Chapter – 33
ylon stepped forward to intervene, Decarno’s slide clicked back casually, and the barrel aimed straight at the target.
Bang! Taaang! Bang!
The intervals between each shot left no room for error. Without lowering the muzzle even once, he emptied all seven rounds in an instant, and a haze of gunpowder smoke rose around him.
“Uh… uh…”
Phylon hastily brushed away the acrid smoke and barely had time to glance at the target before his mouth fell open. Not a single bullet had hit the head. Instead, each of the seven shots had sliced as if measured by a ruler, leaving the head dangerously close to detaching.
“…Not bad.”
Decarno tilted one eye, gauging the target again. By the time officers instinctively gripped their own throats, he had already finished off the last fragile thread of the target board.
Taaang!
“Lord Soga!”
“Philip.”
Evangeline, carrying her luggage out of the hotel, brightened when she saw Philip at the entrance. She hadn’t even told him she was leaving, yet somehow he had known.
“You didn’t need to come all the way here.”
“And why would I say such a thing? How else would I know where you were headed, Lord Soga?”
Philip spoke lightly, but she handed over her luggage anyway. Even when she insisted on going to the hotel, he had insisted on taking her to his house.
“I thought you might want more rest. To finally sleep in properly.”
“I would’ve liked that too, but I guess I’ve reached my limit.”
Evangeline smiled gracefully as she adjusted her hat. Though several days had passed since Kirion left, his words still lingered.
“I told you to live the life you wanted, but Evangeline… is this really the life you wanted?”
Impossible.
She hadn’t replied to Kirion, but her heart had already flinched. Even if a lifelong orphan like her had let go of everything, she couldn’t have been satisfied with her current circumstances. She certainly didn’t want things to end like this.
“The carriage is waiting, so please get in.”
“Yes.”
Philip opened the carriage door for her, and as she stepped in, he followed, but the door shut behind him.
“Lord Soga! Why—”
“This is as far as I go.”
“…”
“Take this first.”
Evangeline, with a hint of melancholy, passed something to him through the window. Philip, startled, opened the small box she had given him and could not utter a word.
“Th-this… aren’t these the jewels Lord gave me as gifts? Why… why would you give these to me?”
“You stayed by my side until the end, even when there was nothing to gain from me.”
“…”
“Just accept it. You deserve it, Philip. There’s another pocket; I’d like you to deliver that to Maxine’s parents. They weren’t present at the auction this time.”
I’ve been so careless.
She had failed to even care for her loyal accountant who had gone down with her father in misfortune. Repeatedly asking for him to secure what little he had, she realized only now. She gestured for him to tuck it away quickly. Philip’s dry lips parted in surprise, but he soon collected himself and shook his head.
“No, no… first, go home and talk. Whatever you start, I’ll help you!”
“No. I’m not in a position to hire anyone right now.”
“How can you say that… I don’t mind a salary—”
“For life, you mean?”
Evangeline rested her arm on the carriage window. She understood Philip’s heart, but even he didn’t know how long it could last.
“Compassion or pity can only take you so far. Only when the good feelings between us are mutual can we part with fortune. That’s something I only just understood.”
“So you’re really letting me go like this? How can you say that!”
“Foolish, isn’t it?”
Evangeline patted Philip’s aging hand, already seeming to know his answer. Surprised, he lowered his head, and she ground her teeth softly.
“I’ll come back before I get any more foolish. When I no longer have to send anyone away because I’m lacking.”
“If Lord Soga isn’t here… I truly wouldn’t know what to do.”
“Get some sleep. A few days without a care.”
“…”
“And if, after resting, there’s nothing more to do… perhaps, one day, you’ll come back to me.”
She wasn’t just saying it.
She had learned that words from the heir of the Ohara family carried more truth than any contract. Even without making him swear on his fingers, it was a pledge firmer than any signed agreement. Philip finally stepped back, promising to wait, and she smiled faintly.
“When that time comes, I’ll take you under the best conditions. You can trust me!”
“Lord Soga!”
“I’ll write to you.”
As Evangeline leaned out the window, the carriage rattled into motion. Only when Philip’s figure faded in the distance did she let her head fall back and close her eyes.
Sigh.
And so, she had sent even her last connection in Loark away with her own hands. In this vast city, she had nowhere to go. No one to greet her, no warm cup of tea to hope for. She held her breath, enduring the ache in her nose, until the driver’s impatient prodding broke her reverie.
“Where to next, miss?”
After a full half-day ride westward from Loark, the carriage finally passed through a small castle gate at dusk. Evangeline, struggling against motion sickness, took in the city slowly.
“…So this is Mare.”
The city of water, Mare.
Not comparable to the capital Loark, but a small city with the nearest western port. Most residents were commoners engaged in trade. Her father had mentioned it often, so stepping here for the first time felt refreshing—but today, her reason for coming to Mare was specific.
Mare, Rucell District, 15th Street, No. 30
Evangeline read the address in the worn envelope several times. Seeing her name written below eased her tension somewhat.
To my dear and beloved Eva,
It was a letter from her childhood nanny. Traveling alone with only her father across countries, she had no household staff she knew well. Yet her nanny had been the one person Evangeline could genuinely care for and love.
Her motherless self had been cared for with all her nanny’s effort from infancy until around age ten. Before leaving for Mare to care for a deceased daughter’s grandson, she had been like a mother and grandmother to Evangeline. Even her father, wary of most servants, always expressed gratitude to her nanny. When the nanny quit, he had given her a generous retirement gift. But young Evangeline had been so heartbroken that she received her nanny’s letters only three years later.
“This must be the place.”
Evangeline stopped before a fairly decent farmhouse on the outskirts. Thinking of the gaps in her nanny’s letters brought unease, but she had to see for herself. Excited at the prospect of seeing her beloved nanny again, fear still surged inside her.
‘What if I disappoint her?’
Though the letter repeatedly asked her to visit, surely she hadn’t expected her to arrive looking like this. Standing at the doorstep, hesitant to take a step, a long shadow fell behind her.
“Are you leaving, or going in?”
“Ah, mama!”
Her body relaxed, leaning against the door as she turned. The man’s indifferent gaze drew closer.
“Goodness… you’re too timid to be a thief.”
“A thief? How rude!”
“Then I see that a young lady who refuses to leave the doorstep must be very polite indeed.”
“Ha…”
