Chapter 212: Not Just a Child, but Family
Evelia stood in an unknown alley. It was so quiet around her that the only thing she could hear was her own breathing. All the people who tried to stop her were now lying at her feet. Those so-called “tough guys” were now as pitiful as bugs crushed under a shoe.
“Where did you take her?”
Evelia held a blade in her hand and grabbed the collar of a man whose legs had already been broken.
“Guh—mm, ughhh—”
Even though the cut was clean, the man still felt unbearable pain from the torn flesh. Lying in a pool of blood, he tried to speak, but could only make painful sobbing noises. But even if he could talk, he probably wouldn’t tell her anything.
“……”
As the man cried out in pain, Evelia ended his life with one clean cut. Now, there was one more body in the alley.
She couldn't find them. She couldn't find anyone left to question, and she still hadn’t found Rachel.
About half an hour earlier, Rachel and Salana had been attacked. At first, Evelia hadn’t followed them, but something, maybe a sixth sense, made her go after them. When a cold wind blew a dead leaf to her feet, she hesitated for a second… then ran after them.
Then she saw Salana, covered in blood, running out from the alley, holding tightly onto a dagger that Evelia recognized, one that Armand had given to Rachel.
“S-Sister Eevv—”
In her panic, Salana couldn’t even say Evelia’s name properly. She grabbed Evelia’s clothes and kept pointing toward the alley.
“Bad people… bad people are in there… nanny and Rachel are still inside—!”
The smell of blood rushed out from the dark alley. Evelia didn’t waste time comforting the panicked girl. She turned around and ran straight into the alley.
After just a few steps, she found Salana’s nanny, badly wounded.
“—Please hang on.” Evelia crouched down, trying to treat the woman’s wounds.
Even though this person had nothing to do with her, for some reason, Evelia felt like she had to help her.
This assassin, who was usually all about killing, actually wanted to save someone today.
“Miss…” But the nanny grabbed her hand and stopped her from wrapping the bandages.
“Go find Miss Rachel, go save her… I’m just… an old woman…”
—Go save Rachel?
That thought stopped Evelia for a second. In her mind, Rachel was someone she should never need to “save.” In fact, she had even carefully planned out how to kill her. But now, was she really going to save her?
She was supposed to kill that girl. The girl who always got in her way when she tried to be with Armand. The girl who might one day expose her true identity. The girl who wasn’t part of the plan and might ruin everything—
“Those people are dangerous… please go save her, Miss Evelia.”
But faced with the nanny’s urging, Evelia really did stop trying to treat her wounds.
That child… she’s family.
The one who hugged her… the one who called her “Mom”…
That girl is family.
If she wasted time here…
If she missed her chance, and all that was left was Rachel’s lifeless body, if that child could never come back—
She didn’t want that. She didn’t want to imagine it, and she won’t let that happen.
For some reason, Evelia suddenly thought of herself. Her younger self, from the past. Memories she had long buried and thrown away. She had given up her old name, her old self, like flushing away the person she used to be. Now, she was only an assassin.
But now, for some reason… she thought about those days again. She remembered thinking, what if she never joined the House of Nightingales? What if she had just been a normal child?
Strange. Was she… regretting who she was now?
She should have accepted it. She should have followed the path. She should have let go of her “self,” and embraced her role with no doubts.
But now…
Evelia suddenly stood up and looked down at the old woman who would soon die without urgent help. The woman, using the last of her strength, gave Evelia a firm, determined look.
And then Evelia turned away.
Under the gaze of the nanny, who had spent her whole life raising children, Evelia ran deeper into the alley.
The moment Evelia disappeared into the darkness, the old woman quietly closed her eyes. She had taken a deadly blow for the child she helped raise, Miss Salana. In the end, that gave her a sense of peace.
She truly loved that child. It was just a shame… she would never see her grow up.
Meanwhile, Evelia kept running faster.
—To save Rachel.
At that moment, that was the only thought in her mind.
She had once thought about killing Rachel. She had imagined many ways to make Rachel disappear. But not now. Not yet.
—Rachel is my family.
She is someone who called Evelia “Mom,” someone who hugged her. Someone Evelia had never had before, her real family.
Even someone as cold as Evelia now truly wanted to find Rachel, to see her safe. Not because she feared Armand would blame her. Not because of her own mission. But simply because, she wanted to save her family.
She didn’t want Rachel to become someone like her. She didn’t want another “Red Crow” to be born.
Right now, Evelia began to question herself as an assassin. The belief she once held tightly, the comfort zone she had locked herself into, was starting to crack.
She should accept everything that comes with being an assassin.
But…
Could she find the strength to refuse the fate that was forced onto her?
She wanted friends. She wanted feelings.
She wanted to stand under the sunlight like a normal person.
She wanted to live with Armand and Rachel, to build her own home.
She wanted to have a real family.
—That is the wish of this “Evelia” now.
Not the child she used to be. Not the Red Crow she used to be. Just Evelia Croyelle.
So now, this was her first step. She ran into the darkness. Not to become part of it, but to fight against it.
‘Can I really have that? I can. I can do it.’
Like a child cheering herself on, Evelia repeated those dry and simple words in her heart.
They sounded immature, but she meant every one of them.
—Go find Rachel. Find her.
Find the one who is my family.
She is mine, no one can take her away.
Evelia could have ignored all of this. Even if something happened to Rachel, Armand probably wouldn’t blame her. To Armand, Rachel was just an adopted daughter. He’d be sad for a while and then eventually forget.
But… she couldn’t allow that.
—Don’t take away what belongs to me.
Evelia chased after them. She saw the backs of the people running away.
She didn’t wear the Red Crow’s cloak, maybe because she felt they weren’t even worth that kind of effort.
She took out her dagger and curved blade, and cut every one of them down.
“Tell me—”
Her hoarse voice was heavy. Her anger, tightly held back, became killing intent, pressing like a blade against their throats.
She’s just a kid,
—That thought flashed in her mind.
No.
Not just a kid.
“—Where did you take my family?!”
That girl, Rachel, was a part of Evelia now.
She was family.
She was a piece of what made Evelia who she was.
I have to find her.