“If you feel uncomfortable walking, tell me right away.”
Kaiden said as he took Evelina’s hand. Then, as if she knew, she held his hand tightly.
Evelina thought it was fortunate that she knew her end in advance, and even though the end was full of false love, she thought it was fortunate that she was able to end it with love.
Her adoptive parents were now gone. They would go to Tenesi and become a Marquis and live richly on a share in the diamond mines of Maineber Island, which she had previously moved.
She has a conditional contract with Usher Fronen, so he would help her adoptive parents if he wanted a 0.1% stake in the mine. Ianathas was the childhood friend she trusted the most, so he would help even if she didn’t ask.
Princess Elsius and Dowager Empress Isabella, who had been harassing her, would no longer be a hindrance to her.
Kaiden had perfect revenge, and she will die.
“Kaiden.”
For a moment, she felt melancholy at the thought that everything was ending. She tugged at his arm and called out.
“Yes, Lina. Are you uncomfortable?”
As he held her hand and walked through the plaza, he turned to her at the sound of her calling for him. He looked at her feet as if he were worried her shoes might be uncomfortable.
“Walk a little slower. This moment is so precious to me.”
He closed his eyes at her words and said with a smile.
“Me too, Lina.”
So they strolled to the plaza’s west side, where many liquor stores lined up.
“It’s still here.”
Evelina knew that there were many mercenaries in the Secreto area. It was right next to the capital, and it was only a short distance by carriage. Maybe that’s why she saw a long line of mercenaries nearby when they passed the street corner of the liquor store.
Evelina used to run errands here during her poor house days. Because the director of the poorhouse was also an alcoholic, and Evelina was the only one who ran errands without taking his money.
As she made eye contact with the mercenary standing in front of her liquor store, she heard a whistle from somewhere.
“What are you doing, you*?”
*TN: Here he uses the informal version neo signifying how uncouth he is being to someone he doesn’t know
“Hey, that girl is so pretty.”
“Where?”
At that moment, other mercenaries tried to come nearby to see Evelina’s face in her hood.
“Go away.”
At that moment, Kaiden took off his hood and looked around. The mercenaries stopped approaching and started drinking and chatting among themselves as if nothing had happened after seeing his ferocious expression.
“I’m fine. Let’s go, Kaiden.”
Evelina jumped at Kaiden, who looked back at her. So she went where Kaiden led her. To the most secluded liquor store.
“Here…”
Evelina knew this place. She didn’t lift her head, her hood down.
This was the store where the director ran errands during his time as a poorhouse. The owner she saw at the time was still guarding the counter. She couldn’t look up, thinking she might recognize her.
“Welcome, sir. ah…!”
He shouted as if recognizing Kaiden as soon as he saw him.
“Long time no see, sir! How are you? I heard that you went on a campaign far away.”
“I’m back.”
“I’m glad you’re okay! I haven’t had any guests since then…”
Kaiden was laughing at the joke, and the owner was talking like he was glad. Evelina thought that the owner didn’t know Kaiden’s identity. That’s why it must be easy to say to him, the emperor.
“Who is this? Are you a new colleague? Or an escort…?”
Seeing that Evelina’s shoes are of high quality, the owner said, thinking that maybe he was an escort for a noble lady.
“My first love. and my wife.”
“Ah! That lady! She’s that lady!”
Evelina wondered if Kaiden was talking about the person he wanted to avenge, so she looked at him. She remembered this liquor store’s owner was an excellent man. He never accepted credit, but they didn’t sell it with a dump. So it was a place with a lot of long-time customers.
“That’s why you hid her so tightly!”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t know how many times he has told me that you were such a beauty.”
“Ah… Really?”
“Yes, yes!”
Evelina thought maybe he had a first love, but he was confusing her with someone else. There could have been a first love. She didn’t know where the original Selena was.
It could be that the two of them were dating without her knowing. The original Selena Verdeen also bore a striking resemblance to Evelina Logias in her appearance. Because she had the same white blonde hair.
Then, thinking about the woman’s fingernail marks on Kaiden’s neck, the kissing that seemed to know a woman well, and the gestures that excited her, she became more and more convinced. She just didn’t know that there might be other women.
Evelina couldn’t lift her head anymore, perhaps because she was. If the owner mistook her for that woman, he could tell if she was someone else by looking at her face.
“I heard you burned the wound on Sir Kaiden’s shoulder before!”
“Yes? ah… Yes.”
“First love is wonderful. If you’ve liked him since you were young, how many years has it been?”
“It’s been over 10 years.”
“Wow, my God.”
The owner of the liquor store looked at Kaiden with genuine surprise and said.
“It sounds like a dream.”
At the owner’s words, Kaiden smiled as if he was having fun.
“That’s enough. My wife doesn’t have good stamina.”
“Ah yes! Of course! What kind of drink would you like?”
“Green, that. Two bottles.”
“Is that it? That would be high content.”
“Give it.”
“Yes, I understand. Please wait a moment!”
The owner went into the space behind the counter and brought out two bottles of liquor with liquid swaying with a squeak. Both were green liquids in clear bottles.
“Take one of these.”
“What is this?”
“Give it to your wife. That way you don’t have a hangover the next day.”
“Why only give me one bottle of it? What about me?”
“Sir Kaiden doesn’t get hangovers, right? And you’re not the kind of person who would get drunk with one bottle.”
When the owner spoke kindly, Kaiden smiled.
“Give me two bottles. My wife will drink both bottles.”
“If that’s the case, you can take it before you drink it, and then take it after you finish.”
He handed Kaiden a hangover cure from a small orange bottle with the alcohol in a paper bag.
“The money will be given by the subordinate who will come behind me.”
“Yes, I understand. Take care of yourself!”
Evelina let out a sigh of relief that the owner didn’t recognize her. Oddly enough, she was familiar with this road that she went down with Kaiden.
‘You can’t even drink, you*.’
*TN: Again, the informal version is used here so it suggests a close relationship
‘Do you like men who drink well?’
‘Yeah, I like people who drink a lot and are strong.’
‘Then it will be like that.’
She also seemed to be recalling unknown memories from somewhere, which was strange to her. It was too much of a stranger’s business to be a memory, but it was as familiar as a memory.
“Lina?”
“N… No.”
She also smiled bitterly, thinking that there was something mixed in the medicine he gave her. Hans didn’t know, but what’s in it might be a hallucinogen.
“Don’t let go of my hand. I hope Lina won’t let go of my hand.”
“I understand.”
When he said this with a serious smile, Evelina smiled and she took his hand. She followed him as he led me with a bottle in one arm.
‘They say we can meet again if we kiss at the Secreto Pier.’
‘Who said that?’
‘Mercenaries did.’
Evelina stared at the deserted pier strangely, and then another strange memory came to her, and she frowned.
“Why are there no people here?”
“This is because it was used as a port in the past. Big ships use newly built places. It’s in the back.”
Evelina understood that and looked around her. She could see the little ferry boats docked before sunset.
“Shall we sit over there?”
“All right.”
Evelina saw two strange-looking statues in the place where he pointed. She felt like she had seen that statue before, and it felt both unfamiliar and familiar.
‘It’s like this statue is trying to be a man.’
‘It’s a chair, just.. human-shaped.’
“This statue…”
Evelina almost continued to speak as she remembered without realizing it.
“It looks like a human.”
Before her words were finished, Kaiden continued, and Evelina looked at him in confusion.
“I know you’re not whole yet.”
Despite her confusion, he spoke lightly. What the hell was he saying? Could he control the hallucinations she saw?
But she was so suspicious of the memories that came to her. It couldn’t have come to her mind this strangely. She felt repulsed with someone else’s memory.
“Have a seat.”
Evelina sat down when he told her to. As they sat shoulder-to-shoulder together, her chest felt stuffy again.
“What’s the story of your first love?”
When she looked at him, he took off his hood and looked ahead. His whole face looked red, perhaps because the sunset was setting. She felt like he wasn’t red because of the glow of the setting sun, but because of the warmth of her shoulder.
“Lina is my first love.”
“Ah…”
“Come to think of it, all of my first times.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
He looked at Evelina, embarrassed, but speaking calmly.
His blood-red eyes seemed to sway beautifully in the gentle sunset. It seemed that the fear she had for him had melted away in the glow of her sunset and softened a little.
“The couple who kissed on the Secreto pier are said to meet again.”
Evelina couldn’t avoid his eyes as he looked at her gently and said.
“So you’re saying I wasn’t your first kiss? The first place we kissed was at the wedding hall.”
“I didn’t know what a kiss was until I was 20.”
“What did you think before that?”
Evelina accepted when he opened a small bottle and handed it to her with a shy smile.
“I thought this was a kiss.”
For a moment, he kissed her as if he were sitting on her lips and fell.
‘Now even if we break up, we’ll meet again.’
At that moment, she remembered that the main character of the voice that she didn’t remember had red eyes.
“Did we also meet when we were young?”
He smiled bitterly at her question.
The suspense is killing me.
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Foreshadowing…