Chapter 6 – Part 2

Anne crossed her arms, leaned against the wall beside her bed, and stared out the window.

Outside the window was a cabin, and inside was Evan. He was working, a stack of papers in front of him.

Evan Davis’s blonde hair glistened in the early summer sunlight as he sat by the window.

As she watched, Anne’s eyes locked with his.

His face broke into a wide smile. He smiled at her, then turned back to his work.

“What, are you trying to seduce me?

What is it with you, you little fool?

There had been a few people in this life who had gone out of their way to torment him, but why did this one strike him as even stranger than the ones who’d been spewing harsh words?

What’s more!

‘You said you were a noble. What are you doing in there?’

The hut had been long neglected, cobwebbed and dusty, and since Kyle had taken it upon himself to clean it up, it had served as lodging for the occasional outsider who came and went.

She was deeply troubled, however, when she realized that a commander’s worth of people were in there, doing paperwork and occasionally flashing Anne a smile.

Should she just stay put and not interrupt Commander Evan Davis?

Or do I open that door, yank it open, and immediately demand to know what the hell you’re doing?

Why do you keep smiling at me like that? It’s like you’re trying to make me….

While she was pondering this, the apple she was holding cracked.

I never thought I had the talent to split an apple with one hand. After collecting her thoughts, Anne smiled and jumped to her feet.

“I’m going to go pick them now!”

“…Are you in love with me?

Anne’s cheeks flushed, and she stomped off, oblivious to the heat.

They were just about to leave the hospital building.

Anne froze at the sight of the figure in the doorway.

It was none other than Most of all, he has been kind to her and helped her many times. Evian.

“Hey. You were expecting me? You sent me that shitty estimate, and you’re so damned foolish. You can come to the mansion yourself. How dare you make me come all the way here?”

Gabriel Evian stomped his foot on the empty hospital bed, screaming at the top of his lungs.

When he’d first been possessed by this world, his stomach had been churning with the lack of food, but it was times like this that were the most humiliating.

Being subjected to merciless verbal abuse and violence in front of everyone.

If it weren’t for my imperial salary of 1,000 milan, I’d be out of here in a heartbeat….

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

Anne snapped back.

“Yes, I’m listening.”

She winced at the next blow.

A man’s voice came from nearby.

“I’m listening.”

It was Commander Evan Davis.

Since the day he had hugged her, he had not come within three meters of her, but now he stood in front of Anne.

A tall figure overshadowed Gabriel, forcing him to look up for a moment.

“Ah! Who the hell are you?”

“We’ve crossed paths several times, but it seems your eyes are just for decoration.”

“Hey, you bastard!, I’m Gabriel Evian. I’m going to be the next count. This isn’t the time for a grunt like you to be stepping in.”

No one had ever stepped in to protect her before.

Though she was truly grateful to him, she couldn’t bear that he was being humiliated because of her.

Anne tugged on Evan’s arm and said.

“This is my fault. Please, Commander, you should go back…”

Her bold plan to confront him had crumbled. Instead, she was filled with guilt.

Looking at Anne like that, Evan felt a pang like an arrow in his heart.

He recalled how she had dealt with Gavriel Evian in the past and what he had said about it.

“Is Lieutenant Anne Riley always this way?”

“Always avoiding, enduring, and becoming a laughingstock.”

Thinking of the words he had uttered in his previous life, he bit his lip.

As Anne struggled to pull Evan’s unmoving arm, her eyes grew moist.

‘Who are you to… Why are you messing with my heart?’

Evan grabbed her shoulders and pulled her behind him. Meanwhile, Gabriel Evian looked at them and laughed a dirty laugh.

“I let you work here, and all you do is flirt. Want to try it with me too, Anne?”

Gabriel’s hand went to the crutches lying beside him. Anne gasped as Gabriel’s tone became more vicious than usual.

It reminded her of the violence she’d experienced in the lab in the past.

The invisible punishment, the harassment—it all felt like it had happened just yesterday.

Suddenly, Anne’s face turned pale as fear overtook her, as if she couldn’t breathe.

As if she was having a panic attack.

“Anne, wake up.”

Evan, holding her with one arm, was not in a much better state.

As she grimaced and sweated, dust rose from the ground beside her.

The distant sound of hoofbeats echoed. He was retreating along the valley after a crushing defeat at Calohas.

In his arms was Anne, bleeding from her side. The stench of blood stung his nostrils.

No, this isn’t reality.

Evan blinked slowly. He was once again standing inside a field hospital.

In the midst of the chaos, Anne was still in his arms, breathing heavily but seemingly uninjured.

Evan, however, was not at all calmed by Anne’s inability to open her eyes.

Since he had traveled back in time, or rather, since Anne had died, he had accepted that he was losing his mind.

Evan pulled the revolver from his waistband and pointed it straight at Gabriel’s heart.

“P-please. You wouldn’t actually shoot, would you?”

As Gabriel’s voice grew louder, Evan aimed the muzzle of the gun at his heart back to his shoulder.

If he were tried for murder, seeing Anne would become difficult.

Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The medics were stunned by what happened so quickly, and they stood there, helpless, staring at Gabriel, bleeding from the shoulder.

Kyle sighed heavily, thinking of the fallout within the field hospital, and turned to Gabriel.

He reached out to help him onto the stretcher, but a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Don’t treat him, Kyle Elman.”

“What? But he’s the future count…”

“Let House Evian take care of him.”

“…….”

Kyle clamped his mouth shut in disbelief.

But the Commander only stared at him, his face expressionless, his eyes a strange, animal-like glow.

His gaze followed Kyle, unrelenting.

Following the order not to treat Gabriel, Kyle decided to let it be and told the other medics, “Just leave him. The commander will take full responsibility for this.”

“Yes.”

Evan hugged Anne tightly, who was panicking and gasping for air.

Trying to calm her down….

He silently repeated the words he couldn’t say aloud.

‘I won’t lose you again.’

* * *

It was unusual for Anne, who had worked like a cow, to be sick.

Kyle revised his timesheet, his gaze shifting to Anne’s hospital bed in the distance.

It was the commander who had carried her to the bed, suffering from hyperventilation.

Even as he gazed at the scene without thinking, the tender look in the commander’s eyes brought a smile to Kyle’s face.

He hoped that Anne would be able to relax and enjoy his undying love, even if it meant becoming a duchess.

“What are you doing?”

Startled by Hans’s gravelly voice, Kyle straightened up and answered.

“Just watching those two. You know they’re the talk of the town.”

“Yes, they do look good together. But I’m worried. They have a big difference in status. Plus, nobles are known for having multiple women.”

Kyle shook his head.

“No need to worry. Remember when Anne tried to talk to the commander recently?”

“I remember. But is it true that the commander has feelings for Lieutenant Anne?”

“It’s not just a rumor.”

“And even if it is a rumor, doesn’t that mean the Commander is flirting with Lieutenant Anne, and you can’t stop him from doing it….”

Kyle pushed up his glasses and spoke like a detective.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Commander’s Three Rules.”

“That’s something you made up…”

“Anyway, one: never go near Anne. If she tries to get closer, you get farther away, and if you try to get farther away, he gets closer.”

What, Is he a shadow?

It was a familiar tale, but Hans, still exhilarated, retorted.

Hans, still finding it hard to believe, asked again, “That’s not all, right? Hans, I didn’t expect you to be so clueless about rumors. Okay, listen. This didn’t come from me. Anne told me not to tell anyone. But after she tried several times to talk to the commander but he avoided her, others didn’t know this. So listen quietly.”

“Yes.”

Kyle’s voice sounded excited as if he’d found something new.

“Two. Since their first hug, the Commander hasn’t laid a finger on Anne. Ah, but that’s changed today, hasn’t it? Did you see him hug her tightly when she had that panic attack?”

“…I was surprised by that too. So, what’s the third?”

It was refreshing to see such romance in this field hospital, where the only sounds were the moans of the wounded. Even for the normally reserved Hans, it was a welcome relief.

The corners of Kyle’s mouth twitched, and a steady stream of snot came out of his nose.

“Three. Originally, it was that the Commander showed immense interest in Anne.”

“And?”

“I was wrong. Look at those eyes. It’s not just interest, it’s true love.”

Hans turned his head to look at the two of them.

“Ah, Hans, I have to go.”

As soon as Kyle moved away to check on his patient, Hans saw something unexpected.

Commander Evan Davis, his eyes on Anne as she lay there, holding her hand.

The sight was unfamiliar to Hans.

Even as he filled the tray with antiseptic and gauze, he couldn’t help but notice the corners of the commander’s eyes.

‘It certainly looked like he was crying… Should I be worried?’

Hans lingered in their midst for a while, convinced that Evan Davis must be having some sort of emotional breakdown.