Oden emerged from his thoughts and nodded.

“Very well. Yon, escort Evelyn back to her room.”

“Certainly, Young Master.”

Relief appeared in Adonea’s eyes.

Evelyn was equally relieved.

But as Oden walked away, the glance he cast over his shoulder clearly said, Well, well. What have we here?

Evelyn’s heart pounded.

‘I may have supposedly come to my senses overnight, but I can’t behave so differently that everyone becomes suspicious. I need to act a little more like the original Evelyn.’

That made it all the more important to find someone with whom she could openly reveal her true personality.

Instead of wasting time like this, perhaps she should go out and find a suitable private tutor herself.

She needed someone who could silence Adonea while defending Evelyn, someone discreet and trustworthy.

It would be even better if the person were desperate enough for money to participate in a seventeen-year-old duke’s daughter’s absurd business venture.

Evelyn mentally reviewed the appealing supporting characters from the original novel one by one.

Suddenly, a woman’s face flashed through her mind like lightning.

‘Of course! There was that woman!’

There were still several hours before sunset.

If she wanted to sneak out, she needed an excuse to remain alone and undisturbed until evening.

While she was absorbed in thought, Yon personally opened the door to her room.

“Here we are, my lady.”

“Yon, may I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything you wish.”

“…Do you also think I should never have been born?”

Yon was taken aback by Evelyn’s sudden question.

He had devoted himself to the ducal family for decades.

Yet before this girl named Evelyn, he became as helpless as a grandfather facing his own granddaughter.

“Of course not. Everyone was overjoyed when the duchess became pregnant with you.”

“But everyone ended up miserable because of me. Even Brother Oden hates me.”

“My lady, that is…”

Even Yon could not answer that question carelessly.

Everyone in the estate knew that Oden despised Evelyn.

“Even so, I am certain that Young Master Oden will recognize your kind heart someday.”

“Do you really think so?”

Evelyn entered her room with slumped shoulders.

She looked as pitiful as an abandoned puppy.

“I want to be alone, Yon. I won’t be eating dinner tonight, so could you leave me alone until tomorrow morning?”

“My lady…!”

Evelyn shut the door loudly and even slid the bolt into place.

Yon knocked from the corridor.

“My lady, please open the door for a moment.”

“No, Yon. I’m all right. I simply need some time alone to think.”

Yon paced anxiously outside her door before finally walking away.

‘It seems I have found one final task before my retirement, my lady. I will change Young Master Oden’s heart, no matter what it takes.’

Unaware that Yon had grown even more protective of her, Evelyn pressed her ear against the door.

‘Is he gone?’

A triumphant smile spread across her face.

Her sorrowful demeanor from moments ago disappeared without a trace.

Chuckling to herself, Evelyn retrieved the purse she had hidden inside a drawer.

“If I don’t have a tutor, I’ll just find one myself.”

After confirming that the corridor was empty, she hurried away to find Alpi.

She had only one destination in mind.

Oilet, an herbal medicine shop located in the capital’s back alleys.

***

“…My lady, are you certain this is a good idea?”

“Shh, Alpi. Keep your voice down!”

Evelyn raised a finger to her lips.

Even beneath her hood, Alpi radiated fear.

Sneaking out of the ducal estate had gone surprisingly smoothly.

The problem was that neither Evelyn nor Alpi had ever explored the capital’s back alleys before.

Holding Alpi’s hand, Evelyn ventured deeper into the increasingly secluded streets.

Although the sun was still high, the shadowed alleys felt bitterly cold.

‘I thought we would find it if we kept walking, but this is much harder than I expected.’

In the original novel, Oilet had been regarded as something of a temple within the back alleys.

It was a place that readily showed mercy to the poor and powerless.

That place was the Oilet apothecary.

Evelyn had assumed it would be crowded with customers and therefore easy to recognize.

She had been wrong.

“The owner’s name sounded like a dessert. Was it Madeleine…?”

Alpi suddenly covered her mouth in alarm.

“M-My lady! Is that… Is that a rat?!”

“Hmm? It probably is.”

“Eek! H-How can you be so calm?! We need to leave immediately!”

“…Have you never seen a rat before?”

“Of course I’ve never seen one this close!”

Alpi hid behind Evelyn while frantically scanning their surroundings.

She had been born into a reasonably well-off commoner family and had begun working as a maid for high-ranking nobles as soon as she came of age.

For Alpi’s sake, since she looked ready to burst into tears, Evelyn decided they should leave the alley for now.

“Fine. Just follow me.”

At that moment, a boy appeared and deliberately bumped Evelyn’s shoulder as he passed.

“Ugh!”

“My lady!”

Evelyn’s small body stumbled.

The freckle-faced boy waved with a swagger.

“Oh, sorry. Maybe you should watch where you’re going next time?”

‘…This little bastard.’

Evelyn glared at him indignantly.

Suddenly, Alpi cried out in alarm.

“My lady, the purse! The money pouch is gone!”

Evelyn glanced at Alpi’s waist.

Just as she said, the purse that should have been tied there had disappeared.

Instead of panicking, Evelyn laughed.

‘I can’t believe something this predictable actually happened.’

Anticipating that they might encounter a pickpocket, Evelyn had deliberately placed an obvious fake purse on Alpi’s belt.

And someone had truly stolen it.

“It doesn’t matter. It was fake. Let’s go.”

“F-Fake?”

“More precisely, I suppose you could call it a fake containing a gift.”

Alpi followed Evelyn with a bewildered expression.

Not long afterward, a small explosion came from the alley behind them.

“Cough, cough! What is this?!”

It was unmistakably the freckled boy’s voice.

Evelyn casually turned toward the source of the commotion.

People who had heard the disturbance gradually surrounded the boy.

Wrapped in gray smoke, he cried and rubbed furiously at his eyes.

“Someone, water! Cough! Give me water!”

Watching him shout desperately, Evelyn recalled a conversation she had once had with Sachi.

‘Use this whenever there’s someone you want to teach a lesson. It’s my special explosive powder.’

Evelyn did not know exactly what Sachi had used to make it, but the powder had certainly performed its role.

The coughing boy spotted Evelyn and pointed at her.

“You! Cough! Over there!”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! What the hell did you do to me?”

Everyone’s attention naturally turned toward Evelyn.

She tilted her head innocently.

“What did I do?”

“You gave me this weird, ugh, thing, and now…!”

“Oh, some idiot stole my purse earlier. Don’t tell me that was you?”

“Wh-What? An idiot?!”

The boy raised his fists as though he might attack her at any moment.

Just then, a young woman with neatly tied brown hair emerged from the crowd.

“I came to see what all this commotion was about, and honestly… What gives you the right to shout at anyone, Tol?!”

“Ugh. S-Sis?”

The woman turned toward Evelyn.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties at most.

Intelligence shone through her youthful, gentle features.

She gave Evelyn an apologetic look, then struck the top of Tol’s head with her fist.

“That hurt, Sis!”

“It sounds as though you stole this girl’s belongings. Is that true?”

The previously defiant boy began mumbling.

“N-No, it wasn’t…”

“Tol… I asked you to attend school and stay out of trouble. I begged you not to do anything wrong.”

Tears gathered in the woman’s eyes.

Tol flinched and looked completely helpless.

An elderly woman who had been watching intervened.

“That’s enough. We all know what Tol was thinking. He must have done it for your sake, Madlette.”

The moment Evelyn heard the familiar name, her head snapped up.

‘Madlette? Then could she be…?’

“Grandmother, I know, but…I’m afraid that if this continues, even the customers who still visit Oilet will stop coming.”

The woman, Madlette, released a deep sigh.

Evelyn felt as though she had hit the jackpot.

‘The god of clichés led me straight to her!’

Madlette took Tol by the hand and approached Evelyn.

Tol refused even to look at her.

Madlette bowed apologetically on his behalf.

“I am truly sorry. We’ve been struggling financially lately. I will discipline him severely and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, ”

“What about compensation?”

Evelyn’s question cut her off.

Tol immediately bristled.

“Compensation for what? That purse was filled with nothing but smoke!”

“That explosive powder was extremely expensive. Even a rough estimate would put its value at more than four märchen.”

Madlette and Tol’s eyes widened simultaneously.

Evelyn was not lying.

In Lagria, divine power and magic were dominant, while science had only just begun to develop.

Consequently, scientifically manufactured products required extremely expensive materials.

‘I think Sachi said the ingredients alone cost more than three märchen.’

Even after minimizing labor costs, the powder was worth at least four märchen. If it were actually sold on the market, the price could be even higher.

Tol fell silent.

Madlette clasped her trembling hands together, her face turning pale.

“I see… I am so terribly sorry. Is there any other way we could repay you?”

Evelyn smiled beneath her hood.

“Of course there is. It won’t be difficult at all.”

She clasped Madlette’s hand tightly.

Her small body was already exhausted after walking for so long.

“Why don’t we begin by going to the Oilet?”

“What? How do you know about our shop…?”

“Wait! I’m coming too, my lady!”

Alpi hurried after Evelyn in confusion.

At the same moment, two shadows that had been lingering farther down the street disappeared without a trace.

***

Inside a dim underground office, Bavil raised his head from the book he was reading by candlelight.

Pa and Long, both dressed entirely in black, knelt at his feet.

“Well? Did you discover what caused that explosion?”

“Yes. It appears a boy from the Oilet apothecary stole some explosive powder.”

“Explosive powder?”

Bavil’s scarlet eyes narrowed.

As far as he knew, only a handful of people in the Lagria Empire possessed the ability to manufacture explosive powder themselves.

“Where did it come from?”

“The powder belonged to the duke’s daughter you mentioned before, Evelyn.”

Bavil closed his book.

He had been growing bored, and now an opportunity had practically dropped into his lap.

How delightful.

“I should prepare to go out. Cancel this afternoon’s auction.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Pa and Long disappeared into the darkness once more.

Bavil draped a black hooded cloak around himself and began to hum.

His eyes gleamed a deeper scarlet than before.

‘I hope you prove even more entertaining than I expect, Evelyn.’

Bavil shook the green crystal hanging around his neck.

Green light poured from the necklace-shaped artifact, and his figure vanished.

Only a cold silence remained inside the office.