🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 102
“Have a good time! Don’t forget me! I’ll come pick you up from Luska’s house!”
Irene waved tearfully from the mansion’s entrance.
Evi waved back at her and called out,
“I’ll have fun! You take care too, Irene!”
Perhaps hearing Evi’s voice, Irene finally broke down in tears, still waving from the entrance.
“Sniff… Evi…”
“Miss, if you cry like that…”
The three maids standing beside her didn’t know what to do and gently comforted Irene.
“Irene…”
Evi wasn’t much different. After waving for a long time, she finally sat down, her eyes red. She didn’t shed tears but sniffled quietly, blowing her nose to herself.
Seeing this, Arcel let out a short sigh.
“I really feel like a bad guy right now.”
He stood up, sat beside Evi, and took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe her face.
“It’s dirty…”
Evi shook her head as if to say it was okay, but Arcel didn’t give up.
After carefully cleaning Evi’s face, he handed her the handkerchief, then glanced out the window.
“If anyone saw this, they’d think I was kidnapping you.”
If Irene had heard that, she would have shouted, “Exactly that!”
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Do you want to just go back to Irene’s house?”
His voice was filled with gentle concern. Evi shook her head at his question.
“It’s not that I don’t want to go to your house, Arcel… it’s just that I like being with Irene too much…”
Before leaving, she had asked Irene if she could go with her. Irene had looked extremely troubled.
“I can’t go to Arcel’s house, nor to Luska’s. Even going there for a short while would be noisy… and if I stayed over… sigh.”
It was clearly because of the constant marriage rumors that always came up.
So Evi didn’t press further.
Arcel patted her as if understanding.
“You had fun with Irene, huh?”
“Yes! Irene took me to so many fun places!”
Evi, who had stopped sniffling, excitedly recounted all the things she did with Irene:
Visiting Madame Crevel’s shop on the first day, going to a real café with adults for the first time, drawing together around the mansion, playing in a shallow pond, wandering around the capital’s squares…
Her previously tearful face was now lit up with a bright smile again.
Arcel listened intently to everything Evi said.
Then, as if remembering something, Evi clenched her fists.
“But I also met Izriella.”
“…That young lady?”
“Yes! She came up to me right away, but I didn’t back down. I didn’t do anything wrong! But a girl I’d never seen before grabbed my hair like this…!”
“What’s her name?”
Evi, speaking quickly out of excitement, looked up at Arcel’s cold voice in surprise.
The kind expression he had worn while listening to her just moments ago was gone, replaced with a chilling stare.
“Well… she called herself… Eve… but I’d never seen her before…”
Startled by Arcel’s terrifying expression, Evi stammered and hiccuped.
Seeing this, Arcel quickly softened his expression again.
“You weren’t hurt, right?”
Evi nodded silently, relieved that he had returned to his usual calm self.
‘That was really scary,’ she thought.
Even though he wasn’t an adult yet, Arcel’s scary expression rivaled that of when the director faced the person who had hit an orphanage child.
“And Irene stayed still? Knowing her, she wouldn’t have let that happen without a fight.”
She was the kind of girl who would kick Luska’s legs without hesitation.
Evi thought about how much Irene cared for her and imagined her stomping and fussing if someone pulled her hair.
“I stopped her. I didn’t want Irene to meet Izriella again. Next time, I won’t lose either!”
Evi clenched her tiny fists, and Arcel finally smiled—but it was just an outward gesture.
‘Who is she?’
Eve? Arcel knew very well who Izriella was and how her family, as counts, prided themselves on their high status.
‘No one should be mingling with that family lately.’
The rumors about Izriella had already spread through the social circles of the capital and even the provinces, making it impossible for the countess to return to her hometown.
And now, someone is wandering around with her?
Also, the name Eve bothered him. It was strange for Izriella to call a girl like that “Miss Eve.”
Moreover, this girl had been brought along like a personal assistant to Madame Crevel’s shop.
‘I’ll have someone check on her when we get back.’
He usually disliked using family influence, but this seemed necessary.
Most importantly…
Arcel’s gaze fell on Evi’s neatly braided hair.
‘I couldn’t do it, but…’
It was childish thinking, but maybe he could repay it on her behalf.
The carriage sped relentlessly out of the capital.
The Terrance family’s mansion was a townhouse in the capital, but like the Kailen dukes, some noble families had separate estates in the outskirts.
“Wow! The river is huge!”
Evi didn’t take her face off the window, marveling at the view.
“Have you ever been here with Irene?”
“Nope. We were too busy wandering the capital. Oh, did you know? Shops in the capital sometimes give a small extra item if you buy something pretty! So every time we went, Irene got an extra item and gave it to me as a gift.”
“….”
Arcel tilted his head for a moment, then smiled.
“Yeah, most shops in the capital do that. If you want, I could go shopping too. I want a better pen.”
He leaned closer to Evi and whispered.
“Some shops give a small pen when you buy a large one, but it’s too small for me to use. Do you want it?”
“Really?”
Evi’s eyes sparkled at his words.
If Irene and Luska were there, they would have pointed at her and called her a little fox.
Wow! It wasn’t just clothes and hats—they did that with pens too!
‘The capital is amazing.’
If only Elam City sold them like that… then the teachers could have gotten two items at once.
“Can I really take it?”
“Yes. I’m the youngest in my family, so there’s no one smaller than me. If you don’t take it, it’ll just gather dust on my desk. It’s sad for pretty pens to sit there unused.”
Evi nodded quickly.
While spending time at Irene’s house, Evi had discovered something new:
She liked fountain pens with gold nibs.
She preferred blue ink over black.
She liked smooth writing over rough writing.
She had never known her own preferences when she could only have one precious pen and obtaining it was difficult.
“Thank you so much, Arcel.”
Evi stood in the rattling carriage and bowed to him.
Even if it was extra, it was clearly something she could never have bought herself.
Yet he gave it to her as a gift.
‘I’ll make sure to give Arcel an equally good gift when I earn money!’
Just then, Arcel’s eyes softened.
He propped his chin on his hand and said,
“But Evi, why am I the only one called ‘Arcel’?”
The Duchess of Kailen had been excited since morning.
‘Arcel went out at dawn.’
The previous night, her restless son had hurried the coachman before sunrise to leave the mansion.
There was only one reason:
“I’m bringing Evi with me.”
Every time she heard her son say that name, the duchess felt astonished.
‘Arcel has never brought anyone home besides Luska.’
He had been a quiet child from birth. He hardly cried or showed interest in anything.
When he finally spoke while walking, she realized he was smart in a unique way.
Still, she had worried until she saw him grow close to Luska and spend time with her.
‘But I didn’t expect he’d only have Luska as a friend.’
Many claimed to be Arcel’s friend. He wasn’t particularly picky.
But as his mother, she knew the truth: Luska was still the only friend he truly accepted.
She hoped he would change over time, but instead, he just became better at putting up walls.
Just when her worries were growing, Arcel came to her and said,
“Mother, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
Seeing him hesitate, she feared something serious had happened.
But what he said was completely unexpected.
“My friend will be staying at the mansion for about a week. If it’s okay, could you teach them some music? They want to learn together with me.”
She was momentarily speechless.
A friend? Not Luska? Staying at the mansion? And asking her to teach them too?
“Of course! What’s your friend’s name?”
“Evi Alden.”
“Evi Alden? A girl?”
“Yes. Seven years old.”
Thank heavens. Her son wasn’t completely socially inept.
The duchess sincerely thanked God and waited eagerly for Evi’s arrival.
Now, the long-awaited carriage approached.
It stopped, Arcel got out first, and then a girl stepped out.
They were talking, and the duchess hurried over, hearing Arcel’s voice.
“Shall we just greet her and then go look at that book together?”
“Yes, Arcel!”
The young girl held the hand of her son, who usually allowed no one near him except Luska, and spoke comfortably.
The duchess instinctively knew,
‘A treasure has come to our house.’
