Chapter 161: Long Hair
"......"
Hearing Evelia’s question, Armand looked up at her.
"......"
Then he lowered his head again and glanced at Evelia’s legs, which were still gently rubbing against each other. Her fair, smooth skin looked tempting, like a tightly closed, pure gate leading to paradise.
But maybe it wasn’t paradise.
To Armand, it was more like hell, wrapped in the skin of something holy.
If he had a Bible from the church that warned against desire, half of it would probably be about this kind of “spiritual hell” disguised as heaven.
So, once again, Armand raised his head with difficulty. From the look on his face, it was clear he was about to say no.
Maybe he really should just go become a monk.
“Eve—”
But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a pair of hands grab his cheeks and squeeze hard. His face got all squished, his mouth was pulled by force, and whatever he tried to say came out as mumbled groans.
Then, the world spun around.
His vision went dark, and with a soft “thump,” he had fallen into that so-called hell.
But wait… isn’t this actually heaven?
Feeling the warmth near the tip of his nose, Armand threw away the idea of "holy rules" and happily gave in to this “no turning back” kind of hell.
Still… he had to draw the line somewhere.
So, Armand took a deep breath and decided—
—To flip over.
…In the end, he still gave in.
He couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. In the end, he gave up and lay on Evelia’s lap.
Although the feeling of lying vertically on someone’s lap was new, it was just as comfortable as lying across.
The only issue now was that he could clearly see Evelia’s face.
Evelia looked down and met Armand’s gaze.
Her long pink hair fell down like a curtain, brushing softly against Armand’s face. It tickled.
“Sorry, Mr. Armand.”
Evelia sat up straighter and gathered her long hair, tossing the pink strands behind her. That made the sides of her face feel a little less stuffy. But hair doesn’t always listen, just as she lowered her head again, those pink strands slipped back forward, and only a few tucked behind her ear stayed in place.
"......"
Evelia looked a little frustrated as she tried to deal with her hair. She had never grown her hair this long before, didn’t have the habit of carrying hair ties, and didn’t know how to braid it with her hands.
So she could only awkwardly try to control the angle of her movements, like a beginner, to keep her hair from getting in the way.
“Haha, it’s okay, Eve. Stop fighting with your hair.”
Seeing Evelia acting like a cat annoyed at its own tail, Armand let out a small laugh. He gently picked up a strand of her pink hair and placed it in his hand. He ran his fingers along each strand softly, letting them slip one by one through his fingers with care.
In the end, there was nothing left in his palm.
But even so, he could still smell a faint sweet scent left behind from Evelia’s hair.
“Sorry, Mr. Armand,” Evelia said again as she pushed her long hair back. “This hair gets in the way so much.”
“No,” Armand smiled. “Pink hair... is beautiful.”
The clean and bright pink color made people think of flowers blooming in spring at first glance.
Even though Evelia didn’t like to smile and wasn’t the typical “cute pink-haired girl,” that didn’t stop Armand from mentally putting the word “cute” next to her name.
After all, sometimes, Evelia really was cute.
She acted serious, but was also a little clumsy. She looked quick-thinking and often caught on to things fast, but sometimes she would be a bit silly, like a fool.
—Seriously, she’s damn adorable.
That’s the comment Armand left for her in his heart.
Even though what Evelia did often went completely against her original goal of “becoming a cute and elegant girl,” in Armand’s eyes, she still scored very high on the cuteness scale.
Basically, Evelia’s kind of cuteness hit all the right points for Armand. You could say the second prince made the right call putting Evelia by Armand’s side.
But then again, maybe it wasn’t so right after all.
They chose the right person, but used the wrong method, and followed the wrong process.
So… whether the ending turns out right or not is hard to say.
“My hair... You said the same thing when we first met. You said... my hair was beautiful.”
That was from their first meeting. In the main hall, when they first crossed paths, Armand had looked at her long pink hair, and everything seemed to have started from there.
Evelia looked at her own long hair and held a handful in her palm. She pressed it softly against her cheek, as if trying to feel its texture. The strands brushed the tip of her nose, and she caught the light fragrance coming from it.
She had always remembered her goal, to leave her scent on Armand.
Even though the festival had ended long ago, and even though Armand probably wouldn’t go near any noble ladies on his own, Evelia still wanted her scent to cover every part of him. So even though wearing perfume was a serious taboo for assassins, she still used a soft, subtle fragrance whenever she wasn’t on a mission.
‘I just want Mr. Armand to always stay by my side…’
It wasn’t just Armand. Evelia, too, had started to feel a strong attachment in her heart.
She wanted to keep him all to herself. She wanted to be the only one by his side. She wanted to stay with him all the time. She wanted Armand to become her one and only—
But just like Armand, she quickly forced those feelings back down.
Evelia just needed an emotional anchor.
At first, she had lived under the shadow of the second prince, so she always believed her life belonged to him, that he could give her everything.
But now, the second prince wasn’t with her anymore. Instead, it was Armand.
And she discovered something surprising, Armand could also give her what she wanted. In fact, he could fill an emotional hole in her that even the second prince never could.
However, clearly, the second prince’s importance in her heart was still far greater than Armand’s.
That weight had already settled deep inside her. Trying to move it wasn’t going to be easy.
“You still remember that?” Armand smiled. “Yeah, I was drawn to your hair right away. It really is beautiful, Eve, truly beautiful.”
“…Thank you, Mr. Armand.”
Even though it was a kind and genuine compliment, Evelia had mixed feelings.
Because she knew… he wasn’t praising the real her, only this beautiful outer shell named ‘Evelia.’
If he ever found out who she really was… what kind of face would he make?
—He mustn’t find out.
Not just must not, but she didn’t want him to.
Evelia absolutely couldn’t let Armand know her true identity. And above all, she could never let him see what she used to be like.
If the day ever came that he had to know the truth… then that would probably be the day he died.
Only death… could bring out the truth.