“N-No, that’s all right! You don’t have to give me that much…”

“Don’t refuse. I bought these to give away any, ah!”

The carriage abruptly stopped.

Unable to withstand the force of the sudden halt, Evelyn’s small body tumbled onto the carriage floor.

“My lady! Are you all right?”

“Ow… I’m fine.”

Her knee stung. She had probably scraped it.

Evelyn staggered upright and opened the carriage window.

‘What kind of lunatic drives like….’

She was about to protest reckless driving when she froze.

Long silver hair fluttered before her eyes.

The person blocking the carriage was Oden, mounted on horseback.

He was the eldest son of House Chantalis, and the brother whose hatred for Evelyn would eventually grow strong enough to make him want her dead.

“…What are you doing here?”

Oden’s perfectly shaped brows drew together.

Alarm bells blared inside Evelyn’s head.

‘I’m screwed.’

Of all the four formidable enemies she never wanted to encounter, she had run into one here.

It was like meeting the final boss before she had managed to win over either Locke or Sachi.

Evelyn carefully studied Oden’s handsome face while considering how to escape the situation.

1. Ignore him completely.
2. Act kindly and lower his guard.
3. Run away.

The original Evelyn would have chosen either the first or the third option.

The current Evelyn chose the second.

If she had to face him sooner or later, she might as well begin by leaving the best possible impression.

Evelyn quickly stepped out of the carriage and stood before Oden.

He flinched.

Oden stared at the beautiful face visible through her veil.

Her features were gradually becoming those of a young woman, yet her cheeks still retained enough childish softness to make her undeniably adorable.

Her wavy golden hair looked as soft as sunlight.

Passersby began showing interest in the unexpected confrontation between the Chantalis siblings.

Oden made no attempt to hide his displeasure as the crowd gathered.

“Tch. Filthy vermin…”

Several apprentice mages escorting him visibly shrank.

Evelyn felt a surge of sympathy for them.

‘I can imagine how he usually treats them.’

After silently offering them her condolences, she greeted Oden warmly.

“Brother Oden, I’m delighted to see you. Where are you coming from?”

A cold wind chose that moment to blow, carrying Evelyn’s fragrance in every direction.

The onlookers huddled nearby caught the fresh scent drifting through the air and turned their heads in confusion.

Where was that warm fragrance, so reminiscent of spring, coming from?

Evelyn took a step toward Oden.

“Brother?”

She gently caught the edge of his cloak.

Oden’s already dark expression twisted into an ugly scowl.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

He stepped back, avoiding her hand.

His face made it clear that he found her attempt at familiarity disgusting.

But Evelyn had dealt with every imaginable type of person in her previous life, and his reaction did not faze her in the slightest.

Nor had she worked in any ordinary profession.

For three consecutive years, she had been named an outstanding employee in the ultimate service industry, one that required her to deal with difficult bachelors and spinsters every single day.

Drawing upon her ability to analyze her clients’ strengths, Evelyn searched for a way to open Oden’s heart, even if only a little.

‘It looks like he’s on his way back to the imperial palace.’

As a highly accomplished mage, Oden took great pride in the silver hair he had acquired later in life.

Only mages who had reached the Fifth Circle or higher could gain such hair through their magical power, which surely made it an even greater source of pride.

Pointing toward Oden’s lustrous hair, Evelyn spoke shyly.

“I apologize. I was so proud of you that I forgot my place and spoke too freely. After all, not many people can claim to have a Fifth-Circle mage in their family.”

“…”

Oden regarded Evelyn’s unusually restrained manner with suspicion.

For the past several years, he had deliberately avoided her because he could not stand the sight of her. Yet now that they had met again, Evelyn appeared far more mature than her age, nothing like the head maid’s claim that she spent every moment plotting some new misdeed.

‘No matter how much I wish to deny it, she still carries the blood of a ducal house.’

Oden turned away from Evelyn’s shining eyes.

There was no possibility of his resolve weakening. He simply had no desire to maintain unnecessary eye contact with her.

“I asked what you were doing here.”

“I was on my way home after buying cookies. If you’d like, you can have some too!”

As it happened, she was holding a bag of cookies.

Evelyn hurried forward to offer it to him, only to trip over her own feet.

“Ah!”

Startled, she grabbed hold of Oden, who was still seated on his horse.

But he instinctively shoved her away.

Evelyn landed heavily on the dirt and stared up at him in bewilderment.

“Brother?”

A trace of alarm crossed Oden’s eyes.

His cursed younger sister, the girl with whom he had not spent a single moment alone in years.

The one who had killed their mother and was dragging the ducal family into ruin had touched him.

Although Oden told himself that his reaction had been perfectly natural, he could not immediately turn away.

Blood trickled from Evelyn’s hand where it had struck a sharp stone.

The onlookers began murmuring among themselves.

Yet not one of them stepped forward to help her.

Alpi finally recovered from her shock and rushed to examine Evelyn.

“My lady! Are you all right?”

Evelyn brushed the dirt from her clothes and rose without assistance.

Blood ran down her hand, and her entire body was covered in dust.

Had it not been for her expensive dress, anyone might have mistaken her for a homeless child from the streets.

With tears glistening in her eyes, Evelyn looked up at Oden.

“I’m sorry, Brother.”

Her voice was heartrending.

In Evelyn’s eyes, Oden glimpsed a maturity he had never seen before.

At last, he turned away from her.

“…Stop playing your little games and return to the estate, unless you’re trying to spread word that House Chantalis is falling into ruin because of you.”

“…”

“Never forget that your very existence is a stain upon House Chantalis, Evelyn.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

Oden’s horse swiftly carried him away from Evelyn.

Alpi, who had witnessed the entire confrontation, helped Evelyn back into the carriage.

The coachman drove rapidly toward the estate.

“My lady, are you all right?”

Evelyn, who had kept her head lowered the entire time, let out an enormous yawn.

The mournful expression that had seemed far too mature for a child had already vanished.

“Of course I’m all right. Everyone here is so gullible.”

Alpi, who had been watching her with a grave expression, released a sigh.

“Honestly! I thought you were truly heartbroken!”

“Hmph. As if. Just make sure you have the cookies.”

Evelyn deliberately spoke in a haughty tone.

In truth, Oden’s rejection had hurt her far more than she had expected.

He could not have known it, but his words had stirred memories from her previous life.

“Ugh, she smells weird!”

“Don’t tell anyone you came from our orphanage. It’s embarrassing!”

Because it was a world of the powerless, its hierarchy had been all the more rigid.

Even inside an orphanage, the weakest and least appealing children could never find a family.

‘So I’m an outcast here too. This is harder to endure than I thought.’

Evelyn stared blankly at the passing scenery.

Just as her spirits began to sink, Alpi, who had been humming to herself, took out a handkerchief and wrapped it around Evelyn’s injured hand.

Evelyn looked at her in confusion.

“I’ll treat it properly once we return to the estate. And here, eat one of these.”

What Alpi offered her was one of the cookies Evelyn had given her earlier.

Evelyn accepted it almost without thinking.

“Whenever I’m hurting, eating something sweet makes me feel better.”

After hesitating briefly, Evelyn placed the cookie in her mouth.

It was crisp and delicious, more than good enough to justify the manager’s pride.

“It’s good.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Thank you, Alpi.”

Evelyn soon smiled brightly and handed Alpi several more bags of cookies.

Alpi regarded her with mixed emotions.

To think she was feeling sorry for the servant of the Evil God, of all people.

Yet when Evelyn had faced Oden, she had looked so fragile that she might collapse at any moment.

Even now, it feels as though she’s forcing herself to pretend she’s fine. And she’s only seventeen.

It struck Alpi anew that Evelyn was a girl five whole years younger than she was.

Forgetting all the hardships she had endured over the past three years, Alpi opened her heart to Evelyn a little more.

Unaware of this, Evelyn happily enjoyed the wind blowing into the carriage.

She had never expected everything to work out easily.

She was Evelyn Joelle Chantalis now, and she would change everything from this point onward.

“But it’s all right. I’m only seventeen!”

“…My lady?”

She had plenty of time.

She might not be able to change the original story completely, but she would survive.

Her energy restored, Evelyn stuck her head out of the carriage window.

“You crazy bastard, Oden! I hate you too! Just wait and see which one of us wins! You hear me?!”

“M-My lady! You’re going to fall out!”

The carriage entered the ducal estate.

A warm breeze heralded the beginning of spring.

***

Meanwhile, on the bustling street, the spectators who had watched Oden and Evelyn’s confrontation gradually dispersed.

Only one red-haired boy, his hood pulled low over his face, remained where he stood.

“…I nearly missed quite the spectacle.”

His scarlet eyes gleamed darkly beneath his hood.

To see the infamous seed of evil from such a close distance, 

It had been fascinating indeed.

‘According to what I heard, she was nothing more than an affection-starved little girl with a clever mind. Was the information I gathered wrong?’

Rather than being oblivious, she had appeared almost unnaturally perceptive.

Far too perceptive to be an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl.

He must have overlooked something.

“Surely your intelligence network hasn’t begun to fail, has it, Pa? Long?”

He looked toward the alleyway where his loyal subordinates were hiding.

Two men emerged from the darkness and knelt before him.

“We will investigate her again.”

“Good. Don’t disappoint me. If handled properly, she may become the finest card in my hand.”

Pa and Long nodded.

Then they slipped back into the darkness.

The boy, Bavil, turned toward the crowded marketplace.

He knew every scandal and evil deed committed by every noble in Lagria, yet the person who had newly captured his interest was merely the servant of the Evil God.

Bavil chuckled.

‘Whatever happens, I won’t be bored for a while.’

He recalled Evelyn’s green eyes, glimpsed in the brief moment when the wind lifted her veil.

No matter how he considered them, those were not the eyes of an ordinary girl.

They more closely resembled the eyes of someone like him, someone who had spent a lifetime rolling through filthy mud.

‘What kind of life have you lived to possess eyes like that already, Evelyn?’

Bavil looked forward to the day he would meet the cursed duke’s daughter again.

When that day came, he would remove that suffocating veil and look upon her bare face.

A cold, mischievous gleam flickered in Bavil’s eyes.