CICN 101💥

Chapter 101

“Evi, are you ready? Shall we go?”

At Arsel’s words, Irene rubbed her eyes and stood between them.

“Um, Prince Kellan… Evi just woke up. Shouldn’t you give a lady some time to get ready?”

At Irene’s slightly sulky tone, Arsel finally exclaimed in surprise. Then, looking at Evi rubbing her eyes, his face flushed slightly, and he stepped back.

“Excuse me. If it’s not too much trouble, may I wait in the reception room?”

“Of course. And if you don’t mind, would you like to join us for breakfast?”

“It would be an honor. I’d gladly accept Miss Terence’s kind offer.”

Evi watched them in amazement at how politely they treated each other.

“Well then, I’ll excuse myself for now. Evi, let’s get ready.”

Irene bowed slightly, firmly took Evi’s hand, and returned to the room.

As soon as the door closed,

“Ugh… this is seriously giving me goosebumps.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Irene rubbed her arms vigorously.

“Ah, I just want to go back to the academy and relax. He probably can’t stand it either; he was clenching his teeth.”

“Can’t we just speak casually?”

Why did they act so formal here when they were so casual at the academy?

“If it were just the three of us, maybe. But there are too many eyes around. Among the staff of this mansion, there are some temporary workers from the capital who aren’t affiliated with the Terence family. One of them might have already spread the word that Arsel came early this morning.”

“Then… shouldn’t we just ignore it?”

Doesn’t it just mean Arsel and Irene are close?

At Evi’s innocent question, Irene laughed and hugged Evi’s head tightly.

“Evi, remember what I said before? People are already talking about me marrying Arsel—or Ruschka. If Arsel shows up at our house this early, and I greet him casually, rumors will definitely start.”

“Rumors?”

“Yes, the rumor that I’ll marry Arsel. Even though neither of us is thinking about it, the annoying talk will spread… but sigh, that’s not what we should focus on now. First, you need to get ready.”

“But we already packed last night!”

Since they knew they would leave today, Evi had packed her bag with Irene the night before.

“Hmm? That was just basic everyday clothes. You haven’t even started on your outing clothes or hats. Honestly, why come so early and make us rush? I was planning to have breakfast and send you off leisurely.”

Irene pouted and called the three maids who always helped her.

“First, have Evi stand here.”

Irene brought a stool and placed Evi on it. Then, with the three maids, they started moving busily.

“How about this dress?”

“Miss, this one looks more comfortable to move in.”

“But this one is cuter!”

“That may be, but… it’s summer, so we need to think about activity too!”

“Everyone, look at all these hats! They all suit her; what should we do?”

“What do you mean what we should do! Put them all in the trunk!”

Clothes were put on Evi, hats placed, bags packed—it was chaos.

After a while, Irene and the three maids looked satisfied.

“This should be enough, right?”

Still dazed from being hurriedly dressed, Evi looked at the trunks they had packed.

One, two, three, four…

“Fifteen?”

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and checked again—there were fifteen large trunks, and she still had room.

What on earth was all that for? And when did she even have this many clothes?

Hesitantly, Evi spoke.

“Um, maybe I could just take two or three outfits…”

“What nonsense!”

“Miss, what are you saying!”

Irene and the maids shouted in unison at Evi.

“It’s summer!”

“Exactly! If you sweat, you need to change! Otherwise, you might catch a cold!”

“Th-then… just seven outfits?”

One outfit per day should be enough, right? Seven should be plenty.

“No! You might want to change after breakfast, lunch, or dinner!”

“Right! What if you want yellow in the morning but red in the afternoon?”

‘Would that really happen… to me?’

It seemed excessive, but with their stubborn attitude, Evi couldn’t insist on taking fewer clothes.

“Also, there’s no child your size at Arsel’s house. There shouldn’t be any shortage of clothes there.”

Irene held up the yellow dress chosen for today and said,

“And if anyone asks who picked such pretty clothes, you must say I picked them. Got it?”

“Y-Yes!”

Even though it took some time to change, Arsel, who had been waiting in the reception room, looked perfectly composed.

He watched the Terence mansion’s staff carrying out the trunks.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, that!”

“Those are Evi’s clothes.”

Irene quickly answered, as if it were obvious.

“I just asked to make sure it wasn’t too little,” Arsel said.

“….”

Irene twisted her mouth at his answer. Was this a declaration of war?

Smiling, she replied,

“Since we chose only pretty things, the number is a bit small. When Evi returns home, we’ll fill it with even prettier clothes.”

Seeing her playful look, Arsel said no more—he had lost this round.

“I’m hungry! Let’s eat already!”

Sensing the tension between the two, Evi quickly inserted herself between them, holding each of their hands.

Irene smiled, and Arsel also smiled as if nothing had happened.

Breakfast began, and Irene sat close to Evi, speaking to Arsel.

“Would you like me to lend you pen and paper?”

“Do you need it for something?”

“I want to tell you what Evi likes, what she dislikes, and what she shouldn’t eat.”

You didn’t know that, did you? Ehehe.

Though their conversation sounded refined, the three maids standing behind could only think, ‘How could he know?’

Irene straightened her chest proudly. She hadn’t just brought Evi to her house and fed her Southern dishes.

Evi didn’t even know the names of many foods at the academy, much less what they were. Irene had deliberately asked chefs from different regions of the empire to prepare dishes.

They felt honored to present the cuisines of their hometowns and served all sorts of delicacies.

Thanks to them, Evi enjoyed delicacies she had never tasted, eating until full.

For the first time, she left food on her plate.

Facing the remaining food, she looked like someone who had committed the worst crime in the world.

Irene looked at her worriedly and asked,

“Evi, was it bad?”

“No! It’s not that it tastes bad, but… this…”

After hesitating, Evi spoke with difficulty.

“My throat suddenly feels really itchy…”

Frowning, she tried to pick up the fork to eat the remaining food.

“What? Your throat is itchy?”

Irene jumped up in shock.

“That’s an allergy! Don’t eat it! Stop!”

After a brief commotion, Irene called the chef to ask what was in the dish.

“It might be a herb called Banha from the Northern region. People who eat it from childhood usually have no problem, but for someone trying it for the first time when older, this sometimes happens.”

It wasn’t the chef’s fault—Banha is commonly used in the North. The Terence family physician checked Evi and said the reaction wasn’t severe, giving her medicine.

Watching Evi take it, Irene said, concerned,

“Evi, if something feels off when you eat, tell us immediately. Don’t eat more. Otherwise, it could be dangerous.”

“But it feels wasteful to leave food…”

Evi seemed to care more about leaving food than getting sick, which upset Irene.

Then Irene realized something.

“Have you had this happen before? Feeling itchy or having skin reactions but still eating because it’s wasteful?”

Evi avoided her gaze. Yes, it had happened.

“But I couldn’t leave it…”

“You can leave it! It’s fine!”

From then on, whenever Evi tried new food, Irene watched her like a hawk. She learned what Evi liked, disliked, and couldn’t eat.

“For now, Evi’s favorites are…”

“For meat, she likes chicken, either roasted or fried. Vegetables not too stir-fried or blanched; she prefers them raw. For dessert, she likes candy more than chocolate, but her absolute favorite is pudding drenched in caramel syrup with fresh cream.”

Arsel spoke about Evi effortlessly.

Both Irene and Evi were astonished.

‘How does he know?’

He seemed to know her better than she did!

“How… how do you know?”

Irene murmured in surprise. Arsel smiled faintly at Evi.

“I watch her all the time; it’s impossible not to know.”