Chapter 363: A Bit Closer
Lately, Armand seemed to be especially busy. He and Evelia still hadn’t made a decision about the invitation, and now he was also being followed around by that kid Rachel.
Armand still planned to carry out his usual duties at the Knights’ Order as its commander. Even though he didn’t like paperwork, he had been in this position for many years, so he could handle things easily.
Even though Carle was on vacation and couldn’t help him directly like before, the work was still easy for him. There weren’t any big problems anyway, so it didn’t really matter how things were done.
As for Rachel, these past few days, she suddenly started sticking close to him, like she was trying to get something from him.
At first, Armand thought Rachel might have run out of pocket money. After all, her friend was Salana, the daughter of a rich merchant, and the things she bought were always expensive. Rachel probably needed quite a bit of money to keep up.
Even though Armand wasn’t as wealthy as Carle, one of the richest people in the capital, he still had enough to raise a girl in comfort. So he simply told Rachel that if she wanted to buy anything, she could just say his name at the counter and have the bill sent to the estate. No matter how much she spent, she shouldn’t be able to bankrupt him overnight.
But Rachel wasn’t after Armand’s money at all. In fact, it was the opposite of what Armand thought. Rachel didn’t need to worry about spending money, because she already got all the materials she needed through Salana.
Still, even though it was just a kid like her who didn’t really understand money, she felt like she was carrying a huge debt on her back. Just thinking about it made it hard to breathe.
If things really got too tough, she figured she could just send her bill to Armand’s estate and let them sort it out among themselves... Besides, from what she could see, Armand and Carle didn’t seem to separate their things at all when it came to food, clothing, or anything else. So she didn’t think it needed to be taken too seriously.
As for why Rachel was so clingy with Armand now, she had her own reasons.
In the future, if the soul stone she gave him actually worked, she would need to make him a body to store his soul.
Armand’s situation wasn’t like Evelia’s who was created from scratch, or like Rachel’s who didn’t care what kind of body she used.
If Armand woke up again, he would still need to be Armand. At least, until she got further confirmation, it had to be that way.
She couldn’t give him a child’s body or a cute girl’s body. Just thinking about that made Rachel feel weird.
Luckily, getting the data for a new body wasn’t too hard, at least in some ways.
Since it was alchemy, it wasn’t like making clothes, she didn’t need to run around measuring everything with a tape.
As long as Armand carried the soul stone she gave him, she just needed to keep the matching stone close to him for a while. However, because the soul stone was a rushed, basic version, it had to stay near him for a longer time to work properly.
To be safe, once Rachel tested the matching stone and confirmed it worked, she went back to stay close to Armand. If there was a chance during the day, she would stick close to him, whether sleeping, playing, or just being there. Whatever it took, she had to stay near him.
At night, she used her time wisely to prepare different potions for Armand.
But so far, Rachel still hadn’t managed to make a potion that could suppress the poison in his body. The poison in Armand’s body was just too complicated, and it was impossible to make a potion that targeted it exactly.
With the way his body was, it was less like someone had poisoned him, and more like someone had thrown every deadly substance they could find into a jar and made a super-concentrated mixture. It wasn’t so much an attempt to kill him as it was using his body to test how strong a person could be.
The fact that he had survived this long could be seen as good luck. But really, it wasn’t. Sure, he was still alive, but it only added to his pain and suffering.
“…Haa…”
After spending another night doing research, Rachel was now lying on the sofa in Armand’s office at the knights’ headquarters. She was covered with Armand’s coat.
Earlier that morning, when Armand was about to leave for work, Rachel ran out after him.
Still half-asleep, the little girl had wrapped herself in thick layers of winter clothes and looked like a round ball. If the maid hadn’t been chasing behind her, she might’ve rolled down the stairs like a ball.
“Dad, take me to the knights’ headquarters with you!”
Rachel had tightly hugged Armand’s leg back then, but maybe because she was wearing too many layers, her movements were very stiff.
Armand asked her why she suddenly wanted to go to the knights’ headquarters, but Rachel didn’t answer directly. She just looked up at him pitifully and said she wanted to go out and have fun with him. Even when Armand explained that going to the knight order was for work, not play, Rachel still begged him with the same look.
With people around him saying things like “Spend more time with your child,” Armand had no choice but to pick her up. Even though he wasn’t Rachel’s “real father,” he still took the responsibility of caring for her seriously.
Rachel said she just wanted to have fun at the knights’ headquarters. On the carriage, she added that she often heard Sarana say the knight order was a fun place, so she wanted to see it for herself. But of course, she had her own reason. From the moment she got into the carriage, she leaned against Armand’s side, trying to snuggle into his arms despite all the heavy clothes she was wearing.
Armand believed her explanation and smiled, holding Rachel while telling her all the places she could visit at the knight order, and which knights she could ask for help if needed. But before they even arrived, Rachel had already fallen asleep in his arms during the ride.
Of course, Armand wasn’t going to turn the carriage around just to take the sleeping Rachel back. All he could do was hold her tighter so she wouldn’t fall off the carriage because of the bumpy road.
This was exactly what Rachel wanted. If he had put her aside, the two soul stones they carried wouldn’t resonate as quickly.
In a way, Rachel understood Armand. She knew he wouldn’t leave her behind, which is why she could sleep so peacefully.
When they got off the carriage, Armand carefully picked up Rachel, who had drooled in her sleep because of her awkward sleeping position. The knights nearby had originally gathered to welcome their captain, but when they saw him gently holding a sleeping child in his arms, they all wisely stayed quiet so as not to disturb her.
Even though Armand always told people that Rachel was a child he had adopted, and never called himself her foster father, except when they played pretend games together. Deep down, he didn’t think he had what it took to be a real father. So he usually called himself her “guardian,” a word that sounded a bit more distant.
But in that moment, as he gently stroked Rachel’s cheek and stepped off the carriage, anyone watching could tell, his smile was filled with the warmth of a loving father.