MPBAGS Chapter 45

Gabriel also needs to go meet that kind old-fashioned bishop from earlier, so I should thoughtfully take my leave here.

Did I get everything done?

I successfully rescued Henna and Kanna from getting into trouble with that noble, the kids saw the painting, and of course I couldn't see it since it burned up, but I wasn't planning to look at it anyway. I also retrieved the statement and gained a favor point with Gabriel by helping out a knight.

A new character named Daisy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but Gabriel still seems to like me, so no problem!

"Shall we head back now?"

"Yes!"

Kanna answered excitedly. Well, she's been waiting here for hours for me, so she'd naturally want to go back quickly.

As I gathered my things and stood up, Gabriel reached out his hand as if to stop me. Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to actually grab me, so his hand just hung awkwardly in the air.

"Are you leaving?"

What, should I live here with you instead? I bit my tongue to stop myself from making that sarcastic retort. Right... I'm a romance novel resident now. I can't get creeped out and make a serious face just because the male lead is saying romantic lines. I need to charm the male lead well to escape being the villainess.

"It's getting late."

"Then I'll escort you to the carriage."

Gabriel stood up from his seat. Since he needs to go see the bishop too, he's probably going to escort me while he's at it.

When we came back outside, the sun was already setting.

It was just a short walk to the carriage. The coachman who had been sitting on the driver's seat trembling saw me and gasped. Oh right, I startled him earlier when I suddenly teleported. I forgot about that.

I was about to explain the situation to reassure him when the carriage door opened. Jelly peeked out just his face without getting out of the carriage.

"You're back?"

"Good work, Jelly."

It was the tone of someone who's had a hard time and wants attention. As I was patting Jelly's head and praising him, Gabriel called out to me.

"Lady Rohanson."

When I turned around, Gabriel was extending his hand. What? Ah, he's probably going to escort me to help me get into the carriage.

I placed my hand on Gabriel's. But then his hand gradually rose and Gabriel brought his lips to the back of my hand. I was so startled for a moment that I almost hit him. So it wasn't an escort - he was trying to greet me.

I know it's a romance novel-style greeting, but experiencing it firsthand feels kind of weird...? I should have worn gloves! Fortunately, Gabriel was just making the gesture.

Still, the ticklish feeling remained. Instead of feeling moist skin touching my bare hand, I felt his breath. When his moist, soft breath touched my hand, I somehow felt shy and wanted to run away immediately.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you again."

Without responding to Gabriel's words, I just got into the carriage. Kanna, who got in last, deliberately slammed the door shut loudly.

Listening to Kanna grumble about how she doesn't like Gabriel, I briefly wondered if I should tell her that he was originally her match.

Oblivious to my troubled feelings, the carriage rolled along smoothly.

Long after Count Rohanson's carriage had disappeared from view, Raphaela, who had been standing there in a daze, finally came to his senses.

"What... what did you do?"

He was so flustered that his words came out broken.

"A farewell greeting."

"What on earth were you thinking...?"

The answer that came back to Gabriel was annoyingly sensible. But if the other party is that Evangeline, wouldn't kissing her hand as a farewell greeting be rather nonsensical? Anyway, whether it's the commander or Uriel beneath him, how can they all be so carefree? Let's skip Michel since he's crazy.

"Just now too. Commander, why didn't you tell her everything? Before coming here, while Lady Evangeline and the nun were talking, your name came up. It seemed like the nun had confessed everything to the lady..."

When Evangeline Rohanson pressed Gabriel about what he had heard, Raphaela wished the commander would just tell her everything honestly. The moment he met Evangeline's red eyes, his heart plummeted. Evangeline's gaze at that time was like a very sharp blade handle.

So he earnestly gestured with his eyes and hands, telling him to just speak the truth... But Gabriel actually spouted lies.

At that moment, Raphaela prepared himself to bid farewell to the world, thinking it was all over, but Gabriel went one step further and handed over a statement to Evangeline.

Naturally, it contained everything that Daisy had confessed in detail. What's the point of being honest with your hands while lying with your mouth? But Evangeline just let it slide after seeing it.

"Why did you do that? I'm sure you had your reasons, Commander..."

It was Gabriel's instinct-like intuition.

From what he had experienced before, what Evangeline Rohanson valued most was immersion in her role. Judging from her actions and polite manner of speaking so far, she seemed to act in a way that made outsiders perceive her as Evangeline Rohanson.

Evangeline Rohanson only abandoned her lady-like attitude when Gabriel failed to understand his place and said he wanted to help. She was so furious because he tried to strip away that role.

So Gabriel played along this time too. He couldn't risk angering her by confessing lies, so he handed over the paper, and by saying the complete opposite, he hinted that he would pretend not to have seen anything. Fortunately, Gabriel's handling seemed to please Evangeline.

And by deliberately giving Evangeline a farewell greeting, Gabriel realized one more thing.

He extended his hand for the greeting.

Although Evangeline wasn't short, perhaps due to the considerable difference in build between her and Gabriel, her hand was also much smaller than Gabriel's.

Her body temperature was very low. He overlapped their hands and focused on her fingertips to check her pulse.

Even while pretending to kiss her hand, he guessed that Evangeline Rohanson wouldn't pull her hand away. He deliberately slowed down, slowly kissing her hand while calculating her heart rate. It was slow but her heart was definitely beating. Small but she was breathing.

He had guessed that a corpse was forcibly moving, but she was definitely alive.

Daisy had said that Evangeline Rohanson moved a dead corpse, but those words were wrong. However, the thought that what was inside wasn't human remained the same. Evangeline regarded humans as mere creatures and made it seem natural to treat them as such creatures.

The moment he first saw Evangeline was still vivid.

Among all living, breathing things, the only one that was dead.

Among all warm things, the one that stood out as cold.

That's why Evangeline Rohanson was special.

Gabriel unconsciously touched his lips. Even though he hadn't actually kissed her, Evangeline's low temperature remained like a brand.