Chapter 203: How to Be a Good Mother
Even though Armand paid Evelia a good salary and gave her and Rachel many nice things, when it came time to go out, both of them still wore simple clothes.
Earlier, Evelia had sprayed Armand with perfume, but she used way too much. So even after she and Rachel changed into fresh clothes, the scent still lingered on them from last time.
Luckily, the perfume actually smelled pretty good. And once some time had passed, people usually stopped noticing it anyway.
Meanwhile, Armand, who had chosen to take a carriage to the Knights' headquarters so he could “go quickly and come back fast,” was now wearing his uniform, also soaked in perfume.
He usually didn’t like having any scent on his body. But since Evelia was the one who sprayed it, he just accepted it with a helpless smile.
“Mr. Armand.”
Evelia, who was about to go out for a walk with Rachel, stood beside Armand’s carriage window. She looked a little reluctant to part ways, because this could have been a rare chance for them to stroll together.
“Please come back early, okay?”
A soft breeze gently blew Evelia’s long hair, almost like the wind was making up for the time it had once blown her skirt up in public.
“Of course. I’ll go stir up those old men in the meeting until they can’t keep talking anymore,” Armand replied.
As he spoke, he reached out and tucked a few loose strands of Evelia’s hair behind her ear. Then, before moving his hand away, he gently pinched her soft earlobe.
“…So cheesy,” Rachel muttered from the side.
Her face looked like she had just eaten something too sweet, but at the same time, she sighed in her heart, feeling oddly comforted.
Armand had always been someone who acted quickly and efficiently. After saying his goodbye, and since he didn’t want to waste time, he gave Evelia a small smile and had the carriage head out of the estate right away.
Evelia stood quietly, watching the carriage roll farther and farther away until it disappeared from her sight.
“It’s time to go, right? …Mom?”
Rachel ran up to Evelia and held her finger, just like a real daughter would hold her mother’s hand.
“…Yeah.”
Evelia didn’t push her away.
Although she sometimes felt like Rachel was a bit “too much,” there were moments when she let her stay close.
After all, Rachel was part of her family now. That day, she and Armand had hugged her together.
…“Family” really is a strange thing.
Evelia thought this silently.
She had always believed she didn’t really like Rachel, and yet she had still accepted her as family.
To be honest, Evelia sometimes regretted bringing Rachel here in the first place. Ever since then, things had gotten more complicated. And the biggest issue was that she had no idea how to raise a child.
She even bought a book called ‘How Young Moms Can Be Great’ to try to learn.
But then she saw the title of the first chapter:
“If You Want to Be a Good Mother, You Must First Learn to Love Your Child.”
Evelia didn’t even understand what love really meant, or how to “love” someone. So she got stuck right there, on the very first step of the book.
Still, she skimmed through a bit of the book’s contents. After all, she bought it herself, so she might as well read a little.
The book was pretty detailed. It explained things like how to feed a child and how to spend time with them.
There was even a section about breastfeeding, which was totally outside of Evelia’s understanding.
But one thing about Evelia was certain. She was always eager to learn.
At that time, Evelia had carefully looked at the illustrations in the book. Then she lifted her shirt and unfastened her bra, trying to copy the pose shown in the book where a mother holds a baby.
But in the end, she still couldn’t really understand how breast milk was supposed to be produced.
Later in the book, it talked about how to dress a child properly and how to help them develop their own interests.
It said not to save money by dressing your child in hand-me-down clothes from their siblings of a different gender, and also not to make things too easy by avoiding exposing them to new things.
In the book’s “types of families” section, Evelia’s income level was considered “wealthy.” After all, she could request direct funding from the Second Prince and also get money from the Knight Commander himself.
Even though Evelia was just an assassin, and Rachel was a somewhat troublesome child she picked up along the way, both of them actually had very powerful people backing them.
All things considered, when it came to clothing, food, smart toys, storybooks, and interest development, Evelia thought that Armand seemed like a better mother than she was… er, no, a better father.
Back then, Evelia thought to herself, ‘As expected, Mr. Armand really is a catch. I absolutely can’t let someone else take him.’
Once that idea popped into her head, her thoughts started to drift even further.
Even though neither she nor Armand had ever said it aloud, Evelia felt that they were basically already a “married couple” in some sense. So there shouldn’t be any foolish woman daring to butt in now.
Of course, with Armand’s wealth and status, having three or four wives wouldn't be surprising. But if that really happened, Evelia would definitely take action. She’d make sure Armand could only have one wife, and that would be her.
Thankfully, Armand didn’t seem like the type to be unfaithful...
The only real threat was that horse.
But for now, even though they were playing this “we’re Rachel’s parents” game, Evelia knew deep down that her role still wasn’t official. Right now, she could call herself “Rachel’s mom,” but she wasn’t yet “Armand’s wife.”
“……”
With all these thoughts in her head, Evelia didn’t talk much as she walked with Rachel through the streets. She was too busy thinking to remember exactly where she went or what she did. By the time she snapped out of it, she realized she had somehow ended up in front of Anna’s clothing store.
Anna’s shop was one of the places she liked to visit most.
This was Rachel’s first time seeing the boutique. She had never been a girl who cared much about fashion, and she wasn’t familiar with trendy or popular clothing brands. But after seeing all the tags on Evelia’s clothes, she had grown curious about this place.
The store's logo even had the letters “AN” on it, which looked like the signature of the shop’s owner.
“Miss Evelia!”
As Evelia opened the door to Anna’s boutique, a familiar cheerful voice welcomed her.
Anna rushed over from beside a writer she had been talking to, full of energy as she greeted Evelia.
“Oh my! What a cute little girl!”
Her eyes immediately landed on Rachel, who stood beside Evelia.
A little girl this adorable would make anyone want to cuddle her.
But Evelia didn’t pay much attention to Anna hugging Rachel. Her mind was still stuck on the thoughts she’d been having earlier.
If she really wanted to become Armand’s “wife,” she needed to take the proper steps.
In that case, she should…
“Anna,” Evelia said, turning her head slightly to look at the long dresses on one of the mannequins.
“Yes? Miss Evelia, is there something you need?”
Anna looked up from where she was crouched, feeding snacks to Rachel, and noticed the thoughtful look on Evelia’s face.
“Do you… sell wedding dresses here?”
“…Eh?”