Chapter 201: A Future Like That
“……”
Rachel walked back into the room carrying her box of toys, and what she saw was Evelia sitting on her bed, holding Armand’s shirt tightly in her arms, just like something out of one of those over-the-top romance novels.
The girl with long pink hair had buried her face deep into Armand’s shirt.
“……”
Rachel was completely speechless. This scene was just way too shocking for her.
“Um…”
She tried to say something, but didn’t know where to begin.
Who would’ve thought that the famous “Red Crow” would now be hugging the Knight Commander’s shirt, and if you listened closely, you could even hear her quietly taking deep breaths.
From Rachel’s point of view, Evelia was acting like a total maniac.
In the morning, she followed Armand around like a stalker…
At lunch, she forced him to eat those "fancy" tomato dishes she made…
And now, at night, she was hugging his shirt and taking deep, sniffing breaths like a total weirdo.
How did things end up like this?!
Rachel was clearly frozen in place.
Sure, she knew Evelia was the type of person who could easily be influenced by people around her…
But still, wasn’t this a bit too much? Now it was just a shirt, but who knows what kind of crazy scene she might walk in on next time?
“Rachel?”
Just as Rachel was trying to figure out how to deal with the shock, Evelia turned her head and looked at her, standing at the doorway with a toy box in her hands.
“Ah—Mom…!”
Realizing she’d been caught, Rachel quickly played dumb. She gave a cheerful little laugh, pretending like she hadn’t seen anything, and went straight to her small cabinet to put away her toys, including the telescope.
“……”
Evelia didn’t say anything more. It was like she didn’t think anything about Rachel’s behavior was strange. She just turned back around and continued hugging Armand’s shirt.
...Hey, hey! Are you serious?
Just because I’m a kid, you think you can freely do all these super creepy things right in front of me?!
“As I thought… I really do need to spray it with some perfume.”
Evelia muttered while holding onto Armand’s shirt tightly.
Huh?!
Rachel, who had been pretending not to listen, suddenly froze. Inside her head, a giant mental alarm went off.
Perfume?! Why perfume??
Could it be that Armand’s clothes had some kind of smell? From what she remembered, Armand was a very clean person. Even in the middle of summer, coming back from the Knight Order, he always smelled fresh and clean.
In fact, Rachel even thought he was too clean, almost in a creepy way. Like, maybe because he often had the smell of blood on him, he developed some kind of obsessive hygiene habits. There weren’t even any normal scents on him. It was like everything had been scrubbed completely away.
But now…
Could it be that her alchemically-made Evelia had developed some kind of super dog-like sense of smell?
It was weird, but if it were true, it might actually count as a breakthrough in alchemy. If humans could fuse with animal abilities or genes, maybe in the future, things like catgirls or doggirls from comics wouldn’t just be fantasy anymore.
Beep, beep.
Before Rachel could even process what was going on, Evelia had already sprayed her own perfume onto Armand’s shirt, just like she did at the ball before.
Evelia had always cared about one thing, Armand didn’t have her scent on him.
When they hugged just now, Evelia clearly noticed that Armand didn’t have any kind of extra smell. If anything, he just smelled like clean hay or grass. But the moment she hugged him, that faint floral scent, her scent, began to cling to him.
So, as expected…
She really did need to make sure Armand smells like her…
It was almost like she was claiming ownership. As if declaring her place next to him, especially so that that white horse named Luna would understand her relationship with Armand. Evelia boldly and without hesitation sprayed her perfume all over his shirt.
Then, under Rachel’s stunned gaze, Evelia dragged out two large boxes full of Armand’s usual clothes, who knows where she even got them from.
One by one, she sprayed all of them with her perfume. Even his official Knight Order uniform wasn’t spared. If she could get her hands on his underwear, she’d probably perfume those too. At this rate, even if Armand just went to the bathroom, the whole place would still smell like her.
The perfume itself wasn’t very strong. It had a light floral scent that could only be noticed when the wind blew just right. But the problem was that Evelia used way too much. She emptied an entire bottle, and now the whole room was filled with that fragrance.
“Phew… now Armand will be covered in my scent…”
Evelia said with satisfaction as she picked up one of Armand’s shirts again. She brought the white shirt close to her face, pressing it gently between her nose and lips. Her half-lidded eyes stared into the distance, unfocused, like she was lost in thought.
If Rachel still had her old skills, the kind that let her pick up a pen and draw with no effort, she would definitely have recorded Evelia’s current state in her notes. This drastic change in personality would absolutely be something worth studying in the field of alchemy.
Still, she had to admit something. Armand really had an unusual kind of charm. Even though people outside the palace often said he was just a useless knight commander who didn’t care about anything. Once you actually got to know him, it was really hard not to be influenced by his personality.
In Evelia’s case, it might not even be alchemy that changed her. This could just be who she really was all along. Her new identity had simply given her the chance to walk down a different path.
The change in appearance just gave her a new way to interact with others, like a flower that had never seen the sun before. Only after seeing the light could it begin to bloom in that direction.
But…
Was Evelia’s transformation a good thing or a bad thing?
Rachel wasn’t so sure.
As an alchemist, Rachel didn’t really care about Evelia’s decisions or what would happen to her in the end. To her, Evelia had just been a test subject, an experiment.
But as Evelia’s creator, her “mother,” Rachel wanted her to be happy.
She wanted to see this person named Evelia, the person she had created, live a life of her own, not trapped by her past. Because now, Evelia had a new identity.
And yet, as someone watching from the sidelines, someone who was both a victim and a witness of this power struggle, Rachel didn’t know if this change would end up causing more harm than good.
Rachel could clearly see. At first, Evelia just wanted Armand to like her, to get him on her side. But now it was obvious, it was Evelia who had been “won over.”
Rachel was beginning to question even the reason why Armand kept Evelia by his side. The two of them looked so sweet and happy together now, and as someone watching the story unfold, Rachel honestly enjoyed it.
Amidst the tension of the political world, it was nice to see a warm and romantic story.
But…
What if war really does break out?
Rachel wasn’t a real child. Of course she would think about serious things like that.
If war really breaks out…
If one day, the two of them are forced to tear off the fake mask of this “playing house” relationship. What will happen then?
Rachel didn’t know why, but she had a strong feeling. Armand would be the one to give in.
Even though he always looked calm and firm, compared to Evelia, who seemed to be changing because of her emotions, Armand was the one more likely to compromise.
Armand often looked like someone others couldn’t figure out, but deep down, he was a kind person.
And if he really lets his feelings get the better of him, what he might lose isn’t just his honor, he might even lose his life.
From the beginning, Evelia was like a time bomb to Armand. He should never have trusted her. Even though nothing had happened yet, even Rachel who truly hoped the two of them would be happy thought Armand was gambling with his life by trusting Evelia this much.
Because Evelia wasn’t just Evelia. She was an assassin, she was the Red Crow, she was the right hand of the Second Prince, and she was the representative of the House of Nightingales.
The House of Nightingales didn’t only have Evelia, and Armand wasn’t the only one who could influence her thoughts.
Even now, Evelia was still the Red Crow. She was still the Second Prince’s subordinate.
That fact alone made her a dangerous, unstable element. One that could very well take Armand’s life.
Maybe, just maybe, Evelia really was slowly changing. Maybe she had already given up the idea of hurting Armand. Maybe she truly did want to “leave the darkness and walk into the light.” But what if the Second Prince shows up again?
What if that man, the one who had always controlled her breath, her heartbeat, her every move, stands in front of her again?
Rachel, who had already been heartlessly killed once, didn’t have full confidence in Evelia’s loyalty. She felt that, if the Second Prince gave her an order, Evelia might not be able to disobey.
Of course Rachel wanted her to change. She struggled with that thought in her heart. But even if Evelia really does change, what can one person’s change do, all on its own?
Evelia was still here. She could easily give away Armand’s information at any moment.
There were countless assassins in the House of Nightingales. Evelia was just one of them.
And if Armand put all his trust and attention on Evelia, how would he protect himself from everyone else?
Evelia, that dummy. That girl who, honestly, was so emotionally dull that she often lacked basic common sense. She might be able to avoid obvious traps. But what about the dangers hiding in the dark? How could she avoid those?
Even if she didn’t do anything directly, Evelia could still hurt Armand without meaning to.
And as for Rachel herself, she didn’t even know if she’d live long enough to see what happens.
Right now, she was staying with Evelia and Armand. But if things got dangerous, she was pretty sure she’d run away before anything happened.
After all, she always saw herself as a coward. Someone who hated trouble and didn’t want to die a second time.
She would definitely run away before it all went down...
She was never the brave type. And honestly, she had always planned to escape from the beginning.
This whole thing was a mess. A big, dangerous, out-of-control mess.
Rachel said nothing. She just looked at Evelia, who was still completely wrapped up in her own happiness, with a heavy feeling in her heart.
She didn’t want to see Evelia cry. But at the same time…
She wasn’t sure she could stop it from happening.
Maybe, for now, It’s better if everyone just keeps their secrets.
But...
How long can that really last?