Chapter 27
Gabriel needs to go meet that kindly old bishop from earlier, so I should considerately make myself scarce here.
Did I do everything I needed to?
I saved Hena and Kanna from getting harassed by nobles, the kids saw the drawing—well, it burned so I couldn't see it, but I had no intention of looking anyway. I recovered the statement, saved a knight, and stacked up some favor points with Gabriel.
Some new character named Daisy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but Gabriel still seems to like me, so no problem!
"Shall we go back now?"
"Yes!"
Kanna answered excitedly. Considering she probably waited for hours here, she must want to hurry back.
When I gathered my things and stood up, Gabriel reached out as if to grab me. But he couldn't quite bring himself to actually do it, so his hand hovered awkwardly in the air.
"You're leaving?"
Should I just live here with you then? I almost sneered but bit my tongue to hold it back. Right... I'm a romance novel resident now. I can't get goosebumps and put on a stern face just because the male lead says something romantic. I need to charm the male lead properly and escape being the villainess.
"It's getting late."
"Then I will escort you to the carriage."
Gabriel stood up. He must be planning to see the bishop as well, so he's seeing me off while he's at it.
When we went back outside, the sun was already setting.
The carriage wasn't far. The coachman sitting on the driver's seat, trembling violently, gasped when he saw me. Right, I surprised him earlier by suddenly teleporting. I forgot.
I tried to explain the situation to reassure him, but the carriage door opened. Jelli didn't get out but just poked her head out.
"You're back?"
"Good work, Jelli."
She's implying she wants attention because she had a hard time. As I was petting Jelli's head and praising her, Gabriel called out to me.
"Lady Rohanson."
When I turned around, Gabriel had extended his hand. What's this? Ah. He must be trying to escort me into the carriage.
I placed my hand on Gabriel's. But his hand gradually rose, and Gabriel brought his lips to the back of my hand. I was so surprised I almost hit him. It wasn't an escort—he was trying to say goodbye.
I know it's a romance novel-style greeting, but experiencing it myself feels a bit strange... I should have worn gloves! Fortunately, Gabriel just pretended to do it.
Still, the ticklish feeling remained. Instead of the sensation of moist flesh touching my bare hand, I felt his breath. When that moist, soft breath touched my hand, I somehow felt shy and wanted to run away immediately.
"I look forward to the day we meet again."
I didn't answer Gabriel's words and just got into the carriage. Kanna, the last to board, deliberately made a loud noise and slammed the door shut.
Listening to Kanna grumble about how she doesn't like Gabriel, I briefly wondered if I should tell her that he's supposed to be your match.
The carriage rolled along smoothly, unaware of someone's troubled heart.
***
Long after the Rohanson Count's carriage disappeared from view, Raphaela finally came to her senses, having been staring blankly into space.
"What... what did you just do?"
She was so flustered her words stuttered.
"Saying goodbye."
"What on earth were you thinking..."
The answer Gabriel gave was stubbornly sensible. But if the other party is Evangeline, isn't kissing the back of her hand as a farewell actually abnormal? Anyway, whether it's the commander or Uriel underneath him, how can they all be so unconcerned? Michelle is crazy so let's skip her.
"It was the same just now. Commander, why didn't you tell them everything? Before coming here, Lady Evangeline and the nun met and talked, and your name came up, Commander. I think the nun probably confessed everything to the Lady..."
When Evangeline Rohanson questioned what Gabriel had heard, Raphaela wished the commander had just honestly told her everything. Her heart plummeted the moment she met Evangeline's red eyes. Evangeline's gaze at that moment was like an extremely sharp sword hilt.
So she tried her best with eye movements and hand gestures to tell him to just say it... But despite that, Gabriel actually told a lie.
At that moment, Raphaela thought it was all over and prepared herself to bid the world farewell, but Gabriel went a step further and handed over the statement to Evangeline.
Naturally, everything Daisy had said was written there in detail. What's the point of lying with your mouth while your hands are honest? But Evangeline just let it slide after seeing that.
"Why did you do that? If it's the Commander, you must have had some reason..."
It was Gabriel's instinctive intuition.
From what he had observed, what Evangeline Rohanson valued was immersion in her role. Judging by her actions so far and her polite manner of speaking, she seemed to act in a way that made others perceive her as Evangeline Rohanson from the outside.
The only time Evangeline Rohanson dropped her ladylike demeanor was when Gabriel failed to read the room and tried to offer help. She must have been so angry because he tried to strip away that role.
So Gabriel matched her expectations this time too. He couldn't tell the truth and incur her anger, so he handed over the paper, and by saying the exact opposite, he signaled that he would pretend not to have seen. Fortunately, Gabriel's handling seemed to please Evangeline.
And while deliberately saying goodbye to Evangeline, Gabriel realized one more thing.
He reached out his hand for the greeting.
Evangeline wasn't short, but perhaps due to their significant size difference, her hand was also much smaller than Gabriel's.
Her body temperature was extremely low. He overlapped his hand and focused on her fingertips to check her pulse.
Even while pretending to kiss her hand, he guessed that Evangeline Rohanson wouldn't pull her hand away. He deliberately slowed down, slowly kissing her hand while calculating her heart rate. It was slow, but her heart was definitely beating. It was small, but it was breathing.
He had guessed that a corpse was being forced to move, but she was definitely alive.
Daisy said Evangeline Rohanson was moving a dead body, but those words were essentially wrong. However, the thought that what lay inside wasn't human remained the same. Evangeline treats people like mere insects, and conversely, makes it seem natural to be treated like an insect.
The moment he first saw Evangeline was still vivid.
The only dead thing among all living, breathing things.
The conspicuously cold thing among all warm things.
Evangeline Rohanson was therefore special.
Gabriel unconsciously touched his lips. Even though he didn't actually kiss her, Evangeline's low temperature remained like an imprint.
***
Uriel went to the infirmary and laid Michelle on the bed. Now we just leave her here? She's already been doused with holy water, so there shouldn't be any need for separate treatment... As Uriel thought this and tried to leave the infirmary, Seraph entered.
Earlier when they came, the sound of swords clashing could be heard, so they must have been sparring. There was a shallow cut mark near his neck. Seraph saw Michelle, who was thoroughly soaked, and was horrified.
"Sir Michelle! W-what happened here? Why is she so wet? Is she hurt? It's not a cold sweat, right? Don't die, Sir Michell...!"
"Sir Seraph, calm down. It's just holy water."
"What? Was she hurt that badly? Oh, or did she jump into a fountain?"
Seraph was especially timid and prone to worry. Uriel explained what had happened so Seraph wouldn't make unnecessary misunderstandings.
Every time Uriel said a word, Seraph inserted his own guesses between them, distorting the incident, so the story's progress was slow.
The two people's conversation continued until Gabriel and the knights finished seeing Evangeline off and stopped by the infirmary.
"That's what happened."
"I see... I completely understand."
Raphaela almost closed the door again watching the two talk. The excitable Seraph and the simple, crude Uriel—what a terrible combination.
Fortunately, besides the two, a knight named Jeremy was also in the infirmary. Jeremy had been sparring and came to find Seraph when she didn't return for a while after saying she'd get treatment, and ended up getting caught. Jeremy, who made eye contact with Raphaela, waved her arms frantically asking to be saved.
"Sir Raphaela! Commander!"
"Commander. Where is Lady Rohanson?"
"She has returned."
"Ah..."
Uriel looked so regretful that Raphaela was confused whether "returned" meant she went to heaven.
"And Michelle?"
"She's still sleep... oh, she's awake?"
Seraph awkwardly exchanged eye contact with Michelle, who was staring blankly with both eyes open. Raphaela pressed her forehead.
"Ah... I apologize. The two of you were talking so enjoyably, it was a bit difficult for me to interject."
Michelle, who had been scratching her cheek, sat up. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with moving her body.
"Michelle, is your body alright?"
"Yes. I apologize for causing concern."
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Yes. There are things I remember, and I just heard Sir Uriel's explanation, so I roughly understand the situation."
Gabriel and Raphaela examined Michelle and were greatly relieved to see she had no wounds and looked fine. It was thanks to the holy water Evangeline had poured. Looking at her, her mental state also seemed to have returned to normal. Still, just in case, they needed to ask.
"Michelle, are you feeling a bit better now? Not your body, but your head."
"Excuse me?"
"Do you still think what was drawn in that painting is an angel?"
"Ah... I apologize. I don't know why I thought that at the time. Thinking about it now, it was an extremely ominous and bizarre painting."
"Seems like you've come to your senses."
Raphaela was greatly relieved and sat on the edge of the bed opposite where Michelle was lying. Michelle, this guy, making people worry.
"Michelle, you really need to thank us. We locked you in your room telling you to get a hold of yourself, but how did you get out and fearlessly hug something that was burning? If it weren't for Lady Rohanson, you would have been seriously hurt."
Raphaela vented her pent-up frustration at Michelle. Michelle listened to Raphaela's words with an embarrassed expression, then her eyes lit up when Evangeline's story came up.