Chapter 371.2: Things to Prepare (Part 2)
But then she would remember that Armand had made it up to her over the next few nights, and Rachel hadn’t caused any more trouble. So Evelia no longer pursued the matter.
Still, her first instinct whenever she saw Rachel was to glare at her a little.
“Haha… Mom… what are you doing here? It’s so cold today. Isn’t it cold sitting here?”
Seeing Evelia’s expression, Rachel quickly put on a polite smile.
She even respectfully unfolded the big scarf around her neck and tried to lay it down as a small cushion for Evelia to sit on, as a gesture of flattery.
But Evelia didn’t take Rachel’s scarf. She just tied it back around Rachel’s neck herself, though her skill at tying scarves wasn’t as neat as the other maids.
“I’m not cold.”
Evelia was, of course, telling the truth. She could climb out the window without a coat and not feel cold, so just sitting on the stone steps was nothing to her.
“Then… what is Mom thinking about?”
Rachel thought that just saying “Oh” and walking away would be rude, so she decided to follow up on the conversation.
If it wasn’t some secret about the House of Nightingales, maybe she could even help Evelia solve her problem.
“……”
Evelia actually did need someone’s help right now. She thought about asking for this child’s opinion, even if Rachel only looked a few years old, but then she remembered it was Rachel’s idea to give Armand that bracelet in the first place, which had led to her current headache.
The air around Evelia suddenly turned heavy again.
“Mom…?”
Rachel, of course, didn’t know what she had done wrong this time. But she had already picked up the same habit as her “Dad”.
If Mom is angry, just apologize. No matter what, apologizing is the right move. She was already thinking of what apology she should say, even though she had no idea what had triggered Evelia’s anger this time.
“Sigh…”
But Evelia thought about it and realized there was no need to be angry at Rachel.
Honestly, if Rachel hadn’t taken that first step, she wouldn’t have had so much time to think about what to give Armand as a gift. Having all this extra time to plan was thanks to this “sneaky little one.”
Evelia suddenly felt relieved that Rachel was now firmly established as a “daughter.” If Rachel had actually been a love rival, she would have been a pretty “formidable” one.
“—A gift.”
In the end, Evelia gave in. If Rachel really was “formidable,” then maybe she could give a useful suggestion.
“A gift?” Rachel tilted her head and thought. “Mom means…?”
“A New Year’s gift, also a birthday gift.”
“Mm… is it for Dad?”
“Yes, it’s for Mr. Armand. But I have no idea what to give him. Do you have any ideas?”
“For a gift… if Mom is giving it, I think Dad will like it no matter what.”
“No matter what?”
“That’s right. Because it’s from Mom, Dad will definitely like it no matter what. Whatever Mom gives, he will be very happy.”
“……”
Rachel’s answer made Evelia fall silent, because it was exactly the same as what Armand had said before.
Back then, when she asked Armand what he liked, he had given a similar answer. As long as it was from Evelia, he would like it no matter what.
But this kind of answer was the hardest to work with. It was like when someone asks, “What do you want to eat?” and you answer, “Anything.”
Those two words are enough to make the other person struggle for half the day.
This was exactly Evelia’s problem now. She didn’t know what Armand’s “anything is fine” actually meant.
Even if “anything is fine,” there is still a difference between “fine,” “good,” and “perfect.”
“Mm… Then, Mom, think about it. Is there anything that feels special to Dad?”
Seeing Evelia fall into wordless trouble again,
Rachel quickly added another line.
“Special?”
That word actually caught Evelia’s interest, but what could be considered “special” for Mr. Armand?
Even now, she still couldn’t forget Luna, the horse. She always felt that, to her Armand, Luna was the most special one. The love that horse had received over the years was probably dozens of times more than hers.
But she absolutely couldn’t give Mr. Armand another horse. Who gives a “love rival” as a birthday or New Year’s gift?
To ordinary people, the idea of a horse being a love rival was ridiculous. But for Evelia, whose body had been altered, this didn’t feel impossible at all. That’s why she still remembered it to this day.
And she didn’t even know that the genius alchemist was right in front of her now. If she ever found out, Rachel’s life might be in danger, all because Evelia might believe she could “turn a horse into a person.”
“Mm… Speaking of which, Mom, I noticed before, Dad seems to have a pocket watch.”
Seeing that Evelia really couldn’t think of anything, and that her expression was growing stranger, Rachel felt a chill for some reason.
So she tried harder and recalled something she had noticed about Armand.
She quickly remembered, Armand had a pocket watch, the same one she had once taken for her experiments.
That pocket watch was now completely ruined. It couldn’t be used as a decoration or as a watch anymore.
So instead of holding onto that “old thing,” it might be better to find a chance to replace it with a new one.
Even though Armand and Evelia had never directly told her about their past, Rachel’s clever little mind had already figured it out.
Armand was the black-haired boy from back then, and Evelia was the one he protected.
As for the pocket watch, it was likely a keepsake Evelia had given him in the past. In a way, it was like a strange “token of love.”
If it were anyone else, giving another pocket watch might feel meaningless, maybe even like a clumsy imitation.
But if it was that same boy from the past giving another one now, the feeling would be completely different.
This was what you would call “continuing the bond.” The keepsake would still be a pocket watch.
“A pocket watch… Ah—”
Evelia instantly understood. Because no matter what, this was also something very meaningful to her.
It had been the first gift she had ever given him. Even though Armand had seemed to dislike it at the time, he had still carried it with him all this time.
That pocket watch represented the past. Its hands had long stopped moving.
But if she gave him a new one, it could represent the present and even the future.
The two of them would step into a new spring together, under the witness of time.