Chapter 133

At most, three minutes.

The conversation between Evangeline and the Stingray Chairman did not last long.

With a faint, peculiar smile, the Chairman simply held her quietly in his arms and exchanged a few whispers.

Maria only stood still, silently watching the two whisper to each other.

She could not hear their exchange.

That was because she had already removed or deactivated her combat modules in order to meet the Chairman.

Evangeline looked quite tense, but at the same time Maria felt relieved.

Judging by the atmosphere, at least there seemed to be no danger of Evangeline being purged simply for being a “witch.”

The Stingray Chairman appeared to be rather fond of Evangeline.

Awkward as it was, they almost looked like grandfather and granddaughter.

‘Young Master Aaron would also feel at ease.’

With that thought, Maria waited a while until the secret conversation between the old man and the child ended.

The Chairman once again hugged Evangeline and set her gently back down on the floor.

“You may return.”

The Chairman spoke in a somewhat weary voice.

Evangeline returned to Maria’s side, and the two of them stood together, bowed politely to the Chairman, and then left the reception room.

It was a bland meeting.

Considering how much tension and preparation had gone into it, the fact that it ended so quickly left them feeling almost cheated.

As her tension eased, mental and physical fatigue began to wash over Maria.

After leaving the Chairman’s room, she retrieved her combat modules from the guards waiting outside the door, then held Evangeline’s hand and headed toward the parking lot.

On the way to the spot where the car had been parked in advance—

“Ma, Maria. Wait…!”

“Evangeline?”

Evangeline suddenly let go of Maria’s hand and bolted down the corridor.

She stumbled, nearly falling and bumping into things, until she reached the drain in the corner of the parking lot.

“Uweeegh!”

“Evangeline!”

Evangeline suddenly began vomiting into the drain.

Startled, Maria rushed over and rubbed her back.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain? Do we need to go to a hospital…?”

No, even if a witch went to a human hospital, could she really receive proper treatment? Would human medicine work on her in the same way? Maria had no way of knowing.

Even as she thought that, Evangeline continued retching. Her face, once rosy and healthy, turned pale as the color drained away, and the bright smile she had worn was now replaced only with terror.

Her small hand, clutching Maria’s outstretched one, trembled violently as though struck by convulsions.

What on earth was wrong?

She hadn’t fed her anything harmful.

While Maria was panicking at the unexpected situation, she suddenly felt a gaze.

“Ch–Chairman…?”

From the distant corridor window.

The Chairman had come out of his room and was staring in their direction.

The kind smile he had shown Evangeline earlier was nowhere to be found.

Instead, only the emotionless face of an old man floated ghost-like behind the glass.

But only for a moment.

As if he had lost interest, the Chairman turned away and disappeared behind the window, his ghostly visage soon vanishing from sight.

‘Was there something between the two of them?’

It was an instinctive suspicion.

Maria urgently asked Evangeline what had happened. What had she and the Stingray Chairman talked about? Did it have anything to do with why she was suffering like this now?

Evangeline then—

With a voice so faint it seemed it might break, she struggled to answer.

“Nothing… nothing at all…”

Maria knew immediately.

That was an obvious lie.

Maria’s urgent call.

Upon hearing that Evangeline had suddenly collapsed, I hurried with Ciel to where the two were.

Moved to my mansion in Elysium, Evangeline now lay in bed, her face flushed scarlet as she sweated profusely in agony.

I was terrified something had gone terribly wrong, but the physician, who had arrived just before me, explained the cause.

“It seems to be stress-induced.”

She had been overwhelmed by sudden and unbearable stress.

The diagnosis was that after a few days of rest, she would recover her health.

I was relieved.

At least it wasn’t a serious illness.

“I’ll leave three days’ worth of fever reducers and painkillers. Feed her mostly soft foods for a few days, and if the symptoms disappear, she may stop taking the medicine. If the drugs prove ineffective, please contact me again.”

The physician explained that since Evangeline was not an ordinary human child, the medicine might not work properly.

However, because the cause appeared to be sudden stress, with rest she would likely recover quickly even without medication.

“As for this matter…”

“Of course. I won’t speak of it anywhere.”

I warned him once more not to spread the fact that Evangeline was a “witch,” and then sent him away.

After he left, I called to Maria, who stood dazed beside Evangeline’s bed.

“Maria.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

She, too, seemed quite shocked by this incident, her face pale and gaunt. I did not want to put more stress on her, but she was the only one here who could explain the situation.

“What happened?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Maria’s explanation began with an apology and ended with the words, “I don’t really know.”

It had been late in the evening, so the meeting had not lasted long, and it didn’t seem as though the Chairman had actually done anything to her.

“…I see.”

What on earth had happened between the Stingray Chairman and Evangeline? I fell into thought for a moment, but in the end realized this was something I could never know unless I asked them directly.

“I’ll go see Father.”

“Young Master!”

Maria suddenly raised her voice.

I asked again.

“Why? It’s not as if I said anything strange.”

“I know what you’re thinking, Young Master. That is why I can’t help but try to stop you. Please calm yourself.”

It seemed she had caught on to my thoughts.

For a moment, I had considered barging in and wringing that old man’s neck. But there was no helping it.

I would have to give up the plan to assassinate the Emperor.

Then again, as Maria had said, perhaps truly “nothing had happened.” Perhaps the Stingray Chairman had done nothing to Evangeline, and she had simply frightened herself into such a state.

Before I tried attacking an old man, I needed to calm myself.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied my mind and approached Evangeline.

“Evangeline.”

I called her name while stroking her head, but she only gasped for breath, struggling, unable to answer properly.

It felt as though a part of my chest was being torn apart. Was this how it would feel if I had a daughter?

‘I’ll need to change my plans.’

Originally, I had intended to head back to the Blue Hunting Ground tomorrow.

To prepare for any contingencies, I had planned to meet with the Transmigrator Alliance only after finishing my farming at the Blue Hunting Ground… in other words, after obtaining a new Lv.5 module and then proceeding at leisure.

But with Evangeline suffering so much, I couldn’t possibly leave her behind.

It wasn’t just about emotions; I worried that if the “connection” were cut while she was in such a weakened state, it might have a negative effect on her.

‘Truly, circumstances are not on my side.’

At least until Evangeline fully recovered, it seemed best to stay by her side.

“Maria, you may return. The same goes for you, Ciel. I’ll take care of this one here for a while.”

“Ah, understood, Lord Aaron.”

“No, Young Master. I…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“…Yes.”

At that, Maria and Ciel bowed their heads and carefully left the room. Once they were gone, I pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.

“Haa… haa…”

Evangeline was still gasping for breath.

Placing my hand on her forehead, I felt that she was burning hot.

I thought about giving her a fever reducer, but to my surprise, her expression slowly began to relax.

‘Was it because my hand touched her?’

On a hunch, I held her small hand. At once, her fever began to ease and her breathing calmed.

Unconsciously, Evangeline pulled my hand closer and hugged it.

She must have liked the coolness of my touch.

‘Well, this is troublesome.’

It seemed I would have to stay like this until she woke.

I moved from the chair onto the bed.

A little while later.

Ciel connected herself to Aaron’s mansion management system.

A new unit has been detected.

Unit name: CL-00245

Register this unit? Y/N

Ciel pressed YES and registered herself as Aaron’s new mansion management android.

At first, she hadn’t intended to do this.

She had planned to return straight to her apartment near the Academy, but at Maria’s request she stayed behind at Aaron’s mansion.

Maria had said she would surely be scolded later for not following instructions, so she asked Ciel to stay instead and look after Aaron.

-Understood, Lady Maria.

-Ordinarily, there would be no need to go this far… but we were instructed not to leave the mansion completely unattended during the holiday. So right now, there’s no one else in this mansion.

Maria had added that explanation as if making excuses, but either way, Ciel had no ability to refuse her command.

The habits of her days as an ordinary maid android were ingrained in her, making it difficult to disobey a human’s orders or requests.

Still, she had been worried about Aaron and Evangeline anyway, so half by choice and half by obligation, Ciel remained in Aaron’s mansion.

The maid android program still embedded in her AI core naturally helped her grasp the layout of the mansion, and she quickly found the dressing room where Aaron’s clothes were stored.

Having prepared a change of clothes, she headed to the room where Aaron and Evangeline were.

“Lord Aaron. I’ve brought you a change of clothes. Lady Maria asked me to bring these~”

She gave a light knock, but there was no response. Left with no choice, she entered without permission.

“Oh my.”

She discovered a rather surprising sight.

Aaron and Evangeline were lying side by side, fast asleep. In the brief time it had taken Ciel to fetch the clothes, they had dozed off.

‘Well, this is a bit awkward~’

With a quiet smile, Ciel placed the clothes on the chair by the bed. Before leaving the room, she murmured as she glanced at the two of them together.

“They look just like a father and daughter~”

Only then did Ciel feel relieved.

The truth was, she had been secretly worried.

She had feared that perhaps Aaron was keeping them around only for “points.”

That if they were no longer useful, he might discard them like expendable pawns.

But the moment she saw him asleep beside Evangeline, those worries vanished.

Yes, this man cherished them.

Though he seemed cold and ruthless on the outside, in truth he was thinking more sincerely of their future than anyone else.

‘I’m glad I chose to side with Lord Aaron~’

Their first meeting had not been particularly beautiful, but looking back now, she could only call it incredible luck.

‘I could never betray him.’

With that thought—

Ciel opened her private mailbox and deleted the recent email she had received from an “unknown sender.”

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