Chapter 192
If You Say So
“……Huh?”
Yulia, who was eavesdropping outside the door, suddenly froze. The door to the princess’s bedroom was quite thick, so she couldn’t hear very clearly. However, she seemed to faintly hear…
“…I’ll go kill someone with you?”
Huh? What was her brother saying? Yulia looked up in confusion and met Lily’s eyes. The two girls exchanged a quick glance.
—Did I mishear?
—No, but it doesn’t matter.
Lily nodded slightly, then shook her head and made a shushing gesture with her finger. Yulia nodded and then pressed her ear back to the door.
“What, what is it?”
David, standing with his arms crossed on the side, saw the two girls’ sudden change in expression and became curious about the conversation inside. However, Dad had said that knights must not steal. Stealing money, things, listening in, or even people were all forbidden… …But he was really curious! What were they talking about that made Yulia’s expression so complex? David’s heart began to itch. He couldn’t eavesdrop himself, but it was okay to ask the one who was eavesdropping, right?
“What is Mr. Eivass saying?” the “knight” whispered.
However, Yulia completely ignored him, as if she hadn’t heard him speak. Lily noticed his expression and, being considerate, took half a step back, giving him a place with a seem-to-smile-yet-not-smile expression. But the knight hesitated for a moment, then shook his head vigorously, bravely and resolutely refusing the bad temptation. —Although he regretted it immediately after refusing, at least in that moment, David was proud of himself for daring to refuse.
…That’s what he said, but he was even more curious.
And while David was still agonizing at the door, a surprised exclamation came from inside the room. Isabel had finally put down her paintbrush and turned to see Eivass. She was so startled that her legs almost gave out and she sat back down— Eivass’s wheelchair was placed alone in the distance. And Eivass, standing behind her, was entwined with black smoke. It wasn’t the black smoke rising from burning things, but more like the opposite of the white frost emanating from ice. This smoke seemed to have a will of its own, as if it were showing off—it turned into energy bodies like black snakes, coiling around Eivass, extending from his collar and wrapping around the back of his head, lifting his hair. The shadow beneath Eivass’s feet boiled like a pot of stew, bubbling and gurgling. It was as if something was about to be formed but was shattering.
Seeing this, Isabel’s first reaction was to be startled. It wasn’t that she was worried Eivass was going to harm her… but rather that Eivass’s mind was being controlled by some demon. Soon, however, she realized. This was Eivass showing her his secret.
“Since you, Isabel, are going to show me your secret,” Eivass said softly, a slight smile on his lips, “I’ll show you mine too. That makes us even.”
His tone was exactly the same as usual, but for some reason… Isabel felt a sense of wickedness in his words. As if in response to Eivass’s words, a shadow emerged from Eivass’s sleeve, and the snake-like shadow gently wrapped around Isabel’s delicate, fair neck, lifting her head slightly. It was like hooking her chin with a finger.
“Tsk.” Eivass reached out and lightly patted his shadow with a seemingly displeased expression, and it immediately retracted. Seeing this, Isabel suddenly realized.
Could it be… Eivass was Miss Alistair? —Her guess was correct, Eivass was Alistair! In an instant, all sorts of information converged in her mind. The strange parts suddenly made sense. No wonder, when she was painting Eivass’s portrait before, she felt that the sunset was very suitable for him. That fiery, intense red-purple radiance was a reflection of Eivass’s inner self. He was a born devotee and transcending dual path, and also a righteous fiend possessed by a shadow demon… and there was no such person as “Miss Alistair” in this world!
Thinking of this, Isabel became excited. She even forgot her previous fear and depression. But she also worried about Eivass. —This is the Silver and Tin Hall, won’t someone find out? As for being harmed by Eivass, she didn’t even consider it. The reason Isabel couldn’t make friends was that she was too sensitive to the malice of others. Even among good friends, they would occasionally have malicious thoughts. Although those malicious thoughts were quickly dispelled by reason and never revealed… for Isabel, the moment such a thought arose, she could vaguely sense it. If she knew that the other person also disliked her and was using her, it would be difficult to ignore it and pretend she never knew. It would be better not to know anything from the start. But she had never felt that kind of emotion from Eivass. There was no malice, no jealousy, no greed… The only thing that made her slightly uncomfortable was Eivass’s occasional “pity,” which was close to paternal love and somewhat condescending. Although Isabel was usually a bit weak in personality, she didn’t particularly like others to look at her with pity. It would make her realize that she indeed needed to rely on others. But she actually wanted to become strong.
“Wait a moment, Eivass…” Isabel suddenly spoke, “Don’t speak yet…”
Although she was in her own bedroom, Isabel peeked around like a thief. When she saw the “window” that Janis had drawn for her in the room, her gaze paused slightly, and her expression became somewhat awkward and nervous. —The teacher isn’t watching, is he? The thought popped into her mind. But as soon as she had this thought, Isabel immediately felt as if someone was watching her and eavesdropping on their conversation. She felt uncomfortable all over, like wearing a sweater without an undergarment. So she put on a serious face, made a shushing gesture to Eivass, and then tiptoed to the door. She listened at the door for a moment and found no sound. Then she opened the door a crack and peeked outside. Fortunately, no one was there. She then closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a sigh of relief.
“…How many people knew, Eivass?” Isabel ran back and whispered curiously and nervously, “Will you get caught? Do you want me to… help you hide it?”
“It’s alright, Her Majesty the Queen knows about this.” Eivass said briefly, “But not many others know… For example, Sherlock doesn’t know. Remember to help me hide it.”
“I will!” Isabel’s heart pounded, feeling the thrill of doing something wrong, and replied seriously. In fact, if the Queen hadn’t directly exposed Eivass’s disguise… he wouldn’t have revealed “Alistair’s” identity at this time. He wanted to tease Sherlock, David, and Isabel with it from time to time. Yulia and Lily knew about it. Janis, with her ability and habit of peeking through paintings, should also know everything. The Bishop was an intelligent man, and Eivass never intended to hide it from them. He should also know. The rest of the people probably didn’t know the relationship between Eivass and Alistair. For example, Edward, Sherlock, David, and Isabel. Now that the Queen knew about it and didn’t have any major reaction, he didn’t really have to hide his identity. After all, if he explained it clearly to them, they would definitely side with Eivass—this was mainly Eivass’s mischievousness. Eivass had a rather mischievous personality and wanted to play some pranks to amuse his friends. But he didn’t want to go too far and damage their friendship… So creating a new identity and saying ambiguous things to make them misunderstand seemed very interesting. —I didn’t intentionally deceive you, I was telling the truth. It’s just not the whole truth.
And now, since Isabel seemed to be in a bad mood, why not give her something to distract her? The so-called “ultimate move” couldn’t be kept for too long… If it was kept for too long, it would be boring. Especially since Isabel was quite intelligent, she might guess it herself soon, or the Queen might mention it to her. If she knew about it first, and then Eivass revealed the truth, it would be somewhat embarrassing and ugly. It would be better to reveal the mystery now and bring some surprise. Magic is most effective when the other party doesn’t understand the principle or even knows what’s about to happen. —And the effect was indeed very significant. Now Isabel was no longer afraid. Her mind was completely occupied by Eivass and Alistair. It felt like she had transformed from a melancholy state to a gossip-like one. If they explored her past now, would she still feel sad and afraid? Although it would be a bit disappointing, curiosity and fear, excitement and sadness could cancel each other out.
“In exchange,” Eivass said softly, “let me see your secret now?”
“…Okay.” Isabel’s expression calmed down slightly, her eyes no longer shining as brightly as before, but not as dim as before either. Like usual at school, she returned to a more normal state. Under Eivass’s gaze, she used a key to open her drawer and took out a thick notebook.
“This is my family’s… diary.” she said softly, “From eleven years ago until now. There are eight people’s diaries here.”
“In the same diary?” Eivass asked curiously, but didn’t touch it. He politely asked, “May I see it?”
“It’s for you to see.” Isabel said seriously, placing her hands on her knees, “Because this is a transcribed version… I wrote it all. She tried to sit up straight and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, “Of course, there’s my diary at the end. You don’t have to read that part.”
If you say so, then things can’t be said like this. Eivass thought. —I wouldn’t have wanted to read it if you hadn’t said anything, but now that you have, I’m a little curious.
Thank you to the three overlords who fed the heavenly laws, and thank you to the overlord who fed Lightning Silver Wolf~ I seem to have caught a cold… The second chapter will be a bit late, meow.
