Chapter 54
Evelia cut the plump sausage on the child’s plate into bite-sized pieces. Although the child was still clumsy, he dipped the sausage and ate it with aristocratic manners.
Evelia and Cassis also ate.
‘This is good.’
The soufflé pancakes drizzled with maple syrup melted in my mouth, and the scrambled eggs had a rich buttery aroma. The sausages grilled on the grill were also juicy.
‘I should come here often with Ruth from now on.’
With that in mind, after finishing the meal, chocolate cake was served.
Evelia, who was sharing cake with Ruth, raised her head at the sudden gaze. Cassis was staring at the chocolate cake.
‘Why?’
She asked, just in case.
“Would you like some?”
“No.”
However, even as he answered that way, his eyes were focused on the chocolate cake.
Evelia thought for a moment and then whispered to Ruth.
Ruth nodded and scooped up the chocolate cake with a fork. Then he held it out towards Cassis.
“Father, try it!”
Cassis’ eyes tremble slightly. He looked at Ruth, unable to decide.
Evelia urged.
“Come on, just try it.”
Then he reluctantly put the cake Ruth had given him into his mouth.
There was no sign of displeasure on his face as he moved his mouth.
Only then did Evelia become convinced.
‘He likes sweet desserts.’
It was clear that he had been oppressed by the previous Duke, not even allowing him to eat dessert.
Evelia called the staff and ordered another chocolate cake and warm black tea. The staff naturally placed them in front of Evelia.
After Evelia confirmed that the staff had completely disappeared, she handed Cassis a plate of chocolate cake and a fork.
“Please eat.”
“I…”
She smiled at him as he hesitated.
“You can eat it. There’s no law that says you can’t eat something you like.”
Then she put a fork in his hand. Cassis held it stiffly, as if it were his first time holding a fork.
He looked at Evelia as if he needed reassurance.
Only after she nodded did he start eating the cake.
Evelia and Ruth laughed out loud as they watched Cassis slowly savoring the cake.
“My father is just like me.”
Ruth, in particular, seemed happy to have found something in common with Cassis.
Evelia nodded and thought.
I think Cassis also has a cute side.
*****
The three people who left the cafe followed Logan to the opera hall. As soon as they got off the carriage, all eyes were focused on them.
“By any chance, Duke Adelhard?”
“Judging by the child next to him, I think it’s true.”
“But who is that young lady?”
People showed more interest in Evelia than Cassis and Ruth.
“Now that I think about it, I think I briefly heard a rumor that Duke was engaged to Lady Venion. Could it be…?”
“But Countess Venion doesn’t have pink hair, does she?”
“Oh, haven’t you heard the news? Lady Venion is an illegitimate daughter.”
Only then did Evelia realize what Logan meant and narrowed her eyes at him. Logan pretended not to see and scratched his head.
‘So you wanted the rumor to spread.’
There is only a month and a half left until the wedding. Now that it was time to slowly hand out wedding invitations, Logan probably wanted to make Evelia’s existence known to the capital’s social circles.
‘By tomorrow, the rumor will spread throughout the social world.’
Well, it wasn’t bad.
‘If possible, I hope there will be a rumor that I am close to Ruth….’
Evelia held Ruth’s hand tightly, paying attention to the surroundings. There was a sound of gasping for air around me.
“Is she on good terms with Prince Adelhard?”
“No way, they’re just pretending.”
“But Prince Adelhard likes it too.”
Evelia smiled in the direction of the sound and guided Ruth’s hand.
“Come on, let’s go inside.”
“Yes!”
People’s attention didn’t seem to leave the three of them as they went inside.
*****
To be honest, the opera that dealt with the founding myth of the empire was boring. Evelia dozed off little by little throughout the opera, and Ruth slept with his face resting on her lap.
‘At least it was a box seat so I didn’t have to worry about people’s gaze.’
It was late at night when the opera that started in the evening ended. Ruth fell asleep in the carriage on the way back to the mansion.
‘What should I do?’
Evelia was worried, but Cassis got off first and hugged Ruth.
“Hm…”
He easily held Ruth with one hand and escorted Evelia with the other.
“Thank you.”
Evelia got off the carriage and suddenly looked up at the dark sky.
‘It’ll be full moon soon.’
Suddenly, Ruth’s curse came to mind.
Because of the curse, Ruth was intermittently sick on full moon days. It was usually once every three or four months.
‘When was the last time he was sick?’
First of all, he didn’t get sick last month. So how about this month?
‘I hope we can get through this month safely.’
She prayed and entered the mansion.
*****
Despite Evelia’s wishes, Ruth began to feel sick on the day of the full moon.
He falls asleep while Evelia is reading a story book, and suddenly has a seizure.
The entire Duke’s residence was in an uproar. The attending doctor rushed over, and Cassis also came to Ruth with a rare look of panic.
‘Please, I hope it’s just a cold…’
However, contrary to Evelia’s wishes, the face of the doctor who examined Ruth was serious.
He glanced at Evelia, who was holding Ruth’s hand, and whispered to Cassis.
Seeing Cassis’ face become serious, it seemed like the curse had manifested itself.
‘Still, I have to ask just in case.’
Evelia approached Cassis after the doctor left.
“What did he say? Is it a cold?”
Cassis thought for a moment and then answered.
“Yes, I think it’s a fever.”
“Ah….”
As expected, Cassis didn’t seem to have any intention of telling the truth.
‘It would be strange to question him further here.’
Evelia nodded as if she understood.
“I will take care of him.”
“You can just leave it to the nanny.”
“No.”
Evelia emphasized, putting strength into her voice.
“I want to do it.”
When Evelia was sick, Ruth secretly visited her, avoiding the attention of the maids. Evelia couldn’t leave a child like that alone.
“Okay. However, please leave it to the nanny to change Ruth’s clothes.”
“Ah, yes.”
I didn’t know why he was telling me to leave it to the nanny, but Evelia answered obediently.
‘Maybe, because it’s hard to change a sick child’s clothes.’
So Evelia began to take care of Ruth at the bedside.
“Ugh.”
Ruth couldn’t come to his senses and was sobbing. The child’s body was already full of fever.
Feeling sorry, Evelia wiped the child’s face and neck with a towel soaked in cold water.
‘The fever doesn’t go down. I guess I’ll have to clean his body too.’
I wanted to do my best, even though I knew the fever couldn’t be reduced by just a wet towel.
‘He told me to leave it to the nanny to change his clothes, but it would be okay to undo some of the buttons.’
Thinking like that, Evelia unbuttoned the child’s shirt and tried to wipe the child’s body.
It was then. She couldn’t help but be surprised when she saw the child’s chest.
“Ah….”
An unknown pattern was drawn on one side of the chest, which was covered in red. It was a symbol of curse.
The main culprit who appears intermittently every time the full moon rises and harasses Ruth.
Now I understand why Cassis told me to leave the changing of clothes to the nanny.
He didn’t want Ruth’s curse to be known.
‘I guess I’ll just have to pretend not to know for now.’
Evelia was biting her lip and trying to fasten the child’s buttons again.
Suddenly, I heard a shout from behind me. When I looked back, Cassis was standing there.
“Oh, I…”
Evelia hurriedly made an excuse to Cassis, who looked a little flustered.
“I unbuttoned the button for a moment to clean his body….”
How should I react here?
It is an ambiguous situation to pretend not to know or to pretend to know. She made several assumptions in her head and then opened her mouth.
“But what is this on his body? Is it a tattoo?”
It would be even weirder if you pretend not to notice the tattoo when you have already seen it. So I decided to pretend I knew.
‘I don’t think Cassis will tell me honestly even if I ask anyway.’
But surprisingly, he calmly asked back.
“Did you see it?”
