Chapter 199: The Telescope
A few minutes earlier, not too close but not too far from the horse ranch, Rachel was playing with her little toy soldiers.
After Carle told Armand that kids should have more toys to pass the time, Armand smacked his forehead and, based on his own understanding, bought some little toys for Rachel.
The things he bought included (but weren’t limited to) a telescope, toy soldiers, a small shield, lightweight wooden armor, a mini catapult, and a wooden rocking horse for children. Most of them were toys usually meant for boys. It seemed these were things Armand himself liked when he was a child.
And because there had been a lot of kidnapping cases recently, he even gave Rachel a small spring-loaded knife for self-defense. Judging by the design, it looked like it was specially made for her. How else could a knife fit perfectly in the hand of a child like Rachel?
Armand really was bold. Luckily, Rachel had the soul of an adult in a child’s body. Even though her small body wasn’t very coordinated, she at least understood how to safely use sharp tools. So there weren’t any accidents.
If another child had gotten their hands on that spring-loaded knife, even if it was made of wood, the sharp tip could’ve hurt someone who didn’t know what they were doing.
But the mechanism looked well-made, so it probably wouldn’t suddenly pop open and hurt anyone.
Rachel spread out a picnic blanket and laid out all her toys and snacks. At first, she wasn’t too interested in these toys that “only boys” usually played with, but when she started playing out of boredom, she actually got really into it.
Even though she was technically a hundred-year-old woman, she still had her childish side. She picked two toy soldiers, pretending one was the second prince, and the other was herself, and began slamming them together while eating snacks, venting all her frustration about the second prince through the little toys.
After she was full, Rachel picked up the telescope Armand had given her.
Although it wasn’t a professional one, just a toy for teens, it worked surprisingly well. Lying on the picnic blanket, Rachel used the telescope to look at bugs crawling on the tree branches above her.
Those caterpillars that would normally make little girls scream were actually really interesting to her. She liked watching them change shape as they grew. Creatures that could change form were her favorite study subjects back when she was learning alchemy.
She watched one caterpillar nibble on a few leaves, then crawl to the other side of the branch. Then Rachel turned to look at another tree. But when she rolled over, she noticed Evelia hiding behind a tree.
“Wah...”
Half-asleep and lying on the ground, Rachel immediately perked up when she saw Evelia hiding like some creepy stalker from a novel. She sat up quickly and raised her telescope, trying to spy on what Evelia and Armand were doing.
But no matter how you looked at it, this was just a kid’s toy meant for casual adventures or nature watching. The view wasn’t very clear. From Rachel’s angle, she could only see Evelia’s back.
She watched the legendary assassin take one glance at Armand, then suddenly walk over to him with a very serious and aggressive aura.
“Wait… is she finally going to make her move…?!”
Evelia’s strong presence made Rachel feel uneasy.
“Is she really going to take down the captain of the knights and force him to—”
And then, in the very next moment, Rachel saw Evelia and Armand tightly hug each other after just saying a couple words.
“......”
Rachel stared at the sudden shift in scene and was completely speechless.
“Eve… what in the world are you thinking, silly Eve…”
Meanwhile, completely unaware of the little spy with a telescope nearby, Armand and Evelia were still tangled up together sweetly.
Armand lowered his head and looked at Evelia’s chin resting on his chest as she nuzzled her face against his collar.
He used his big hand to gently squish her round, doll-like cheeks. His rough palm pressed lightly against her soft skin. With all the calluses on his hands, they gently rubbed her smooth cheeks.
“You’re as soft as dough… It feels really nice to squish you.”
Seeing Evelia squint her eyes from the sensation, Armand thought she looked even cuter than before. If Evelia had cat ears, he probably wouldn’t be able to resist playing with her soft little ears too.
“Mr. Armand.”
Evelia swayed her head and rubbed her cheek against Armand’s palm.
“I have other soft parts too... do you want to try how they feel?”
“......”
Armand’s hand froze for a moment and then quickly pulled back. His eyes glanced over the “very soft area” Evelia was referring to, pressing tightly against his stomach and a bit squished because of how close she was. Then, feeling guilty, he quickly looked away, a nervous bead of sweat sliding down his forehead.
“It’s okay, Mr. Armand. Didn’t you already squeeze my feet before?”
“How is that the same? And besides...” Armand awkwardly shifted his gaze. “That time, I didn’t mean it like that. You were the one who insisted on putting your feet—”
Before he could finish, Armand suddenly felt something heavy, warm, and soft pressing down into his palm.
“...?”
That very concerning, soft, yet firm pressure in his hand made him instinctively lift it a little to check.
Evelia was standing on tiptoes, seriously putting that “heavy feeling” into his hand.
“—?!”
Realizing what was happening, Armand quickly tried to move his hand away, but Evelia held it down firmly.
“Mr. Armand, don’t you like it?”
“What kind of question is that?!”
Even so, Armand used brute force to yank his hand out of Evelia’s embrace.
“...You don’t like it...?”
Evelia's head immediately drooped.
To someone like Evelia, who had always tried so hard to earn Armand’s affection, those four words, “I don’t like it,” felt like a death sentence.
“Don’t make such a sad face over something this weird!”
“If Mr. Armand said he liked it... your Evelia would be very happy...”
Evelia lowered her head even more.
“Ugh... Don’t use that weird third-person way of talking to pressure me into saying strange things…”
“But now your Evelia is sad…”
This was the first time Evelia had directly expressed her feelings. Up until now, she had only vaguely understood the feeling of “sadness.” But now, she could finally grasp it. Not knowing how to express it with body language, she simply said it out loud. Her voice had a fragile tone that shook Armand a little.
“You...”
In Armand’s eyes, Evelia now looked like a snowman placed under the summer sun, melting from sadness.
“Mr. Armand doesn’t like his Evelia anymore…”
“I like you—! I like you, I like you, I like you!!”
Helpless, Armand finally gave in and shouted it out loud all at once.
But maybe because saying something like that felt way too embarrassing, he awkwardly pulled up the collar of his shirt, bent over, and used the shirt to cover his face. While shouting, he also held up both thumbs in her direction.
“......”
Evelia looked at Armand’s childish and silly pose. Then, hearing what he had said, she twirled her fingers and blushed shyly as a small smile spread across her face.
“Thank you for liking me, Mr. Armand…”
The once cold and ruthless “Red Crow” now looked just like a young girl wrapped up in her very first love.
“Waaah...”
Rachel, who was still secretly watching the scene through her telescope, hadn’t been able to hear their conversation. But just from their body language and interactions, she could guess what was going on.
She looked at the two of them and felt shivers run down her spine.
“What a ridiculously lovey-dovey couple...”