MPBAGS Chapter 83

Evangeline gently suggested that Gabriel return home, saying she was tired from dancing. Since there was no reason to stay longer at the Rohanson estate, they exchanged farewells with an uncomfortable residue remaining. In this farewell, Evangeline did not offer her hand.

Somehow it felt like walking over a swamp. His steps were particularly heavy. He repeatedly walked a few steps and then looked back at the Rohanson estate. However, the curtains were tightly drawn, so the interior was not visible.

"Are you leaving?"

Because he had lingered for an unusually long time, he encountered Kanna, who was strolling in the garden. In her arms was the cat he had seen at the orphanage before.

The cat that had been playful in Gabriel's arms was nowhere to be found, and now it didn't even acknowledge him. Since cats are naturally fickle creatures, Gabriel soon lost interest.

"Miss Kanna, it's been a while."

Gabriel greeted her with composure, maintaining proper courtesy.

No matter how his insides might be in turmoil, showing a calm facade had been something he was very skilled at since childhood.

The red flower that Evangeline Rohanson had uniquely plucked and transplanted into a glass case trembled its leaves shyly. Gabriel knew well that this flower could only breathe within its owner's coffin.

"Did you see?"

Instead of a greeting, what came back was an unexpected question. Even though the subject was omitted, he understood what it meant.

"You saw the young lady, didn't you?"

Kanna was the only person in this estate who called Evangeline "young lady." If the past Evangeline was everyone's young lady, Kanna's young lady was unique.

Similarly, the only ones in the estate who could properly see these things were the two monsters and Kanna. Henna could occasionally see with the eyes that Pudding had given her, and Daisy was the same. Sometimes, in a whimsical mood, even the employees would witness the scene that Kanna saw. How frightened they all were each time.

Daisy was like that too. After initially sowing discord between Henna and Kanna, Kanna, who had disliked Daisy, had almost burst into laughter when she heard that Daisy had gotten scared and ran away from just seeing a snowball.

Of course, now that her sister and Miss Daisy had gotten along well, she could fully understand. For someone with a weak constitution, it would certainly be disturbing to witness.

Was this seemingly upright knight also disturbed? His face was particularly pale, as if he was frightened.

"Sir Gabriel. If you want to love the young lady, you must endure. You must love even this."

Kanna was pleased to have an unexpected comrade appear. So she gave advice generously. The cat in her arms seemed to say it was futile, pawing at her arm to stop her, but as a senior, she could at least give some advice.

Lord Pudding really has a bad personality. Originally, those things were byproducts of the cat trying to establish its territory. The cat liked the young lady and tested Gabriel, who was beginning to take interest in the young lady. Because one couldn't handle the young lady without accepting even the aspect the cat showed. And the result was like this—the cat's disappointment.

"If you endure, you can be loved. You envy me, don't you?"

"Envy? Me?"

Gabriel might deny it, but Kanna remembered that moment clearly.

The look in his eyes when he saw Kanna being favored by the young lady on the first day he visited the cathedral. It was the longing gaze of one who lacked something. It was proof of jealousy.

In Kanna's view, Gabriel was someone gasping with thirst. Wells couldn't quench his thirst so he passed them by, he ignored even streams, but what if he encountered an ocean?

He would immediately dive in and think drowning was happiness. Even if the salt water made him cough and his eyes sting, he wouldn't care at all. Rather, he would think he was drowning in sugar.

"You already know from Miss Daisy that the young lady isn't an ordinary human, don't you?"

Since the documents containing Daisy's accusation against Evangeline had been entrusted to Kanna, she knew all the contents thoroughly. She had destroyed the contents in case someone might see them, but her heart had sunk when the young lady asked for the documents again.

"You just saw what you already knew, so why were you so frightened?"

Kanna asked as if genuinely puzzled. She couldn't understand Gabriel's lukewarm attitude. Gabriel avoided her eyes and swallowed his answer. Unlike what Kanna thought, Gabriel wasn't frightened by what the cat had shown him. The scene stained with red made him nauseous rather than fearful.

"Did you think the young lady would be some angel with wings? So it was different from what you expected?"

As she said, Gabriel was frightened because of Evangeline. Because Evangeline wasn't in the mirror, he feared she might be an illusion that didn't exist. The low body temperature touching his skin, the heart beating weakly but still beating—it all felt meaningless. As if Evangeline had really become a corpse. He remembered his childhood days of running with a dead child on his back.

"You're right. I already knew, but I couldn't accept it."

As the priest who had presided over the funeral and Daisy had said, Evangeline Rohanson was indeed a dead person. Yet Gabriel wanted to treat Evangeline as if she were alive.

So was that why Evangeline was angry? Because he showed interest without properly recognizing who she was?

"I'm late, so I'll be going now. Thank you for the advice."

Since there was nothing more to discuss with Kanna, Gabriel bowed silently and left. Unlike before, his steps were very quick.

"If you run away, Sir, that would be fine by me."

Kanna muttered while watching the retreating figure. The cat clicked its tongue as if displeased.

If Gabriel couldn't overcome this trial, then Kanna would be the only human on earth who completely loved the young lady. If she could monopolize her, nothing could be more joyful. However, on the other hand, she wished the things the young lady cherished would increase even more.

The wind blew and petals fluttered. Kanna enjoyed the brilliant spectacle as the cherry blossom petals hit her as if they were snow.

"It's spring."

The time was June, past spring. It was a summer night when the cherry blossoms, the pride of the Rohanson Count family that the late Countess had planted, still bloomed beautifully without falling.