Ch#121
"Everyone! If you're done working, come in and have something cool! Our young ladies' faces are all burning up!"
From afar, Vanessa waved her hand and shouted.
Her voice was so powerful that it rang loudly in their ears despite the considerable distance to the mansion.
Thinking she truly deserved her position as the vanguard knight, they all hurried back to the mansion.
The maids, as if waiting, handed sherbet made from plums to Evi and Irene.
"Delicious..."
Watching Evi happily fill her mouth with the sweet and sour ice granules, Eric clicked his tongue while sorting grapes.
"Evi. Too much will upset your stomach."
Just then, Ain, passing by, patted Evi's head worriedly as well.
"If you feel sick at all, tell us right away."
Leon, who had just come in, topped Evi and Irene's sherbet bowls with freshly picked blueberries, grabbed one for himself, and headed inside.
The Marquis Ragselb mansion was always noisy and full of attention no matter where one was.
Evi loved that lively bustle.
'Reminds me of the Poorhouse.'
When she first arrived at the Poorhouse from the inn, the teachers and friends approaching her had all seemed scary and unpleasant.
But her friends didn't give up and kept circling around her.
"Play with me."
"Want some of my potato?"
"You read the picture book first."
Before she knew it, the clamor of many people had become familiar and comfortable.
That's why Evi really liked this similarly noisy place.
'Of course, Irene's house and Arsel's house were great too.'
It would be so nice if everyone could be together since they all liked it.
Then she turned her head and looked out the window. Toward the direction of the Imperial Palace.
'No reply yet.'
She had asked Duke Kailun to deliver her letter, but there was still no response from the emperor.
'He must be busy...'
Evi knew well how busy the emperor was.
After getting permission to enter the Main Palace, how many times had she gone to see him only to wait and leave without meeting?
The chamberlain had told her he was always packed with meetings and other duties, barely getting any rest.
'I hope Clois gets some rest too.'
Just like she had summer vacation, how nice would it be if the emperor had summer vacation too.
Perhaps noticing her slightly downcast mood.
Ruska, who had already finished his sherbet and was trying to steal Irene's only to get smacked on the head, rubbed the spot and said,
"Evi, anything you want for dinner?"
"Dinner?"
At Ruska's words, her slightly droopy eyes sparkled.
Evi always enjoyed meals, but especially at the marquis mansion, she looked forward to mealtime every day.
Because Ruska would make whatever she wanted to eat.
It was natural at the Poorhouse, and at the Genius Academy, she had to choose from the cafeteria menu.
At Irene's and Arsel's mansions, she hadn't said anything specific about food and just ate whatever was served well.
'I can eat what I want.'
Thanks to that, for the first time in her life, Evi got to ponder what to eat.
In the past, she would have worried if it was okay for her to choose...
'There's so much food here.'
As they operated a large knight order, the marquis mansion was surrounded by vast farms and orchards.
Under Marquis Ragselb's creed of 'He who does not work, neither shall he eat,' the knights had to help with farming and ranching besides training.
Thanks to that, Evi could wander around from morning till evening and obtain all sorts of ingredients under the knights' attention.
Yesterday, coming back with Irene and Ruska carrying a basket full of vegetables had been so much fun.
Having seen abundance all day, perhaps that's why Evi could now choose what she 'wanted to eat' without guilt.
She had even once brought a cookbook from the marquis mansion library and picked the tastiest-looking dish with the Ragselb brothers.
When she chose something that looked delicious, Ruska grumbled about it being difficult but always made it.
Recalling what had been the tastiest so far, Evi raised her hand high.
"I want that! The charcoal-grilled chicken legs!"
At Evi's words, Irene nodded too.
"Right, that was delicious. The sauce was good, but the seasoning on the chicken itself was great. Right, Evi?"
"Yes. It was kind of tangy..."
At Evi's mutter, Ruska's eyes widened.
"Wow, how did you know? I marinated the chicken legs in yogurt, seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled them over charcoal to make the skin crispy, then poured on tomato-vegetable sauce..."
Gulp.
At Ruska's explanation, Evi and Irene swallowed hard.
Dinner was already something to look forward to.
"Anyway, let's go get yogurt from the ranch."
At Ruska's words, Evi hurriedly grabbed her hat as if to say let's go quickly.
Naturally, Irene grabbed her hat too and stood, and the three headed out of the mansion again, discussing how many chicken legs to eat.
Vanessa cleared the remaining bowls and shouted to the departing children,
"Bring eggs too!"
Her face watching the children was full of smiles.
* * *
After that, the three roamed the marquis mansion together.
They ran around like puppies without rest, showering and changing several times a day.
Evi often wore pants Ruska said he had outgrown suddenly due to a growth spurt.
Irene, who had initially tried to stop them, soon wore comfortable pants too and ran around even more excitedly than Ruska and Evi.
They got scolded together by Vanessa for sliding down the stair railing, and on the day the kitchen staff baked cookies, they crawled the hallways together stealing cookies pocketfuls. (Naturally, they got caught, and Vanessa took all the remaining cookies.)
"Heh heh, what shall we do today."
Ruska was simply thrilled to have two people joining him now that his brothers weren't playing with him as much.
Then, as if struck by a good idea, he snapped his fingers.
"Let's go to the cabin in the forest at night!"
The cabin once used by the forester was now a storage shed for equipment used to manage the forest.
It was also the eeriest place in the marquis mansion.
"Even the knights say it's scary there. At night, ghosts come out of the forest...!"
"Eek!"
As Ruska raised his hands to scare them, Irene let out a short scream and swung her fist.
Thwack!
With a crisp sound, Ruska tumbled onto the sofa.
Watching from the side, eldest brother Ain clapped.
"Clean hook. Irene really has talent. The knight order might scout her before us."
"Oh brother, such praise is a bit embarrassing."
Then Ruska, who had fallen, sprang up and shouted,
"Talent? What talent? Talent for hitting people?"
As he pointed accusingly at Irene feeling wronged like he'd been betrayed, Irene swung her fist again with a whooshing sound.
"What talent? Talent for shutting your mouth."
"Argh! Brothers, save me!"
Naturally, no brother helped.
Then Evi, who had been watching the two, smiled and said,
"Ghosts aren't scary at all. The really scary thing is wolves."
At those words, Eric patted Evi's head proudly.
"Our Evi is so brave. Well, ghosts don't exist anyway."
But Evi shook her head and said,
"No, ghosts do exist."
At Evi's response, everyone quietly looked at her. It wasn't just talk; it was a response full of conviction.
"I've seen a lot in the forest. There are lots of ghosts wandering looking for their heads. But those ghosts are only interested in finding their heads and ignore living people as they pass by."
No one could speak at her calm explanation, as if she had truly seen them.
"But wolves are different. Their eyes flash in the dark, and if there's a living person, they keep following. When I stop walking, the wolf stops too, and when I walk, the wolf walks."
Irene, who had been listening dazedly, shuddered.
"Eek, Evi tells scary stories so well! I have goosebumps now!"
"It's true... I saw it..."
As Irene seemed not to believe her, Evi muttered sullenly.
"But if you encountered wolves like that, wouldn't they have already swallowed you whole?"
"Uh, that's..."
Evi rubbed the back of her right hand unconsciously and replied,
"I don't know... The wolves didn't eat me..."
She couldn't say that each time, a strange blotch appeared on her hand, and the wolves turned away.
It sounded like a lie even to her, and now there was nothing on her hand anyway.
'What if they think I'm a liar?'
As Evi regretted speaking up unnecessarily.
"Evi, by any chance, have you ever tripped while wandering the forest?"
Ruska asked an out-of-the-blue question.
"No?"
Thinking about it, she tripped often on paths, but never got caught on roots or anything in the forest.
"Ever gotten scratched by thorns?"
"That too..."
Her clothes tore sometimes, but she was never injured by thorns.
"You find your way well in the forest too."
"Yes. How did you know?"
As she wondered how Ruska knew something she hadn't even mentioned, the sound of a horse galloping came from outside.
Everyone looked toward the entrance wondering who it was, and soon a familiar person entered.
"Arsel!"
"Hello, Evi."
As Arsel smiled at Evi running toward him, Ruska sprang up and shouted,
"Irene alone is killing me, what if you come too... Gah!"
Irene poked his side hard with her finger, and Ruska clutched it staggering.
After Arsel finished greeting not just Irene but also Ruska's brothers he hadn't seen in a while, Ruska grabbed Arsel's arm and pulled him aside.
"What?"
He thought Ruska would tease him to go back quickly as usual.
"Just a moment, this way."
Ruska whispered so softly no one else could hear and led Arsel away.
Entering a nearby room and confirming no one was there, Ruska got straight to the point.
"Hey, even if you think I'm talking nonsense... Evi seems like Lilian's daughter."
"You noticed too?"
He expected a pitiful look like 'What nonsense,' but Arsel looked at him as if to say 'Finally.'
Ruska's mouth fell open.
"You've already suspected?"
"Yeah. There were too many things that kept bothering me oddly."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"How do you casually say something like this."
"Still!"
As Ruska looked wronged like he'd been betrayed, Arsel sighed and said,
"Anyway, good. Now that you suspect too..."
Arsel said in a serious voice.
"Let's confirm it together."
