Chapter 240: Part 2
Although Carle had said the day before that he would take Armand home early in the morning, when he arrived at the dorm room the next day, he found that Armand didn’t show the slightest sign of waking up. He hadn’t even changed his sleeping position all night. It was hard to tell whether he was just asleep or had actually passed out.
Before leaving the night before, Carle had given Armand some fever medicine, but it didn’t seem to work at all. Just touching his forehead made it clear. He’d been burning with a fever all night.
Carle really wanted to wake him up to check if his brain had been cooked from the fever, but all he got from Armand were a few weak groans. His eyes didn’t even open, and only a few fingers twitched. It was clear that waking him up was going to be tough.
Normally, if someone was this sick, Carle would call the royal doctors right away. But Armand had once told him very clearly, ‘No matter what happens to me, don’t call any doctors.’ He even said things like, ‘Just leave me here, and I’ll get better on my own.’
Carle didn’t know what secret Armand was hiding, but since he had said it so seriously, Carle wasn’t about to go against his wishes.
So instead, Carle moved Armand’s legs a bit and sat down at the edge of the bed, thinking about how he was going to carry him out of here.
He glanced at Armand’s wounds. Although they both used the same medicine, Carle had also used it before to hide injuries from his family, Armand’s wounds healed much slower. And with the way Armand took stomach medicine like snacks, plus how the fever meds didn’t even work, Carle started wondering if maybe Armand had some kind of special condition, like resistance to medicine…
—Forget it. Not my problem.
Carle figured that if Armand wanted him to know, he would’ve told him. Since he didn’t say anything, there was no point in overthinking it.
Either way, he had to find a way to get Armand back to the estate. If he got busy later and couldn’t keep an eye on him, and this guy, who insisted he was fine, suddenly died of a fever. Well, that’d be a disaster.
Both of them agreed this situation couldn’t be made public. After all, Armand was more or less a public figure, especially a military one. He already skipped work often, so a few days of absence wouldn’t seem strange. People might just assume he was out on a mission. But if word got out that he was this badly injured, someone with bad intentions might use it to cause trouble.
Saying he just caught a cold or a fever wouldn’t be a big deal. Everyone gets sick sometimes. But if people found out he wasn’t even conscious, that would be a much bigger problem.
And they couldn’t leave him here forever. The fewer people who knew about this, the better. He needed to get Armand out fast. Working under cover of night would’ve been ideal, but now it was already morning. Who knows what might happen between now and then?
“…Alright.”
After thinking for a moment, Carle seemed to come to a decision. He opened the door and stepped out.
A couple minutes later, he came back. This time holding a big burlap sack, the kind used to carry grain.
“Sorry, buddy. Gotta rough it a little.”
Speaking with zero guilt, Carle began lifting Armand from the bed. It was now clear that Armand was completely unconscious. His whole body was limp and heavy, if it weren’t for the sound of his breathing, you could mistake him for a corpse. Even if you drew a mustache on his face, he wouldn’t notice.
“Can’t you at least wake up a little and help out? Getting you into this thing is such a pain... Damn it, doesn’t your nose have an off switch? Why is it still bleeding?”
Carle grabbed some tissue and stuffed Armand’s still-bleeding nose, then lifted his body and began stuffing him into the burlap sack. If they hadn’t been friends for years, Carle might’ve tied him up with rope first to make the job easier.
He had even picked a larger sack, but even then, fitting Armand, tall and broad-shouldered, inside was barely possible. He ended up poking a few holes in the sack so Armand wouldn’t suffocate, then took a deep breath, got ready, and tried to lift him like a sack of potatoes.
“Damn… you’re way too heavy!”
“Ugh…”
His first try failed, Carle couldn’t get Armand off the ground.
Armand was way heavier than he expected. After all, he was a fully grown adult male who was completely unconscious. Plus, the awkward shape of the sack made lifting him harder. So Carle’s first attempt ended in failure.
Even though it wasn’t on purpose, when Carle accidentally dropped Armand onto the wooden bed with a loud thud, Armand let out a muffled groan of pain. Even Carle winced a little when he heard it.
“If I drop you a few more times, will that wake you up?”
Carle rolled his shoulders, looked at the dark-colored burlap sack, and waited for a moment. Just like before, Armand didn’t respond at all.
“Alright then, here we go again. If you’re still even half-conscious, you’d better wake up soon.”
With that, Carle adjusted his stance and once again tried lifting the sack with Armand inside.
If Carle hadn’t kept up his training even after becoming a high-ranking officer, he probably wouldn’t have been able to carry a fully grown man like Armand. But even so, he figured he’d only be able to make it as far as the carriage.
“I should’ve brought one of those carts used to move corpses…”
He muttered this under his breath while carrying Armand down the stairs.
It was broad daylight, and of course, there were knights patrolling the building. When they saw their vice-captain Carle carrying a big, heavy sack, they instinctively wanted to help. But seeing Carle’s sour expression, the faint bloodstains on the sack, and remembering that he had been in a bad mood ever since his daughter almost got hurt… none of them dared to approach. They just silently watched as Carle loaded the sack, looking like it held a dead body, onto the carriage and quickly left.
To the knights, it looked exactly like Carle had caught some serious criminal, tortured and executed them, and was now off to dump the body.
Naturally, everyone pretended they saw nothing. After a brief moment of tension, they quietly scattered and went on their way.
Meanwhile, Evelia had already reached the city.
She had been very worried about Rachel’s whereabouts, but after hearing from Grey Dove that Rachel had been taken in by patrolling knights, she finally relaxed.
Seeing that look of relief on Evelia’s face made Grey Dove frown.
Grey Dove knew that the biggest enemy of the House of Nightingales was the Knight Order. But now, her idol actually looked relieved because of the knights? Was Evelia starting to have friendly feelings toward the Knight Order just because she’d gotten close to the commander?
That was unacceptable! This was a matter of loyalty. After all, the Knight Order was their sworn enemy!
Grey Dove had wanted to say something then, but Evelia was in a hurry and left before she could.
She stood still, watching Evelia’s back as she walked away, her heart feeling a bit conflicted.
So it’s true...
The real problem is that knight commander...
He has to be dealt with, completely removed.
After seeing Evelia’s figure disappear into the night, Grey Dove quietly turned and left. This time, she planned to find the “White Dove” she had never met and talk with him.
As for Evelia, she was now walking from the capital toward Armand’s estate. She looked down at the wounds on her body and noticed the strange looks people were giving her on the street.
Most of the injuries she had weren’t even from her earlier fight with the shadowy figure, she had made them herself.
Originally, she had wanted “Red Crow” to fake a few injury marks during a pretend struggle. But Grey Dove refused to lay a hand on her idol or goddess. She even said the bruises left by the black-cloaked attacker were too obvious and needed to be covered up with medicine, otherwise people might notice something. After all, they still weren’t sure whether that man was alive or dead, and they didn’t have time to go find his body.
The medicine Armand had gotten from the royal family could also be accessed by the Second Prince. But unlike Armand, who had built up resistance to medicine, Evelia’s external injuries healed very quickly. So, because Grey Dove refused to hurt her, Evelia had no choice but to use a knife to make cuts on herself, using different weapons to leave different types of wounds.
She even planned to scratch her own face a few times, but Grey Dove stopped her, unable to watch her continue that kind of self-harm. She told her, “If you really want to leave something on your face, just slap yourself.”
So now, Evelia was walking the streets of the royal capital in torn clothes, covered in bruises and injuries, with a swollen, red face.
Of course, her face was as emotionless as ever. These injuries were nothing compared to what she had endured in the House of Nightingales.
Out of instinct, Evelia chose a small path that avoided the knights. Although some people still looked at her strangely, it was probably because she didn’t give off the usual "fragile and pitiful" vibe. Her injuries actually looked quite scary to outsiders, so she didn’t run into any trouble like last time. There were no thugs, she walked home peacefully.
Now that Rachel had been found by the Knight Order, she was probably already back at the estate. Once Evelia got there too, she could be with Rachel and Mr. Armand again.
She really wanted to hear it. Those words from Mr. Armand, "Welcome back."
That… that would truly feel like coming home.
“—Miss Evelia?”
Just as Evelia was daydreaming about how Armand would greet her, she suddenly heard a man’s voice.
When she looked up, she saw the writer who had stayed with Anna before. He was looking at her with wide, shocked eyes, so surprised that he seemed frozen in place.
“Is that… Mr. Clund?”
“...It really is you? Miss Evelia? Hey—Anna!”
As soon as Evelia replied, Clund turned and ran off in another direction. Evelia was still a bit confused when suddenly a dark figure rushed out from the alley.
Normally, when someone approached her like that, Evelia would instinctively strike back. But this time, there was no killing intent from the person, so she missed the chance to react.
By the time she realized what was happening, a young girl had already wrapped her arms tightly around her.
“Miss Evelia—!!!”
That familiar voice rang in her ears. Even without seeing the short milky-white hair, Evelia knew who it was.
“Anna?”
Yes, the one hugging her tightly was her very first friend, Liliana.
“Wahh… wuwuwu… Miss Evelia—wuuhhh… where did you go…?! Wahhh! Miss Evelia! Why are you only coming back now?! I was so, so worried!!”
Anna clung to Evelia like a baby sloth, crying so hard her voice had gone hoarse. She couldn’t stop crying as she poured out all her worry and longing.
…It was strange.
Shouldn’t people be happy when I come back? Why are they crying?
Evelia didn’t quite understand why Anna was crying so hard. In her mind, crying was only for sadness.
She had smiled while crying before. But even then, she never really understood why. So now, she didn’t get why Anna looked so heartbroken.
“I’m back. Aren’t you happy?”
So she asked her directly.
“Of course I’m happy! Of course I’m happy! Miss Evelia, now that you’re standing in front of me again… of course I’m happy!”
Anna sobbed, wiping tears and snot away. It wasn’t exactly a pretty sight, but Evelia actually thought her tear-streaked face looked even cuter than usual.
“Then why are you crying?”
“Because I have to cry! I have to! I just can’t help it!!! Miss Evelia… I was so worried about you!!!”
Anna pouted, sniffled, and her pale face, which had looked so tired from all the stress, finally turned a little red from crying. Clund, standing behind them, let out a relieved sigh and smiled. Comforting Anna for the past few days had been exhausting. But in the end, everything turned out okay. Evelia came back.
“Miss Evelia, what happened?! Why do you have so many injuries?!”
Once Anna had calmed down a little, she finally noticed the cuts and bruises all over Evelia’s body. For a girl to be hurt that badly, it was shocking. Anna, who had just stopped crying, immediately started crying again. She hurried to drape her coat over Evelia’s shoulders.
“Who did this to you?! I—I’ll hire someone to break their arms!!”
Those words sounded a bit scary coming from such a sweet-looking girl.
“It’s okay, Anna. The wounds will heal.” Evelia touched her injuries lightly. “They’re not that deep.”
After all, she still knew her limits.
“Th-Then let me help you—”
“No need, Anna. I have to go back to the estate now.”
“Back to the estate? Ah—right! Right! You have to go back! Mr. Armand must be worried sick! You have to get back quickly! The medicine there is definitely better than what I have! Clund! Go get a carriage, quick!!”
“Ah—yes! Right away!”
As soon as Anna said that, Clund turned and rushed off to call a carriage. Evelia looked at the panicked Clund with a bit of confusion. It had only been a few days, why was he suddenly so obedient? Was it just because he was being paid more?
If I gave Mr. Armand that much money… would he also be that obedient?
Although Mr. Armand was already pretty wealthy as the captain of the Knight Order... but if I gave him money from the Second Prince...
“Anna! Miss Evelia, the carriage is here. Please get in quickly.”
Clund was surprisingly fast. Before Evelia could even finish thinking, the carriage had already arrived.
Seeing this, Anna quickly helped Evelia to the carriage and, still teary-eyed, helped her climb aboard.
“I really want to go with you... but I think right now, Mr. Armand probably only wants to see you. So... Miss Evelia, once you and he are settled, please come visit us again, okay? We were all really, really, really worried about you...!”
Anna looked like she was made of water, her tears just wouldn’t stop. As she helped Evelia into the carriage, she started crying again, using Clund’s coat to wipe her nose. Clund was frowning hard, but he still let her do it. As a romance novelist, he understood the overly dramatic saying, “A man’s shoulder is meant for a girl to lean on.”
Apparently, that also included wiping snot.
“Mhm, I will.”
Evelia sat in the carriage and looked out the window at Anna and Clund.
She still didn’t understand why Anna cried so much after seeing her again. In Evelia’s mind, her return should’ve made people smile, not cry.
Yes… now that she was back, Mr. Armand would definitely be happy.
He would surely welcome her with a smile, just like in the stories.
Thinking about that, Evelia said goodbye to Anna. Before the carriage started moving, she glanced back to see Anna still wiping her eyes and nose with Clund’s coat, so much so that Clund finally just handed her Evelia’s old cloak to use instead.
She was finally going back.
Evelia leaned against the inside of the carriage, watching the familiar streets and all the people passing by through the window.
Even though she had only been gone for a few days, and a few days wasn’t really that long...
She missed him so much.
Without even meaning to, Evelia pressed her lips together.
She wanted to see Mr. Armand again… wanted to see his smile... wanted him to...
To hold her in his arms—
“......”
A rush of emotion swirled inside her. Just a few days apart had made this longing grow stronger and stronger. Though a small part of her rational mind tried to ask if these feelings were right or where they even came from, that tiny voice was quickly drowned out by a wave of longing.
The more she thought, the more she wanted. It felt like once the thought entered her mind, she couldn’t stop it.
…But still, this is good.
…Finally, I’m going home.
…Finally, I’ll see Mr. Armand again.