Chapter 061
“…So, this time in the Kartah region, it was just someone who resembled the hair color.”
In the office, there was another person besides Evan.
As I slightly shifted my gaze, I caught sight of Roman reporting to Evan with a solemn expression.
Then, as if he had made a significant decision, he took a deep breath and spoke again.
“Your Grace, we searched not only the Empire but also the five nearby nations, but we could not find the person. The search party reported that, according to the requested conditions, the only remaining individuals with red hair are now either elderly or children. At this point, it’s really like he’s dead…”
“Enough.”
Evan, who had been quietly listening to Roman, suddenly narrowed his eyes sharply and interrupted him.
“Tell them to search farther if they couldn’t find anything there.”
“…Yes. Understood. I misspoke.”
Roman apologized with a look of realization and soon left the office.
The serious atmosphere made me feel uneasy as well.
‘It feels like I’ve overheard something I shouldn’t have…’
And perhaps Joy felt the same, as he silently conveyed his thoughts about whether to come again next time.
I nodded in agreement, indicating that it might be a good idea, and looked back at Evan once more before heading down.
Who was this man with red hair that they were searching for so desperately, causing such an expression on Evan’s face?
I could see various complex emotions rising on Evan’s face.
Among them, one emotion was particularly clear.
‘Desperation.’
The desperation emanating from his darkened face stirred my curiosity uncontrollably.
Just then, as I was staring blankly at Evan…
Clang─!
I was clinging to the window frame when the sudden shattering of the glass startled me so much that I froze in place.
Evan, who had been calmly sitting, naturally picked up his pen and threw it at the window.
Crash.
“You’ve hidden well like a little rat. Who sent you……”
Just then, as the window swung open violently, I locked eyes with Evan, who was holding a sword with a fierce expression.
Having been looking at Evan’s face from the start, I vividly sensed his face, filled with killing intent, transforming into one of confusion, shock, and embarrassment with every blink.
I heard the sound of his sword clattering to the ground as it slipped from his hand.
For a moment, we both stood there, frozen in shock.
Evan, regaining his composure first, urgently reached out and effortlessly lifted my body hanging from the window frame.
“What on earth are you doing in such a dangerous position! How did you get up here? No, more importantly, why are you hanging from the wall?”
I had to swallow hard while looking at his terrifying face, filled with anger.
“W-well…”
Turning my head to glance at the window, I couldn’t find the other person who should have been there.
‘We should have run away together! How could you escape alone like this!’
I was frustrated, but there was no time to dwell on that now.
I was more concerned about how my appearance—hanging from a third-floor office window in a dress—must look.
At that moment, Evan, who had been making a fearful face, began to turn my body around, checking me over.
“Are your eyes okay? Any other scratches?”
“Uh, yes?”
I stupidly replied with a dazed expression to his question.
“I mean the glass. Did any glass shards get in your eyes or scratch your skin?”
“Ugh?”
Evan, determined to verify with his own eyes that I had no injuries, wrapped his large hands around my face and swiftly turned it from side to side.
Though his grip was rough, I could feel that there was no strength in the hands holding my face.
As I found myself in his grasp, I suddenly recalled a similar incident from the past.
“I’m truly at a loss for words. I can’t believe it. How could you think of climbing the wall without any weapons? If the window had shattered and you had fallen…”
Seemingly shocked, Evan continued to mutter complaints while carefully examining my body.
After the shock of the window and his unreserved touch, I momentarily felt dazed.
I rolled my eyes and looked directly at Evan’s face, finally speaking up.
“I wanted to see you.”
As soon as my words fell, his busy hands, which had been moving to check me over, suddenly froze.
Evan then lifted his head and met my gaze directly.
It had been three days since we had properly looked at each other.
Since I was dangling in his arms, my eyes were higher than his.
In a position that felt like a reenactment of that day, I unconsciously raised my hand and touched Evan’s face, saying,
“Didn’t you want to see me?”
I could feel his facial muscles hardening like stone.
His sun-kissed skin gradually turned a shade of red before my eyes.
With his expression frozen and his complexion changing, he looked so terrifying that anyone else would have bolted in fear.
‘What am I going to do with him?’
But all I could see at that moment was the flustered face of a man who didn’t know what to do.
As I looked at his face, a playful side of me, which I didn’t even know existed, suddenly emerged.
“I missed you.”
Unlike Evan, I freed my hands and wrapped them around his neck, murmuring softly.
Evan, who had been quietly holding onto me, suddenly started to shudder like someone who had been burned.
“Let go, please. You can’t just brush this situation aside.”
However, the more he tried to release me and pull away, the closer our bodies ended up pressing against each other.
This was because I was still clinging to his neck with the arm I had draped over him earlier.
“Milady! Have you taken a liking to hanging onto things like this, including the wall?”
Just then, as Evan struggled to hide his incredulous expression while backing away with me still attached, he exclaimed,
“Ugh.”
“Ah!”
Evan, unable to avoid the pile of books stacked on the office floor, lost his balance.
As two adults fell in the same direction toward the bookshelf, the impact caused the loosely stacked books to tumble down from above.
But I didn’t feel any pain in my head at all.
The moment we fell, Evan had curled his body to shield me from the falling books.
“Are you okay?”
I quickly examined his body with a startled expression.
Fortunately, aside from his clothes being a bit disheveled, he seemed unharmed, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“…You’re fine, so please get down from there. It’s heavy.”
Evan, looking down at me as I fumbled to check on him, returned to his usual blunt tone.
‘His face…’
However, while his tone had returned to normal, his face still hadn’t.
Since I had nearly been trapped in his embrace while falling, I was now perched on his thigh.
Evan had been avoiding my gaze, waiting for me to move off him quickly.
‘Isn’t this too dangerous?’
I found myself absentmindedly admiring Evan’s face.
Warm sunset light began to filter through the large window.
Sitting atop him and watching his face gradually bathe in the sunset glow, I had to swallow hard.
A robust man, who had a fierce countenance and was known as a war demon to others, was now blushing a deep red in front of me, unable to do anything.
Could there really be a woman who would remain unaffected by this sight?
“Evan.”
I instinctively sensed that the “moment to pull” that Joy had mentioned was right now.
midori
thanks! hahahah the drama! a red-haired man huh? wonder who that is! could be a wig…or the person dyed their hair…