Chapter 144: A Life as an Assassin Is Nothing to Envy
“What kind of person does Mr. Armand like?”
When she heard this question, Anna was momentarily stunned.
She didn’t expect that after going around in circles, the conversation still came back to Armand.
As expected, Armand must be someone very special to Evelia.
That complicated feeling... even Anna didn’t quite understand it herself.
Even though Evelia often said things like “I don’t like him” out loud, aside from the secrets and hidden reasons that Anna couldn’t understand, she still felt that Evelia was surprisingly easy to figure out.
It was just very obvious that Evelia herself didn’t understand her own feelings, even Anna could tell.
Evelia didn’t want to face her feelings, or maybe she couldn’t.
But based on how she acted, Anna actually thought Evelia seemed kind of cool.
Sigh...
Thinking of this, Anna let out a helpless little laugh. Evelia clearly heard it, and in the silence just moments ago that almost felt suffocating, the laugh sounded especially noticeable.
“Haha, sorry. I lost my manners in front of you, Miss Evelia.”
Evelia looked up at her because of that sudden laugh. Noticing this, Anna tried to laugh a bit more, hoping to lighten the gloomy mood from earlier.
Even if she couldn’t help Evelia get through the mess in her heart, at least on the surface, she wanted to cheer her up a little.
With that thought, Anna made a joke.
“I just think Miss Evelia is so mysterious, like one of those thieves or assassins with a dark past in a novel or comic. So cool! I can totally imagine you flying through the skies with a dagger, guarding the peace from behind the scene!”
“......”
Hearing Anna's words, Evelia went quiet for a moment. When talking about other topics, she would at least respond a little. But when it came to this kind of thing, Evelia completely shut down, like she was purposely hiding her true feelings. Her face showed nothing.
“I see.”
She just calmly said those two words, like she didn’t want to have anything to do with the topic.
“Yeah, yeah! I read comics and novels too, and I always think someone as quiet and calm as Miss Evelia is perfect for being an assassin. A silent shadow in the night, doesn’t that sound super cool?”
Anna, who loved reading fantasy novels and gossip, suddenly got really excited. She started talking about those assassin-type stories that became popular for a while because of the “Red Crow.” She was clearly enjoying herself and didn’t notice how Evelia’s eyes were growing more complicated by the second.
“In the end, the Red Crow is still the coolest! I even feel a bit jealous. Sometimes I dream about living a cool assassin life too—”
“That’s not something you should envy.”
Evelia, who had been quietly listening until now, suddenly cut Anna off.
Never mind that she mentioned the “Red Crow” in front of Evelia, more importantly, Anna had just said she envied the life of an assassin, and she said it right in front of Evelia.
That was absolutely not something to envy.
If she ever had a choice, Evelia would never want to become an assassin again.
Even if she didn’t have those amazing skills described in novels, like jumping between rooftops or walking on walls, Evelia still wouldn’t choose to live that kind of life again.
“Ah, oh… Miss Evelia, do you not like assassin stories?” Anna asked, a bit flustered.
“Yeah.” Evelia replied directly, without hesitation.
To her, she didn’t just dislike it. She hated that kind of life.
Her secret identity, the “Red Crow,” had been turned into a popular hero figure by the Second Prince’s clever planning. To ordinary people, she was like a hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
But in reality, that “stealing from the rich” only happened because the Second Prince’s enemies happened to be powerful and wealthy people. As for the “poor,” those people tended to follow the crowd. Controlling their opinions was easy. No need for force, sometimes you could even call it “brainwashing.”
Just show them what they wanted to see. Give them what they wanted to receive.
That was the best way to keep the people calm. Not through violence, but through carefully planned gifts. The people were simply taking back what was originally theirs, even though the Second Prince labeled it as “a reward.” Naturally, they didn’t complain.
Even so, that was already considered a “gentler” method by the Second Prince. At least for dealing with the public.
But when it came to how he treated his assassins, things were completely different.
He made sure those assassins could never escape his shadow for the rest of their lives.
As for how he did it, no one knew. Probably no assassin ever wanted to remember those experiences, including Evelia.
“Alright… Miss Evelia doesn’t like that kind of thing…”
Anna mumbled to herself and took a bite of another flavor of cookie from the plate, looking a bit troubled.
“Well, let’s forget about what we like or don’t like for now. Just earlier, we were talking about Mr. Armand—”
That sentence Evelia said—‘I want to become the kind of person Mr. Armand likes’—sounded a bit strange to Anna.
It felt like the phrase could be literally translated as ‘turn into Mr. Armand’s shape.’
“Miss Evelia… you mean, you want to become the kind of person Mr. Armand likes?”
Even though it felt kind of embarrassing to say it out loud, Rachel still repeated the question to make sure.
“Yes.”
But Evelia didn’t seem to think it was embarrassing at all, she simply nodded.
“Hmm…” Anna looked Evelia up and down thoughtfully.
Evelia had a pretty face and a good figure. Even though she sometimes came across a bit dazed or slow, that kind of clumsy charm was actually considered attractive these days.
Unless Armand was the type who only liked geniuses or intellectuals, then Evelia already looked like the kind of girl he’d be into.
Back when Evelia brought Armand here, Anna could already tell. The way Armand looked at Evelia, his eyes almost stuck to her. And that was with Anna present! If no one else was around, who knows what the two of them would be doing…
“Well… I guess you just need to work on your weak points and play to your strengths. Let’s start with the good side. What does Mr. Armand like most about you?”
“Hmm...” Evelia paused and thought seriously.
She had never really asked Armand what he liked about her. Only once, she had asked him if he liked her body.
Ah—right.
Suddenly, Evelia remembered something.
“—My feet.”
That was the answer she gave Anna.
After all, back then, she had asked Armand if he liked her feet. And even though his answer was awkward, she definitely heard the word “like.”
“Feet…?” Anna frowned at the answer.
“Yes. My feet.” Evelia nodded seriously, completely unaware of Anna’s increasingly strange expression.
“Well, alright then. Cough… feet… Uh, moving on. What does he think you’re lacking?”
“What I’m lacking…”
Evelia once again fell into deep thought, trying to remember if Armand ever complained about something.
Soon, she came up with another answer.
“My smile.”
That’s right, her smile.
That same day, Armand had told her that he hoped she could learn how to smile.
“Smile… a smile...”
This answer sounded more normal than the “feet” one. But when you put the two answers together, it sounded kind of weird.
Mr. Armand liked Miss Evelia’s feet, but also wanted her to smile…
…What kind of combination is that?
Does he want Miss Evelia to smile while sticking her foot in his mouth or something?
Is this what the captain of the knights is into behind the scenes?
After Evelia calmly gave those two answers, she waited quietly for Anna to help her figure out what to do next.
But on Anna’s end, her imagination was already running wild thanks to Evelia’s unintentionally strange answers.
Her cousin Carle hangs out with that guy all the time, he’s not turning into a weirdo too, right?
No—no, wait. Everyone has their own preferences. As long as it’s between two people who both agree, you can’t really call it “weird”...
But... but...
If it’s a “foot” thing, shouldn’t that come with a disgusted expression or something? Why a smile?
—Ugh, what was she even thinking about right now?!
But… seriously, oh god, it’s just so weird.
Is this what couples are into these days?