia seemed to be taking the initiative to get closer to him, Armand felt it was probably just part of her mission from her "master." Evelia’s own will likely didn’t play a big role.
As for her reaction to Rachel… that was probably also part of the mission.
Armand guessed that one of Evelia’s main goals must be “gaining his trust.” That’s why she worked so hard to create chances to be around him.
Even though Armand had said those words using the excuse of “love,” in his mind it was more about “trust.” It was like he was asking, “Who do I trust the most?” Evelia, who came from the House of Nightingales and had to finish her mission, probably cared a lot about that.
So, after working so hard for so long, if she suddenly found out that the person Armand trusted most was a random little girl who just showed up. Of course she’d feel frustrated. Maybe even angry or embarrassed.
“Heh.”
Thinking about that, Armand, who was sitting on the main building’s stairs next to Rachel, let out a small laugh.
If Evelia really did make that kind of face, he would honestly like to see it.
Right now, his mood was like a naughty boy trying to tease the classmate in front of him.
“You j… ah, Dad, don’t tell me… you’re thinking up another weird idea again…”
Rachel almost said “you jerk,” but stopped herself in time. Of course she wanted to say that, but since she was still relying on Armand to stay alive, she had to keep acting like an innocent and harmless child.
Even after this little “prank,” she still had to pretend to be clueless, just like a real child.
Ahh—this is so frustrating. If only she were really just a kid...
Once again, in her young body, Rachel was sighing about problems that only adults should have.
“Haha, you’re Dad’s favorite little cutie. How could I ever hurt you?”
Armand’s warm and handsome smile looked totally creepy and terrifying from Rachel’s point of view. The moonlight shining on his face from behind made him look even scarier. She couldn’t help but swallow nervously.
“Okay okay, don’t be so nervous. Tell me, do you want anything?”
Just as Rachel was frozen in fear, unsure of what was coming next, Armand suddenly changed his posture. He picked her up, sat cross-legged, and held her in the space between his arms.
“Dad, what… what are you trying to do?”
Those words sounded like he was about to give her a reward, but Rachel didn’t feel happy at all. She was more worried he was about to ask her to do something in return.
He wants to give me something? Is he going to use that to make me help him again?
Sure, I do love money and nice things… but that doesn’t mean I’ll just say yes to anything! I need to keep my priorities straight, my life is more important!
“It’s nothing big. Just a little reward. After all, I made trouble for you this time, didn’t I? Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
“—Really?”
But when she heard him say “I’ll give you anything,” Rachel couldn’t help but feel tempted.
After all, this was no ordinary person, it was the captain of the knight order. He must have access to a lot of rare and valuable stuff.
Maybe this was the time to say, ‘I want you to save my life’?
No… that would probably just sound like a kid’s joke to him. And if she asked for too much, she might accidentally expose her identity before anything was settled…
She had to come up with something more reasonable, something that still fit the image of a child…
—Got it!
“Dad, I want to study. Can you hire some teachers for me?”
Of course, what Rachel really wanted was a teacher who knew alchemy. The other “random” teachers were just a cover to make it sound like she wanted to study in general.
As long as she had a “teacher,” she could openly do alchemy research here. She might even get access to materials!
—Ahh, I really am a genius!