🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 22
“Persistent.”
Cain was momentarily at a loss for words.
“…You’re asking me to buy you a house?”
“My lifelong dream is to have my own home. A comfortable, stable house where I can live with my family later.”
“I understand that.”
Seeing Cain’s bewildered expression, Evelyn added defensively:
“I don’t mean some grand mansion, but a small, cozy two-story house. That shouldn’t cost much, right?”
“Probably.”
“You’re a duke, so you must be very rich. Isn’t that right?”
“….”
Cain couldn’t keep up with this woman’s way of thinking at all.
“Don’t you have any conscience?”
Evelyn shrugged, as if she hadn’t expected much.
“Hmm, I guess. I might be asking too much, huh?”
“It’s a relief that you’re being reasonable, at least now.”
“But I saved your only son, so couldn’t you do at least this much?”
Cain’s smile gradually faded at Evelyn’s reasoning.
“Well… I’m not sure if my life is worth as much as a house.”
“What do you mean? A mere house isn’t comparable to Lord Cain.”
“….”
This woman spoke words that left people speechless as if nothing.
She said that a life—even one that her biological father would have treated lightly—was more valuable than her lifelong dream.
He recalled Evelyn at Snowfall, drunken but insisting he shouldn’t die.
He didn’t know Evelyn’s exact intent in saying that.
Perhaps it had no meaning at all.
Still, Evelyn was honest, so Cain thought there must have been some sincerity behind it.
Or maybe he just wanted to believe that.
“But why do you even need a house? You eat and sleep here.”
“You can’t just keep mooching here forever.”
Evelyn didn’t want to be idle, relying on someone else, even if the duke was concerned.
However, Cain casually dismissed her worry as if it were nothing.
“Stay here. Outside, everything costs money. Just hang around here.”
She had previously demanded a higher salary to earn more, yet now Cain scolded her lightly.
Evelyn probed further, half-testing him:
“Really? You’re not going to kick me out later because it’s too much trouble?”
“Trouble? I’m rich, not as much as my father, but I can handle it.”
Evelyn frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled brightly.
“If you insist so much, then I’ll do as you say. If you feed and house me for free, there’s no reason to refuse.”
“How shameless.”
“My grandmother said to be shameless if I wanted to save money.”
Ah, with that grandmother, that makes sense.
Cain quickly agreed and let out a quiet chuckle.
“There’s still some time before dinner. What should we do?”
“Um, shall we take a walk? This neighborhood is really pretty.”
“Shall we?”
Thinking about it, Cain had never walked around this area before.
“Let’s go.”
Evelyn got up to follow him.
She felt conflicted as she watched his back.
The subtle atmosphere Cain carried when talking about the duke lingered in her mind.
In the original story, there didn’t seem to be much conflict until the heroine caused a rift with the duke.
But apparently, seeds of father-son conflict had already been planted before that.
“What are you doing? Hurry up!”
“Ah, coming.”
Evelyn quickly wiped her expression and followed Cain.
After returning to the capital, Cain had been busy, but Evelyn had little to do.
She spent her days reading in Cain’s study or strolling through the mansion’s garden.
Sometimes she wandered around the mansion with a maid assigned by the butler.
Although she had a purpose for coming to the capital, having nothing to do made her restless.
It wasn’t until Evelyn vented all her frustration during a private meeting with Cain that she finally got permission to go out alone.
“Ha, that brat. If you wanted me to come to the capital, you should’ve given a precise address. Just telling me to come here blindly isn’t enough.”
Ignoring her own recklessness in trusting those words, Evelyn looked out the carriage window as it sped along.
Even from a map, the capital was vastly larger than Snowfall.
She had no idea where to find Les.
Does this mean she had to wait aimlessly until he contacted her?
“Then maybe I should do some preliminary research.”
Evelyn intended to visit locations where key events of the original story took place.
Since she hadn’t seen them but only read about them, she needed a visual reference to ensure the ‘prophecy’ would be accurate.
“Shall we start with the royal palace? That’s where the male lead is.”
As the carriage entered the city center, Evelyn’s eyes widened at the view.
“Wow. The capital really is different.”
The Adrian Empire was the strongest nation on the continent.
Its long history and culture influenced the continent, and its army was formidable.
The western port was a hub for maritime trade, and the eastern trade route extended to distant continents.
The capital, as the center of politics, economy, and culture, was splendid.
Buildings lined the roads radiating out from the palace in a circular pattern.
“I’ll check out the auction hall later.”
Buying paintings by promising new artists was also one of Evelyn’s reasons for coming to the capital.
“Hmm. The lake park is still under construction, so I’ll leave that for later.”
Evelyn checked the map, confirmed the location, and got out of the carriage.
“Oh, the palace.”
Excited, she quickly approached the palace.
The palace walls appeared taller up close, hiding the interior from view.
Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her hands against the wall and craned her neck.
When her eyes met a guard’s, she reluctantly stepped back.
“Maybe I should just check the main gate once.”
While gazing at the golden roofs atop the walls, she accidentally bumped into someone.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Seeing it in person, huh? Pretty impressive, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
As she looked up, the man grabbed both of her arms from behind, turning her to face the palace.
More than the pain, the sudden grab scared her.
“Shh. Don’t turn around, just come in.”
Evelyn froze at the low, threatening whisper near her ear.
Was this what they called dangerous situations in the capital?
She tried to move, but her arms were immobile.
“I-I don’t have money. I’m just here to look around. You won’t get anything from me.”
When she spoke in a small voice, she heard the man’s soft laugh behind her.
“I’m not interested in that.”
“Th-Then?”
Was this a kidnapping?
Was some incompetent woman being kidnapped for bad purposes or sold?
Evelyn clenched her fists to steady her trembling body.
“You said you’d tell me why I came to this world when I arrived in the capital.”
“You!”
As Evelyn tried to turn, the man released her.
Losing her balance for a moment, she looked up to see his face.
He was the tourist who had been standing nearby when she peeked at the palace earlier.
She recognized him by his tacky, light brown jacket, though she couldn’t remember his face clearly.
Still, the man’s subtly glowing golden eyes seemed familiar.
“Doesn’t matter much since I’m not the real me anyway.”
That familiar, irritating tone, just like those golden eyes, was definitely Les.
“You can’t scare people like that!”
She shouted angrily, and the man smiled awkwardly.
“I didn’t want to give a wrong impression because of these clothes.”
“It’s not the clothes’ fault. You’re not the real you anyway, so what difference does it make?”
“A mysterious image is better than tacky.”
Evelyn glared incredulously, and his golden eyes curved in a grin.
Still impossible to reason with.
Sighing, she gave up.
“When can I meet the real you? Where should I go?”
“Next is the main characters: Prince Aaron and Priscilla.”
“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You successfully contacted Cain, so I think you can handle them.”
“Not answering? After making me come all the way to the capital?”
“Oh, and if you have time, check out the library in the palace too.”
“Listen to me for once!”
“Later. Someone is watching, so it’s complicated.”
“What?”
Evelyn looked around, and the man’s eyes had returned to ordinary brown.
He flinched, seemingly startled by her sudden gaze.
“Why are you looking at me, miss?”
“Oh, I… just wanted to ask for directions.”
“Ah, me too. I’m new here.”
“I see. I’ll ask someone else. Sorry.”
Evelyn awkwardly bowed and hurried off.
Following the road from the palace to the café street, she let out a long sigh.
“That brat, still only says what he wants.”
Annoyed, she abandoned sightseeing and entered the nearest café.
She wanted something sweet or indulgent but didn’t have much money.
Reluctantly setting the menu aside, she ordered a cup of coffee.
“What exactly is his identity? Does he just move people’s bodies around?”
She poured sugar into her coffee, staring blankly as she stirred.
“I came all this way, and he’s just being reckless. What am I supposed to do?”
Frustrated, she stirred harder, spilling some outside the cup before stopping.
“Ha… how am I supposed to find and meet the male and female leads?”
Cain had returned from the war with the Shuran Kingdom, so Aaron and Priscilla must have met.
They probably had a few coincidental encounters and knew of each other to some extent.
“Prince Aaron will be in the palace, but it seems impossible to get in.”
With such strict security, sneaking in could be fatal.
“If you’re giving me a mission, it should be reasonable. How is an extra commoner supposed to meet the prince?”
Resigned, Evelyn rested her chin on the table, staring blankly at the street.
Capital residents looked more sophisticated and flashy than those in rural towns but seemed indifferent and busy.
At that moment, a dark barrier appeared before Evelyn’s eyes.
