Chapter 58
Evangeline suggested Gabriel return home, saying she was tired from dancing. With no further reason to stay at Rohanson Mansion, they bid farewell, leaving a lingering unease like sticky residue. This time, Evangeline did not offer her hand.
It felt like walking over a swamp. His steps were unusually heavy. He repeatedly turned back after a few paces to glance at Rohanson Mansion. But the curtains were tightly drawn, hiding the interior from view.
"Are you heading back?"
Having dawdled longer than usual, he ran into Kanna strolling in the garden. In her arms was the cat he had seen at the orphanage before.
The cat that had played in Gabriel's arms was nowhere to be seen, and now it didn't even acknowledge him. Cats were fickle creatures by nature, so Gabriel soon lost interest.
"Miss Kanna, it's been a while."
Gabriel greeted her politely, feigning composure.
No matter how turbulent his insides churned, maintaining a calm facade had been second nature since childhood.
The red flower that Evangeline Rohanson had uniquely uprooted and transplanted into a glass case shyly trembled its leaves. Gabriel knew well that this flower could only breathe within its owner's coffin.
"Did you see it?"
Instead of a greeting, an abrupt question returned. Even without a subject, he understood what it meant.
"You saw the lady, right?"
Kanna was the only one in the mansion who called Evangeline "the lady." If the past Evangeline had been everyone's lady, Kanna's lady was singularly unique.
Likewise, only the two monsters and Kanna could properly see these things in the mansion. Hena occasionally glimpsed them thanks to the eyes Pudding had attached, and Daisy was the same. Sometimes, on whims, even the servants caught sight of what Kanna saw. The fear they felt each time...
Daisy had been like that too. After stirring trouble between Hena and Kanna at first—disliking Daisy—Kanna had nearly burst into laughter upon hearing Daisy had fled in terror at mere snowballs.
Of course, now that her sister and Daisy got along well, she could fully understand. It was simply upsetting to the faint-hearted.
Was this seemingly steadfast knight faint-hearted too? His face was exceptionally pale, as if gripped by fear.
"Sir Gabriel. If you wish to love the lady, you must endure it. You must love even this."
Kanna was glad to encounter an unexpected ally. So she offered generous advice. Though the cat in her arms swatted her arm as if to say it was futile, she could at least advise as a senior.
Lord Pudding truly has a nasty temper. In the first place, those things were byproducts of the cat trying to expand its territory. The cat liked the lady and tested Gabriel, who had begun showing interest in her. Without accepting even the side shown by the cat, one could never handle the lady. And the result, as such, earned the cat's disappointment.
"If you endure, you can be loved. She envies you, after all."
"She envies me? Me?"
Gabriel might deny it, but Kanna remembered that moment vividly.
The day they first visited the Grand Temple, the look in his eyes as he watched Kanna, sheltered by the lady. It was the gaze of longing from one who lacked. Proof of envy.
To Kanna, Gabriel was a man parched with thirst. A well couldn't quench him, so he passed it by; he ignored even the river. But what if he encountered the sea?
He'd probably leap in and deem drowning blissful. He'd ignore the coughs from saltwater, the sting in his eyes. Rather, he'd think himself submerged in sugar syrup.
"You already know from Daisy that the lady isn't an ordinary human, right?"
The documents Daisy had prepared to report Evangeline had been entrusted to Kanna, so she knew every detail. Her heart had sunk when the lady asked for the papers back after she'd destroyed them fearing discovery.
"You saw it and knew, so why look so scared?"
Kanna asked genuinely puzzled. It meant she couldn't understand Gabriel's lukewarm attitude. Gabriel averted his eyes and swallowed his answer. Contrary to Kanna's thoughts, Gabriel wasn't scared of what the cat had shown. The blood-speckled scene induced nausea more than fear.
"Did you think the lady was some winged angel? And since she's different from what you imagined?"
Just as she said, Gabriel was frightened because of Evangeline. Because she wasn't in the mirror, he feared she might be a non-existent illusion. Because her low body temperature against his skin and the faintly beating heart felt futile. Because Evangeline seemed truly like a corpse. It reminded him of his childhood days, carrying a dead child on his back while running.
"I see. You already knew, but couldn't accept it."
As the priest who handled the funeral and Daisy had said back then, Evangeline Rohanson had truly been dead. Yet Gabriel wanted to treat Evangeline as a living person.
Was that why Evangeline got angry? For showing interest without properly grasping who she was?
"I'm running late, so I'll take my leave. Thank you for the advice."
With no more to discuss with Kanna, Gabriel bowed silently and departed. Unlike moments ago, his steps were now swift.
"If you run away, Sir, that's fine by me."
Kanna murmured watching his retreating figure. The cat clicked its tongue in disapproval.
If Gabriel couldn't overcome this trial, then Kanna alone on earth would be the one human to fully love the lady. Exclusive possession would bring utmost joy. Yet on the other hand, she hoped the things the lady cherished would multiply further.
The wind blew, scattering petals. Kanna enjoyed the brilliant sight, catching the cherry blossoms as if they were snowflakes.
"It's spring."
Time was June, past spring. Yet on this summer night, the cherry blossoms—the pride of Count Rohanson's family, brought by the late countess—still bloomed beautifully without fading.
