Ch#115
"Evi, long time no see! Arsel too!"
Evi blinked her puffy eyes slowly, still heavy with sleep.
Arsel glared at him with eyes full of irritation.
In front of the two, Ruska waved his hand with a bright smile.
"No way, neither of you wrote even one letter? Ah, of course I didn't write either. Anyway, are you ready to go? Hurry up and wash your face so we can leave!"
"Ruska Ragselb... Do you even know what time it is right now?"
"Now? Around six? We left home at five. I hurried because I wanted to see you guys."
Ruska acted as if leaving at that time was perfectly natural.
Arsel looked at Evi, who was yawning softly, and said to the butler,
"Drag that guy out."
"What? Hey! Hey! Arsel!"
As the butler stood awkwardly between the two, the duke came out from inside.
"What's going on? What's with the commotion this early in the morning?"
"Ah, Duke!"
Ruska waved desperately upon seeing Duke Kailun.
"Save me! Arsel told them to drag me out! I just came to pick up Evi!"
"What? You came to pick up Evi?"
"Yes, I wanted to take Evi quickly..."
"Drag that guy out."
"Duuuuke!"
* * *
The dawn commotion finally ended thanks to the duke's order for the sweating Ruska to wash up before coming back.
"Ahh, refreshing."
Ruska came down, vigorously drying his short hair with a towel.
He visited so often that he even had his own room and wardrobe in the Duke's Mansion.
The duke's staff weren't surprised at all by his sudden arrival.
'But why today of all days...'
The moment he entered the drawing room, Ruska felt the servants' piercing gazes, something he'd never experienced before.
Their looks were as if Ruska had snatched and run off with something precious from the Duke's Mansion.
Ruska wasn't a fool. He could easily guess why their stares were so cold.
'How could I not know when they're clinging to her like that.'
Evi, freshly washed and changed, sat on the drawing room sofa.
No matter how much fun she'd had yesterday, her eyes still bore traces of sleepiness even after washing up.
Interestingly, Arsel was the same.
"You two must've had a blast? Why do you both look like sickly chickens about to keel over?"
"Mm... It was fun. I hadn't had a pillow fight in forever."
"Pillow fight?"
Ruska's eyes widened at Evi's words.
"Ruska, you don't know what that is?"
"No, I know... but..."
How could he not know? His childhood was filled with nightly beatings from his brothers with pillows.
It got so bad that Marquis Ragselb had to rush in yelling, "Enough, you lot! The head maid is crying because she can't keep mending pillows!"
What surprised Ruska wasn't the pillow fight itself, but the opponent.
"Who'd you do it with? The maids?"
"No. With Arsel."
"...?"
At Evi's answer, Ruska gaped and turned to Arsel sitting beside her.
"This guy? Had a pillow fight?"
"Yes. Arsel's really good at it. Better than my Poorhouse friends, so if we team up later, I'll be on Arsel's side. We'd win for sure."
Hearing Evi's firm resolution, Ruska looked aggrieved and shouted,
"You! When I suggested it, you told me to shut up and sleep!"
Ignoring Ruska's outburst, Arsel handed Evi lukewarm tea with a bright smile.
"It was really fun yesterday, right?"
"Yes! Let's do it again sometime!"
Last night, not only Evi and Arsel but the maids and even Duchess Kailun had joined in a massive pillow fight.
Running around the large room swinging soft pillows had been so much fun.
They'd cleared away anything dangerous beforehand and gone all out, losing track of time until late into the night.
As Evi reminisced happily, Arsel replied as if he'd been waiting.
"Yeah, when Evi comes next month, we'll do it again."
"Yes!"
Before they knew it, her next visit had naturally become next month.
Noticing that, Ruska narrowed his eyes and glared at Arsel.
'Ugh, that sly fox. Look at that smile.'
He knew Arsel stuck close to Evi at the Genius Academy, but he'd taken even better care of her here.
'More than I thought.'
Had this guy ever clung to anyone like that?
'Good for him, but...'
Seeing his ice-cold friend smiling as he fed Evi fruit gave him chills.
"Miss, could you check your things upstairs one more time? We packed them, but just in case something's missing."
"Yes!"
At the mention of her things, Evi jumped up from her seat.
Irene's clothes were important, but the magic stone from the emperor and the wooden squirrel doll from the raffle were what Evi guarded with her life.
That's why before the pillow fight yesterday, she'd carefully tucked them into the desk drawer first.
"I'll be right back!"
Evi grabbed the maids' hands and dashed outside.
The maids, wanting to spend even a moment more with Evi before she left the mansion, followed in a group.
The now-quiet drawing room left only Ruska and Arsel.
With his hair fully dry, Ruska tossed the towel aside and popped into his mouth some fruit Evi hadn't finished.
"Must've been fun, huh?"
"Yeah. A lot."
Arsel admitted it so readily without denial that even teasing him felt pointless.
Then something occurred to him.
"Isn't the duke busy? My father went to the Imperial Palace yesterday. He doesn't even stay a full day usually."
"My father too. He's heading to the palace this afternoon. He delayed a bit to see Evi off."
At Arsel's answer, Ruska's expression hardened.
"As expected... it's because of Siren, right?"
Ruska ground his teeth saying the name.
Siren. Clois's brother and the former emperor's confidant.
He was skilled in rhetoric and manipulating people's hearts from the start.
That's how he gained the former emperor's full trust, who always felt inferior to Clois, by telling him exactly what he wanted to hear.
It wasn't just rhetoric.
His rise to Minister of State at a young age under the former emperor came from ruthlessly psychologically attacking his enemies.
Crushing what his opponents cherished and loved most.
That was Siren's specialty.
'That's why His Majesty suffered for so long.'
After becoming emperor, Clois was plagued by deep depression.
Had he lost a part of his body, it might not have been this bad. But he had lost every reason to live.
Those close to him all knew that without Lilian's words, he would have ended his life long ago.
That's why they were determined to kill that bastard, but with his cunning skills, he slipped through the encirclement and vanished.
Despite continued pursuit, seven years later, he still hadn't been caught.
"He didn't say anything, but he looked more serious than usual. Must've gotten a crucial lead on Siren's whereabouts."
At Arsel's words, Ruska bit his lip.
It was Siren who told the former emperor to kill Lilian, saying it was the way to utterly destroy Clois.
It was also Siren who ordered Lilian and Princess Evebien's bodies mutilated and dumped openly below the castle walls.
"This time... I hope they catch him."
Ruska vowed.
If that bastard appeared before him, he'd plunge a knife into him somewhere for sure.
* * *
"I'm off!"
"Alright. Have a safe trip."
With that, Duchess Kailun tightly hugged Evi, whom the maids had even fitted with a hat meticulously.
Evi hugged her back with a smile.
The duchess's embrace, which she received several times a day, was always warm and cozy.
Leaving it felt regrettable and lonely, but now it was time to head to Ruska's house.
"Thank you so much for sorting the music room so well. So..."
Duchess Kailun took out a shiny gold coin and placed it in Evi's hand.
"This is a bonus. I'll be waiting for next vacation too, so come back for sure."
"Yes! Thank you."
Evi's eyes sparkled at the coin for a moment before she politely received it with both hands and bowed her head.
As if even that was cute, Duchess Kailun hugged her again and kissed her cheek.
"If you want to play more instruments, come with Arsel whenever you go out. And if you want to come here after graduating from the Genius Academy, you're always welcome."
At her words, Evi grinned broadly.
To think another place besides the Poorhouse welcomed her—this felt so good.
It gave her a sense of security like having the winter storehouse fully stocked.
After Evi finished her goodbyes, Ruska lifted her up and helped her mount comfortably.
As Evi waved from the horse, the maids waved back with smiles.
"Have a safe trip, miss!"
At their farewell, Ruska looked exasperated.
True to the Duke Kailun household maids, they were sly too.
Not "farewell," but "safe trip back."
As if naturally implying Evi belonged at the duke's.
'I'm not losing either.'
Ruska pulled the excited Evi—claiming it was her first time on a horse—into his arms and turned the horse's head.
Arsel was glaring daggers from in front of the mansion, but...
'Not my problem.'
He'd begged his father and brought Elishia, the finest steed in the Marquis Ragselb territory—no, the entire empire.
Fortunately, Elishia seemed to like Evi, stepping carefully.
Thanks to that, Evi could ride without fear despite it being her first time.
"Then we're off!"
"Whatever, if Evi gets tired, put her in the carriage right away."
"Of course. We'll take it easy, and switch to the carriage when we speed up."
With that, Ruska set off slowly with Evi aboard.
"Bye! I'll come again!"
As Evi waved from Ruska's arms and departed, Duchess Kailun and the maids waved until she was out of sight, faces full of reluctance.
"Have a safe trip!"
"We'll be waiting, Miss Evi!"
"Have fun!"
Arsel, who had been watching, turned immediately once Evi and Ruska were fully gone and headed to his room.
He opened the desk drawer and rechecked the message that had arrived from Riden that morning.
"That child is scheduled to visit Madam Crevel's Shop again today..."
Confirming the contents once more, he instructed a servant to prepare for going out and changed clothes.
While Evi was under Ruska's—or precisely, the Marquis Ragselb family's—protection, he had much to investigate.
* * *
And two hours later.
Upon arriving at the Marquis Ragselb Mansion, Ruska scowled and yelled at the person waiting for them.
"Hey! Irene, why are you at my house!"
