Chapter 265: Rachel’s Plan
Evelia could feel it. Armand had been watching her for a long time today.
He had canceled his physical rehabilitation training for now and decided to spend time in the back garden, quietly watching the flowers that would wither in the winter. Evelia stayed by his side the entire time. Armand didn’t speak, and Evelia didn’t try to start a conversation either.
Even though he said he was watching the flowers, just like Evelia had sensed, his eyes were actually fixed on her, openly and without hiding it.
It felt like he was clearly telling her, ‘I’m watching you.’
The two stayed like that, silently locked in a strange tension. Armand seemed lost in thought, and the gentle expression he always wore now looked darker and more serious.
It wasn’t until now, until Armand stopped smiling, that Evelia realized he had always been smiling whenever he looked at her before.
Evelia had always thought that his smile was just naturally part of him, like people who always look cheerful no matter what. But now… she realized Armand could also have this tired, troubled expression.
When was the last time she saw him look like this?
She couldn’t remember.
Maybe… he really had always smiled at her.
But now, why wasn’t Mr. Armand smiling?
Was it because of what happened earlier? Because of the accident with that knight?
Did Mr. Armand feel like the punishment he gave wasn’t enough and wanted to go even further?
After all, as the captain of the knights, he still had a reputation to maintain. Publicly executing a knight might not look good… Should she kill that knight instead, to get rid of someone who caused Armand trouble? That might cheer him up.
Who else did he dislike? Was there anyone else who bothered Mr. Armand? If she could make him a bit happier, then taking care of a few problems wouldn’t be an issue.
She could ask indirectly.
If there were people who made him upset, then as his personal maid, it was her job to remove those “troubles.”
“Mr. Ar—”
“—Dad!”
But before Evelia could even finish saying Armand’s name, Rachel suddenly came running out from who knows where.
She ran cheerfully over to Armand, clearly wanting to act cute and sit on his lap, but when she saw Evelia already there, she hesitated and instead stood quietly between them.
“Rachel? What’s wrong?”
Armand still hadn’t completely recovered from the kidnapping incident involving both Evelia and Rachel. So when he saw Rachel, his first instinct was to check if she was physically and mentally okay. He was afraid she might still be affected by what happened.
Armand knew Evelia was a spy from the House of Nightingales, but he had no idea Rachel was actually a powerful alchemist in disguise. To him, she was just an ordinary little girl. And because of the “father-daughter” bond they had been playing out for some time, Armand truly cared about her. He didn’t want such a young girl to be harmed by his own mistakes.
Thankfully, Rachel was fine.
Even though the kidnapping had been a pretty wild situation due to many complicated details, Rachel had a very strong ability to adapt. She didn’t fall into despair. Instead, she kept thinking about her plans for alchemy.
Just like the idea she had after overhearing something from Salana. Rachel was now planning to ask Armand for a room of her own.
“Dad, I want to talk to you about something.”
Wanting to use her cute appearance and sweet voice as an advantage, this century-old alchemist pretended to be shy in front of someone several decades younger than her.
“You’re still so young and already saying things like ‘talk’? Just tell me what it is. If I can help, I will.”
When Armand saw Rachel, his expression clearly softened. After all, she was just a child, there was no need to keep that serious look on his face.
“Then… hmm… Dad...”
Rachel pretended to think hard about how to say what she wanted, gently tapping her lips with her finger.
“Could I maybe have a room to myself? Somewhere where I can, um, play with some stuff?”
Of course, this was all an act. She already knew exactly what she wanted to say, and had even planned how to respond if Armand said no. Alchemy was very important to her. If she wanted to survive, she had to find a way to get closer to alchemy again.
Rachel also felt that if she could start practicing alchemy again, it would actually be a good thing for Armand too. After all, his body clearly had a mix of weird alchemy-based poisons inside it. Even though he still looked lively on the outside, his body had already been deeply damaged.
If she could get back into alchemy, maybe she could study the poisons in his body. Even if she couldn’t fully cure him, she might be able to relieve the symptoms a little. For Armand, that would definitely be a great deal.
But the problem was, right now Rachel wasn’t acting as a famous “genius alchemist” anymore. Just as a “little girl who’s really interested in alchemy.” She couldn’t just lay out the pros and cons in front of Armand and explain it all logically. She could only hope he would agree to her request quickly.
If he said no, she’d have to go with her backup plan, but that would slow everything down for everyone involved—
“Sure.”
“—I know, Dad, this might sound a little—huh? Eh?”
Rachel hadn’t expected Armand to agree so quickly.
“Dad… you mean…?”
“I agree. It’s just a room, after all. You should have a place of your own anyway. You seem more mature than other kids, so wanting some personal space isn’t strange at all.”
Rachel had just been praising how open-minded Salana’s family was. But now it seemed Armand was just as understanding!
She suddenly felt really happy that her “dad” was someone as reasonable as Armand.
“Then…”
After getting permission for her own room, Rachel didn’t immediately run off to have the butler arrange it. Instead, she spoke up again, this time a little shyly:
“Then… is it okay if I study alchemy in that room too?”
This was something she had to tell Armand.
Better to be honest now than to secretly do it and risk getting caught later. If he didn’t agree, she could still try to persuade him using something else.
“Alchemy…”
Armand’s expression clearly changed when he heard that word, though only slightly. His gentle smile turned into more of a helpless one.
“So you’re still interested in that, huh… Is alchemy really that fun?”
Looks like he remembered that Rachel had mentioned her interest in alchemy before.
“Of course! Alchemy is super fun! I’ve read so many books about it. It’s really, really interesting!”
“Books? You can read?”
“…Uh…”
Hearing that question again made Rachel pause awkwardly.
Evelia had asked her the same thing before, and it had almost made her spill the truth back then.
Why do both of you care so much about these tiny details? Are your minds connected or something? Or does the House of Nightingales really train people to be this picky?
“Well… of course I can! I mean, I can write my name, right?”
“…Haha, true.”
Armand nodded like he accepted the answer, but it was clear he just saw it as a kid’s usual overly confident reply.
“Daaad…!”
“Okay, okay—since you care about it so much, go ahead. I’ll even buy you some materials.”
In the end, Armand gave in to her pleading.
Maybe the old him wouldn’t have agreed so easily, but after the incident where both Evelia and Rachel went missing, something in him changed. He started to realize that anything could happen at any time, and people might just suddenly disappear forever.
So, before any more danger came, why not allow the people around him to enjoy the things they love?
The same went for himself too…
“Thanks, Dad!”
Rachel was overjoyed that Armand had agreed so easily. She smiled brightly at him, then glanced at Evelia beside him.
But as soon as her eyes landed on Evelia, she suddenly felt like she smelled something strange in the air.
Was it… a new perfume?
It smelled… quite nice.
But that scent… somehow…
Forget it…
It’s normal for perfume to have some alchemy ingredients in it to make the scent special…
There probably isn’t anything wrong with it…