Chapter 56 (・`ヘ´・)
Although it sounds ridiculous,
Alman really couldn’t sleep anymore.
Evelia had wanted to help Alman rest easier, but instead, he was completely sleepless, feeling “overwhelmed.”
“Ah—”
Lying in bed, Alman let out a wail.
His mind was originally filled with the past that haunted him, but now it had been invaded by thoughts of Evelia.
In the blink of an eye, he went from being berated by a close friend from the past to being pushed aside by the strong Evelia.
He even had a strange half-dream in which Evelia kicked his friend away and chased him, trying to pull down his pants.
At this rate, wouldn’t he dream of being wrestled by Evelia…
“Ah, ah, ah…”
Alman couldn’t stop the distressed sounds, rolling around in bed, unable to sleep.
“Forget it…”
Rubbing his hair, Alman sat up. Even though that incident had happened hours ago, he couldn’t help but glance at his fingers, as if the soft, wet sensation still lingered at his fingertips.
“That’s just outrageous…”
Alman mumbled this, and although it was a complaining remark, he couldn’t help but smile slightly at the corners of his mouth, though it still looked like a苦笑, with his brows furrowed as if in resignation.
He lit a candle and walked to his full-length mirror, carefully examining his face. His fingertips brushed over the corners of his eyes, and he indeed saw the dark circles that Evelia had mentioned before.
“I really do look somewhat haggard…”
Yet even so, Alman still couldn’t fall asleep.
He put on his coat, ensuring he was warm, and stepped outside, leaving the main building of the manor to run into his rear garden alone.
“Ah… how embarrassing.”
“Just a kiss, okay? Just one, there’s no one around.”
“Really… if that’s the case, just this once? Oh—come on…! You promised just once… oh, it tickles…!”
Before he even stepped into the rear garden, the sounds of a couple joking around reached Alman’s ears. He wasn’t one to enjoy such lively scenes, so upon hearing the laughter and kissing, he halted, looking up at the moon rising late at night, surprised that someone was still having a secret meeting here.
Forget it… as long as they take safety measures.
With that thought in mind, Alman shook his head and continued walking, reaching a tree not far from the rear garden.
He had heard from Evelia’s spies that she often liked to stand quietly under this tree, doing nothing but standing there without a word.
Curious, Alman approached the not-so-tall tree, gently tapping it with his foot, producing a rustling sound with the leaves.
Hearing this noise, Alman realized the tree had already sprouted green leaves. He hadn’t paid much attention; unknowingly, he had survived another winter.
Unlike Evelia, who merely stands silently, Alman reached out, broke a twig, and idly toyed with it in his hands.
“Phew…”
The temperature tonight was higher than he expected, at least not cold enough to pierce through him.
He squatted down, mindlessly poking the ground with the twig, reminiscent of when he was just five or six years old, often poking ant holes by the roadside.
He dug out the dirt, filled it back in, smoothed it over, drew a spiral in the sand pit, and messed it up with the twig, playing with this tiny patch of sand to the point of boredom, preferring these pointless activities over sleeping.
The silence before sleep is the most terrifying; when everything falls into silence, those things he’d rather not think about keep turning over in his mind, like a woman going through old accounts, incessantly replaying what he least wanted to face. The more he thinks, the more it troubles him; the more it troubles him, the more he thinks.
He might have played with urine and mud as a child, but now, there was no way for Alman to just remove his pants here. He casually manipulated the clods of dirt, and without realizing it, his hand drew a circle in the ground.
Then, in a burst of inspiration, he added two strokes, drew eyes, then a nose and mouth, and finally added long hair. Although his drawing skills were quite average, at least in his eyes, this was the best he could do for Evelia.
Next, he added a neck, and while drawing the body, he suppressed his laughter and sketched a shoulder resembling that of a double-door refrigerator under her round, somewhat cute head, expressing her impressive strength in his abstract style in vivid detail. Then, trembling with suppressed laughter, he gave Evelia a very “heavy” chest and those rugged arms, looking like he could snap someone’s waist with just a finger.
“Pfft… haha…”
Seeing his artwork, Alman couldn’t help but laugh, his sometimes-suppressed laughter echoing; if anyone passing by heard, they might think the manor was haunted late at night. Dressed in white, he could give someone quite a scare.
Then, he reminisced about Evelia’s classic frown, so he added two tightly knotted brows to her face, bending the curve of her mouth down significantly, making it look like she was about to grab someone’s mom with her strong arms.
“Pfft… what is this thing…”
Alman was laughing so hard at his own abstract masterpiece that he couldn’t stand up straight, covering his mouth while continuing to draw Evelia in the sand, adding many details to her outfit, including the really tight stockings he genuinely cared about. Perhaps his face drawing looked mischievous, and the body muscles were quite abstract, but the tightness of the stockings was drawn with serious intent.
“Alright—done!”
Just like that, a double-door Evelia drawing completed, Alman laughed for half an hour under the tree while admiring his confident artwork.
Until he heard behind him two young people, one flushed and the other holding their waist, coming out with “ow, ow” sounds. Alman discarded the twig and hid to the side; at such a moment, running into each other would be awkward, so he took the opportunity to make a circle back to his bedroom. Though he still struggled with deep sleep, at least before sleeping, the image of Evelia lingered in his mind instead of chaotic memories from the past.
Even in a half-dream state, just thinking about that drawing made him chuckle.
The next morning, everything was as usual. Evelia left the manor like any other day, but when she passed by the tree she frequented, she saw the picture Alman had left behind the night before.
Although it was truly abstract, her intuition instantly identified that it depicted her.
She didn’t know who had drawn it, but the level of abstraction made her brows furrow just like the ones on the drawing.
