Ravenholt both raised their brows at almost the same time.
Then they glanced at each other.
The same thought immediately appeared in both their minds.
Just how unpopular was Evelyn in this household?
Seriously, what were all these expressions supposed to mean?
Felix found it especially strange.
When he had met Evelyn that morning, she had been fierce enough.
Her tongue was sharp, and when she moved, she showed absolutely no hesitation.
Nothing about her gave the impression that she was the kind of person who would quietly allow others to bully her.
Yet judging from the reactions of everyone in the hall, her position within the Sterling household seemed very different from what he had imagined.
“Yes, Lord Sterling.”
The white-haired old man was also visibly surprised.
Clearly, he had not expected Alaric Sterling to suddenly ask for Evelyn.
Still, since Alaric had personally given the order, there was no reason for him to ask questions.
He bowed respectfully and hurried out of the hall.
He searched several places before finally finding Evelyn in a quiet pavilion.
From a distance, he could see her sitting alone, her body turned slightly to the side as though she were speaking to someone.
However, the old man’s mind was completely occupied with Alaric’s sudden request, so he paid no attention to it.
The moment he spotted Evelyn, he breathed a huge sigh of relief and hurried toward her.
“Oh, thank goodness! I finally found you, Young Lady!”
“Hm?”
Hearing his voice, Evelyn first glanced at the ghost sitting opposite her before slowly turning around.
The moment she did, she saw the white-haired old man running toward her, completely out of breath.
By the time he reached the pavilion, he had to grab one of the pillars for support while struggling to breathe properly.
Evelyn blinked and stood up.
She even walked over and thoughtfully patted his back.
“Why are you running so hard? Don’t get so worked up. I’m still perfectly fine, aren’t I?”
The old man took several deep breaths before finally managing to steady himself.
Even then, he had no time to explain properly.
He grabbed Evelyn’s hand and immediately started pulling her away.
“Young Lady, hurry and come with me. Lord Sterling is looking for you!”
“Huh? Father is looking for me?”
Evelyn stumbled half a step as he pulled her forward, and her expression immediately turned strange.
Now that was rare.
Ever since she was young, whenever guests came to the estate, especially for formal occasions like today’s banquet, she was almost never allowed near the main hall.
Lillian had long since given strict instructions that Evelyn was not to enter freely.
To put it plainly, she didn’t want Evelyn appearing in front of guests.
If possible, that woman would probably prefer Evelyn to stay as far away as possible, preferably somewhere her shadow could not even be seen.
After so many years, Evelyn had already grown used to it.
While everyone else entertained guests in the front courtyard, she lived her own life at the haunted estate.
Neither side bothered the other.
Honestly, it was much more peaceful that way.
So what was happening today?
Not only had someone been sent to find her, but she was being told to go there immediately.
Had the sun really risen from the west?
“Why does Father want to see me?” Evelyn asked, still completely confused.
“Doesn’t everyone usually prefer that I stay away from the hall?”
“I don’t know either.”
The old man kept pulling her forward and did not forget to urge her along.
“Lord Sterling personally gave the order and said you were to come at once. Young Lady, please walk a little faster. We shouldn’t keep Lord Sterling and the guests waiting.”
“Hey, slow down…”
Evelyn could only follow him toward the main hall while turning the matter over in her head again and again.
No matter how much she thought about it, she still couldn’t figure out why Alaric suddenly wanted to see her.
By the time they reached the entrance to the hall, the white-haired old man finally released her hand and gestured for her to go inside.
Evelyn looked up at the brightly lit hall.
For some reason, an unpleasant feeling quietly rose in her chest.
Still, since she was already here, she could hardly turn around and run.
So she slowly stepped across the threshold.
As expected, the moment she entered the hall, several gazes landed on her at once.
Some were surprised.
Some were assessing.
Others carried open dislike.
Evelyn immediately felt irritated.
Why were all of them staring at her?
Had they never seen a living person before?
A flash of displeasure crossed her eyes, and the corner of her mouth turned down almost instinctively.
However, the emotion lasted only for an instant.
She quickly hid it completely.
Since everyone here was already used to the image she normally presented, she might as well keep acting.
Her hands gathered nervously around the edge of her skirt, and she stood in the middle of the hall with a careful, uneasy posture.
In an instant, she looked timid and frightened, as though being watched by so many people had left her unsure what to do with herself.
She obediently bowed toward Alaric, who sat at the head of the hall.
Then, playing the part properly, she even began to stammer.
“F-Father, I-I wish you a h-happy birthday… m-may you enjoy health and long life…”
Her voice grew quieter toward the end.
She even pulled her shoulders in slightly, as though terrified that she might have said something wrong.
Evelyn kept her head lowered, feeling very satisfied with her own performance.
Not bad.
That had been quite convincing.
Full marks.
Unfortunately, what she did not know was that Lucian had been watching her ever since she stepped into the hall.
So the brief flash of irritation in her eyes had not escaped him.
Others might have missed it.
He had not.
When she first entered, her eyes had clearly carried impatience and even a trace of dislike.
Yet in the blink of an eye, every hint of that emotion disappeared.
Her entire manner changed with it.
One moment, she had looked like someone irritated by everyone staring at her.
The next, she resembled a frightened little rabbit, standing with her head lowered and looking like the most timid girl in the room.
A thoughtful look appeared in Lucian’s eyes.
This girl really was not as simple as she looked.
Alaric, meanwhile, simply watched his daughter with an unreadable expression and quietly sighed to himself.
In truth, he understood better than anyone that what had happened back then had not been her fault.
She had only been a newborn child.
What could she possibly have known?
Yet some things were strange.
Even when a person knew rationally that blame did not belong somewhere, that did not mean the heart could let go so easily.
Every time Alaric looked at this daughter, memories of the past inevitably returned.
Over the years, that distance had slowly become what now stood between them.
After a brief silence, Alaric finally spoke.
“Evelyn.”
“Y-Yes!”
Evelyn’s small frame visibly trembled, as though his voice had frightened her.
She did not even dare raise her head.
The movement made Alaric pause.
For a moment, he seemed genuinely surprised that his daughter was so afraid of him.
But that brief reaction disappeared quickly beneath his usual indifference.
Felix, on the other hand, frowned as he watched her.
Was this really the same honeyberry from this morning?
Who had been the one twisting his finger hard enough to make him cry for mercy in the middle of the street?
Who had glared at him and told him not to act familiar?
How had that same girl suddenly become like this in front of her father?
Felix stared at her for a while.
The more he looked, the more familiar the scene felt.
He leaned slightly toward Lucian and whispered,
“Brother, why do I feel like I’ve seen this before?”
Lucian followed his gaze and understood almost immediately.
He gave a small nod.
Of course it looked familiar.
Wasn’t Julian Ashbourne exactly like this every time he faced their grandfather?
One moment, he could be jumping around as though nothing in the world could stop him.
The moment their grandfather called his name, however, he would stand straighter than anyone else and even lower his voice when speaking.
The difference was that Julian was genuinely afraid.
As for the girl standing in front of them…
Lucian narrowed his eyes slightly.
That was far less certain.
“Evelyn.”
Alaric called her name again.
“Yes!”
Evelyn immediately lifted her head.
Her face showed exactly the right amount of fear, as though she was clearly nervous but had no choice except to obey.
Even her small frame stood unusually straight.
Alaric watched her for a moment before slowly asking,
“Do you remember the Lord of the Black Tortoise Clan, who visited our estate nine years ago?”
Nine years ago?
Wasn’t that around the time Uncle Cedric had suddenly lost his mind and started finding mentors for her one after another?
The moment the thought appeared, her mind immediately wandered.
Back then, she had no idea what had gotten into Cedric.
Suddenly, he brought back mentor after mentor.
One taught her this.
Another taught her that.
He seemed determined to fill every hour of her day.
How had her life been during that period?
Very fulfilling.
So fulfilling that she had almost started swearing every morning.
Even before the mentors arrived, she had already been handling many parts of her daily life by herself.
Afterward, she ended up doing even more.
First came clothing.
She made much of it herself.
That part had never been particularly difficult.
In her previous life, she had already been interested in embroidery, tailoring, and similar crafts.
She had even taken related courses at university simply because she enjoyed them.
So learning those things in this world had never been a challenge.
In fact, somewhere along the way, she had somehow acquired five cheap apprentices of her own.
Food was even easier.
Ever since she had been weaned, she had pestered Cedric into having several plots of land cleared near the back mountain beside her haunted estate.
She planted all kinds of things there herself.
Besides, Evelyn had always loved food.
No matter what happened, there was no chance she would ever mistreat her own stomach.
The real inconvenience had been the place where she lived.
Expecting her to clean an entire enormous residence from top to bottom by herself was simply unrealistic.
She had neither the time nor the interest.
Since she had dealt with ghosts since childhood, she eventually started calling the place her “haunted estate” without much thought.
Other than the few areas she regularly used and cleaned, most of the property was simply left alone.
If the ghosts wanted to stay there, they stayed.
Evelyn did not care.
At least their presence had the added benefit of frightening away unwanted visitors.
Everyone had their uses.
Why waste a good thing?
As for handling everything else herself, there was even less to say.
Hadn’t she been living that way since childhood?
So if she really had to summarize it, Evelyn Sterling was absolutely a fine example of a self-sufficient young woman.
Do it yourself and live well.
Whatever came, she could handle it.
While she stood obediently in the hall, looking as though she were listening carefully, her thoughts had already wandered very far away.
Seeing that she still had not answered, Alaric assumed she had been too young at the time and had simply forgotten most of what happened nine years ago.
So he did not press her.
Instead, he continued.
“Nine years ago, the Lord of the Black Tortoise Clan came to visit us. When he first saw you, he took quite a liking to you and even asked whether you would be willing to become his daughter-in-law in the future.”
Evelyn’s eyelid twitched slightly.
Oh.
Right.
That had happened.
“You agreed at the time,” Alaric continued.
And just like that, Evelyn finally remembered everything.
Yes.
She really had met the Lord of the Black Tortoise Clan.
And yes.
She really had agreed.
At the time, however, she had still been young.
Even though she had already wanted to leave the White Tiger Clan eventually, she had felt that the timing was not right.
So she had suggested that they come for her when she was nearly fifteen.
Her thinking back then had been very simple.
First, leave the White Tiger Clan and see the outside world.
Everything else could wait.
As for choosing a future husband, that was something she could think about later.
If she met someone she liked looking at, whose personality suited hers, and who seemed reasonably compatible, then it wasn’t as though she would refuse to consider it.
Besides, she had never planned on relying on a man to live.
Whether she had one or not would not affect her eating or sleeping.
By this point, the old memory had returned clearly enough.
Alaric’s next words reached her ears at exactly the right moment.
“At the time, the Lord of the Black Tortoise Clan said that once you were nearly fifteen, he would send someone to bring you to the Black Tortoise Clan for