Chapter 57
While Lady Rohanson was briefly away trying on the dress, Gabriel had a short conversation with Daisy. It seemed as though Evangeline had deliberately stepped out to give them time to talk.
"I received the message about Mr. Phonor. It seems the lady intends to keep her by her side."
"Yes. The lady said she seems truly remorseful, so it looks like she's pleased with her."
The fact that she would keep even a spy sent by Javania Bishop close by meant she must have taken a real liking to her. Fortunately, Evangeline's secrets hadn't leaked out.
Javania Bishop must have been quite anxious since Dolliné Phonor's letters hadn't arrived. He'd even subtly asked Gabriel about the home tutors Lady Rohanson had hired.
"I gave the bishop an appropriate brush-off."
"I see."
Daisy organized the words she needed to pass on from the butler. Then she looked at Gabriel with a peculiar gaze.
She wondered why this knight, who should rightly follow the sun god, was taking the lady's side. He hadn't even received help like Daisy had.
According to Kanna, Gabriel had expressed a friendly stance toward the lady from the beginning. Hearing that made Daisy realize, back when she was a nun, that she'd misidentified her target in reporting Lady Rohanson's wrongdoing. Now, thanks to that, she could protect the lady's secrets.
"Sir Gabriel, why do you stay by the lady's side?"
Gabriel seemed poised to dodge Daisy's sudden question. Before he could change the subject, she pressed once more.
"Is there something you want from her?"
Or was it really as Sir Raphaella said, that he was bewitched? Daisy interrogated sharply. Gabriel noticed her determination to extract an answer. Something he wanted, indeed.
"Yes. There is."
Amusingly, she was right. Gabriel wasn't one to act without purpose, and he did want something from Lady Rohanson. Publicly, it was to clean up the sorcery circle's influence. Privately….
That day when flames flickered, the vivid image of her white hair dyed crimson by the firelight came to mind. If Gabriel's feelings had stopped at their first encounter with Evangeline, he would have handed over her personal details to the temple long ago instead of protecting her.
At first, it was curiosity. Like a flower blooming without leaves on a dry dead tree, he was intrigued by the corpse moving while defying divine power. Next came fear. He dreaded what she might do once she shed Evangeline Rohanson's guise. So he tried to humor her to avoid offending her.
Change happens unexpectedly. A tsunami crashed over Gabriel in an instant.
When he heard Lady Rohanson had unusually saved the orphanage children, faint hope stirred. Feeling the slow heartbeat, he realized Evangeline was alive.
So when she said there was no way to save Viscount Toten, he dared to feel disappointment. Unconsciously, he'd been overlaying his own past onto the viscount.
Because he'd imagined young Evangeline Rohanson promising him salvation, he arbitrarily felt let down when she said there was no way.
He'd assumed an omnipotent, transcendent being could perform miracles beyond human capability. He'd selfishly thought her human-like at times, yet inhuman here.
He'd arbitrarily expected Evangeline Rohanson to be different from the past ones.
Paradoxically, through that ignorant disappointment, Gabriel realized he was slowly opening his heart to her.
"Sir Gabriel?"
So he didn't want to let go of the hand Evangeline had offered first. It was embarrassing to realize, like a fool unaware of his own emotions, that he'd clung to her hand childishly without even noticing.
Before Gabriel could compose himself, Evangeline returned after finishing the fitting.
"Sir Gabriel, what do you think of the lady?"
Gabriel looked at Evangeline.
"It suits her well."
The dress, crafted by Artemisia over days and nights, seemed to clearly know for whom it was made, fitting its owner perfectly.
Gabriel tried not to let his gaze linger on her exposed white neck. It felt sinful to steal glances when he and Lady Rohanson weren't in any special relationship.
Unaware of Gabriel's feelings, Artemisia kept urging him to look at Evangeline and give a proper review. When he couldn't, she offered examples, spouting all sorts of praises. Wasn't it just that she wanted to praise her herself?
Schmitiana circled Evangeline boldly, her cheeks flushed. That demeanor was identical to Michel, who had teared up and whined that morning about wanting to greet Lady Rohanson. Watching, Raphaella clicked her tongue, saying blood couldn't be fooled.
Unlike Michel, Artemisia didn't seem to have any particularly likable qualities, so what had happened while staying at Rohanson Mansion?
"Like an angel!"
"Right! Mary did great!"
"Like a fairy!"
"Exactly!"
Artemisia and the child traded praises in perfect rhythm. Evangeline watched their chatty display with an unusually softened expression, like observing chirping birds.
It was the same arrogant indifference as always, unpaired and aloof, but Gabriel sensed a faint warmth from her. Perhaps it was his imagination.
Getting a dress fitted like an ordinary noble lady and indulging a child's noisy chatter made her seem like the true Evangeline Rohanson.
Lady Rohanson appeared to be growing accustomed to her human guise. More precisely, she was becoming closer to 'Evangeline Rohanson.' Or perhaps Gabriel was simply becoming more swayed, seeing it that way.
Noticing Gabriel lost in thought, Schmitiana demanded a retest.
"Now, sir! You know what to say, right?"
Her own impression? The examples from the two so far were all the world's beautiful nouns. Fairies, angels? Gabriel thought of something non-overlapping, recalling a familiar phrase. It came from the words Mary mentioned—angel.
Among the words on the white note from Donau's ashes, the most memorable was 'angel of light.' No words better suited Evangeline Rohanson. Angel was already used, leaving one.
"Lady Rohanson is like the brightest star."
Light itself, literally. He called her the brightest star, but truly, more modifiers were needed.
Evangeline Rohanson shone with eerie brilliance. Among things rising shunning the sun, was there anything brighter?
"I'll be off now! Have a good time."
Amid it all, Schmitiana grinned slyly, as if lost in some lewd thought, and left with the other two.
The briefly open door closed again, sealing them off from the outside. Only Gabriel and Evangeline remained in the world.
"Shall we dance one song?"
This time, Gabriel offered his hand first. He didn't know why Evangeline had requested a dance, but it was good for him since he could hold her hand longer. Gabriel's body temperature was quite high, so holding on might dispel her chill.
"One song won't be enough."
She'd asked him to be a practice partner fearing mistakes since she'd never danced before. But Evangeline surely memorized the steps. She remembered things she was interested in or needed to well.
Of course, getting into that category was hard. Last time, Michel had soaked his pillow crying that Lady Rohanson didn't recognize him.
"I'll match you as many times as needed."
So Evangeline requesting a dance must be to immerse in the role of 'Evangeline Rohanson.'
Why would light take on Evangeline Rohanson's guise? He couldn't imagine the patience needed for a being scorning humans to pretend to be one.
Gabriel placed his hand on Evangeline's waist and took position. He was delighted by her leaning into him.
No accompaniment played. But if a song flowed now, it would surely be a dirge for Gabriel.
While Evangeline was trying on the dress, sunset fell, and darkness flickered beyond the drawn curtains. Daisy, checking the time as the sun set, drew the curtains.
With curtains drawn, the room grew dimmer. In the dark world, only Evangeline sparkled purely. Monopolizing even surrounding light, the area sank deeper into shadow, making the star stand out more.
Gabriel thought himself the dark ring around the star. Having his light stolen, yet unable to leave her side, orbiting with gaze fixed.
"That's what happens when I take you in."
Gabriel wasn't alone. Those trembling in fear and dread stayed once entering the garden Evangeline tended, with no thought of leaving. Her cherished maids, the children she saved, Michel, even Schmitiana. All turning from the sun they'd once faced, gazing at the same light.
"My beliefs too."
Philosophy.
"And ideals."
All he'd built since birth felt futile.
"You seem to rebuild the world arbitrarily from the start."
That was Evangeline's influence. Like a new milestone erected.
If not Evangeline, Gabriel wouldn't care for transcendent beings. If not her, Daisy wouldn't return to Rohanson Mansion. Schmitiana wouldn't abandon long-held principles to make clothes outside her taste.
"That sounds like a confession."
Evangeline spoke with evident discomfort.
A confession…. It wasn't that warm, sweet sentiment. Even Gabriel couldn't name it. Was it fear, or terror? Being with Evangeline chilled him, like facing something alien. His heart trembled as witnessing something eerie.
When she shed her ordinary noble lady guise, revealing arrogant boredom, it terrified him yet he couldn't look away. If naming it, it was closest to curiosity now. Like peeking through a slightly open door. That must be why he'd protected her, deceiving even the temple.
"You like me?"
So instead of correcting, Gabriel watched her reaction. He judged claiming fondness would sound better than admitting curiosity.
But his choice was wrong. He'd touched a reverse scale.
Her faintly smiling face froze, expression vanishing. It felt like returning to their first meeting. The budding emotion vanished, leaving only cold shards.
Evangeline Rohanson was a star in the sky. Falling to touch earth, its light too much—the world would shatter.
Yet Gabriel now realized even fallen stars warp. The horror born from base desire to pull her down.
"Without knowing who I am?"
Evangeline looked at Gabriel. Eyes like flowing blood.
Then, anomaly struck.
The candle flickered. Vision trapped in darkness as if eyes vanished, then suddenly lit, clearing. Was the room this vast? Something twisted. Wax dripped from the ceiling.
The brightened world differed entirely from before.
Walls and furniture covered in fibers. Flesh pulsed proving life. Eyes dangled from the ceiling, sprouting from crevices. They blinked at varied speeds.
Each spin burst squishy things underfoot. Nausea rose; Gabriel bit his lower lip.
In the red filth world, only Evangeline Rohanson gleamed pure white. Gaze only on her, but her red pupils prevented eye contact. Her eyes felt like this place's heart. The heart whispered at his ear.
"Sir Gabriel, just match me appropriately."
A gentle, paternal voice unlike rebuke. The soft timbre seduced like a forked devil's tongue, or guided him rightly.
Punishing his overreach? Evangeline noticed his tension, lightly stroking his shoulder.
History repeated. Like at Rohanson Mansion when warning him for overstepping.
Was she expressionless now too? Fearing to face it, Gabriel looked to the mirror as second best.
The mirror world lacked filth. Clean room view brought relief. That must be real. Believing so, he kept gazing. Seeing himself dance, he bit his lip hard. Salty blood taste spread.
No Evangeline Rohanson in the mirror. If that was real, she didn't exist in the world.
Vision flickered again. As if that was all to show, the room regained color, deathly quiet.
"Shall we stop?"
Face pitying an ant drowning in syrup.
That signaled; blocked breath cleared. Gabriel inhaled. Faded sweet flower scent from Evangeline. As she pulled away, it receded from his nose.
Evangeline stepped back, sketched pose grabbing dress hem, slight bow. Rising, she looked utterly serene.
"I rather like you."
Evangeline smiled softly, eyes crinkling. A smile Jim Nofedi would sell his soul to paint.
Evangeline glanced at the mirror, checking her guise. Gabriel looked too. The mirror showed expressionless Evangeline Rohanson.
