TCBVF 97

Chapter: 97

“If you think she might find me burdensome or avoid me….”

And Evangeline never missed an opportunity to tease her older brother.

“Wow, Brother. Your face is so red. Are you a tomato?”

“Shut up!”

Dietrich snapped and raised his voice.

Hmm, so that’s how it was.

Evangeline smiled confidently.

“What? Then I guess I’ll have to step in again!”

“Don’t do anything useless. Got it?”

Feeling a sense of foreboding, Dietrich warned his younger sister, but Evangeline instead asked in a sly tone,

“Are you sure it’ll be useless~?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have a plan….”

Evangeline whispered her plan to Dietrich.

Normally, if Dietrich had been his usual rational self, he would never have fallen for Evangeline’s schemes.

But his accumulated fatigue from such a long period of time, combined with his anxiety over his relationship with Laritte, had taken its toll.

At present, Dietrich was in no state to make a proper judgment.

“How’s my plan?”

Evangeline straightened her shoulders and asked for his approval.

“Pretty good, right?”

“Certainly… If we do that, I don’t think Lady Ancy would feel burdened….”

“See? I told you I’m the only one you need!”

Evangeline once again looked pleased with herself before giving him strict instructions.

“Then you’ll do exactly as I said. Got it?”

“Yeah, I will.”

Dietrich nodded as though hypnotized.

‘Good.’

Evangeline was about to leave the room, feeling satisfied, when she suddenly stopped.

‘Huh?’

She had belatedly noticed a packet of medicine sitting on the desk.

“Brother, are you sick?”

Evangeline immediately became serious and pointed toward the packet of medicine with her eyes.

“What’s that medicine?”

“Oh, I’ve been a little tired lately. I started getting headaches.”

Dietrich shrugged.

“So I got a prescription before coming to the villa.”

He spoke as though it was nothing to worry about.

Evangeline’s eyes immediately became sharp.

“If you’re tired, you should rest. Does it make sense to take headache medicine just because you’re tired?”

“But, Eva.”

Dietrich asked seriously,

“If I’m going to join your plan, I have to get most of these documents finished, don’t I?”

“…….”

Evangeline looked displeased, but she did not complain any further.

Yes, if it was to make Larri my sister-in-law,

I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to work my dear brother to the bone.

Of course. Absolutely.

But then.

Dietrich spoke somewhat awkwardly.

“Still, thanks for looking out for me.”

“Oh….”

Evangeline stared at her older brother with a blank expression.

The fact that he had gone out of his way to thank her for this was proof of just how much Dietrich cared about Laritte.

“Hey, it’s nothing!”

Evangeline curved her eyes into a grin and headed outside.

Haa, I can’t help it.

Once again, this Lady Evangeline will just have to save the day!

Evangeline explained her plan to her older brother like this.

“If you’re worried that Larri might feel burdened, why don’t you try to arrange a natural encounter?”

It was the so-called ‘Natural Encounter’ plan.

And so, today, Evangeline subtly suggested that Laritte go sightseeing in the village below the villa.

Her plan was to encounter Dietrich by pretending that it was a coincidence while they were looking around the village.

Laritte happily agreed to go with her.

On top of that, Evangeline had another plan that she had devised all by herself….

‘There’s something called the suspension bridge effect, right?’

It was the effect where the excitement arising from feelings of anxiety could be mistaken for attraction toward another person.

That was why Evangeline had set her sights on the suspension bridge at the entrance of the village.

The village was situated against the mountain, with a river winding all the way around it.

A large bridge had now been built over the river so that carriages could cross, but a small suspension bridge used by the villagers still remained.

So Evangeline intended to have Laritte and Dietrich cross the suspension bridge side by side, hoping to create a thrilling feeling between them.

However….

‘We don’t even need the suspension bridge effect….’

My brother hasn’t even arrived yet!

Evangeline’s pupils shook violently.

A sudden obstacle had appeared in the middle of her seemingly flawless plan.

And that obstacle was….

“Ladies, why are the two of you walking around by yourselves?”

It was a group of young men who had formed a village watch, the kind of thing one could find in any rural village.

A village watch.

No matter how excellent the security was in the Duchy, it was difficult for its forces to maintain such tight security all the way out in the countryside.

So normally, authority over maintaining order was given to the village watch, who were responsible for the safety of the village.

But there were always people who abused that authority.

“It must be dangerous for just the two of you to be walking around.”

“Don’t you need an escort? Hmm?”

“We can escort you.”

The members of the village watch approached Laritte and Evangeline with swaggering steps.

“We don’t need one.”

Laritte instinctively stepped in front of Evangeline and replied in a sharp voice.

‘Ah, what a headache.’

Evangeline groaned inwardly.

If they had been in the central area where the ducal residence was located, something like this would have been unimaginable.

But this was the outskirts of the duchy.

No matter how much Evangeline was the noble daughter of House Claudius, there was no way people in such a rural village would recognize her face.

And that made sense, considering these were people who had lived their entire lives without ever having an opportunity to encounter a member of the Claudius family.

Moreover, in order not to stand out in the village, the two had deliberately dressed in plain clothing.

“Aren’t you being a little too prickly?”

“We’re the village watch. We’re not suspicious people.”

As they spoke casually, the members of the village watch looked the two women up and down with greedy eyes.

Evangeline was dazzlingly beautiful, of course, but Laritte also had a pretty appearance that could hold its own anywhere.

They possessed beauty that was almost impossible to see in a rural village like this.

Besides, the members of the village watch were young men who were at the age when they were especially interested in women.

‘Ah, if I’d known this would happen, I should have brought an escort knight….’

Evangeline deeply regretted her decision.

In order to arrange a natural encounter between Dietrich and Laritte, Evangeline had deliberately left even their escort knights behind.

‘Of all people, I never thought the village watch would start hitting on us!’

Meanwhile, Laritte remained stubborn.

“Thank you for the offer, but we really are fine.”

When she refused them again, the members of the village watch became more determined.

“But you two… I’ve never seen your faces in this village before.”

“Why don’t you come with us for a moment?”

“We have a duty to verify the identity of people we don’t know.”

At their subtly threatening attitude, Evangeline furrowed her brows sharply.

“How dare you try to verify my identity in the Duchy of Claudius?”

Evangeline threatened them.

“I’m the Duchess’s daughter of Claudius!”

“…….”

“…….”

Silence fell for a moment.

Did it work?

Evangeline cautiously observed the atmosphere.

At the same time—

“Pfft, hahahaha! Did you hear that?!”

“She says she’s the Duchess’s daughter of Claudius!”

Laughter erupted among the members of the village watch.

“What kind of duchess’s daughter walks around wearing such crappy clothes?”

“If that woman is the Duchess’s daughter, then I must be the Duke of Claudius!”

Of course, although the clothes were not lavishly decorated, the fabric itself was of the highest quality.

But the members of the village watch had almost no opportunity to come into contact with luxury goods, so they had no eye for distinguishing whether the clothing the two women wore was high- or low-quality.

“Oh, if that’s really the case, then show us your identity badge.”

“You think I can’t show you one?”

Evangeline confidently reached into the pocket of her robe, only to stiffen her shoulders in an instant.

‘W-What should I do?’

Of all things, she had left her identity badge behind!