Chapter 360: Learning from Others' Ideas
Even though Armand said he didn’t need a gift or anything like that, Evelia kept thinking about it.
Putting her “jealous competition” with Rachel aside, Evelia truly wanted to give something to Armand.
But when she really thought about it, Evelia realized she actually didn’t know what Armand really needed. It seemed like they had never seriously talked about that kind of thing. Even if it had come up before, it was always just a joke, and they’d laugh it off.
“Something Mr. Armand really likes…”
Evelia was still mumbling about it while changing clothes.
At first, Evelia thought about Luna, and then those blue flowers. In her mind, those things were what she had to "compete for attention" with. Especially that white horse, that had always been her number one rival. Even now, she still cared a lot about Luna. Sometimes when she helped Armand feed the horse, she would stare at Luna for a long time.
But… she couldn’t possibly give Armand another white horse as a gift, right? That would be way too weird.
As for those blue roses… poor things, they had already withered.
Those flowers, like Mr. Armand himself, didn’t do well with the cold. As soon as winter arrived, before the snow even fell, they started to droop.
The only ones that survived were the two in Rachel and Evelia’s hands, though it was really all thanks to Rachel’s care.
Other people might think it was just the warmth of the indoors that kept those flowers alive, but the truth was it was Rachel’s careful attention.
If alchemy can save lives, then taking care of a few flowers is nothing, right?
If Rachel wanted to, she could’ve saved all the flowers in the garden. She could even make special fertilizer to help the flowers handle the cold. But to avoid drawing too much attention, she followed what Armand had asked and only looked after the pot of blue roses he gave her. As for the others, they could only wilt and die in this winter weather.
“Whew…”
Evelia took a deep breath, her nose filled with the smell of soap.
Ever since Rachel accidentally drank a whole bottle of perfume last time, Evelia hadn’t used any. Actually, she didn’t really have any left, anyway.
It was the end of the year, and Anna was super busy too. A lot of people liked her work, so she had a lot of orders. Many rich ladies wanted to look good for the New Year and had ordered nice and affordable custom clothes from her. Even Clund, who had just finished a long book tour, got pulled in to help out. After this busy season, Clund might even end up switching from being an author to becoming a small business owner.
Evelia didn’t want to bother them, so she hadn’t gone to Anna for anything. That meant she didn’t have any perfume on hand.
Besides, right now, all of Evelia’s attention was focused on Armand. She didn’t have the energy or mood to care about her appearance.
Even though Armand said everything would be fine, Evelia still worried about him. But on the surface, she had to be strong.
“Gift… gift…”
Evelia had never celebrated the New Year before. At least, not that she could remember.
If she had to guess, maybe when she was very little, before her family became so poor that she was sold to the House of Nightingales, she might have celebrated it.
But that was so long ago that she couldn’t remember anything. And a little kid wouldn’t have had any experience giving gifts anyway.
She had even forgotten what her parents looked like, or even their names. How could she remember anything about the New Year?
Honestly, her childhood probably didn’t have any happy New Years at all.
Even at the House of Nightingales, while the lights outside were bright and cheerful, she was stuck in a basement-like place.
So now, Evelia felt especially troubled. She didn’t understand what New Year’s really meant, didn’t know what normal people wanted, and definitely had no idea what kind of gift she should give.
Even though Armand would be happy no matter what she gave, Evelia still wanted to make their first New Year special and memorable for him.
So… should she just ask someone?
That might be her only option. There were still a lot of people in the manor. Even if her own life experiences weren’t normal, the maids, the servants, and the knights probably had normal ones. Maybe they could give her some useful ideas.
Thinking that, Evelia still felt a little frustrated, because in the original novel, there had been no scenes about the male and female leads celebrating New Year together. If there had been some sort of extra story or side chapter, maybe she could’ve used that as a reference.
Evelia was spacing out while hanging up the freshly washed clothes inside the house. As she mumbled about something that had been on her mind, she suddenly heard the tap tap sound of heavy, warm boots. Clearly the footsteps of the maids. Occasionally, there was also the crunch of boots stepping into snow.
Even for adults, stepping on snow in winter still seemed fun.
“Hey, have you gotten your New Year’s gift ready yet?”
“Mm-hmm! Of course~ Hehe.”
Outside the window, two young maids were chatting casually. They didn’t seem to notice that Evelia was silently inside the room. The two of them leaned against the window, enjoying the warm air coming from the laundry room.
“Judging by your expression, it must be a big gift, right?”
One of the girls sounded curious, while the other replied in a mysterious and shy tone. Evelia couldn’t see her face, but after a light cough and a drawn-out “Ooh~” from the other girl, she could guess that the girl was probably thinking about something very serious, or maybe bold.
“Ohh, that’s what you meant~ I knew it, New Year is special, huh?”
“Mm… Of course. I mean, it’s New Year. It’s an important time to take a big step forward.”
“Hehe~”
The quieter of the two girls was starting to sound more mischievous.
“Well, you two better be careful, you know? Giving yourself as a New Year gift is romantic and all, but you shouldn’t just. Well, you get it, right?”
“Goodness! Of course not! That sort of thing only happens after marriage…”
“Hoho, then I wish you two a hundred years of happiness. After getting married, have a son and a daughter and become a family of four. That would be so sweet! If I were your husband, I’d be so happy I’d probably faint~”
“……”
On the other side of the window, Evelia heard everything, and was lost in thought.
So from the perspective of ordinary people, that’s what a New Year’s gift is supposed to be?
The most meaningful New Year’s gift isn’t something fancy… It’s giving yourself as the gift?
But with Mr. Armand and me… we’ve already done that so many times. That wouldn’t really count as a “gift” anymore. There wouldn’t be any surprise.
Hmm… Then I should think about it from a married life perspective. Just like that maid said—
“Ah…”
Evelia kept thinking, then suddenly seemed to realize something.
She wanted to keep listening, hoping the two girls might say something else interesting, but unfortunately, they were only there to warm up for a bit. After a short chat and some giggles, they left.
But that was fine, because Evelia had already gotten the idea.
So, after finishing hanging all the clothes, she confidently headed straight for Armand’s office. To others, it looked like she was walking in a real hurry, like the wind. Taking advantage of Armand’s half-day break, she walked right into his office.
“—Mr. Armand.”
Evelia opened the office door seriously and saw Armand spinning a pen, looking quite bored.
“Hmm? Eve?”
Armand didn’t expect Evelia to show up at this time. He quickly used his hand to flip over and hide the palace ball invitation into his pile of papers.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve decided what to give you for New Year.”
“Oh?”
Armand smiled at her words. He seemed a little surprised that she was still thinking about the New Year gift.
“So, what are you going to—”
“—Let’s have a baby, Mr. Armand.”
“…Huh? What?”
The words came out so suddenly that Armand thought he misheard her.
“Let’s have a baby, Mr. Armand. I’ll give you the baby as a gift… No, not just one—two. A boy and a girl. Is that okay?”
“Ha…?”
Seeing that Evelia wasn’t joking at all, Armand looked like he was completely caught off guard.