Chapter 6
In the end, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Just as his younger sister was about to leave the office without even looking back, he called out to stop her.
“Where are you going?”
Kitty had been reaching for the doorknob, but she paused, turned around, and answered.
“…Back to my palace.”
Since she had said it so plainly, Evan found himself with nothing to argue.
Looking strangely restless, he continued with a stream of unnecessary nagging.
“Go back and wait there. Don’t stir up any more trouble. I’ll send someone later.”
“Okay.”
“You may not understand, but things like this aren’t solved by getting impatient or throwing tantrums. Everything has its proper order and procedure. And as long as those procedures exist, nothing outrageously unreasonable is supposed to happen. Things can be slow, or they might get tangled up, but still.”
“Okay.”
“Good. That’s a good girl.”
Kitty easily understood what Evan was trying to imply.
He already knew, at least to some extent, what had happened at the Second Princess’s palace.
Every matter had its proper time, and since he had already prepared his own countermeasures, she was simply supposed to wait quietly.
Apparently, he had been annoyed earlier because she hadn’t respected the way he handled things and had only stubbornly demanded immediate action.
With that thought, Kitty turned around without any lingering hesitation.
Then his voice stopped her once more.
“…Earlier, you said they neglected you… humiliated you… Didn’t you? What, did they hit you too?”
“They say if you do something wrong, you get punished as much as your mistake deserves.”
“Who says that?”
“Lady Sara.”
“Then that woman deserves to be beaten until her back splits open.”
She had, in fact, already received exactly that.
A faint smile spread across both siblings’ faces at the same time.
Now that she thought about it, Evan didn’t seem to dislike Katrina quite as much as she’d assumed.
Could she take this as his version of saying, Nice to meet you?
His tone softened considerably. At last, he sounded like an ordinary older brother comforting his little sister as he gave one final warning.
“Got it, Cat? I’m busy. There was a reason I tried to send you back without meeting you.”
“Got it. I’m busy too.”
“…”
She lived a very busy life.
In the morning, she worried about what to eat for lunch.
At lunch, she worried about what to eat for dinner.
At night, she worried about what to eat for breakfast.
Why am I wasting my time arguing with this little brat?
Finally coming to his senses, Evan let out a small laugh.
“Hah.”
He waved his hand dismissively, telling her to hurry up and leave already.
This time, Kitty actually grabbed the doorknob and started to open it.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
Closing the door again, she turned back toward him.
“Oh, Oppa.”
The title of address came so naturally that Evan answered before he even realized it.
“Hm?”
“When you have time… can I borrow the kitchen here? I want to bake a cake.”
“A cake?”
“Yeah.”
A cake…
Throughout her life, his mother had been miserable.
But there had been one single period when she had looked inexplicably happy—
when she was carrying Katrina in her womb.
She had even hummed cheerful little tunes, something she had never done before.
As if enchanted, she had baked bread, spread cream over it, and made simple, rustic cakes.
The imperial physician had said it was merely a symptom of the dramatic physical and emotional changes brought on by pregnancy.
But to the young Evan…
Those had been the happiest, most beautiful days of his life.
And now, standing before him, was a little sister who looked exactly like that beautiful mother.
So that’s it.
During all those long years she had wandered and fled…
Mother and his little sister must have spent their days baking cakes together.
As that warm corner of his childhood memories resurfaced, a gentle smile naturally appeared on Evan’s lips.
Like snow that had piled up all winter melting instantly beneath the spring sun, the boy’s icy expression crumbled away in an instant.
Not only Kitty and Cindy, but even Sir Diane quietly stared in shock.
Could there possibly be anything more beautiful than the smile he had kept hidden behind that cold, frozen face all this time?
His golden eyelashes, radiant like spring sunlight, lowered softly, casting delicate shadows across his pale, sculpted face.
For the first time, he truly looked like a boy his own age.
Everyone stood speechless before that breathtaking sight.
Still wearing that impossibly gentle expression, he quietly answered,
“No.”
