Chapter 062
I stretched out both hands, just like Joy had done earlier, and pressed against the wall, trapping Evan.
“What are you doing right now?”
As our bodies drew closer, I could see his eyes narrowing sharply.
Despite that, his flushed face made him look anything but threatening.
“Why have you been avoiding me all this time?”
“Avoiding? Who says I’ve been avoiding you? That’s never happened.”
“Really? Then I guess it was just my misunderstanding?”
Evan, seemingly pricked by my question, retorted defensively, but he fell silent at my next inquiry.
His easy-to-read reaction almost made me laugh, but I managed to compose myself and continued speaking.
“Are you busy tomorrow?”
Evan raised one eyebrow as if to ask why I was inquiring about that, answering without words.
“I’m going to Delling Street tomorrow. Would you like to come with me? It would be even better if you could protect me like last time.”
“You have the guards, don’t you? Take them with you.”
I narrowed my eyes at his cold rejection.
Surprisingly faced with a solid wall, I decided to push a little harder.
“If you agree to come with me, I’ll let you go.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard a scoff from him.
He looked utterly incredulous.
But I had already decided on my response to this question, and he had to give that answer to escape my grasp.
“Are you going to keep doing this?”
When I asked again with a teasing tone, he seemed to lose his patience, wrinkling his nose and finally speaking.
“Fine. I get it, so please move aside now!”
“Okay.”
At his response, I lightly brushed off my thighs as if to say I had been holding on for too long and stood up.
“Should I help you up?”
I reached out my hand to Evan, who was still seated after I had gotten up first.
“…No, it’s fine.”
He replied, his head bowed, looking noticeably more tired compared to a few minutes ago.
Seeing Evan still sitting on the floor, catching his breath, I couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter.
‘He’s really soft.’
Even though he seemed sharp and bristly, when you got close enough to touch him, the prickly side would be startled and fold away all at once.
He could have easily pushed me away with strength and made an excuse to refuse to come.
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“Customer! Your face looks better after just one day. You really took my advice, didn’t you?”
It was just before we set off for Delling Street, and I was doing a final check to make sure I had all my potions.
Joy approached me from behind, speaking in a friendly manner.
Glancing at Joy, I turned my head away and spoke.
“Enough, you traitor.”
A blunt tone slipped out of my mouth.
And rightly so; the feeling of betrayal I harbored towards Joy, who had run away alone yesterday, hadn’t dissipated yet.
No matter how much I could spend time with Evan today thanks to Joy, that was a separate issue.
“Hey, why are you being like this? If you and I had been caught hanging out the window together yesterday, that would have looked even weirder!”
Joy protested with an aggrieved tone, claiming it was all for my sake.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with what Joy said.
If we had really been caught by Evan hanging on the wall like that, the situation would never have played out like yesterday.
‘Well, I’m not really that angry, though.’
Still, he looked too lighthearted for me to be happy just seeing his face, so I decided to wait a bit longer before accepting his apology.
“But still, huh? Even in that urgent moment when I was running away, I wrapped a shield around you so you wouldn’t get hurt!”
“A shield?”
“Yeah! How sharp is broken glass? If it had poured down on you, you would have gotten really hurt.”
Only then did I recall my body, which had been fine despite being hit by glass shards yesterday.
At the time, the embarrassment of being caught by Evan had overshadowed everything else, so I hadn’t noticed that detail.
I could see Joy’s shoulders straighten proudly as he noticed my previously stiff expression loosening up.
“I won’t charge you extra for the magic I used yesterday. It’s a service for a special customer.”
Watching Joy’s demeanor change like flipping a page, I couldn’t help but smile and nod.
“Thank you.”
As a smile spread across my face, Joy returned to his usual playful tone, no longer watching my expression.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
“Okay. Have a good time with your husband.”
“…It’s not like I’m going for fun, you know?”
I shot Joy a sideways glance as he greeted me with a knowing tone.
Then Joy, who had been chuckling softly, bowed his head as if to say he would match my rhythm.
“Oh dear, my mistake. Please go and check on the people’s livelihoods—”
It was annoying, but it was also funny, and just as I was about to say I would be back, I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Dahlia.”
I quickly turned my body around at the sound of Evan’s voice.
“Evan! You’re here?”
Standing where I turned my gaze was Evan, dressed in casual clothes that I had seen once before.
‘Somehow, he looks much more natural now.’
He often wore comfortable clothing even at the castle, but when he donned attire typical of commoners, the atmosphere changed completely.
Perhaps due to the strong sense of casualness, Evan now exuded the vibe of a free mercenary belonging to a street mercenary group.
“Your outfit looks great.”
Evan responded to my compliment with a scoff.
At that moment, Joy attempted to greet Evan in a bright voice.
“Hey, husband! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I almost forgot what your face looked like since I haven’t seen you lately.”
Evan, who had been looking at Joy with a slightly puzzled expression, silently picked up the box next to him and then looked at me.
“Are these all the potions you need to take?”
“Oh, yes! I already moved the other potions yesterday, so you just need to take those.”
“Then let’s set off now.”
Watching Evan walk away quickly with the box, I felt a bit bewildered and hurried to catch up with him.
“Seriously! It’s like they’re not even a couple. I’m so frustrated!”
From behind, I heard Joy stamping his feet and lamenting in disbelief, but I soon pushed it out of my mind as I chased after Evan.
Just as I was quickly descending the mountain path with a sense of urgency.
“There are many tree roots. Take your time; I’m not going anywhere.”
The path was a bit rough, and I was focused on the ground when I heard Evan’s familiar blunt voice nearby.
Thinking he had already gone ahead with quick steps, I was surprised to find him standing not far away, looking blankly at me.
“Did you wait for me?”
Carefully avoiding the tree roots, I reached Evan’s front and greeted him with the same pleasant smile as before.
“Didn’t you say we should go together?”
Evan replied bluntly without any change in expression.
He then turned his body and started walking again.
As I walked alongside him down the mountain path, the earlier situation kept swirling in my mind.
‘Now that I think about it, when he called my name just a moment ago…’
It felt oddly nostalgic, and I brushed my arm as if to shake off a tingling sensation on my skin.
I thought I had grown accustomed to him calling my name, but after realizing my feelings for Evan, it felt different in meaning.
I subtly rolled my eyes to sneak a glance at Evan beside me.
“What is it?”
I was caught immediately.
Ignoring his sharp response that came at me like a dart, I threw out the question I wanted to ask.
“Are you busy tomorrow?”
“I am busy.”
His answer came without a moment’s hesitation, and I looked at Evan with my eyes half-open.
It was as if he had already predetermined the answer to the question about his busyness.
Previously, when I heard that he was busy, I would have accepted it readily, thinking he must be very busy, but not anymore.
“Then how about the day after tomorrow?”
“I am busy.”
“Then what about the day after that?”
“……”
Before I could hear him say he wasn’t busy, it seemed he caught on to my intention to keep asking, and Evan’s lips pressed into a straight line.
