Chapter 156: Armand’s Room
Even with a body made through alchemy, a hangover still causes a headache if you drink too much.
When Rachel adjusted Evelia’s body, she didn’t design her to be some kind of superhuman. She only enhanced her physical abilities a bit, but didn’t mess with her senses.
Technically, Rachel could have done that. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
If she had altered Evelia’s sensory system to inhuman levels, it would’ve messed with her mind and perception. Physical damage can be repaired, but mental damage is a different story.
Rachel might be an alchemist who studies the human body, but she wasn’t the type to treat real people as test subjects. Well, except herself.
Most of her experiments were done on her own body. Only when she confirmed something worked on herself would she share the method with others. That was her bottom line as an alchemist.
“Ugh…”
In the early morning, right on cue with her body clock, Evelia woke up just as the sun peeked over the horizon.
She was the type who could wake up on time no matter what, unless she was in a deep coma. Even with a pounding hangover, Evelia forced herself to sit up slowly, her head feeling like it was full of sharp stones.
...Ouch, it really hurts.
Holding her forehead, Evelia frowned so tightly that she didn’t even want to open her eyes.
For someone as disciplined as her, even sitting at the edge of the bed and covering her face for ten seconds felt like slacking off. So she forced herself to open her eyes wide and tried to focus her blurry vision.
“…Huh?”
At first, because she often came to Armand’s room and had even just spent the night here, Evelia didn’t notice anything strange. But when she saw an adventure novel casually placed on the bedside table, she finally realized, this wasn’t her room.
“This is… Mr. Armand’s room?”
When Evelia became aware that she was in Armand’s bedroom, she froze for a moment.
The excessive drinking had completely wiped her memory. All she could recall was bringing ten boxes of strong liquor to Armand’s room and drinking with him, trying to get him drunk—
—Did I… end up getting drunk first?
Rubbing her temples, Evelia tried to recall more. The last thing she remembered was the two of them drinking nonstop, hardly saying a word. After that… nothing. Her final memory was pulling out the cork from another bottle.
“That doesn’t make sense…”
Looking around the empty room, Evelia frowned in confusion.
Logically, even if she didn’t drink often, she shouldn’t have been knocked out so easily. She had undergone training to resist poisons and drugs. How could Armand outdrink her?
A normal person shouldn’t be able to handle more alcohol than her. Was Armand immune to alcohol? That would be ridiculous…
But the scene in front of her seemed to say otherwise. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it was clear that she had been the one to pass out first. Now, she was alone in Armand’s bed, and he was nowhere to be found.
“Hmm…?”
Then Evelia noticed something else that felt off.
She was… lying in Armand’s bed?
Thinking that, she looked down and lifted the blanket.
Her maid outfit was gone. Dress, underwear, socks, completely missing. Instead, she was wearing an oversized nightgown. The reason it felt so big… was because it was Armand’s clothing.
Even though Evelia’s body had been designed to be tall and slim, so it wouldn’t affect her ability to fight, she still couldn’t compare to Armand’s large build.
He was nearly 20 centimeters taller than her, and his nightgowns were long, robe-style ones for easy changing. So when Evelia stood up, still dizzy from the hangover, the robe she wore dragged along the floor like a gown.
From the way the robe was tied, it was clear that Armand had fastened it in a hurry. The knot was loose and sloppy, and now it looked like it could come undone at any moment.
This robe didn’t have shoulder straps or anything like that, and with the size difference between Evelia and Armand, it was already a poor fit. While lying down, the blanket had covered her up a bit. But now that she was standing, the loose upper part of the robe slipped down quickly, hanging right off her chest, completely exposed and barely staying on.
And the bottom half wasn’t much better. Last night, while drunk, Evelia hadn’t even made it to the bathroom before... letting go. So the clothes she had worn on her lower half were unusable now. She took a step forward and felt the soft robe brushing against her skin. It tickled a little. Every step made the robe flutter around like a breeze was blowing through.
“I’m actually wearing Mr. Armand’s robe right now… and in his bed too. Wait—”
Suddenly, something clicked in Evelia’s mind. Even the lingering fog from the alcohol felt like it had cleared all at once.
This was that thing from the romance novels, the so-called “boyfriend shirt”!
Now she could finally use one of the phrases she’d learned from those girly romance books.
—This is what happens after a couple has ‘been intimate’, and the girl wears the guy’s clothes afterward!
—Could it be… did something actually happen between me and Mr. Armand?!
Just thinking about that made Evelia’s heart start racing.
She didn’t have any memory of last night, no idea how she ended up in his clothes. But based on the current situation, she started imagining all kinds of things about what might’ve happened.
…Deep breath…
She tried to calm herself, but her heartbeat just kept pounding faster. In the quiet room, she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat loud and clear.
Did she do a good job last night? Was Armand happy with what she did?
Did they use protection? Could she actually… get pregnant?
If something like that really happened, wouldn’t that mean she had earned Armand’s trust? In that case, wouldn’t her mission be more than halfway done?
At that thought, Evelia suddenly paused.
Mission… more than halfway done?
Could it be… this is already coming to an end?
Her purpose in coming here was to complete a mission for the Second Prince. Of course, the faster she could complete it, the better. At first, her plan to seduce Armand was purely strategic. It was the fastest way to earn the trust of the Captain of the Royal Knights.
But now that she had gotten this far… she suddenly felt…
…like everything was moving too fast?
“……”
Out of nowhere, a deep sense of loneliness washed over her. Her heart, which had just been racing with excitement, was now pounding from anxiety.
…Is it… already over?
—Is this really the end?
No, it can’t be. There are still things left to do…
There’s still more. That means it can’t end yet.
My mission isn’t finished. I shouldn’t leave… not yet.
But… but still…
For the Second Prince’s sake, I must…
Yes… I must complete the mission.
Evelia forced herself to calm down and looked around the room. This was Armand’s bedroom, and right now, she was the only one in it.
Even though this wasn’t his main office where the real secrets would be, it was still the bedroom of the Royal Knight Commander. There could be useful information here.
This was a golden opportunity. She was completely alone.
And thanks to how many times she had come to Armand’s room before, Evelia already knew there were no surveillance devices here. It was safe. She could do whatever she wanted.
…There’s still something I have to do…
I can’t forget the reason I came here.
I’m Red Crow.
I’m someone who would never let the Second Prince down.
With that thought, Evelia clenched her fists. After taking a deep breath, she slowly relaxed her hands again.
She could clearly feel the sweat in her palms. After so many years, this was the first time she had ever felt this nervous.
Don’t get the wrong idea…
I’m not some “maid Evelia”...
Grabbing the loose sleeve of the robe, as if it were a pair of gloves to hide her true identity, she slowly opened the drawer of Armand’s bedside table.
Click.
The drawer reached the end of its track with a soft sound.
Inside were just some ordinary daily items.
There were two fountain pens, the second volume of an adventure novel, and a few pieces of candy wrappers being used as bookmarks.
Evelia carefully moved the meaningless things aside. Then, deep in the back of the drawer, she felt something hard and cold, like a piece of metal.
It was a small round piece of iron. It looked like it had been stabbed hard with something sharp. It hadn’t gone all the way through, but there was definitely a puncture hole.
Evelia carefully picked it up and saw there were some markings on it. But the damage had made them hard to recognize. She tried to study them closely but couldn’t tell if they belonged to any known family crest. There was a small metal ring on it, so it seemed like it used to be a pendant or charm.
…Strange.
Evelia stared at the worn-out piece of metal. It felt very familiar to her.
What was this?
She couldn’t remember exactly, but she was sure she had seen it before. It didn’t seem like junk. If it could be restored to its original condition, she might be able to recognize it right away.
…Where had I seen it before?
Was it from a past mission?
Was it…
Tap tap.
Just as she was trying hard to recall where she had come across this object before, maybe it had something to do with Armand investigating clues about “Red Crow”. Suddenly, she heard footsteps in the hallway.
…Crap!
Hearing the footsteps, Evelia hurried to put the broken piece of metal back in the drawer. But a few of the candy wrappers had built up static from her robe’s fabric and stuck to her sleeve.
“Damn it…!”
She cursed under her breath and shook her sleeves, fumbling to fix the mess.
Because her robe was already loose, and the belt wasn’t tied properly, her rushed movements caused the robe to slip right down her body, thanks to gravity.
Now, nothing was left to the imagination.
Click.
“Eve, are you awake—”
Just as Armand opened the door to his bedroom, what he saw was—
Evelia, completely naked.
Armand froze for a moment, still holding the breakfast in his hands. His first reaction to this sudden situation was… to look her up and down.
“AHHH—!”
Then he let out a high-pitched scream like a startled girl.
“I’m sorry!!! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!!!”
After getting a good look, he realized how embarrassing it was and quickly shut the door behind him.
“…Huh…?”
Once he stepped out, Armand finally came to his senses.
“Wait, this is my room. Why did I walk out like that all polite?”
But after thinking it over, he still didn’t go back in.