Chapter 32: Keeping Distance
“Mr. Alman, I’ve cleaned your room, and here is your washed knight’s outfit.”
“Um, just put it there.”
“Okay.”
Evelia neatly placed Alman’s work clothing next to his desk, then looked at Alman, who had fallen silent and stopped speaking. She quietly stood beside him without making a sound.
“……”
“……”
The two did not make eye contact or move. Alman was focusing on dealing with some trivial documents that required his signature, while Evelia stared at him unabashedly.
“……”
“……”
After another stretch of silence, Evelia was not one to take the initiative to bring up a topic, and Alman deliberately turned his head slightly, leaving the back of his head for Evelia to look at.
“……”
But Evelia’s gaze, which seemed to bore into the back of his head, made Alman unable to resist scratching his own head.
It felt as if someone was focusing sunlight on his head with a magnifying glass…
“What’s wrong, Eve? Do you have something to say?”
Finally, Alman surrendered, took a deep breath, adjusted his expression and tone, and turned to look at the still staring Evelia.
“No, Mr. Alman.” Evelia looked at him and shook her head, but although she said there was nothing, her eyes were still glued to him.
“…Eve…” Alman sighed and capped his pen. “What exactly do you want?”
“I have nothing, Mr. Alman.” Evelia’s gaze appeared almost innocent.
“Then please… don’t stare at me like that anymore.”
“Ah, okay.”
So, Evelia obediently redirected her gaze.
But she still stood beside Alman without moving an inch.
“Hah…” Alman looked at the girl who really wasn’t staring at him anymore, and it seemed like this time it was his turn to look at her.
Ever since the day the Old Butler had said those words, Alman had buried this feeling deep in his heart, and he didn’t even dare to explore it himself.
To prevent any developments, Alman chose to keep some distance from Evelia and arranged for more discreet observers to be placed around her. During this period, although he hadn’t actively interacted with her, he was well aware of her every move.
Without any interactions with outsiders, and not deliberately going to places Alman had forbidden, Evelia was, according to those watchers, a diligent little maid. The place she visited most was the manor’s back kitchen, where she hadn’t handled any ingredients but stood in front of her little stove with a cookbook, seeming to experiment with new dishes.
Moreover, there was almost a small dish of desserts or side dishes made by Evelia every day in Alman’s meals. The variations changed daily, but it seemed she was eager to recommend her favorite tomato sauce to him, so many of the dishes she made were tomato-flavored. She even developed a tomato puff that left a memorable impression on Alman; taking a bite, his mouth was filled with tomato sauce.
Evelia’s culinary skills were like that; she could connect everything to tomato sauce, either making dishes that looked normal but tasted distinctly of tomato, or creating bizarre foods that looked like they belonged in a crimson hell but surprisingly tasted good.
When it came to appearance and flavor, she could probably only choose one. If it weren’t for Alman’s maximum tolerance for toxins, he might have been food poisoned by her strange food combinations long ago.
As for Evelia, she was really just cooking. After all, she knew from books that being able to cook was a plus, so she always tried her best to create dishes Alman would enjoy. However, at the same time, this somewhat stubborn assassin couldn’t let go of her tomato sauce, leading to the creation of those dishes that Alman dubbed the “Tomato Feast.”
And Alman? He was also stubborn; if he said he wouldn’t eat something, he wouldn’t. However, he didn’t want Evelia coming over every day asking, “Do you not like my dishes?” So, he basically passed those dishes onto anyone nearby, secretly giving them to whoever was there.
The unfortunate recipient was sometimes a few knights who came to report, but most of the time, it was his Old Butler, Lug.
Alman’s Old Butler had been dubbed the “Tomato Sauce Digestion Barrel.” Now, that old man would change color at the sight of tomatoes, even going so far as to intentionally run away during meals just to avoid the dishes, leaving the task of serving Alman completely to Evelia, thinking that his master wouldn’t be poisoned to death, but if he ate any more, it might just kill him.
“Pfft…”
Seeing Evelia, the unaware culprit, and recalling the Old Butler’s reaction to tomatoes, Alman couldn’t help but laugh. This sound attracted Evelia’s attention, causing her gaze to fall back on him.
“Ahem, Eve… I meant not to look at me anymore.”
“I’m not looking at you anymore,” Evelia said, turning her head back.
“What I mean is… ‘not here,’ do you understand?”
“Oh, I see.”
Alman’s words were akin to a dismissal. Evelia merely acknowledged him softly, her tone revealing nothing.
“I thought you wouldn’t be angry with me anymore.”
But this last statement caught Alman off guard.
“Angry? Angry about what?”
“You’ve been avoiding me lately.”
“—Ah.”
Alman paused, realizing that with Evelia’s intuition, she must have noticed his little thoughts.
This guy, Evelia… is she only dense toward me?
“I just heard you laugh and thought you weren’t angry with me anymore.”
“Hah… I’m not angry, Eve.”
“Really? Then that’s great.”
Evelia’s tone remained neutral, showing no signs of the grievance of “it seems you are angry with me” or the delight of “that’s great.” Alman didn’t know whether she just couldn’t express her feelings or if she was following a script that only needed to be recited.
“……”
Alman rubbed his left temple in frustration. He thought he had reached a level where he could chat with everyone, but he found he couldn’t handle someone like Evelia.
She seemed to have flaws all over, yet it felt like she defended against all his advances in a strange way. It couldn’t even be called defense; rather, it was a counter-defense, and in the end, it left him at a loss for words.
So… it might be better to follow suit and defend now.
Both Evelia and Alman were probably the kind of people who wouldn’t move unless the enemy moved. Whoever attacked first would lose.
…This will be fine…
Alman leaned on his chin, glancing at Evelia, who was no longer looking at him.
“Evelia, you should leave now.”
Before that, it would be better to keep her a little further away.
“…” Evelia listened to this and silently looked at Alman, then without saying anything, she walked obediently to the door, clicked the door handle, and opened it.
Then she looked down at the small crack of the door she had opened, murmuring:
“…I’m sorry for making you angry again.”
After saying that, she stepped out and gently closed the door.
“…”
Alman stared blankly at the closed door, lifting his head from where he had propped it. Although Evelia’s tone was the same as usual, that departing figure unexpectedly made Alman feel a sense of loneliness from her.
Why does it feel like I said the wrong thing?
What happened to the defense? How come I was countered before I even attacked?
