Chapter 254: Is It His Kidneys Again... Overworked?
After returning to her bedroom, Evelia set down the bottle of perfume and began studying the book in her hands.
Many of Armand’s symptoms matched what the book described as clear signs of the problem.
For example, memory loss. Armand clearly had issues with that. Especially when they first met, Evelia still remembered how many names he called her before finally remembering “Evelia Croyelle.” And even that got shortened to just “Eve.”
Although Evelia didn’t dislike the nickname now, she still thought Armand’s memory wasn’t very good.
What she didn’t know was that this was actually one of the symptoms caused by the poison in his body. And over time, his memory would only get worse. He’d start forgetting more and more things.
Fortunately, the doctor had once said, “He’ll probably die from illness before his memory gets bad enough to embarrass himself,” so technically, Armand didn’t need to worry about becoming a fool in front of others.
‘…Mr. Armand really does have memory issues,’ Evelia thought.
She circled that line in the book, like she was taking notes.
Next was low work efficiency. Although she wasn’t sure exactly how efficient Armand was, it felt like he handed most tasks over to Carle.
Evelia didn’t know whether Armand was lazy, or just didn’t know how to do things himself, which is why he always pushed everything onto Carle…
But still, it sort of matched the description. So she circled that part too.
Then it listed emotional symptoms like, easily losing control, lack of self-confidence, irritability, anxiety, and depression.
Hmm... that one doesn't really fit Mr. Armand. He always had a bright, cheerful attitude. Negative emotions didn’t seem to suit him at all.
So Evelia put a strikethrough across that part in the book.
She actually felt pretty confident about Armand’s personality. Someone who always smiled like that, how could he possibly be dealing with anxiety?
Next up was the dark circles under the eyes, and poor appetite.
—That’s totally Mr. Armand.
Even though his body had gotten some forced rest after falling unconscious for days, which helped with the dark circles, Evelia still clearly remembered how bad they looked before.
It was part of the reason she started looking into remedies to help with sleep.
(Of course, she didn’t know she herself was the main reason he couldn’t sleep.)
As for poor appetite, she had something to say about that too.
Ever since Evelia arrived, Armand had shown signs of not wanting to eat.
While it could’ve been due to stomach issues, Evelia thought, who has a stomachache three times a day, every day? It had to be a problem with his appetite.
Evelia drew a big red circle around that line.
Then came the physical symptom section, which had four big words, "unable to stay firm.”
Evelia paused her pen. She took a moment to think about this... recalling what she knew.
Then, very decisively, she crossed that one out.
The final symptom mentioned infertility. Evelia wasn’t sure about that. After all, she hadn’t tested or tried anything, so she just put a question mark next to it.
All in all, Armand ticked off three out of the five main symptoms, more than half. To Evelia, that was enough to conclude that “it’s probably true.”
‘Hmm… should I report this to His Highness the Second Prince? Should I tell him that Mr. Armand seems to have weak kidneys?’
According to the prince’s orders, no matter what happened, Evelia had to report everything to him.
Even if nothing special occurred, the Second Prince would regularly check in and ask for updates.
Even two days ago, when Armand was unconscious, the prince had contacted her, and she gave him a report on Armand’s condition.
But that time, she didn’t tell the full truth. She didn’t say “he’s seriously injured and barely alive.” Instead, she simply said, “He seems to have caught a cold and has a high fever.”
In the past, she would’ve reported every detail without hiding anything. But this time, while standing in the changing room right next to Armand’s bedroom, she lied.
Just like when Rachel once downplayed things and said Armand just had a minor cold…
Evelia gave the exact same kind of excuse to the Second Prince.
Although Armand didn’t show any visible injuries on the outside, if you had to name something, it would just be “a fever.”
Still, if Evelia had been the same as she was in the past, she definitely would’ve told the Second Prince everything in detail. Her observations, her guesses, everything.
But this time, she didn’t.
The Second Prince didn’t say much either, he just replied with a quiet “Hmm.”
Evelia didn’t know if her explanation was enough to fool him, but since she’d already said it, there was no turning back.
…A lie, huh.
For the first time, Evelia told a lie to the Second Prince.
In the past, no matter how cruel the order, whether it was killing old people, children, or even pregnant women, she would do it without hesitation. She’d bring back their ears to prove the mission was complete.
She never once hid her actions or protected someone out of pity. She never tried to fake results with random objects. No matter how bloody or brutal the task, she always told the truth to her “master.”
But now, she lied.
She told that lie to the Second Prince. To that very same prince who was like her heartbeat, her breath, her everything.
Of course… the prince would likely see through the lie easily.
And then… he might punish her for it.
Maybe she should already be kneeling at his feet, kissing the tips of his shoes, begging him to forgive her for lying—
But the punishment didn’t come. It was as if her lie had worked, and the prince believed her.
Because of that, Evelia secretly let out a breath of relief.
But in reality, the Second Prince already knew.
He knew something was wrong with Armand’s body. Even though he didn’t know the full details, he was aware that Armand had health issues. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent Armand to the coldest battlefield before, where he almost froze to death.
Now that autumn had brought a sudden drop in temperature, the Second Prince figured Armand wouldn’t handle it well.
He also knew the Knight Order had recently been running with only Carle on duty.
So, just from those facts, he could guess that Armand was likely “acting up” again, physically unwell.
His message to Evelia wasn’t really to check on Armand… it was to test her.
The Second Prince had always had a gut feeling that something was off about his “Red Crow.”
So he kept probing her, again and again, this time included.
He was testing whether Evelia had started protecting the enemy’s Knight Captain. He already knew something had gone wrong with Armand, and if Evelia had replied with “Nothing special happened,” then the Second Prince… might have taken action right away.
But thankfully, Evelia admitted that Armand wasn’t feeling well. As for how close he had come to death, she left that part out.
And the Second Prince wouldn’t know that. He just assumed Armand would be sick for a few days.
After all, if even that harsh winter couldn’t freeze him to death, what harm could a little autumn chill do?
Armand’s estate was tightly guarded. Only the “Red Crow” could sneak in, no one else. So the Second Prince had no way of hearing any rumors from inside.
Which meant, Evelia’s lie was actually exactly what the Second Prince wanted to hear.
By accident, Evelia had said just the right thing and saved herself.
“...Phew.”
Evelia blinked and let out a quiet breath.
Forget it…
Let’s not report the ‘kidney issue’ for now...
What I need to do first is help Mr. Armand recover. Anna said, if I want him to get better, I need to start with taking care of his health. Only then can...
“—Achoo!”
Back in the garden, Armand suddenly sneezed as his nose tickled.
“Huh… seriously, is someone talking about me?”
He rubbed his nose, shifted in his seat, and looked around.
“I wonder where Evelia went… haven’t seen her all day… what is she up to?”