Chapter 359: The Gift I Want
“Mr. Armand, what kind of New Year’s gift would you like?”
“Hm?”
While they were still eating, Evelia, who was sitting across from Armand, suddenly asked this question out of nowhere.
They were now a family, so eating together was perfectly normal. However, Armand didn’t like the large, empty guest dining room, so he and Evelia usually ate in each other’s rooms.
Sometimes they’d dine in Evelia’s room. But now, because of Armand’s health, Evelia didn’t want him walking through the cold night wind just to get to her room. Besides, she was basically staying in Armand’s bedroom now, so they usually ate there.
Every now and then, Rachel would pop in to join them for a “warm meal as a family of three.” But today, she didn’t have time.
Armand and Evelia figured she had probably eaten too many snacks again and gone off to play with the other maids. But in reality, Rachel wasn’t playing at all. She was still working hard to stop the poison spreading inside Armand’s body.
Though today, she probably wasn’t pushing herself as hard, she was simply too exhausted.
After finally giving Armand the "first-stage finished product" she had made, she could finally relax and sleep peacefully for a night.
Although the "small blue crystal" she gave him wasn’t all that fancy, due to limited materials, it was enough to protect his life.
Rachel had thought about giving this to Armand many times. But as a genius alchemist, she always felt embarrassed to give him a “half-finished” soul stone made with such basic materials.
At the same time, she constantly worried, what if something happened to Armand tomorrow? And if not tomorrow, then what about the day after?
Tormented by this ongoing fear and anxiety, she finally made up her mind, it was better to give Armand what she had now than to risk not being able to save him later.
After all, it would be pointless to finish a perfect soul stone only to find that Armand was already beyond help…
But this lower-quality soul stone had one downside, it absorbed souls slowly. When the brain realized the body had suffered a fatal injury, the soul stone would start transferring parts of the soul and consciousness into the alchemic inscription inside it. A process that felt as painful as having your soul torn apart. It definitely wouldn’t be pleasant.
Still… it was better than dying.
Of course, Rachel still hoped that Armand would never have to use it. Not until she made a better version. She really was doing her best to create medicine to stop the poison.
Armand looked tired now, but judging by how he talked, he should still be able to hang on for a while longer.
Just for this short while... Rachel had decided she had to finish the experiment before then.
“It’s just… a New Year’s gift. Isn’t the New Year coming soon? I want to give Mr. Armand something,” Evelia said, still thinking about the New Year.
Her hand holding the knife had slowed down as she cut her steak, almost as if she were punishing the meat slowly with every slice.
“There are still a few more days. Why the rush?”
Armand was a little puzzled about why Evelia suddenly brought this up, but he stayed calm. In fact, while Evelia was staring at his face in a daze, he quietly slipped the sour lemon slice, something he didn’t want to eat, onto Evelia’s plate.
“I just want to give you something,” Evelia said as she tilted her head slightly, then reached out her hand and returned the lemon slice back to Armand, even though he thought he had passed it off sneakily. “You don’t have anything you like?”
“I like you.”
The sudden response caught Evelia off guard, and her hand paused for a moment.
“—W-Well, of course I know that,” she said softly.
She accepted his answer, lips pressing into a thin line, her face turning slightly red, even though she seemed used to Armand’s sudden confessions of affection. The more she learned about emotions, the more Evelia realized how real this thing called “love” was.
Her face, which used to be expressionless, now showed signs of shyness. It made her look incredibly cute. Armand couldn’t help but tease her now and then just to see those reactions.
Of course, even if he called it teasing, everything Armand said came from the heart. His feelings for Evelia had never been fake.
“Then… is there any thing you like? Something you want?”
“Do I really have to receive a gift?”
Armand finally pushed aside that lemon slice, he really didn’t like sour things. Well, except for Evelia’s tomato-based dishes.
It wasn’t that he liked tomato sauce. He had simply gotten used to the taste after being “trained” by Evelia.
“……”
Evelia stared at Armand. After pressing her lips together for a moment, she spoke.
“Didn’t Rachel already give you something?”
“—Ah.”
Hearing that, Armand suddenly understood.
No wonder Evelia had suddenly brought up the topic of New Year’s gifts. It was because of the bracelet Rachel had given him.
“You mean this?”
He raised his hand so Evelia could see the black ribbon on his wrist, along with the neat, shiny blue crystal sewn onto it.
From a rich person’s point of view, that soul stone probably just looked like a blue glass bead. Anyone with a bit of "taste" would never consider it a real gem. If the proud captain of the Royal Knights went out wearing something like this, people might even laugh and say he got tricked by a scammer into wearing a piece of glass.
But Armand actually liked it quite a lot. He’d been wearing it ever since Rachel gave it to him. First, because Rachel had said it was a blessing and didn’t want him to take it off, so he listened and wore it all the time. And second, because it was a gift from Rachel.
Even if she wasn’t his biological daughter, after receiving such a heartfelt gift from someone he cared about, how could anyone not be touched and treasure it?
“That’s why… I want to give you something too, Mr. Armand.”
“Don’t tell me… you’re competing with a child now?” Armand joked, watching her expression closely.
“……”
Sure enough, Evelia showed that exact expression Armand loved. The kind of look when someone realizes their true thoughts have just been exposed.
—So cute.
No matter how many times he saw it, Armand always thought so.
“I just want to give you a gift. So… is there anything you want?”
“Not really. I already have you, Evelia.”
He said it with a smile, half joking, but the gentleness in his voice was real. He reached out his hand, but because the table was a bit wide, he couldn’t quite reach her.
But Evelia met him halfway, reaching out her hand too. Just like that day long ago, she hooked her finger around his.
What had he said back then, wasn’t this considered a kind of "intimate contact"?
“Mr. Armand…”
Evelia gently curled her finger around his, her golden eyes looking at his smiling face a little longer than usual.
“You’re so sneaky…”
“If I weren’t, would you have become my wife?”
Armand chuckled softly, gently rubbing her finger with his, then gave her hand a little tug and leaned forward to place a light kiss on the finger that wore her ring.
“But, speaking of something I do want… I do have one greedy wish,” he said.
He looked at Evelia sitting across from him. No matter what, he couldn’t bring himself to let go. Even just having their fingers linked like this, he already didn’t want to let go.
“Hmm? What is it?”
Evelia was also enjoying this quiet, tender moment. She looked down at Armand, whose smile now carried a mix of deeper emotions.
“...I was just thinking, if possible… could you keep loving me, no matter what happens? Even if someday—”
“Mr. Armand.”
She interrupted him.
Evelia’s hand, which had just been lightly hooked around his finger, now gripped his firmly. This time, it was her turn to pull Armand closer. Then, copying him but taking it a step further, she placed a deep, firm kiss in the center of his palm.
“No matter what happens, I will always love you. Forever. So don’t say things like that again.”
“……”
Armand froze for a moment, and the smile on his face turned complicated again.
“…Alright.”
He nodded gently, as if he had no choice but to agree.