ASDM 41

Chapter 41

“Y-You…!”
“Catch me if you can!”

As Eva shot up from her seat, Asha darted off again, nimble as a flying squirrel, giggling all the way.

All around, Levi and over a dozen servants chased after her like children at play.

Every time she scurried between them on her short legs, the hem of the oversized jacket she dragged like a robe frayed and darkened with dirt.

Franz frowned. “What the hell is she wearing?”

The owner of that jacket was obvious—the black fabric, the silver embroidery of the Bastion crest…

“…Why does she have Father’s clothes?”

Bang!

Eva slammed her palm against the table, her head bowed.

The impact toppled her teacup, shattering the saucer beneath it. Blood dripped steadily from her palm where the porcelain had cut her.

Startled, Franz scrambled forward.

“Eva, are you al—”

Smack!

He was shoved back, falling hard onto his backside.

Thud. Franz blinked wide-eyed from the floor.

Eva had never struck him before. She had never hurt him. Not once.

Had she?

Really? Not even once?

Well… she had never raised her hand. That much was true.

It was always Eva who stayed by his side until the end. It was always Eva who loved him more than anyone.

So why…

Why did being with her hurt so much?

“Because you’re not a Bastion.”

That was what Eva always told him whenever he laughed or cried too easily, whenever his sensitivity showed.

Not like a Bastion. Weak. Like your mother, not your father. That was why Father never expected anything of him.

And it was true. Wolfgang had never scolded Franz, no matter how fussy he became.

Levi, too, was a kind older brother who cared for him, but never one to say what was right or wrong.

…Still, they always came when I said I was sick.

Even if it was only a fever feigned for attention, his brother and father had shown their faces. That was the only way Franz had been able to confirm that he, too, was a Bastion.

Until last spring—when Wolfgang and Levi both left for the capital.

Levi to the academy. Wolfgang for business. Franz had been left behind, alone in the territory for the first time.

Eva had smiled and said:

“Finally abandoned, our poor little master.”

She called it a joke. Though Franz had never thought a joke that hurt so much could truly be called one.

It struck his young heart like a stone—and it had never left.

So he lied.

“Say you have pneumonia.”

A lie he should never have told.

Wolfgang turned back in the middle of his journey, losing a contract. Levi had to attend his one and only entrance ceremony alone.

And yet neither of them had said anything to him. Not a word.

They simply stopped coming when he said he was sick.

But now—

“Don’t lie.”

Why did she say that now?

Like before.

This time, he hadn’t lied.

“Apologize.”

All he’d done was throw a petty fit.

The strange girl who made his brother less like a Bastion—that was who he bullied, not her.

“…It was Eva, wasn’t it?”
“…”
“The one who bullied Asha.”

And the one who blamed him.

This wasn’t even the first time. He knew that.

Being with Eva had always meant giving up everything else.

Franz sat slumped, looking up at her.

He could barely remember Katrin’s face, only that she had always worn a mask.

And now, suddenly, he realized—Eva had been wearing a mask too, all along.

And behind it… lay something far uglier than he’d imagined.

Tap, tap, tap—

Eva shot him a glare before storming out of the room.

The mask of the calm, ordinary head maid had been cast aside. She retreated to her room—
a room she had claimed for herself under the excuse that Franz couldn’t bear to be apart from her.

It was a room a servant should never have had. Yet Eva thought it suited her perfectly.

She threw open the door—

And froze.

The jacket was gone.

The jacket she’d cherished, hanging neatly by the sunny window. Her precious keepsake… vanished.

“Whew! That was fun! Let’s play again next time! Tag’s only fun with a crowd!”

The stairwell rang with cheerful voices.

Eva shut her eyes and opened them slowly. She walked forward, resisting the impulse to yank that white hair climbing from the second floor to the third.

“…My lady.”
“Mm? Oh, Eva. Did something happen again?”

Asha answered with a bright smile, the jacket clutched carelessly in her arms, crumpled into a ball.

It would be in tatters once she unrolled it.

As Asha hid her grin behind the bundle, Eva’s bloodied hand trembled with rage.

Crack—

She clenched her jaw so hard it ached, then reached out, fingers dripping red.

Levi stepped in front of her. But he wasn’t the only one.

“Stop it already.”
“…Young master.”
“Let’s get that treated, alright?”

Franz appeared too, trying to pull her back, but Eva didn’t budge.

Instead, she shook him off and stepped closer to Asha.

Before the servants could intervene, Asha stepped forward as well.

“Eva, you’re hurt? Oh no, you’re bleeding so much—”
“Return it.”
“Huh?”
“That jacket. It’s mine.”
“…Yours? This? But this is Father’s jacket.”

Asha tilted her head innocently, as if she truly didn’t understand.

It was infuriating.

The servants’ eyes sharpened. After this morning’s incident, they were watching Eva strangely.

She forced calm into her voice.

“Strictly speaking, it was in my room. The master entrusted it to me. Please, my lady—just return it. I’ll take your understanding of this morning’s misunderstanding and insult as apology enough.”

Her voice was soft, measured—no hysteria, no running away.

The servants’ faces twisted further in confusion.

Something was wrong.

Then Asha tapped her forehead, frowning.

“Wait, I think you’ve got it mixed up. I took this from Father’s wardrobe.”
“My lady, lies won’t—”
“Oh, I know. You mean the black jacket hanging by your window, right? It looks similar, but—”

Fwoosh.

Asha unrolled the jacket in her arms, and Eva’s voice died in her throat.

“See? They’re different.”

“….”

“The embroidery on yours is fancier.”

It was true. The details of the stitching were different.

From afar, they looked the same. But up close, they clearly weren’t.

And if she admitted her mistake now, how pathetic would she look?

After all, the girl really had stolen something before. Better to bluff her way through.

“That is the jacket—”
“Um, Head Maid? I think you’re misunderstanding.”

Several servants raised their hands.

“The young lady did take Master’s old clothes.”
“She chose them with us.”
“She asked if she could wear them to play, since they were to be discarded…”
“Hey, don’t laugh.”
“Sorry, it’s just—seems like you’re really mixed up today.”

Soft laughter spread among them. Not cruel, just awkward chuckles and nudges.

Perhaps, in their own way, they were trying to smooth things over.

But Eva—Eva Monz, once a bankrupt noble’s daughter—couldn’t endure even this mild amusement.

No one could mock her. No one dared.

She had to climb higher, sit in the seat no one else could touch. That was her place—almost within reach.

And now…

“That’s it, Eva must have a grudge against me!”
“Pfft—don’t you mean a chip on her shoulder?”
“Ah, right—!”

That devious little brat was ruining everything.

Blood dripped from her clenched fist as dizziness overtook her.

She felt Franz’s conflicted gaze, Levi’s cold one, and—worse—the devil’s eyes of the girl before her.

“Oh, Eva, aren’t you missing something important? Should we all help you find it?”
“…Your concern is… appreciated.”
“Thanks? Not at all.”

Asha skipped away, stopping in front of Eva’s open door.

She didn’t even need to step inside.

“Ah, found it!”

There it was.

“Eva, really! It was under your window all along!”

The black jacket lay on the floor beneath the window.

Even though, just moments ago, it had vanished without a trace.

Laughter spread again. Mutters about favoritism and pettiness joined in.

Asha sidled close, loud enough for everyone to hear, and whispered:

“Don’t worry. Don’t be too embarrassed. Hugo says when people get older…”

Ah, Eva.

“…they start going senile.”

Checkmate.

Asha smiled sweetly, then turned.

“Oh, right—Franz.”
“…Huh?”
“Do you like sweets too?”

A new target approached. Her turn ended in success.

“Betty, well done!”
“It was nothing, my lady.”

Scaling the wall and tossing the jacket through the window at just the right time was no easy feat.

I grabbed my capable maid’s hand and shook it happily.

“What are you standing there for? Come in.”

Franz lingered awkwardly outside until I coaxed him in.

Unlike Levi, who lounged comfortably on the sofa, Franz shuffled in hesitantly.

“Sit. Betty, could you bring us some snacks?”
“Yes, my lady.”

Even after she left, Franz didn’t sit, so I tugged his sleeve and pulled him down across from Levi.

Fidgeting, he finally opened his mouth.

“First of all, the mouse—I was the one who mi—”

“Wait. I have something to say first.”

I pressed my finger against Levi’s cheek.

“One, beep.”
“…Sorry.”