Chapter 246: So Many Theories
"...What is this...?"
Rachel held Armand’s still warm hand tightly, completely shocked. As she started to realize what seemed like a crazy truth, she nervously let go of his hand and swallowed hard.
Could it be that Armand is also a spy from the House of Nightingales? What is this, Spy vs. Spy?
So the House of Nightingales sent “Red Crow” to use her beauty to seduce the Royal Knight Commander, but it turns out... the commander was already one of their own?!
Isn’t this just like a flood washing over the Dragon King’s temple? The Second Prince’s people had already infiltrated the Knight Order, and Evelia was just acting out a fake mission to help Armand clear his name? This guy, who looked the most innocent, is actually the one pulling all the strings?
But… wait, that doesn’t really make sense either.
After calming down a bit, Rachel tried to disprove this conspiracy theory she just came up with.
If Armand were really a spy for the House of Nightingales, then this level of suffering is just too much. That’s not faking it anymore, that’s literally risking your life.
...Ugh, her brain felt like it was going to explode.
Ever since she came to this mansion, she’d had to use all her brainpower just to survive. Just how unlucky could she be? Even after dying and being reborn, she still couldn’t escape the Second Prince’s control.
If this were one of those stories where she was the main character in a “second life” plot, she would’ve turned herself into a super powerful genius by now. But sadly, this wasn’t a reincarnation novel, and this wasn’t some overpowered fantasy story. If Armand and Evelia didn’t kill her, it was already a mercy.
Alright, alright… let’s not daydream about things that won’t happen.
Let’s just sort out the facts.
Unless Armand chopped off someone else’s hand and attached it to himself (which would be ridiculous), that marking had to be from his body. And Rachel was 100% sure that this particular marking was her own work.
Did she remember anyone like him? A black-haired, blue-eyed boy...? Was there such a person among the “test subjects” back then?
—How could she possibly remember that?!
Rachel had lived a very long life and met all kinds of people. There was no way she could remember every test subject she had worked on, especially not in a place like the House of Nightingales. That place was weird and creepy, and most people there acted like emotionless robots.
A personality like Armand’s? She really didn’t remember seeing anyone like that.
And even stranger, how did he turn out so normal, while people like Grey Dove and Red Crow ended up so extreme? They were all from the same organization!
Could it be... that Armand’s kindness and calm personality were all fake?
Shudder...
Just thinking about that made Rachel’s skin crawl.
If Armand could really fake his personality that well, then in this fight for the throne, maybe the Crown Prince truly couldn’t beat the Second Prince. Because the one holding the military power, the trusted Knight Commander, would actually be an undercover agent.
Even if the Crown Prince lost... who could blame him?
After all, he had no idea that the commander of his own army was secretly the enemy.
But... maybe she was overthinking it again.
Rachel decided to bet her 100-year-old life that Armand was actually a good person.
Because deep down... she wanted to believe in Armand.
Even though she always talked about wanting to leave, about escaping and going back to her alchemy work, and how these two, Armand and Evelia, were going to be the death of her someday...
Even though she always thought they attracted trouble and dragged her into it...
She didn’t really hate it. She just found it troublesome.
And despite all her complaints, she kept helping. Every time something happened, she would try to help out somehow.
“...Yeah...”
Rachel let out a soft sigh in her heart.
It seemed like... she had already gotten used to this place.
Armand’s damn charm… in the end, it really got to her, too.
Now here she was, willingly, thick-skinned as ever, acting like the “daughter” of a man who wasn’t even thirty yet.
…What an annoying guy.
Rachel muttered that softly in her heart as she sat cross-legged next to Armand, leaning on her hand.
Whether it was Evelia or Rachel, at first they only got close to Armand because they had a goal. But now, it seemed like neither of them could easily leave his side.
With the way he had that “everyone-likes-him” personality, it was a good thing Armand wasn’t a playboy. Otherwise, Evelia might’ve really lost her mind and gone on a rampage.
But what exactly was going on?
Why did the Royal Knight Commander have an alchemy marking that clearly belonged to the House of Nightingales?
If we rule out the possibility that he was a spy from the start…
Could it be…
Did Armand actually escape from the House of Nightingales?
That organization mostly used children, because kids who hadn’t formed strong personalities yet were easier to train and control. If they were “raised properly,” they would become obedient tools, just like trained animals. Kids with developed personalities rarely tried to escape. They didn’t want to, couldn’t, and didn’t dare to.
But maybe Armand had already been a bit older back then. If he was already forming his own identity, maybe they couldn’t fully break his will.
Still, Rachel had never heard of anyone escaping the House. In all her years there, not once. Maybe it was kept secret so outsiders wouldn’t find out about a failure. She had no memory of Armand being one of those kids.
So… could it really be that he found a way to run away back then, and later joined the Crown Prince, who opposed the Second Prince?
“...!”
As she thought that, Rachel suddenly realized something shocking.
What if the Crown Prince knew Armand used to be with the House of Nightingales?
She had originally thought the Crown Prince promoted this “nobody” because he’d be easy to control. But what if it was the opposite?
What if the Prince promoted him because he had once been part of the enemy camp, and now could help fight against the Second Prince?
The position of Royal Knight Commander was extremely important. If the Crown Prince had known about Armand’s past and still gave him the job, that could only mean one thing. He completely trusted Armand.
Could it be blackmail?
No, that wouldn’t make sense. Blackmail is unstable, and no one would hand over such a key role to someone they had to threaten. Which means it wasn’t blackmail.
It must be shared interests, or maybe even a common goal.
That means Armand and the Crown Prince are both working toward something...
A common goal with the Crown Prince? Does that mean this guy wants the throne too?
…Hah. Doesn’t really seem like it.
Then what is it? Rachel had no idea.
Armand clearly came from the old generation of "assassins"—no, more like warriors. The ones trained by the Second Queen before she died weren’t stealthy types. They were meant to fight head-on in battles, built around strength. It was only when the Second Prince took over that the training style shifted toward sneaky, behind-the-scenes missions.
If that’s the case… Evelia should actually be calling Armand “senior.”
But if this theory is true, what exactly does Armand think of Evelia?
He’s both her enemy as the Knight Commander, and her “senior” as someone who came from the same background in the House of Nightingales. And now, he’s technically her “master” in this mansion.
Rachel thought, if Armand didn’t wake up soon, he was going to end up as Evelia’s personal “love slave.”
What a complicated relationship…
Rachel couldn’t help but mutter that to herself.
But actually, it might not be so bad.
Because no matter how complicated the relationships or confusing the titles are, if they end up together, everything can be simplified.
Titles, status, background. None of it would matter anymore.
Rachel still worried a lot about whether Armand might get, well, “taken advantage of”. But deep down, she really supported their relationship.
It was like… she’d already accepted him like a mother-in-law welcoming a son-in-law.
But honestly, they were one seriously headache-inducing couple of “daughter and son-in-law”…