Chapter 2.55

—was absolutely ridiculous.

A few days later, Rubellian, who had summoned her to the ducal estate, found himself completely frozen by Evangeline’s water show that had utterly devastated everything within a two-meter radius.

……What kind of stunt was this now?

To his knowledge, whales were the best at spouting water in the world. But now, Evangeline had proudly claimed the top spot, surpassing even whales as the ultimate water-spouting creature.

It would be difficult to spray it so evenly, and Rubellian gritted his teeth at the liquid flowing down his face.

“Oh my, oh my, what am I to do about this.”

There wasn’t a trace of regret in the way she made a fuss, covering her mouth with her hands dramatically. She might have thought she was acting, but being able to speak while smiling so broadly was quite a skill in itself.

‘Surely she doesn’t think she’s acting well right now?’

She was throwing around “oh my, oh my!” as if flowers had bloomed on her face, but her posture was wrong from the start.

Though she wasn’t cackling with laughter, Evangeline was currently smiling as brightly as a human could possibly achieve.

And what she said was—

“I committed such a great rudeness, didn’t I?”

Please, if you’re going to act, at least show some sincerity. Rubellian, momentarily at a loss for how to respond, first wiped the terrible liquid from his face with a handkerchief.

And then he gritted his teeth and spat out each word:

“It was an accident, so it can’t be helped.”

At that, Evangeline’s face twisted mercilessly. He could even hear her clicking her tongue, and he almost laughed.

She appeared like the most graceful swan imaginable, so how could her movements be so awkward?

Evangeline, who had been muttering something, made a face as if the sky had fallen when he told her to stay for dinner.

Her constantly changing expressions rivaled those of stage actors. Of course, Evangeline was truly terrible at acting.

Really, horribly so.

The garden where flower fragrances spread gently was the perfect place for a proposal above all else.

Rubellian was quietly lifting his teacup alone when he suddenly stopped, recalling glimpses of Evangeline’s skin that had been visible through her tea-soaked dress.

Shameless.

He frowned. He didn’t know why such thoughts occurred to him at this moment.

Actually, seeing how she seemed to like pretty and fancy clothes and accessories last time, he had prepared a dress for her.

Partly to appease her and to provide some compensation to her, who had been sacrificed to his and the Clauda guild head’s ambitions.

That was when Lilith Bolton, already assigned as Evangeline’s maid, walked over quietly. She opened her mouth toward Rubellian, who was sitting quietly.

“Your Grace, you should be looking forward to this now.”

“……Why?”

“Mrs. Jena says that the young lady—”

Suddenly Rubellian found himself tensing up involuntarily. What now? What was Evangeline up to now?

All sorts of worries arose. Evangeline might do something, and once again leave him reeling with surprise.

“She, what?”

“The young lady washed her hands twice with disinfectant, they say. Even to the point of scrubbing her skin raw.”

“……?”

“Hmm, in my opinion, doesn’t it seem like she’s prepared something?”

Lilith tilted her head, then grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

“But the young lady is pretty, so whatever she does will be pretty, right?”

Having said that, Lilith gracefully walked away.

And before long, he was able to see Evangeline with a determined face like a general going to war.

‘What?’

For the first time, Rubellian, who had never cowered before anyone in his entire life, felt intimidated.

Evangeline’s face was full of some inexplicable survival instinct, and she had her mouth firmly shut as if ready to breathe fire with the attitude of “today it’s you or me.”

Watching her charge at him like a bull and stop in front of the table, Rubellian said with forced composure:

“You came?”

“Yes, I came.”

Was she not even acting now? Or was this current state her idea of acting?

Rubellian frowned slightly with tension. He was someone who had never been nervous even when meeting the emperor or Crown Prince. However, at that moment, watching Evangeline sit down combatively in her chair, Rubellian couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“Your Grace, thank you for the dress.”

At her completely ungrateful expression, Rubellian took a long breath.

Actually, this garden and these desserts had been prepared for a proposal.

Flower fragrances, desserts, tea.

What a beautiful scene it was. But the person who was supposed to receive a proposal today was glaring at him as if she wanted to kill him.

At least her face had softened when she saw the tea set being arranged, but the moment he mentioned giving her candlesticks, he could feel the intense heat directed toward money, leaving him with no choice but to make a sour face.

Then, suddenly remembering something, he changed the subject.

“I heard you proposed to the Crown Prince.”

Of course, this was the worst possible topic choice.

Rubellian couldn’t help but be filled with conflicting emotions as he watched Evangeline contort her face in embarrassment.

Such a bold, reckless woman, and yet her face flushed bright red at the mere mention of the Crown Prince. Did she really love him?

The moment he thought that, displeasure surged up. He couldn’t hide his displeasure for some unknown reason.

“No.”

“……”

“I have never loved His Highness.”

Each word she forced out with difficulty was tinged with sorrow.

Rubellian’s emotions grew more tangled, and his expression twisted in response. The simple fact that she was blushing over someone else left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Especially since it was the Crown Prince.

It would have been less irritating if she had done it for honor, status, or power.

As soon as he reached that conclusion, a wave of flustered confusion hit him. What did any of it have to do with him? He wasn’t sure. It was just what came to mind.

The Crown Prince and he had many things entangled between them. But thinking that Evangeline would be added to that mix made him feel even worse.

Why…… when they had only met twice.

Rubellian let out a long sigh. Having encountered such a fresh character these past few days seemed to have caused some problems with his thought processes. Thinking so, he quietly lifted his teacup and raised his head to gauge the timing for his proposal.

Then, looking at the desserts that had been set out, Evangeline’s eyes lit up.

“Um, but this, did you prepare all of this for me to eat?”

Evangeline asked, her eyes sparkling excessively. The sight looked exactly like an immature girl and appeared quite lovable. Her pretty face showed a reddish blush, revealing her desire for food.

Come to think of it, they say women like to eat. Would she fall for it if he enticed her with food? He was unconsciously thinking such thoughts when suddenly Evangeline reached for a plate.

……?

‘Why is she ignoring a perfectly good fork……?’

The moment he sensed something strange and frowned, he almost instinctively recoiled at the sight of white hands grabbing the chocolate cake.

Why on earth? Why grab it with her hands?Even if she was a commoner, surely she knew basic dining etiquette.

While he held his breath and stared at her, Evangeline bit into the cake in her hands with a determined expression, like someone putting a landmine in their mouth.

“……!”

“Mmm, it’s delicious. Nom nom nom.”

Unless one were blind, it was impossible to believe Evangeline’s behavior stemmed from a simple enjoyment of food. But why on earth? Having been raised his entire life under strict etiquette education in the ducal house, Rubellian couldn’t understand why she was acting this way.

“Smack smack.”

Evangeline’s appearance, deliberately opening her mouth wide and vividly demonstrating her lack of proper upbringing, was like a ghost that had risen from hell unable to resolve its grudges from a previous life.

Watching her combatively chew each piece of cake one by one, even deliberately adding exclamations like “mmm—,” Rubellian had to take time to reorganize his worldview.

And watching her reject Mrs. Jena’s napkin and bring her fingers to her mouth, Rubellian thought:

Dirty.

It was filthy—but not in any ordinary way.

But then again, what was ordinary filth?

This was something… uniquely dirty.

What was that supposed to mean?

Prettily dirty? That didn’t seem right either.

Perhaps, lacking? Yes, she seemed lacking. Hadn’t the Clauda guild head said so? That she was a lacking child. So it seemed he should understand. Being simple-minded wasn’t her fault.

But were there simple-minded people who moved so strategically?

Watching Evangeline make strange expressions while sucking on her fingers, Rubellian thought blankly:

This was the most incomprehensible creature in his life.

Evangeline’s insane performance ended when all the dishes in front of him had become as clean as dog bowls.

At first glance, the sight of her patting her full belly and even burping suggested the contentment of someone well-fed. But the tears welling in her eyes, as though she were on the verge of indigestion, hinted at real discomfort.

“Ah, it’s delicious. Really, really delicious.”

“……If it was delicious, that’s fortunate.”

Rubellian nodded with a deep sigh. He considered mentioning that her sides looked ready to burst, but decided against it and held his tongue.

She would probably return to her room soon anyway, and she could endure until then—it was a fairly good quality dress, after all.

“Hehe, please invite me again next time too.”

Her giggling words didn’t seem sincere at all. At least not to him.

However, the way she constantly watched for his reaction while trying to smile broadly in her own way was rather cute, if one could call it cute.

‘Cute? I must be insane.’

There were many cute things in the world. Puppies, kittens, rabbits, chicks, and so on. To place Evangeline in parallel with them felt a bit like a pang of conscience. For some reason, he felt like he should apologize to the puppies and kittens, so he paused for a moment.

Then he soon remembered the purpose of arranging today’s occasion and gathered his wits again.

Meanwhile, Evangeline was smiling while crying. What it meant was this: her eyes smiled, but her nose twitched with soft sniffling, her own strange imitation of weeping.

Even so, she managed to throw in a word here and there, but how could her line delivery be so lacking?

Rubellian could sincerely understand the feelings of people who smashed up theaters saying the acting was terrible. Evangeline’s acting right now was torturing him. Evangeline was the one doing terrible acting, so why should he feel ashamed?

He briefly reflected on his life. To think that living so earnestly until now had been for marrying this woman—in his next life, he should just live recklessly……

‘What am I thinking right now?’

Rubellian once again grabbed the collar of his sanity, which had run away to distant places, and dragged it back into his head. Then he delivered a death sentence to the sniffling Evangeline.

“The internal affairs of the ducal house are the mistress’s responsibility. So dessert parties like this should also be done by the person who will become the duchess. So naturally, you, who will marry me, should do it, shouldn’t you?”

Evangeline’s eyes widened. ‘What are you talking about, Duke?’ Watching Evangeline, who seemed to be saying just that, he chuckled.

And he drove the final nail into Evangeline, who had tears welling up in her eyes like a deer.

“So marry me, Evangeline.”

The moment he finished speaking, tears welled up even more in Evangeline’s eyes. The momentum she had when devouring cake just moments ago completely disappeared, and now there was a child dying of injustice.

At the sudden surge of guilt, Rubellian let out a light sigh. In truth, Evangeline was no different from being sacrificed for his goals.

“I will return to my room now. Farewell.”

Thinking it was already over, Evangeline shot up with a bang and left.

Rubellian sighed. Guilt bubbled up profusely.

Even after returning to his study, not a single document caught his eye. Only the image of her crying kept coming to mind.

‘Does this have any meaning?’

Rubellian eventually closed his documents and fell into thought.

He needed the Clauda guild head’s evidence. With just that, driving a wedge between Colica and the emperor would be no problem at all.

But……

‘She dislikes it so much.’

His heart weakened once again for a moment. By this point, most would have quit—but she pressed on. Seeing her abandon all dignity and act this way, it was clear she wasn’t just against marriage; she deeply loathed him.

Though he didn’t know why.

It was a bitter truth. Now that marriage was settled, it was painful to realize his partner disliked him. He had never cared about others’ opinions before, but those jade-colored eyes filled with resentment made him feel unexpectedly uneasy.

In the end, his face hardened.

‘I should have a proper conversation.’

To ruin one person’s life for what he wanted. How was he any different from the emperor he so bitterly hated? The ducal couple he loved most wouldn’t want him to act this way either.

So he needed to have a conversation. Fix what could be fixed, and if not……

With those thoughts weighing on him, Rubellian leaned back in his chair briefly.

Still, he should have taken it slowly. Would she have accepted it without much resistance then? If he had treated her prettily, preciously, and properly with adequate time, wouldn’t it not have been to this degree?

Then suddenly, remembering her combatively devouring cake in the garden, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

How could a human be so clumsy? With that pretty face, what on earth was she doing…… Clutching cake with her small white hands, her cheeks puffed up as she chewed.

She was like a squirrel. Thinking that, he quickly shook his head.

No, this was being rude to squirrels……

But anyway, this proposal should be withdrawn. And it would be better to start over. Treating her prettily, lovingly, more preciously than anyone else, and if that still didn’t work, backing down would be proper etiquette.

They say no secret remains hidden forever, but what fault had this one committed to lie quietly buried beneath the earth?

He rose from his seat. However, just then, Mrs. Jena and Lilith entered, knocking on the door.

“Your Grace, what are you thinking about?”

Lilith, Mrs. Jena’s niece who had grown up almost like siblings with Rubellian since childhood, asked with a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jena beside her had an extremely serious expression.

“Your Grace, I have something serious to tell you. This just won’t do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You saw that spectacle this afternoon.”

“……Yes.”

“That’s not human!”

Watching Mrs. Jena speak in a horrified voice, Rubellian chuckled.

Yes, if not for Evangeline’s beauty, that scene would have been chaos itself.

But perhaps that beauty didn’t work on Mrs. Jena, as she swallowed hard.

“This won’t do. Your Grace, please reconsider.”

“But she’s so pretty.”

That was when Mrs. Jena’s earnest plea was drowned out by Lilith’s words.

“……Lilith. Even after seeing that……”

“But she’s pretty.”

“A person isn’t all about looks. Can you still say such things after seeing that?”

“Because she’s pretty.”

“……”

“She’s pretty, so what’s the big deal? When she’s that pretty?”

“……Your Grace, this one doesn’t seem quite right in the head either.”

Eventually, watching Mrs. Jena and Lilith bicker, Rubellian sighed. Then he asked Lilith:

“Is she still crying?”

“Crying? Why would she cry?”

“Didn’t she leave the garden crying?”

“Oh, come to think of it, she just asked for digestive medicine saying her digestion wasn’t working well. It seemed like she was crying because she was too full?”

“Is, is that so?”

“Oh my, what? Were you worried? Are you already a devoted husband?”

Lilith said, cupping her chin with both hands. However, at what followed, her face began to turn fierce.

“No, I’m thinking of reconsidering this marriage.”

“Why?!”

“You’ve made the right decision, Your Grace!”

Suddenly different reactions burst out. Soon Mrs. Jena and Lilith, facing each other, began growling at each other again.

At this, Rubellian shook his head and asked:

“Is she still in her room?”

“Ah, yes. She said she would go to sleep, but in my opinion, her eyes were wide awake……”

“Then go and tell her. That I’ll come by in a little while.”

“Understood.”

Lilith, seemingly very displeased with his decision, pouted before finally going outside.

And a few minutes later, she came running back screaming.

Evangeline had disappeared.

“What?”

“She’s gone. It looks like she twisted her blankets and went out the window, but seeing how the blankets are all undone……”

“Was there any blood?”

“No, but she must have been hurt. There are lots of sharp grass and things below there!”

At Lilith’s urgent voice, Rubellian hurried out of his study.

Setting aside that she had run away, where would she go in the middle of the night wearing thin clothes? It would be fine if she was still within the ducal estate, but if she had gone outside, who knows what dangerous things might happen to her.

With that thought, he got goosebumps.

The reason she had fled her room was obvious. Because she didn’t want to marry. If something really happened, he would probably have to live the rest of his life atoning to Evangeline. No, actually, atoning wasn’t the big problem.

If Evangeline were to encounter some great misfortune—just the thought made his heart skip a beat.

Fortunately, however, such a thing didn’t happen.

Going straight to the fence area with faint hope, he let out a sigh of relief seeing Evangeline dangling from the iron bars like a squid.

Evangeline looked much brighter than he had thought. Though she was grumbling about something, just the fact that she had entered his field of vision brought such relief that Rubellian caught his breath.

And soon he slowly opened his mouth.

“Are you dancing in the middle of the night?”

Suddenly, Evangeline slowly turned her head.

Actually, Rubellian was still conflicted. Marrying Evangeline was his only breakthrough, but……

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

Seeing her cry like this again made his heart ache.

Her swollen red ankles and scraped hands also bothered him. She was likely raised being pampered, never having to endure even the slightest hardship.

He let out a deep sigh.

“Is there something you don’t like?”

What about him did she dislike so much that she rejected marriage like this? Was he so disgusting that she would beg him to disappear from her life? Did she love the Crown Prince that much?

Lost in thought for a moment, he tried to drag her inside, but Evangeline grabbed his arm and hung on.

So, sorry to the earthworms, but he decided to borrow their name for a moment.

“Right now an earthworm is trying to crawl up your dress.”

And soon Evangeline jumped up and firmly grabbed his arm. Watching the small head looking around under his chin, Rubellian curled up the corners of his mouth.

Indeed, he didn’t want to give up that ‘evidence.’

Then what should he do?

Though he hadn’t laid everything bare before her, his need for her was sincere.

Quite contrary to his anxious heart, Evangeline caught on remarkably quickly.

In the process, it was quite admirable how she figured out the relationship between her father and himself, making him smile slightly, when suddenly Evangeline’s face cleared up as if she had never cried.

Why did he feel inexplicably good when a smile spread across that incomprehensible face?

And soon, before he could even speak, Evangeline readily accepted the marriage proposal.

Watching her return to her room alone, muttering something to herself, Rubellian had a somewhat complicated expression.

His intention to have a proper conversation with her about marriage vanished without a trace the moment she accepted the marriage.

Thus, the marriage between the two was decided.

But even though she had accepted the marriage proposal, he couldn’t deny that his intentions had been impure.

He had done her a great wrong.

So with that as an excuse, If he treated her with more kindness, love, and care than anyone else, wouldn’t she at least begin to see him in a better light?

With such thoughts, he unconsciously let a smile slip.