Chapter 7 – Different From The Original (3)

“Yes, tell me.”

Evelyn responded lightly without looking at him.

“Well… It may be sudden, but I heard that there was a hunting ground in the nearby forest.”

As soon as Ethan finished speaking, Evelyn flinched. He had been watching her, but the movement was so light he wasn’t sure.

However, the phrase ‘hunting grounds’ certainly had agitated her. Evelyn lifted her gaze, willing the corners of her mouth to loosen after becoming stiff.

There was tension in the brow above her golden eyes looking at him. Ethan stared at her lips as he waited for her to speak once again.

“Yes, there is a place the Grand Duke often visits.”

“Together… If you have time later, could we go together?”

Evelyn’s response was to watch Ethan wordlessly. Was he nervous about her constant silence? Ethan quickly continued.

“If your schedule is full, then it can’t be helped but…”

“…”

“That’s… When you were young, you often talked about hunting… It’s the weekend soon, so I’d like to go together at least once…”

However, he ended up tumbling over his words and couldn’t finish properly. Perhaps this was like a date invitation issued to his sister in the hope of getting to know her a little more.

Evelyn forced a deeper smile to keep herself from frowning. In fact, as a child, she wanted to go to the hunting grounds.

At that time she still dismissed her dreams, and she was learning to use a bow. Excited when the Archduke praised her for her skills, she vowed that one day she would catch a deer on her first hunt.

Evelyn pressed her tongue to her teeth as she grudgingly watched her past advancing to torment her.

Those were mere vain fantasies that she could have dreamed only in her ignorance.

“Unfortunately, I plan to inspect the port on the weekend, so it will be difficult to find the time.”

In fact, there was no such schedule, but she would never go to the hunting grounds with Ethan. She knew what was going to happen there, and she didn’t want to witness the moment with her own eyes.

Evelyn once again expressed her clear refusal.

“Why don’t you ask the Archduke? I think you should go together.”

“Ah… I see… I understand.”

Although nodding, Ethan’s face was quite gloomy. Even though she knew it was whimsical, she could see his invisible puppy ears drooping.

But Evelyn turned a blind eye to his various facial expressions. She quickly turned away.

As she lowered her gaze and closed her eyes, her thoughts engulfed her again.

The Hereos Empire was the main setting in the novel she had read in her previous life. So, there wasn’t much talk of Fedora in the beginning.

Most of the plot focused on events taking place inside the Hereos Empire. But Fedora was mentioned a few times, perhaps because it was where the heroine had a place to reclaim.

In the second half, Ethan’s appearance triggered the reveal of the main character’s birth, and Fedora was mentioned a little more often. Thanks to this, Evelyn knew to some extent what would happen in the Fedora Grand Duchy in the future.

She didn’t know the exact date though.

The same regarding the revelation of her true identity. She barely knew a vague time, it happened before the change of the year. Before her coming-of-age ceremony.

However, since the hunting grounds had been mentioned, it seemed not far away.

“It’s faster than I thought…”

She thought that she had at least until the new year was close. Ethan didn’t respond to her small murmur, perhaps because of her previous resolute refusal.

Sometimes she could feel his focus, but Evelyn didn’t raise her head. She had nothing to say to him, and she didn’t want to continue discussing the current topic, which made her uncomfortable and uneasy.

Feeling that day approaching slowly and inexorably, Evelyn took a deep breath.

It was the last day of the year. As mentioned in the office a few days ago, Ethan was scheduled to visit the hunting ground with the Archduke today.

In response, Evelyn had scheduled an early morning tour of the harbor. The lie she had told Ethan had come true in its own way.

She didn’t want to go with them so much that she volunteered for an unexpected inspection on the same day. She had to visit once before the winter deepened anyway, so it worked well for several purposes.

She adjusted the schedule with the mindset of visiting for the last time before leaving. She even made arrangements to depart safely when the hunting ground visitors would receive the news.

Her plans were suddenly changed by the arrival of a message while she was preparing to leave.

“What?”

“The Young Master asked if it would be okay to accompany the Grand Princess on her inspection scheduled today.”

Evelyn stiffened after the maid finished her words.

‘Ethan, who has to go to the hunting grounds, wants to accompany me on a harbor inspection?’

“Then…”

‘What about the hunting grounds?’

Evelyn, standing behind the decorated screen, was startled by the sudden change. But the maid who conveyed Ethan’s request couldn’t see her reaction. As she didn’t know anything, she asked Evelyn for her answer.

“Princess? Shall I tell the Young Master something?”

She sighed and realized she was still holding onto her regret.

“It’s fine… tell him.”

It didn’t change anything, she knew it better than anyone else.

“Yes, I understand.”

Behind the screen, Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut as the door slammed.

“I guess the Young Master really wants to be with the Princess.”

Aubrey had no way of knowing what Evelyn was feeling, so she was murmuring excitedly.

“Why don’t you show him around the city while you’re out?”

Lora used to check Aubrey every time, but she also began to actively express her opinion. Around the Castle, everyone talked about how the Young Master Ethan, who returned after twenty years, was so fond of his sister.

Everyone was excited because even the Castle’s owner, Archduke Fedora, far from stopping them, listened to them, wondering what they talked about.

Lora and Aubrey also seemed excited. Evelyn couldn’t even afford to stop their chatter, so she let it go.

‘Why did you accept Ethan’s request when you know you can’t change anything anyway?’

As long as the road ahead was obvious, it was right to refuse his request and let him go to the hunting grounds. Still, why did she allow him to accompany her instead?

Evelyn clicked her tongue, pressed her forehead hard, and re-opened her eyes.

She already had reached a conclusion. She was so sick and tired of it.

“Rather…”

“Yes?”

Rather, it would be better if that day would come as soon as possible.

Then, wouldn’t it be possible to finish everything completely without dread like this?

Taking a deep breath, Evelyn beckoned to the two who were staring at her.

“Hurry up. Older brother will be waiting for me.”

“Yes, Yes!”

“I’ll bring the ornaments!”

At the gentle prompting, the actions of the two servants quickened. It didn’t take long for them to finish grooming her. Since Ethan’s message was delivered, she was roughly ready.

After preparing, Evelyn headed to the first floor with Lora. And as she left the castle, there was Ethan standing in front of the carriage.

He was dressed like Evelyn, from head to toe.

He was wearing neat and formal outdoor clothing, different from those he wore the first day he arrived when he wore comfortable travel clothes due to the long trip, and different from the usual clothes he wore in the castle.

Considering that they were going for an inspection, it seemed a bit overdone… Maybe it was because it suited him well.

Objectively, Ethan was handsome.

There was nothing wrong with seeing beautiful things, right? Originally, Evelyn loved beautiful things.

She had strict standards for defining beauty, but Ethan was enough in her eyes.

Just because he was the one destined to reveal her true identity to the world didn’t mean that his beauty faded away.

She didn’t even try to find a flaw in him.

Ethan didn’t intentionally reveal Evelyn’s identity to the world, so what was the point of taking him down due to her self-pity?

That didn’t mean Ethan’s face would become ugly.

Anyway, it was a good thing he was that handsome because she had to bump into him every day before leaving.

And while she was staring at him as if admiring him,

“Evelyn, you’re here.”

Ethan greeted her first.

Awakened by the friendly call, she approached him.

“I didn’t know you were going with me.”

“Ah.”

‘I guess I’m nervous because I don’t know what is going on.’

Evelyn swallowed a sigh as she found herself suddenly bringing up the main topic without saying hello.

“I thought it’d be nice to go with you while you’re out…”

“…”

“Were you surprised by the sudden request? I’m sorry. I kept thinking about it until this morning… I should’ve made a decision sooner, but Father was quite excited… No, I mean, it’s not that I was worried about you or Father, rather the opportunity… and time…”

From what she had guessed a few days ago, Ethan seemed to ramble every time he was feeling embarrassed. Like now.

Evelyn remained silent and rolled her golden eyes.

“I again… I acted immature in my excitement… If it’s uncomfortable for me to accompany you…”

“What about going hunting with His Highness?”

Evelyn didn’t listen to Ethan at all and cut him off.

“Ah, I decided to reschedule it for next time.”

“However…”

Grand Duke Fedora must depart to the border area the day after tomorrow.

Friction with the Yutra Kingdom troops along the western border prompted him to check the situation in person.

“We decided to go when he returns. If the time doesn’t fit, we’ll do something else together.”

Evelyn’s eyes revealed her agitation as they switched rapidly from side to side, and they finally fixed on Ethan.

“…You won’t go to the hunting grounds?”

“It’s not that I won’t go…”

Ethan blinked as his words trailed off. Moments later, he looked into Evelyn’s eyes as if checking for something and asked.

“…You don’t want me to go hunting?”

There was no answer to the unexpected question. However, Evelyn flinched in response.

This time, Ethan didn’t miss what happened right before his eyes. The only reason he didn’t say anything was purely because Evelyn was faster than him.

“It’ll be better if we leave now.”

“Ah…”

The escort driver waiting by the carriage grabbed Evelyn’s hand. And as she stepped on the foothold to get in the carriage, with her back to Ethan,

“I won’t go.”

Her movement, standing tall and still, seemed to demand a clearer answer.

“Is that okay?”

Evelyn looked back at him. As if excited by his own expectations, she found Ethan awaiting her answer, which caused a shallow ridge to appear in Evelyn’s forehead.

How could he make such a promise without knowing anything in front of someone who didn’t even try to explain or persuade him?

It would be great to have the main character’s fate and have that warm and fuzzy sense of belonging without any effort, just because they shared blood.

Evelyn smiled bitterly, recalling the heroine of this world she had not yet met.

“Evelyn…?”

‘It would be nice if I could have that,’ Evelyn let out a sigh of longing.

Was it because she was craving Ethan’s kindness, which she had experienced firsthand?

Even though the decision had already been made, it seemed her regrets lingered.

Even the Archduke wasn’t able to narrow the distance she had purposely created, and all he could do was watch her from afar.

Ethan, on the other hand, approached her more aggressively, trying to give her his affection.

It wasn’t a good sign that she wanted to accept everything he handed to her.

“…Stop it.”

Evelyn replied icily and slipped into the carriage.

‘That day must come before I end up consumed by this useless and miserable feeling.’

Evelyn closed her eyes and turned away from Ethan, who climbed into the wagon behind her. As the door closed with a click, the wagon began to move.