Chapter Fourteen: Scarlet Crow
In the Royal Palace, Alman and the First Prince Solor were studying the movements of the “Scarlet Crow,” their brows furrowed and the atmosphere so serious that it felt suffocating.
The “Scarlet Crow” always engineered troublesome incidents, and with the Second Prince stirring up trouble on his end, what should have been a malevolent event was manipulated in public opinion as a kind of “robbing the rich to help the poor” justice. Most importantly, the lower-class citizens were unaware that this “Scarlet Crow” was under the Second Prince’s command. This beautified heroism was perfect for brainwashing youths who complained about social injustice, aggravating their emotions. Once the opportunity arose to stage a coup, the Second Prince could gain some support from the masses. As long as someone initiated it, there would be no fear of lacking follow-up.
Although the First Prince had the war hero Alman by his side, a figure revered by the people, when it came to empathy, the commoners would still choose the “Scarlet Crow,” who was said to have been an ordinary orphan in legends.
The Second Prince knew that the First Prince wielded considerable power among the nobles. While the Second Prince had his own power, he could only slightly restrain the First Prince through the silver-tongued politicians; a complete parity was out of the question, let alone crushing him. Thus, the Second Prince had to focus on the common people, creating the nonexistent Evelia Kroyer as if to create the “Scarlet Crow.”
Moreover, to whitewash “Nightingale House,” the Second Prince had funded the entire renovation of the “Saint Floris Church” in recent years, building another orphanage within it to serve as the successor to “Nightingale House,” claiming that homeless children were being sent to the church for care. A large sum of money was invested every year, while “Nightingale House” was officially abolished and went underground.
This was merely a form of selection; those that were useful, with potential, the Second Prince would keep. Those deemed useless would be sent to the church to be raised, costing little money while still gaining the approval of the public.
As for the “Scarlet Crow,” whom the Second Prince had painstakingly raised and who gave both the First Prince and Alman some headaches, she was currently standing at the roots of a tree, looking at a pastel-covered romance novel.
Realizing that the previous version of the novel was unsuitable for her, Evelia returned it to the maid she borrowed it from. The maid, feeling ashamed for mistakenly giving her cherished copy, wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in. Although Evelia didn’t mind, the maid still blushed and fled from Evelia’s side, clutching that inappropriate book.
Even so, the enthusiasm of the other maids accompanying that maid could not be extinguished; after waiting a few minutes, they rushed out of their dormitories, stuffing another novel that looked a bit thicker into Evelia’s hands.
“Evelia! This one is really amazing…!! It was a total misunderstanding to give you the other one; you absolutely have to read this!”
As she stood quietly under the tree, taking advantage of her break to read this book, Evelia could still recall the excited shouts of those maids at that moment, even remembering one maid’s excited mutter, “Who doesn’t like steamy novels?”
“…This is a story about a beautiful girl, where the kind maid named Goreya finally finds her true love in the manor.
As the warm spring breeze brushes her face, the delicate green buds can be seen fluttering with her flowing hair, and the girl’s romance awaits its blooming day like those tender flowers beneath the fresh green.
When a petal falls upon the youth’s forehead, their eyes meet; however, the warm breeze is as ineffective as melting the knight’s frozen heart. Even with a pink petal imprinted on it, his lips remain unmoving, as if thick snow covering an icefield.
The girl watches the knight depart, her eyes still fixed on the end of the green-budded path, where she vaguely sees a pink petal drifting in the distance and slowly landing in her palm…”
For the first time engaging with a romance novel, Evelia stared at the one in her hands, momentarily at a loss for words.
It seemed like there were many strange aspects, yet she couldn’t articulate them.
Evelia quickly flipped through the entire book, aiming to glean some useful techniques. In just half an hour, she had read more than half, moving from “His sword is cold, his blade is cold, his heart is cold…” all the way to “Ah—Master, that’s too dirty… not allowed…!” She even flipped to the front page to confirm that this version was different from the one she had just returned.
“…So this is what a romance novel is like, I see…”
In that moment, Evelia seemed to open the door to a new world.
“Calling Alman ‘sir’ really feels too distant; it should start with ‘master’ instead…”
Evelia muttered to herself under the tree, looking at the intimate illustrations of the male and female leads in the novel, contemplating how to achieve such closeness with Alman in her future.
“The female lead starts by calling the male lead ‘master,’ then… the term gradually changes to ‘dear’… ‘husband’?”
Evelia instinctively recoiled from that term but thought to herself that it’s all for the mission, so what could possibly be wrong with a title?
Moreover, she contemplated whether if she skipped the previous terms and directly called him “husband,” it would bring them closer instantly.
But… that didn’t seem quite right…
Alman didn’t appear to be someone who would be swayed by a simple “husband,” and Evelia could tell he had some interest in her, yet it wasn’t the kind of affection—it was more of a probing curiosity about her. Being overly proactive would only make him more doubtful.
“Looks like I have to start little by little…”
Evelia closed the book and held it as she contemplated under the tree for a moment.
According to the plot in that novel, the male lead fell for the female lead because she was gentle and caring, understanding what he needed through various small acts, and inadvertently revealing her very appealing traits, with incidents of “lucky encounters” that drew the male lead’s attention to her.
There were also things like soft whispers in his ears, feeding him, and resting one’s head on his lap… Evelia had completely grasped how to attract Alman’s attention through this book.
Additionally, she had to become friends with the other maids around her, as those friends could serve as “assistants” when needed.
Thus, Evelia took a deep breath, her expression deadpan, and said in a completely emotionless tone:
“I understand—I should become a gentle, virtuous, and attentive woman, meticulously caring for Alman, making him fall in love with me. When he returns, I will say, ‘Master, welcome home ❤️.'”
—In truth, she hadn’t understood at all.
In summary, it was all to say that romance novels can lead one astray.
