Chapter 329: The Adopted Child
“——”
That question made Evelia fall silent in an instant.
Her hand paused, and her heart started beating wildly from shock.
But this was something she had somewhat expected.
Just like Rachel had mentally prepared herself, Evelia had also been ready for this moment.
—“Maybe one day I’ll forget all of you, so when that happens, please help me remember.”
That was something Armand had said himself not long ago. It was like he had given them a heads-up ahead of time.
Even though Armand had never forgotten Evelia before, and that gave her a little bit of false hope, it didn’t mean she couldn’t accept what was happening now.
Just like Armand said, he just needed a little help remembering.
And besides, this period of time would eventually pass. It wasn’t like there was no end in sight. They just had to wait until autumn… or until spring came again. Then, like in a fairy tale, everything would slowly go back to normal and peaceful.
Still, it was true that at first, Evelia felt hopeless. She had no idea what to do, no idea how to face the pieces of their past that were now breaking apart. Every little moment they had shared, even if it hadn’t been perfect, was still something they had truly lived through together. And it was those moments that brought them this far.
Now, with everything starting over, even needing to reintroduce themselves, Evelia had been at a loss at first.
But now, she had already crossed that line of despair. She might not be completely calm, but at least she could face the changes in Armand.
As always, she reminded herself, because someone beside her was sick, she couldn't let herself be more hopeless than the one who was suffering. She had to lift her head and stand strong.
“...Yes, Mr. Armand.”
So Evelia nodded, trying to look calm, and introduced herself to Armand again.
“Hello, Mr. Armand. My name is Evelia Croyelle. I’m your personal maid… and also your wife.”
Even though she tried to act calm, her hands were already shaking. Her voice trembled too, and the first word even came out cracked.
“I see.”
But Armand’s reaction was much calmer than she expected. He just nodded slightly, then adjusted the shawl Evelia had on.
“……”
Because the emotions between them didn’t explode like she had imagined, Evelia suddenly didn’t know what to say next. She just stared straight at Armand, hoping to find something in his eyes.
But just as expected, all she saw was a deep, bottomless blue.
“You don’t… look surprised at all.”
This time, Evelia was the one to break the silence. Her voice was softer than she thought it would be, as if she didn’t have much confidence.
“Surprised?” Armand repeated, glancing again at his reflection in the mirror. “Is it really that surprising for someone my age to have a wife?”
“Ah… well… I guess not.”
It was an unexpected answer, but strangely she could accept it.
Based on Armand’s age and status, it made perfect sense for him to already be married. In fact, it was kind of late for someone like him to only now have a wife. A well-known man like him could’ve married five years earlier and already had kids. For most people, that would be totally normal.
It’s just that…
From Evelia’s point of view, this didn’t seem like the kind of thinking Armand would normally have. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the right to think that way. But to Evelia, the way Armand used to think felt completely different from this.
Armand had once told Evelia several times that his illness was a burden. Because of that, he had never planned to get married all these years. It wasn’t until he met Evelia that this mindset began to change. So logically, it didn’t seem like Armand would so easily and naturally accept the fact that he now had a wife, and even a child. Besides, Evelia hadn’t yet explained that Rachel was adopted.
“Um, madam—”
“—Huh?”
It was the first time Evelia had ever been called that, so she didn’t react right away. Even though she had just been feeling heartache over Armand losing parts of his memory, hearing this kind of intimate address, something they had never seriously called each other before, made her heart flutter a little.
“…You seem a bit surprised by that title,” Armand said, pausing slightly as he looked at her excited expression.
“Ah, not really, it’s just… this is the first time you’ve ever seriously called me ‘madam’.”
Just those two words, spoken so sincerely, made Evelia blush. Even Rachel, standing behind her, was stunned. She thought to herself, What exactly did the old Armand do to turn the usually serious Red Crow into this shy girl who gets flustered just hearing the word ‘madam’?
But Armand didn’t react much at all. His quiet attitude felt a bit out of place.
“If you don’t like it, I can just call you Evelia.”
“No, I don’t dislike it, Mr. Armand.”
Evelia quickly shook her head, still not quite over the novelty of being called ‘madam.’
“But… about the name, I’d really prefer it if you called me ‘Eve.’ That was the nickname you gave me…”
“I see. Then I’ll call you Eve, like I did before.”
“—Ah, okay.”
Even though “Eve” was a name only Armand used for her, Evelia still felt a tiny bit disappointed that he wasn’t calling her ‘madam’ anymore. But then she remembered, they hadn’t told many people about their engagement. So she didn’t argue. Once everything was over, once Armand took her away from all the chaos, it wouldn’t matter what they called each other in private.
“But Mr. Armand, was there something you wanted to ask when you called me just now?”
“That child.”
As Armand spoke, he looked past Evelia toward Rachel.
“Me? Did I do something?”
Rachel, who had been quietly enjoying the moment, was startled when the conversation suddenly turned to her. She quickly sat up straight, afraid that this somewhat unfamiliar version of Armand might spot something suspicious. After all, she had recently been questioned once, and if Armand started interrogating her again and found even a small clue, she’d be in serious trouble.
This version of Armand doesn’t look like someone who lets things slide easily…
If she had to guess, Armand right now seemed to be in a state somewhere between the “black-haired young man” from the House of Nightingales and the “Captain of the Knights.” He wasn’t as cold as the black-haired version, but not as friendly as the knight captain either. Either way, he looked like someone difficult to deal with.
Rachel did want to help Armand, deep down, but she really didn’t want to talk too much with him in his current state.
“Is that child adopted?”
“Yes, Rachel is a child we adopted…” Evelia nodded as she replied, but she was also surprised. “How did you know?”
“I just noticed she doesn’t look like me or like you.”
“……”
Armand’s answer left both Evelia and Rachel unsure how to respond. That kind of reasoning felt a bit random, but it wasn’t wrong. In fact, he had hit the nail right on the head and guessed correctly.
“Where did you adopt her from?”
As he asked, Armand curiously walked closer to Rachel.
Rachel could feel it clearly, Armand had been observing her the entire time. Even after Evelia came into the room, he would occasionally glance in her direction.
The way Armand was watching her made Rachel a little scared, scared that maybe he had figured something out. After all, with Armand’s current “early-onset dementia” state, the older the memory, the clearer it probably was. If he suddenly remembered small details from the past, and with how strange and sharp Armand’s reasoning could be, he really might guess something ridiculous but true.
After all, back when Armand had just lost part of his memory and asked Rachel some questions, he had held her hand and said, he hoped she could use that alchemy power of hers to help him.
What kind of normal person would say something like that to a “little girl who’s just interested in alchemy”? Even if he was desperate, Armand’s personality wouldn’t let him ask a child who looked completely useless for help. But he did say that.
And from the serious look in his eyes back then, he wasn’t just randomly asking for help, he really understood something. That’s why he had purposely sent Evelia away and told Rachel about it instead.
It was like a “blind cat running into a dead mouse” kind of coincidence, but Armand’s intuition was so accurate that it scared Rachel.
But now… surely that kind of thing won’t happen again, right?
Right now, Rachel figured that, in Armand’s eyes, this was their “first meeting,” so he probably wouldn’t spot any weak points so easily.
And even if Armand’s memory was currently stuck somewhere near his time at “House of Nightingales,” there was no way he could tell that she was the alchemist from back then. After all, the outside world had changed so much, and she used to be an adult, while now she was just a small child.
But when Armand crouched down in front of her and looked straight at her, that little bit of hope in her heart started to fade.
The way Armand looked at her was sharper than ever before. It felt like he could see right through her small body into the secret hiding inside.
“She wasn’t adopted from anywhere special, Mr. Armand. Rachel fainted from hunger at the manor gate, so we just took her in and let her stay with you and me.”
Armand didn’t say anything at first. He just looked at the nervous Rachel, and no one knew what he was thinking.
“So she’s a stray child.”
After a moment of silence, Armand raised his hand.
“Well, you’re lucky. Just enjoy your childhood here.”
Then, under Rachel’s tense gaze, he gently patted her head.
His eyes, which had just looked so serious, suddenly softened. His expression didn’t change much, but Rachel could feel it. There was now a touch of gentleness between his eyebrows and eyes.
She suddenly remembered, this was how he had looked at her from the very beginning.
Unlike Carle, who cared for children because he had a daughter of his own, Armand had always cared for kids like this from the start.
Rachel used to think he was just a kind person. But now, looking back, maybe that kindness came from his past.
—Because he was someone from the House of Nightingales.
She didn’t know what age he was brought into House of Nightingales, but judging by how trusted he was back then, he must have been there for many years. When he was still a child, he gave up his entire childhood to that place called “House of Nightingales”. A place that was more like a nightmare than a home.
All the kindness he showed now probably came from surviving that nightmare.
Rachel was currently benefiting from that kindness… but she was also one of the “accomplices” from back then.
As an alchemist who worked in House of Nightingales, even if she hadn’t done any “inhuman” experiments, she was still someone who helped the people in power do their dirty work.
Even Evelia, who Rachel now proudly called her “masterpiece”, had once been reshaped like a clay doll with Rachel’s help. Her body was changed however others wanted, even her basic gender as a human had been switched.
Now that Evelia had met Armand, things seemed to have taken a good turn from that terrible past. But… that was just luck.
“Ah… yeah.”
Feeling Armand’s gentle hand carefully rubbing her head, Rachel felt her heart tighten even more. A strong wave of guilt rose inside her, almost making it hard to breathe.
Sigh…
In a way, I really deserve to be damned.