Chapter 39. Side Story: Master’s Night (2)

 

 

It was not clear when Evely became special to him. Was it from when she became comfortable, or when she stared at his scars, or when she talked about the stars?

 

Maybe it was all of those moments added up to make it so. And when the princess said she was going to take Evely to recuperation, he seemed to have a faint feeling about it.

 

“I’m thinking of going to recuperate. There are too many eyes here, and I can’t see Leopold comfortably.”

 

“As my wife pleases.”

 

The princess would always sneak out of the castle to see her lover. Even when he wanted to take her to a party or the imperial palace, she pretended to be sick and refused to go. Rose had anxiety about failure, even though she seemed easygoing. She didn’t want to make a variable that she didn’t know because it was officially exposed.

 

“Are you going to take Evely with you?”

 

“Of course. She’s my servant.”

 

“I wish you could leave her behind.”

 

The words made Rose, who was drinking tea, stop and ask with a curious face.

 

“Why?”

 

“Why do I have to explain every little thing to my wife?”

 

But Rose only smiled and added.

 

“Did you see her when she wore the dress? She was beautiful, wasn’t she, Evely? I would love to have a sister like her. Shall I quickly take her with me when I run away?”

 

In an instant, Alec’s gaze turned to Rose.

 

“You seem to want to get your hands on her.”

 

She was joking, of course, but the words came out faster than Rose expected. She didn’t like that.

 

“Then I’m sure you will hate me. You didn’t want to do that before.”

 

“You don’t want to be hated by someone who also has ready access to military secrets. But you can’t take Evely with you.”

 

(*TL: I’m sorry in advance about the conversation here. I have no idea who’s talking and it was hard to understand.”

 

Rose brought her teacup to her mouth and added another in a meaningful tone.

 

“Do you remember what I told you before? Maybe someday the Count will be able to enjoy the sweetness.”

 

‘You really don’t know the first thing about people, do you?’

 

Rose had an elegant smile on her face.

 

Sweetness.

 

That was the word.

 

He didn’t think he had ever had anything to do with sweetness, but as Rose had said, sometimes a moment of unintentional sweetness came.

 

There were times when his life felt a little sweeter than when he thought it was just bloody. It was when he tasted Evely’s skin and… her smile. There were times when watching Evely smile, he felt like he was eating sweets.

 

When he won the war and threw the enemy’s head on the ground, he never felt the sweetness…. What a hilarious thing for a little girl to make him feel this way.

 

“I was looking at the stars. I like to look at the stars.”

 

One day, when he visited Evely’s room, she was looking at the stars.

 

“I’m glad I’m getting closer to the stars. Now that I’m closer, I’m sure I’ll catch it.”

 

He said sarcastically, “Why don’t you go to the top of the tower?”

 

He was good at saying outrageous things sometimes, but then he heard a refreshing voice in his ear.

 

“My mother said the noble ones become the sun, and the trivial ones like me become a handful of stars scattered across the night sky. She became the stars and always watched over me.”

 

Then he looked at her eyes that had been looking out the window. The stars that had been hiding in her eyes were still shining. The reason why both eyes were shining was because of the remaining moisture.

 

He didn’t know if it was the word “mother” that shook his heart, or her eyes, or it was the little maid.

 

Evely jumped for joy when Alec gave her a vacation.

 

“You’re the master! Thank you so much. I’ll report back soon.”

 

No matter how brightly she smiled and rejoiced, she looked as innocent as a puppy walking on a snowy day with footprints everywhere. When Evely smiled brightly at him, the moment felt a little softer. Could it be something sweet that Rose had talked so much about? Was that what it was?

 

In truth, he was completely indifferent not only to women, but also to all servants, regardless of their gender. He was naturally not interested in vacations, and would just pass on them because the head maidservant would probably appropriate them. However, he became obsessively attentive to Evely.

 

“If you thanked me one more time….”

 

“Master may not want to hear the maid’s thanks…but I would like to say thank you. I’m saying thank you because I want to.”

 

Evely smiled brightly. At that moment, a breeze blew through the window and brushed Evely. Her red hair was dancing and her golden eyes were shining.

 

He wondered if she would become a star at that moment.

 

Her eyes were shining like golden stars through her red hair.

 

And Alec, as if possessed at that moment, looked into Evely’s eyes and immediately touched and laughed.

 

A small, brilliant light coloring the sky on a dark night.

 

Bold, isn’t it?

 

That’s how he tried to get past the specialness he felt at that moment.

 

She might have acted abruptly, or naively and foolishly, mumbling and arranging ridiculous things. She tried to be nosy for various reasons, but in the end, Evely just behaved as usual.

 

The only one who was different and crazy was himself.

 

He knew better than anyone that he cared about Evely more than others. That was why he had scolded Charlotte and ordered her to give Evely less work.

 

It was also the reason why he accepted the bookmark she unexpectedly offered him. Because he wanted to see that girl smile. Because she was beautiful when she smiled innocently.

 

And he began to tolerate Evely more and more. He didn’t scold her or say anything unpleasant, except when he punished her when she was naughty. Sometimes, he felt nervous. But Evely wasn’t afraid or looked at him like what other people see him. An atrocious and brutal murderer.

 

So when Evely asked if she could touch his scars, he didn’t restrain her.

 

“Can I touch …… here too?”

 

He wasn’t too fond of showing his scars. He didn’t want even his scars to be intriguing, like the many layers of rumors surrounding him. To him, they were just traces of survival, but people thought of them as if they were cruel war medals or evidence of numerous murders. They were either afraid of him, curious about him, or both.

 

Of course, those who praised him also didn’t count, but the scars responded to such praise.

 

He had no desire to show off…

 

“Can I touch it here too?”

 

Evely’s words troubled Alec, who had shown her his scars. But secretly he didn’t want to say no, afraid she would go away. And Evely quickly explored his deep wound.

 

“It’s be ugly, isn’t it?”

 

He asked in a strange tone as he felt her special gaze looking at his  wound.

 

He expected the answer to be, “Yes or no.” Or she would just keep silent because she didn’t dare say no.

 

After not answering the first time, Evely eventually gave an answer. And it was unexpected. She put her lips on his wound…

 

“My mother always used to kiss me where I was sick or hurt.”

 

Evely’s attention to the wound, already dulled and not even painful, was both endearing and innocent.

 

“Master is a strong man. A lot.”

 

Evely met his eyes and opened her mouth.

 

“That doesn’t mean you don’t hurt.”

 

At that moment, he pulled Evely and kissed her.

 

It was an impulsive feeling.

 

The heat of her lips on the wound was not relieved by kissing or being intimate.

 

It was only then that he knew.

 

There was no more denying the fact that he had fallen in love.

 

* * *

 

This was Evely’s second vacation.

 

The truth was, the addition or subtraction of a single person does not change much. It was as if the peace and tranquility of a quiet morning was not changed by a single bird chirping.

 

But even if those quiet mornings didn’t change, they were empty.

He was lonely because he didn’t have Evely, who was always by his side, talking like a lark. The sight of her smiling and laughing from morning till night seemed far away like the old days. What bothered him so much was also because of her sudden words the other day, when she said she wanted to get married.

 

‘I was going to make her marry anyway.’

 

It was just that the person she would marry was himself, not Daniel.

 

Rose seemed to have more of an urge to get out of the house since she had gone to recuperate. In order to escape in earnest, she dismissed all servants and made elaborate plans. Sometimes she would secretly invite her lover into her room at night. Her lover was injured and she needed to treat him.

 

That night, Rose stayed at the mansion.

 

“I’m sorry to leave everything in your hands.”

 

When Alec asked her what she was going to leave with him, Rose gave a clear smile.

 

“Evely.”

 

She had a bland look in her eyes, as if she knew everything.

 

Evely.

 

Reflecting on the name, Alec eventually called the maid. He didn’t want to be impatient, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t get rid of  the uneasiness even when he closed his eyes.

 

“She was always grateful, but her last words sounded like she was saying goodbye, as if I was going to retire…”

 

And the moment he heard those words, he instantly thought of Evil eyes he saw the other day.

 

“Master is an outrageous man. Very outrageous…..”

 

He was self-mocking. But that was short-lived as he coldly ordered Evely to be found immediately even if he had to use all his troops.

 

Even if it meant that Evely would be afraid of him like the other maids.

 

Even if she would call him atrocious.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

No, it wouldn’t matter. He didn’t like it. Still, it was better than not having her by his side. Whether it was marriage or anything else, he was determined to find her by any means and methods.

 

* * * *

 

Evely could read and write. She learned it from her parents. Her parents eloped and gave birth to her.

 

 

Rose said that her parents ran away to a remote village where Evely was born. He thought that it was unusual for a commoner to know letters.

 

The word “elope” also stuck with him somehow. So he looked it up, just to see what he could find, and it turned out that Evely’s original family name was Sarnia.

 

The reason he had been so busy lately was to restore her identity by getting her adopted into a noble family, then making her his wife.

But he decided to change his plans.

 

This country did not readily recognize half-blood, so he needed the Emperor’s permission. Alec went to the imperial palace first.

 

At his request, the emperor touched his chin as if he was troubled.

 

“I see. I heard you’re getting a new wife. And a woman of low status?”

 

“I feel lonely, since I just lost my wife.”

 

They had been close friends for a long time, having grown up sword to sword since childhood, but the emperor was also a man of unknown depths.

 

“Think of the victory I haven’t you.”

 

“Are you showing off now? It’s not that I don’t know what you have been doing, but…”

 

“I’m told it’s not entirely impossible.”

 

“Not that there is no such precedent.”

 

The emperor nodded and continued speaking.

 

“Not at all impossible, in other words, not at all commonplace. In the meantime, I’ll have to find out if there are any plans to make her my granddaughter.”

 

“I’m confident I can convince her.”

 

“And there’s one more person you need to convince.”

 

“…”

 

“Me. Wouldn’t I need a deal?”

 

The emperor’s mouth went up in a lopsided grin.

 

“What do you need?”

 

“You’ll have to go to war once or twice in the near future.”

 

Evely’s grandfather’s family was a noble family with a small fiefdom, but they did not lead a very prosperous life. According to his reputation, he was an old man, as stiff and rigid as a wooden bamboo. That’s why he kicked Evely’s father out for loving a commoner woman, Evely’s mother. Since he was not that wealthy nobleman, he planned to regain his son’s status even if he had to bribe her with money if he could not do that.

 

Evely was his from the moment they met in that marketplace, so all this was just a process of solidifying the fact.

 

When the princess was gone, he pretended to be nostalgic and missed his wife.

 

He was going to put Evely in the Princess’s seat. He was going to give her this castle, all the wealth, and status.

 

However, Evely’s escape was not something he had planned or expected.

 

Was it his own selfishness that made him think that all of that would be good for her?

 

But he didn’t care if it was selfishness, so he would have her by his side at all cost definitely and officially.

 

 

As he sat at his desk in the office, Alec held the leather bookmark. An unusual shape engraved on it. It was said to bring good luck.

 

“…as much luck as I need.”

 

He chuckled bitterly as he thought of Evely’s voice again.

 

What he needed was not special luck, but a little maid.

 

Some of the soldiers even resorted to witchcraft and such to bring them luck, but he didn’t believe in such things as luck.

 

The only thing that could protect him in that bloody place was not magic or luck, but himself.

 

But for a fleeting moment as right now, he wanted to rely on such flimsy luck.

 

It was because he needed her so much.

 

***

End side story. Volume 8 (last volume) is next.