# 45
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Evelyn stared at Devrin. She narrowed her eyes at him and then turned her head away with an angry smile.
"no."
Devrin stared at Evelin with a stiff expression.
"What?"
She slowly moved her eyes to meet his. His handsome brows were furrowed in dissatisfaction.
' Did he expect me to look impressed and say, "Really? Thank you, Differin!"? '
Well… if she had been the original Evelyn, she probably would have done it, but seeing Devrin offer to go like he was offering a favor made her want to refuse for once.
But since she couldn't say it that way, she included a plausible excuse.
"I mean, there's no need for you to deviate from your schedule because of me. It's not unusual for you to watch opera alone, so going with Merlin is enough."
“Honestly… it's a little uncomfortable walking around with you. You attract a lot of attention wherever you go.”
Finally, Differin exploded.
“What do you mean it's uncomfortable to be with your husband?”
“We'll do what we did before. You do what you want, and I'll do what I want.”
"We're a couple. Does it make sense for us to act like strangers?"
Evelyn let out an inward sigh. In the end, she couldn't help herf and spoke in a sarcastic tone.
“Have you already forgotten the conditions you set for this marriage?”
Normally, she would have responded in a way that comforted him, but she remembered how cold he had reacted when she asked him how he would feel if she were seriously ill, and her response came out that way.
“I won't care about anything you do, so I hope you won't interfere in my affairs either. Dyffrin, those were your words.”
“I'll back out of that.”
“It's nice to be able to change your words easily.”
“Evelyn.”
Devrin spoke in a low voice. Evelin, who was sarcastic, frowned her lips.
“Like you said, people change. Just as you no longer see me the way you used to, I no longer see you the same way.”
“…How do you see me now?”
“As my wife.”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes.
“Wasn't I like that before?”
“Honestly, I admit it. My thoughts have changed recently. You're different than I thought, and I don't mind your new personality.”
Clearly, it wasn't just his attitude that had changed recently.
She didn't expect him to acknowledge her as his wife. Allowing her to attend parties as his wife was one thing, but this was on a different level.
“You are my wife. So, I will try to get along well with you.”
“We'll be together for the rest of our lives, right?”
Evelyn met Devrin's gaze. His shaded blue eyes held a strange light.
It looked like they were trying to explore it, but somehow worried. Is Differin worried? This was an emotion that did not suit him at all.
If you think about it, he said something similar when he was drunk.
"Don't try to leave. Stay by my side like this."
She wondered if he knew she was planning to divorce him. This cannot be. Defren showed no signs.
Evelin felt strange but tried not to think too deeply about it. Anyway, she was leaving, so giving it meaning would only make her uncomfortable.
Devrin stroked his carefully styled hair, looking a little embarrassed.
“So forget the damn conditions I mentioned on our wedding day.”
When Dyffrin finally lowered his stance, Evelin nodded reluctantly.
"Good."
The tension on Dyffrin's face slowly eased. Evelyn quickly added,
“But whether we go to the opera together in the future will depend on how things go today.”
Although she said “how things are,” she was actually testing Defrin's situation. If he acted even a little irritated and ruined her outing, she would without hesitation choose Merlin as her companion.
Dyffrin, who seemed unwilling to argue further, sighed and responded.
“Do whatever you want.”
Soon the cart stopped. There was a beautiful marble building at the top of a white stone staircase. It was the opera house.
When the large carriage bearing the Leonok Family crest stopped, people's eyes turned towards them.
Differin went down first and extended his arm to accompany Evelin. She wrapped her hand around his arm lightly, just like at a royal ball.
With every step she took up the stairs, more eyes were drawn to them.
'See, he attracts a lot of attention…'
Dyffryn was undoubtedly a man of note. His infrequent appearances at gatherings or public events made people look at him like a celebrity.
Well... he's a celebrity.
With this idea, Evelyn entered the opera house. Their seats were in the royal cabin on the second floor, a private space separate from the rest.
It was not far from the stage, allowing a clear view of the faces of the singers and dancers.
The story of the opera was a tragic love story between the male and female heroes.
The two heroes loved each other deeply but were torn apart by jealousy and misunderstanding, which eventually led to their separation.
The male hero realized too late that it was all a misunderstanding after seeing the female heroine's cold, lifeless body and regretted it.
The story was a love story, but the male lead singer was very popular, as evidenced by the enthusiastic audience response.
The male singer, with long silver hair, was rare beautiful.
Evelin couldn't deny that she was more focused on his face than on the song. His face, and the mysterious aura he exuded, made it difficult for her to look away.
Devrin looked at Evelin out of the corner of his eye, but she didn’t notice.
After the opera ended, Evelyn asked Devrin,
“How was it?”
“Not bad, except that you were infatuated with the male singer.”
replied Devrin, still looking at the stage.
“Uh… when have I been so infatuated?”
“It seemed like everyone was ignoring the songs and just staring at that guy’s face.”
Evelyn explained, embarrassed.
"Honestly, it looks very mysterious. It's rare for a man's hair to grow this long."
Defrin responded with a raised eyebrow.
He seemed to be thinking, “How much time have I wasted watching this bad opera?”
However, he did not complain, because he knew that Evelin was testing whether their date would determine whether they would go to the opera together in the future.
After the curtain call, Evelyn and Devrin stood up.
Unaccompanied, Evelin retrieved her shawl from the coat rack and draped it over her shoulders. Defrin put on the black leather gloves he had taken off earlier.
As they were about to leave, they heard a knock on the door.
When Evelin hesitated and looked at Defrin, he walked over and opened the door.
Standing there was the male singer who had startled Evelin.
The man greeted them with a clear and refreshing smile, like a bright sea.
“I heard that the Duke and Duchess visited our opera house, so I came to greet you as the lead singer.”
Devrin looked at the man who greeted him elegantly and then said in a flat voice,
“There was no need to come and greet us.”
The man replied, unfazed,
“It's a great honor that you two came here, so I couldn't miss the opportunity.”
She was afraid that Devrin would say something to embarrass him again, so Evelin interrupted him.
"We enjoyed the performance. Your singing was impressive."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. The next performance will be even better, ma'am."
As he placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly, his silver hair fell like a galaxy.
Evelin stared at the scene in amazement for a moment. Dyffrin shivered.
“I think that's enough compliments.”
Then Devrin grabbed Evelyn's hand.
“Let's go.”
"oh well!"
Evelyn, who had been dragged away without saying goodbye to the male singer, was confused, but the man kept his smile.
Devrin exited the opera house quickly.
With a faint sound, the carriage door closed, and the murmur of the crowd quickly faded away.
Differin's expression stiffens.
"Don't come to this opera house anymore. Having a guy like him as a lead singer shows their low standards."
“Low standards?”
“Exactly. Performance was average.”
"I thought it was good. The singers performed excellently. This is the largest opera house in the capital."
When Evelin responded firmly, Devrin crossed his legs and frowned.
But he couldn't tell her not to go again. Even he knew that his reason was not convincing enough.
“If you love her so much, do whatever you want.”
Despite his criticisms, the performance was not bad, and it was true that other opera houses were smaller.
But when he thought of that annoying male singer, he had to say one last thing.
“However, you must go with me.”