Chapter 7 – Part 3

“Commander?”

“Just stay like this for a moment.”

“…Lady Dehart fell.”

Over Evan’s shoulder, Anne saw Carly shaking her head and getting up on her own.

As Carly started gathering the scattered bread and headed out, Anne called out.

“Ah, you don’t have to go!”

“I’ll bring the bread back.”

“I’m fine…”

Each time Anne spoke, Evan held her tighter, making her flustered.

Carly left with a faint smile, leaving Anne to remain in Evan’s embrace for a long time.

It felt oddly intimate, as if they were lovers.

A bluebird chirped cheerfully beside them through the open window.

Unaware of others’ feelings.

“Were you trying to escape?”

“…Yes, but there’s a cliff outside the window.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“What’s fortunate about that? I’m stuck here, playing maid to Lady Carly Dehart.”

“Carly will treat you well.”

Anne pouted.

She wanted to argue, but seeing him trembling and speaking, she couldn’t bring herself to.

Besides, how could she be mad at a duke’s commander?

“Did your former lover look like me? You seem obsessed with me.”

Finally, Evan loosened his grip on her.

“Yes, very much.”

His eyes, trembling slightly, looked moist as if he might cry.

Gently touching Anne’s cheek, he seemed to be trying to remember his former lover.

Contrary to rumors of his numerous romantic exploits, this version of him puzzled Anne.

Still, if it meant helping a nobleman recall his lost love, she thought she could play along a bit.

Most of all, he has been kind to her and helped her many times.

“Anne.”

“…Yet, you still call my name so clearly. You don’t have to do that.”

“I can’t afford to make that mistake with you.”

He felt so warm. Curious about who this man’s old lover might be, considering his noble status and handsome appearance, Anne wondered.

Before the war, he must have been the center of attention at countless balls, always devoted to his beloved.

Perhaps he looked at her with such longing eyes at times…

The woman he fell in love with likely enjoyed luxurious dresses and proper tea times.

For a brief moment, Anne felt envious of her.

But it was an inappropriate thought. She collected herself, trying to understand him.

After all, this man had lost his affluent and leisurely life to this war, so how empty must he feel?

With this in mind, Anne met his gaze and whispered, as if to console him.

“I misunderstood you. I didn’t know. I thought… I thought you liked me.”

Before Anne could finish her sentence, Carly had returned, sensing Evan’s mood.

His blue eyes darkened, looking as if they were wounded. Carly, watching as she brought more bread, had a sorrowful expression.

‘Could it be…’

Anne felt a pang of guilt, realizing she might have touched a deep wound by bringing up the past.

Momentarily forgetting the status difference, she had taken his kindness and the noblewoman’s affection for granted.

Anne placed her hand on Evan’s shoulder, patting it gently as she spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

Anne immediately regretted her apology, as it caused him to collapse completely.

No, not just him… both of them…

Seeing the unceasing tears streaming down their cheeks, Anne was bewildered.

It seemed that this past lover was precious not only to Evan Davis but also to Carly Dehart.

Realizing this, Anne bit her lip and tried to remedy the situation.

“So, uh…”

Carly gently pushed Evan aside and hugged Anne tightly.

Just as Evan had held her earlier.

“You must have many questions. But don’t ask. Just know that to the commander and me, you are someone we must cherish. So… sometimes laugh and cry with us, and just be by our side.”

Carly’s face was flushed with the effort of holding back tears. Her sorrow was evident in her expression.

“Did I make a mistake? I mean, I’m sorry.”

“That person was precious to me too. Although it was a short time, I felt we shared a lot.”

“You’re talkative, Carly Dehart.”

Upon hearing his cracked voice, Carly shook her head and replied.

“Indeed.”

Anne patted Carly’s shoulder comfortingly.

Even though she knew her comfort might not help much… She couldn’t ignore Carly’s affection for her just because she resembled that person.

“That person must have really loved you both, Lady Carly and Commander Davis.”

Evan, looking at Anne intently, was surprised by her words.

Hearing such words again from those lips, Evan’s heart pounded.

Considering the last moments he had spent clinging to the remnants of her memory, each small comfort she offered was incredibly precious.

Evan approached her slowly, speaking with a voice heavy with emotion.

“Again.”

“Pardon?”

“Say that again.”

“…You mean, that she must have really…loved you Lady Carly and Commander Davis?”

“Yes, again.”

Carly, observing Evan’s expression, had an intuition.

This man had lost his mind.

Since Anne’s death, he has often done strange things…

And each time, he wore that expression. When he held her clothes or found other traces of her, his eyes looked just like that.

Carly had long concluded that it was best to leave them alone during these moments.

She patted Anne’s back and left the room. Despite Anne’s attempt to hold her back, Carly whispered in her ear before heading upstairs.

“Please, just help him for a while.”

Anne looked at Evan, who was persistently staring at her. One of his eyebrows twitched.

Seeing him waiting for her answer, Anne finally spoke again.

“That person must have really loved you, Commander.”

Evan ran a hand over his face, trying to control his emotions, which surged like waves.

No man could remain indifferent to hearing such words from the woman he loved.

He missed the artificial strawberry flavor that always lingered during their kisses. He longed to kiss those lips immediately.

“Are you going to ask me to say it again?”

At her question, Evan’s rationality snapped. Unconsciously, he spoke.

“May I kiss you?”

Anne stuttered, taken aback.

“Yes? I mean…?”

Naturally, she should refuse, feel repulsed by his request. But she didn’t feel uncomfortable.

She recalled how he looked at her with heated eyes, as if she were his lover, since coming to the field hospital.

How he protected her from Gabriel. How he brought her here, away from the back market.

Perhaps Anne’s true feelings were that she wanted to stay under his protection. In her past life, no one had worried about her this much.

‘If anything happened to me, the one who resembles his lover, this man would not be able to bear it at all.’

With that thought, Anne found it hard to reject his crazy proposal.

Yet, even with her firm resolve to refuse, she found herself nodding, drawn in by his earnest smile.

Anne’s feet moved closer to him. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to approach this man, who stood still.

Evan’s veined hand caressed her lips.

Anne slightly tilted her head up.

With her silent permission, his lips gently touched hers. Very cautiously.

Evan whispered in a husky voice.

“I want more.”

Anne shyly nodded at his words.

Then Evan grabbed her chin and kissed her deeply.

It was a savage kiss, as if he were quenching a long-held thirst.

Evan pushed Anne roughly, almost as if he were confirming that she was still alive.

As his tongue entwined with hers like a beast’s, Anne slowly opened her eyes.

Meeting his deep gaze, like the depths of the ocean, she found herself holding her breath.

Her lower abdomen heated up and her head spun. The sound of their lips meeting seemed excessively loud.

Evan persistently explored her lips as if they were his lifeline.

The sensation of his hot tongue rubbing against hers was overly erotic. Feeling as if she might fall from a great height at any moment, Anne wrapped her arms around his neck.

In response, Evan firmly held her by the back of her neck and waist, binding her tightly.

He kissed her again and again, checking to see if she was breathing each time.

In that intense and dizzying kiss, Anne could only close her eyes and receive his lips.

Anne came to her senses when the commander, having finished the deep kiss, gently soothed her with several light butterfly kisses.

‘I’m crazy.’

She was confused, not knowing why she had allowed it.

Anne couldn’t lift her head; she was buried in Evan’s chest. Her ears burned with embarrassment.

Evan, still holding her, smiled and stroked her head.

Although he was smiling calmly, an unmistakable heat lingered in his eyes.

The hand that stroked her head also lingered, gently caressing her flushed ear.

During that brief moment, Anne made up her mind.

“Will you not let me go, even after this?”

Anne regretted her words as soon as she said them.

By allowing him to kiss her while he longed for an old lover, she was digging into his wounds, implying that she thought he’d let her go if she did.

Anne lowered her head, expecting him to be angry.

“Sorry. I can’t let you go.”

At those words, Anne lifted her head to look at him. Still stroking her hair, Evan spoke firmly.

“Just stay here for a while. There’s no need to attend to Carly Dehart. Carly would prefer it that way, too.”

With those words, Evan left the mansion.

Anne, left alone in the mansion, collapsed on the spot, recalling the incredibly sweet kiss like a fleeting dream.