<Episode 27>
Eveline said nothing.
She briskly shook the water off her hair and wiped herself down with the towel Abellard had given her. She had neatly folded it on the floor, but Abellard sat on it, leaving creases from where he had sat..
Abellard’s attention was fully focused on Eveline as she gracefully emerged from the water, swiftly drying herself and dressing in a captivating manner. Despite his eyes being shielded by a cravat, he keenly registered every sound in vivid detail.
“Brother.”
“…”
“Abellard.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know why we came to this island, Abellard?”
After bowing his head for a moment at her words, he chuckled lightly.
“No.”
“You’re still not good at lying.”
“…”
After fully dressing, Eveline untied the cravat around his face. Then he chuckled and got up from his seat.
With a gun in hand, Eveline stepped forward and started walking.
Abellard wanted to follow her quickly, but wanting to slow down, he grabbed her finger and said,
“Let’s go slowly. I’m in too much pain.”
“Okay.”
She couldn’t refuse Abellard’s words, which still seemed to be heavily influenced by sickness. She was more concerned about his pretending to be fine while looking sick.
“I’m sorry for bringing Duke Croppers.”
“Why?”
“Because, brother. No, we might need your divine powers.”
“I’m not going to use it. I’ll only use it when Eve tells me to?”
“You refused when asked by His Grace Elkais last time.”
“When? I don’t remember.”
Eveline chuckled at Abellard’s playful tone.
Eveline decided to let him hold her ring finger as well.
“Eve.”
“Yes?”
“This would look pretty on Eve’s head.”
“It’s a belladonna.”
“Yeah.”
He momentarily pulled her hand and inserted the flower into her ear. The purple flower matched well with her red hair.
“Do you know this is a poisonous plant?”
“Yeah. I’ve tried eating it.”
“…?”
Eveline was speechless. Abellard seemed to know what she was weak against.
He could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression.
“Did you eat it?”
“Yeah. But the flower’s fine. It’s the leaves and berries that are the problem.”
“…?”
She swallowed her words, thinking he might say he knows because he’s tried eating them.
But since she turned away and started walking again, she didn’t see Abellard discreetly tucking the belladonna’s berries and leaves into his clothes.
It was quite some time before they reached the cabin.
When they returned, Elkais also seemed to have brought back Duke Rubellite Croppers, as his body was still wet.
“Nice to see you again, Lady.”
Duke Rubellite Croppers spoke as if he didn’t remember what happened earlier.
Eveline held out her hand as he extended his. He then shook her hand up and down like shaking hands and laughed.
“But lady.”
“Yes?”
“Did you bathe? Why does it still smell?”
“Duke Croppers smells too.”
“Hahaha. Your personality remains the same.”
Eveline didn’t mean to mock him. He really did smell awful to her.
Elkais seemed completely oblivious.
It seemed only Abellard and Eveline knew about the smell coming from Rubellite.
Unable to endure the stench, Abellard let go of Eveline’s hand and found something nearby that looked like a laundry clip and plugged his nose.
“Are you sure you’ve washed this fucker? I can smell the rotten fish!”
“Don’t you see?”
Annoyed, Abellard asked Elkais.
It was clear he had bathed. The black things on his face were all wiped away, and his hair, which had looked brown from the dirt, had turned into a fantastic silver.
“By the way, are the four of us sleeping in this cabin?”
“Yes.”
“Then it might be dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous?”
Eveline asked, distancing herself from Rubellite.
Elkais realized that Eveline wasn’t joking about the smell coming from him.
“Lady is a beta, right? If she’s a beta, even an omega would be attracted.”
“…”
“I don’t think there’s a single person in the country who doesn’t know that the princess has a crush on my brother, let alone one who looks exactly like him.”
Eveline momentarily remembered that Lady Eveline Wilden might have hated Abellard because she loved the crown prince.
She stared at Rubellite Croppers for a moment.
He had silver hair with gold strands. His face was handsome. It seemed gentle, but his words were not very polite.
“Do you think my Eve would like someone like you?”
“My Eve? Who are you talking about? You’ve been quite rude since earlier.”
It was natural that Rubellite Croppers didn’t recognize Abellard. Abellard looked very different now.
But if you looked closely, the beautiful face remained.
“Could it be, Lord Wilden?”
“Yes.”
Abellard spoke to him informally as if he had forgotten all the titles in the empire. Moreover, they weren’t particularly close even in the empire.
“Haha.”
He chuckled as if amused, scanning Abellard. Pink fluffy hair, sky-blue eyes, small teardrop marks beside his eyes, and fair skin.
But with a body that didn’t match the face, like a knight.
“Lord Wilden must have been an omega.”
The reason Rubellite Croppers disliked Abellard was that he was a higher-ranked omega than himself.
Rubellite thought if he were a royal omega, he would have become a duke. His resignation from the grand duke’s position was not voluntary.
“Why do I smell alpha pheromones?”
“Do I have a reason to tell you?”
Abellard asked petulantly.
Eveline couldn’t understand why alpha Abellard would dislike the scent coming from omega Rubellite.
At the same time, she couldn’t understand why beta herself would dislike omega scent so much.
Betas couldn’t emit any pheromones, but they could still smell them. However, Elkais seemed to think she was particularly sensitive among betas, so maybe that was the issue.
“The bedding is shabby.”
Duke Croppers tried to change the subject, realizing there was no one in this group besides Abellard who welcomed him.
Then he lay down on the pile of clothes Abellard was sleeping on.
“What’s with all the armor, anyway?”
“Because I can’t bear to face an untrustworthy opponent armed.”
Rubellite’s armor was scattered in a corner like discarded scraps.
“Can you count your grip strength like that?”
“I’m an alpha.”
Eveline sighed softly at Elkais’s nonchalant remark.
She had thought about leaving them behind, but Elkais seemed too powerful for that to be an option.
“How have you been managing meals all this time?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Elkais thought Eveline must have to deal with cleaning the puma she hunted. But he also worried about whether the three of them would be fine while he went to clean it.
It was like a game of fox, duck, and corn. If you put the fox and the duck on the boat together, the duck would be eaten, and if you put the duck and the corn together, the corn would be eaten.
But Elkais quickly resolved his dilemma.
“Duke.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Please follow me. If you’re here, you should pay for the meal.”
Rubellite Croppers shrugged and followed him.
As they went outside to prepare the meat, only Abellard and Eveline were left in the cabin.
“Let’s start a fire. Check the water supply. And it would be nice to prepare some coconuts.”
“Eve, I’m really tired and in pain.”
“Then rest. I’ll do it alone.”
“No, it’s not that…”
Abellard interrupted her, his lips pursed.
“I feel like I’ll regain my strength if Eve kisses my cheek. Then my body will recover, and I can help Eve too.”
“…”
“How about that? Isn’t it revolutionary?”
“Yes. You’re revolutionarily insane. Just stay put. I can handle it alone.”
Leaving Abellard behind, she took out a flint from the drawer. Then she placed dry branches in the fireplace and struck the flint.
Elkais used up one of the two flints, so the sizes didn’t match and the fire didn’t catch easily.
“It’s not working well?”
“No.”
Abellard got up and approached Eveline. Then he kissed her cheek.
“I’ll forgive you this time.”
“Yeah, so forgiving. I’m fine with that. Thank you.”
He said so and gathered his sanctity to start the fire. Flames emerged from his hand and caught on the firewood.
While Eveline fanned the flames to grow them, Abellard crushed the leaves of the belladonna he had put in his pocket and put them back in.
Because the person who would be poisoned by the belladonna would soon return.
“Eve.”
“Yes.”
“I really like you.”
“Yes.”
Even though she said so, she didn’t even glance at him and focused on building the fire.
