Chapter 029
I was inwardly surprised by his calm demeanor.
It felt much more genuine than the countless insincere words of comfort I had heard until now.
“Evan.”
“Why? Is something hurting again?”
“It’s not that. I’m just really sleepy right now…”
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the size of the campfire had noticeably diminished since I last looked at it.
As soon as I relaxed a bit, a wave of drowsiness began to wash over me.
Maybe that’s why.
I suddenly wanted to do something I would never normally do.
“Well then, let’s go inside and…”
His gruff words were abruptly cut off before he could finish. That was because I had fully leaned into his embrace.
“Can’t we just stay like this for a moment?”
Though he didn’t respond verbally, his not pushing me away from his embrace seemed like an answer in itself.
His appropriately warm embrace soon lulled me into a deep sleep.
“Milady, are you really going to sleep like this?”
Just before my consciousness faded, I thought I heard Evan’s incredulous voice faintly.
Before long, my eyelids slowly closed, and I slipped into complete darkness.
In my dream that night, a large teddy bear appeared.
It was the big teddy bear my brother had given me on my birthday long ago.
Since all items related to my brother had been hidden deep in the house as time went on, I warmly embraced the long-lost bear.
I hugged the warm teddy bear tightly in my dream and let out a pleasant laugh for the first time in a while.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
Clunk clunk.
“Umm…”
The gentle vibrations gradually pulled my consciousness back to the surface.
When I lifted my fluttering eyelids, the first thing I saw was the seat inside the carriage.
‘How long did I sleep? Someone should have woken me up before leaving.’
It seemed Evan had left me in the carriage and set off.
Still, thanks to that, I felt more refreshed than yesterday.
“Yawn…”
Still groggy and reluctant to wake, I buried my face into the pillow and rubbed my head against it.
But for some reason, the pillow felt too hard. Moreover, it was moving.
“…If you’re awake, could you please get up now?”
“Eek!”
Startled by the low voice coming from above, I screamed and shot up.
“Evan?”
Contrary to my expectation that he would be outside the carriage like yesterday, Evan was sitting right in front of me.
He was sitting with his arms crossed, turning his head towards the window.
‘Why is he in here today?’
As I rolled my eyes around, I suddenly gasped.
I had just noticed a dark mark on the area of his thigh where I had been resting.
‘Did I drool while sleeping?’
I silently screamed inside my head.
Fortunately, it seemed like the mark would disappear quickly with just a few rubs.
“W-Why is there so much dust in the carriage…?”
I coughed dryly and casually reached out my hand toward his thigh.
As I pretended to dust him off nonchalantly, I suddenly felt a heated gaze right in front of me.
“…”
Following that gaze, I turned my head and found myself unable to move my hand any further.
Because he was looking at me with eyes like he was looking at a sinister pervert.
“There’s dust… You have a lot of dust on your clothes too.”
“I’ll handle the dust myself, so please move your hand.”
As soon as I pulled my hand away, he crossed his legs to the other side.
In the familiar silence of the carriage, I took in his appearance slowly.
‘Did he stay in the carriage with me because of me?’
He had been riding a horse all day, saying that he had to be prepared for any dangerous situations.
Yet today, he stayed by my side until I woke up.
Feeling a strange tingling sensation in my palm like last time, I had to clench and unclench my fist several times.
“Thank you for taking care of me. You know, Evan, you’re really a kind person.”
A gentle smile unconsciously spread across my lips.
I felt that the distance between us had narrowed a little because of last night’s events, so I spoke to him softly.
Then I thought to myself.
Perhaps this man in front of me was just awkward at expressing himself but was actually kind.
At that moment, Evan let out a short, ironic laugh upon hearing my words.
Soon, his cynical voice echoed inside the carriage.
“How can you open your heart so easily to just anyone?”
“…What did you say?”
“You really don’t have any sense, do you?”
His cold tone left me momentarily speechless.
I wondered which part of my words had upset him.
“Why do you say that? I was just grateful for what happened yesterday…”
“Exactly.”
He suddenly interrupted my words with a sharp retort.
“Don’t do that. Don’t thank me or attach any meaning to everything. There are far worse people in the world than you might think.”
The air inside the carriage had grown so cold it felt like a chill was seeping in.
With my face set in a hard expression, I asked him,
“So, I’m not even allowed to express my gratitude?”
“Yes. If there are people who come close to you when you’re struggling, tell them to get lost right away.”
“Why should I do that?”
At first, I was taken aback, but as time passed, I began to feel increasingly angry.
I was only trying to express my gratitude, and now I had to deal with this kind of response.
His gaze met mine as he turned his head, his mouth pressed tightly shut.
After a long moment of staring at me, he finally spoke.
“Then what? Are you going to go around giving your heart away to some weird guy again?”
“……”
His words left me speechless, unable to respond.
Hearing words that reminded me of a past I had tried to forget, I couldn’t think of how to refute him.
I simply stared blankly ahead, noticing that Evan’s expression had grown even more serious as he spat out his harsh words.
He seemed to hesitate, opening his mouth several times as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately turned away without a word.
“……Stop the carriage.”
After stopping the carriage, Evan turned his back to me and got out, leaving me alone inside.
Just before the door closed, I heard his voice faintly.
“Then take a rest.”
The sound of his voice was the only thing that echoed in the carriage.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
On the third day since leaving the capital:
“We’ll reach a village soon, so we’ll stay there for the night. We should arrive at the territory by tomorrow.”
“Got it.”
Evan, who had been reciting the schedule through the window, remained standing there.
“Is there anything else you need to say?”
I asked him in a flat tone.
“…No.”
There was no longer any reason to keep the window open since the conversation had already ended.
Clunk.
As I closed the window, our eyes met directly, but I quickly averted my gaze and drew the curtains.
It had already been two days since we began this cold war of sorts.
During that time, we repeated stiff conversations that ended in awkward silence, just like earlier.
“Sigh…”
I collapsed sideways and let out a deep sigh.
‘It’s frustrating.’
It felt as if a heavy stone had been placed on one side of my chest for the past few days.
After that day, when Evan left the carriage, he hadn’t spoken to me unless it was absolutely necessary.
Yet he still chose to sleep nearby while I rested in the carriage.
Watching him avoid comfort made my heart feel heavier.
“Should I apologize first…”
I was startled by my own thoughts and quickly covered my mouth with both hands.
It seemed I still had a long way to go to break the habit of always apologizing first when situations like this arose.
midori
thanks! i kind of understand where evan is coming from, but tsk tsk! yasss their first argument! rofl