# 15
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Fenris' gaze slowly turned towards where Evelyn was. Instinctively, she bowed her head slightly.
'It's only been a day since he fell, covered in blood. How was he walking around the library looking so perfectly fine?'
Evelin's heart was beating hard.
'No, that's not the reason.'
She had no real reason to avoid Fenris. She helped him yesterday, but he didn't see her anyway.
Evelin straightened her posture. Then she started reading the book she had been meaning to read.
Through the gaps between the pages, she could feel Fenris's gaze furtively on her, but he quickly looked away.
He probably glanced up when she made a sound.
When Evelin took another look at him, he lowered his hat to hide his face more.
Now he seemed wary of being recognized now that there was someone nearby.
The thought of Fenris' presence didn't bother her, and she continued to leaf through the books she planned to borrow, hugging the books in her arms.
She stood there for a while, ecting several more books.
The books she was holding slipped from her hands.
‘Ah!’
Evelin quickly bent down to collect the fallen books. And here a large hand entered her field of vision. She looked up and saw dark hair.
It was Fenris.
Evelin looked at his exposed face from a close distance, closing her eyes expressionlessly.
He was focusing on picking up the fallen books.
'Fenris is generally kind to others…'
While he sometimes became agitated and lashed out like a madman, when he was not provoked, he tended to be polite and kind – in stark contrast to the gruff Dyffryn.
Fenris carefully collected the fallen books and handed them to Evelyn.
“There seem to be a lot of them so you won't be able to carry them alone, ma'am.”
Normally, Evelin would have been happy that he called her “ma’am,” but not this time.
Evelyn replied while hiding her nervousness:
“It's okay. I have a cart waiting right in front of the library.”
Without another word, Fenris passed the books to her.
But for some reason it did not return to its place. Instead,
He stood still and stared at her intently.
After a while, he opened his mouth again.
“Excuse me...”
Fenris's deep green eyes examined Evelyn's face carefully.
“Don't you recognize me?”
Evelin unconsciously hugged the book in her arms.
“I'm not sure I know what you mean”
Fenris looked at her lightly and spoke in a calm voice.
“I see. I must be wrong.”
"It's okay. This can happen."
Fenris politely bowed his head.
“Excuse me. I'll be on my way.”
With that, he walked towards the door, carrying one of the books with him.
'Oh, that's convenient.'
While Evelyn sighed inwardly with relief,
“Oh…”
Fenris suddenly bent over, groaning in pain. Evelyn panicked and quickly approached him.
His face turned pale, his eyes closed tightly. Evelyn asked him, with a worried expression,
“Are you okay?”
Fenris exhaled violently, barely managing to nod. Fortunately, his breathing soon stabilized.
Fenris belatedly looked at Evelyn and spoke.
“Excuse me, ma'am. I made you worry.”
"What happened…?"
“I recently treated an injury, but it seems to have temporarily resurfaced.”
Evelin glanced at Fenris' arm, where he had been injured before. Fortunately, there was no blood seeping through his white shirt.
Feeling relieved, Evelyn returned her gaze to Fenris to find him watching her intently.
His expression was strange.
'...Did he notice that I unconsciously looked at his arm?'
But that look was fleeting.
Although it made her feel a little anxious, Evelin maintained a calm demeanor.
Fenris' voice broke the silence.
“If it's not too troublesome, can I ask you a favor, ma'am?”
Evelin had a feeling of fear, but she couldn’t refuse completely.
“What's wrong?”
“Since it looks like the wound has opened, I have to rush to the infirmary. If you don’t mind, could you walk me to the carriage?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Since he mentioned that there was a carriage waiting outside the library, she couldn't refuse without a good reason.
As if sensing her distress, Fenris added,
“The infirmary is close to the library. It will only take about 10 minutes.”
“And I will make sure to make up for your trouble.”
The word “compensation” was scary.
With Differin, she had to accept his generosity and then demand exorbitant alimony when they divorced.
But with Fenris, it was the opposite – she had to avoid accepting any favors from him and she had to make sure he didn't feel grateful towards her. Otherwise, gratitude may come back later as something terrifying, like kidnapping or imprisonment.
Warning signs were flashing in her mind.
But it was only 10 minutes, so she couldn't be too harsh in refusing.
“Well...it's only 10 minutes.”
After much thought, Evelin spoke.
"… Good."
Fenris smiled sweetly at her.
"Thank you."
“But there is no need to compensate. Getting you there is nothing difficult.”
Evelin spoke firmly, then checked the time. It was almost time to meet Merlin again.
“Follow me.”
Evelin grabbed the book she intended to borrow and walked forward.
As they approached the area where the carriage was waiting near the main entrance to the library, she saw Merlin waiting for her.
“Please wait here for a moment. Since it is a rented carriage, I need to inform the carriage driver of the change of destination in advance.”
Fenris nodded.
As Evelyn pretended to turn towards the carriage driver, she approached Merlin. Then Merlin blinked her eyes in surprise and asked:
“Ma’am, who is the person behind you?”
"Merlin. This is the person we saved yesterday."
It seemed like she needed to tell Merlin that fact beforehand, so she wouldn't be surprised or pretend not to know later.
"What?!"
When Merlin let out a loud scream, Evelyn quickly silenced her, pressing her finger to her lips.
“How did you meet him again...?”
“I ran into him by chance, and he said his wound had opened up again. So I need to drive him to the nearby infirmary, but you can never tell him that you know him because of what happened yesterday.”
“Why...”
"Even though we helped him, the fact that he was covered in blood yesterday was there. He could be a dangerous person, and I really don't want to get involved with him."
Merlin seemed to understand Evelyn's plausible excuse, so she nodded in agreement.
“I get it...”
Evelyn quickly turned around and motioned for Fenris to come closer.
Fenris understood the signal, and walked on.
Evelyn first helped Merlin into the carriage and then looked at Fenris. He seemed to be examining the carriage.
A few days ago, the family's carriage was sent for repair, so they were using a rented carriage, which should look just like a regular carriage.
After Fenris had carefully examined the carriage, he climbed aboard. Evelyn followed him, and the wheels began to turn.
The air inside the car was awkward.
Merlin found it difficult to pretend that she did not recognize Fenris from yesterday, so she continued to look elsewhere, and Evelyn was worried about her behavior.
Evelyn could only hope that Fenris wouldn't notice the strange atmosphere inside the carriage.
At that moment, Fenris spoke to Evelin.
“If it's okay, can I ask your name?”
Without realizing it, Evelin responded cautiously,
“Why are you asking my name?”
“Since you have shown me such kindness, it is only fitting that I know your name.”
Evelin didn't want to reveal her name, but her refusal would seem more suspicious.
“…It’s Evelin.”
“Lady Evelyn.”
Evelin had deliberately omitted her last name, and did not want to reveal her identity. However, Fenris did not seem curious about which noble house she belonged to, instead turning his gaze to Merlin.
“What about you?”
"I, I'm Merlin."
Merlin couldn't hide her troubled expression, looking surprised that Fenris had spoken to her as well.
“I am Fenris.”
Evelin didn't expect Fenris to reveal his real name. Since he had been attacked by someone hired by Noston just yesterday, she thought he would be more careful about his identity at the moment.
Merlin whispered too,
“His name is the same as that of the Second Prince...”
However, just knowing his name wouldn't be enough for them to realize that the man sitting in front of them was actually the Second Prince. How could they imagine that this man was the prince?
Evelin could only hope that the cart would arrive at the infirmary soon.
The carriage fell silent again.
While Evelyn was avoiding looking at him in embarrassment, she suddenly noticed the book that Fenris had borrowed.
[Antide Potion Recipe]
Evelyn realized that Fenris had not borrowed that book to make an antidote, but to find a suitable poison.
With his knowledge of chemistry, he can reverse engineer the antidote recipe to discover how to make a deadly poison. It's possible that Fenris intended to make the poison with an illegal apothecary in the back alleys, and then use it to get revenge on Noston for what happened yesterday.
However, Evelyn decided to remain silent, not caring whether he sought revenge on Noston or not.
'He can do whatever he wants.'
In the original story, Evelyn was going to try to stop Fenris from harming Noserton after learning of his intentions. Fenris reacts fiercely at first, but later becomes more attracted to Evelyn due to her attention, leading him to fall in love with her even more.
This time, she had no intention of giving Fenris any warnings. Her relationship with him should end here, as a chance encounter where she simply gave him a ride.
Evelin was worried that something would happen during the carriage ride, but the 10-minute ride was short, and they soon arrived at the infirmary that Fenris had mentioned.
“Thank you for the trip.”
“It wasn't a long way.”
In response to Evelin's words, Fenris shook his head.
“Since I was able to ride a carriage, I have something I would like to give you as a gift.”
Before Evelyn could respond, Fenris reached into his bag and pulled out something.
When Evelin saw the thing, her eyes widened.
“This...”
What Fenris took out was the handkerchief she had used to bandage his arm when he collapsed yesterday.
The handkerchief, which had been stained with blood, had been cleaned and was now completely clean.
“Since I unintentionally borrowed it, it is only right that I return it to its owner.”
Evelin's eyes twitched.
“Ah…”
'How did he know that it was me who helped him yesterday? He was unconscious and couldn't see my face.'
However, without any further explanation, Fenris got off the carriage. He stood in front of her, gently took Evelin's hand and placed a kiss on her back.
“I'm grateful for what happened yesterday.”
With a smile, Fenris left a short greeting and disappeared.