“Hey, Honeyberry, what exactly is this room?”
When Evelyn Sterling still did not answer, Felix Ravenholt finally reached out and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts about her poor ruined traps.
Evelyn looked up at him.
After staring at his face for a few seconds, she rolled her eyes.
“The bathhouse.”
That was all she said.
She had no intention of explaining further.
Turning around, she walked back into the stone building to put on the shoes she had left behind earlier.
Felix’s eyes immediately lit up.
He had already been curious about the mysterious-looking stone building.
Now that he finally had a chance to see what was inside, there was no way he was going to let the opportunity pass.
Evelyn had barely stepped through the doorway before Felix followed right behind her, like a tail she simply could not shake off.
But the moment he entered the stone building, the boy who normally never seemed to stop talking actually fell silent.
For a moment.
“Whoa…”
Felix stood in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him.
From the outside, the stone building was covered in moss, its walls old and weathered.
No matter how anyone looked at it, it seemed like nothing more than an abandoned building that had been left untouched for years.
Who would have imagined that such a large bathing pool was hidden inside?
The pool took up most of the room.
Clear stream water flowed gently through it, while golden petals drifted across the surface.
The surrounding stone walls were set with luminous stones, colorful agates, and all kinds of natural crystals.
Their soft light shimmered across the water with every ripple.
Together with the channel at the back that connected directly to the mountain stream, the place looked nothing like the ordinary bathing rooms used by the noble ladies of the Sterling estate.
It felt more like a private spring hidden somewhere deep within an ancient mountain valley.
Felix stared for a long moment before shaking his head in amazement.
“So it really is a bathhouse. But isn’t this a little too extravagant?”
He craned his neck and looked around, growing more astonished by the second.
“The crystals in these walls alone must be worth a fortune. And that’s before you even count the work it took to bring the mountain stream all the way in here. How much did this place cost?”
“How would I know?”
Evelyn sat down nearby and bent over to put on the shoes she had tossed aside earlier, giving him another look.
Cedric Sterling had been the one who paid for everything back then.
Cedric had also hired the craftsmen and arranged all the materials.
At the time, Evelyn had only been responsible for telling him what she wanted.
As for how much the entire project had eventually cost, she had honestly never bothered to ask.
Her second uncle had been willing to indulge her strange ideas, and she had happily enjoyed the results for the past eight years.
Once her shoes were on, Evelyn reached up and removed the pale yellow towel wrapped around her head.
Her black hair, still slightly damp, immediately fell over her shoulders and down her back, the ends still wet with moisture.
She pulled a clean towel from the wooden cabinet and began drying her hair as she walked outside.
Naturally, Felix followed.
“Hey, Honeyberry—”
Evelyn stopped abruptly.
Felix nearly walked straight into her back and hurriedly stopped as well.
Evelyn turned around.
She was still holding the towel in one hand as she glared at him.
“Are you ever going to stop?”
Felix blinked.
“Stop what?”
“Honeyberry. Honeyberry. Honeyberry.”
Evelyn repeated the nickname three times, each one sounding more irritated than the last.
“Do I not have a name?”
Felix finally understood what she meant.
Evelyn pointed at herself and reminded him very clearly, “My name is Evelyn Sterling.”
“All right, all right.”
Seeing that she looked dangerously close to hitting him, Felix immediately raised both hands in surrender.
“Your name is Evelyn Sterling. Mine is Felix Ravenholt. I remember perfectly well.”
Evelyn eyed him suspiciously.
Felix thought about it with a perfectly serious expression.
Then he smiled.
“But calling you by your full name all the time feels too formal. How about I call you Eve instead?”
The corner of Evelyn’s mouth twitched.
Eve?
Before she could even give her opinion, Felix rubbed his chin and continued thoughtfully, “Actually, Eve isn’t bad. But I still think Honeyberry suits you better.”
“…”
Of course.
He had never intended to give up that ridiculous nickname.
For once, Evelyn had no idea what to say.
She simply could not understand why Felix seemed so determined to give everyone a nickname.
Then again, a name was only something people used to address each other.
If he wanted to call her that, then fine.
Even if she argued with him seriously now, someone with Felix’s personality would almost certainly keep using it anyway.
“Whatever.”
Evelyn took a deep breath and forced down the urge to smack him in the face with the towel.
Then she turned and continued toward her bedroom.
Felix’s eyes immediately lit up.
“So I can keep calling you Honeyberry?”
There was even a hint of cautious hope in his voice.
Evelyn did not look back.
“Whatever.”
It was fine.
It was only a nickname.
She could tolerate it.
Maybe if she heard it often enough, she would eventually get used to it.
At least, that was what Evelyn tried to tell herself.
Behind her, Felix immediately broke into a grin, clearly delighted that he had finally received official permission to use the nickname.
He hurried forward until he was walking beside her.
He managed to stay quiet for only a few seconds before his mouth started moving again.
“Honeyberry, you still haven’t answered my question about the guest rooms.”
“You don’t have a single empty guest room here. So where exactly are my brother and I supposed to sleep tonight?”
Felix gave the matter some serious thought.
“Don’t tell me one of us really has to sleep in the kitchen while the other sleeps in the bathhouse?”
Evelyn kept drying her hair.
Felix, however, had never needed anyone to answer in order to keep a conversation going.
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the bathhouse. It’s huge, and the water is beautiful. I could probably just sleep beside the pool.”
As he continued talking, his imagination clearly began wandering in a strange direction.
“And with a pool that big, if I practiced in there every day, maybe I could even develop some kind of new movement technique for fighting on water.”
The more Felix thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
His eyes practically began to shine.
“Think about it. Everyone else would be fighting on land, and I’d just run straight across the water. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
Evelyn slowly turned her head.
She stared at Felix’s animated face as he became completely absorbed in his own fantasy.
For one brief moment, she desperately wanted to slap him.
Just once.
Maybe then the world would finally be quiet.
She already had enough of a headache trying to figure out where the two Ravenholt brothers were supposed to stay.
And now she had someone chattering nonstop beside her.
Since he liked the bathhouse so much—
Fine.
She would give him exactly what he wanted.
“All right.”
Evelyn suddenly spoke.
Felix turned toward her.
“What?”
“Since you like the bathhouse so much, you can sleep there tonight.”
Felix’s eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Evelyn answered without hesitation.
Then she shoved the damp towel she had just used into Felix’s arms.
He caught it instinctively.
Before he could figure out what was happening, Evelyn continued, “Since you’re staying there tonight, you can hang this up for me. There are a few more wet towels inside. Take care of those too.”
She pointed toward the bathhouse.
“There’s a line inside for drying clothes. Just spread everything out and hang it up.”
“Huh?”
Felix looked down at the damp towel in his hands.
By the time he looked up again, Evelyn was already walking away toward her bedroom without so much as a backward glance.
Felix, meanwhile, was still halfway lost in his wonderful fantasy of running across water.
It took him a moment to realize that he had somehow been given a chore.
Evelyn had not gone far when White finally spoke from the bracelet around her left wrist.
“What an idiot.”
The disgust in its voice was impossible to miss.
The corner of Evelyn’s mouth lifted slightly.
A quiet laugh came from the silver dragon necklace around her neck.
“I think he’s rather adorable.”
The silver dragon sounded thoroughly entertained.
“Evelyn, you should be nicer to him. Who knows? Perhaps he’ll become your husband someday.”
Evelyn’s steps stopped for a fraction of a second.
Her expression immediately darkened.
“Who would marry a sparrow?”
She glanced back at Felix, who was still standing in the distance looking ridiculously pleased with himself.
Her face was full of disdain.
“Wouldn’t that just be making my own life miserable?”
If she had to wake up every morning with someone chattering endlessly beside her—
Just imagining it gave her a headache.
Meanwhile, Felix finally returned from his fantasy.
He looked up.
Only then did he realize that Evelyn had already disappeared, while somehow a damp towel had ended up in his hands.
Felix looked down at the towel.
Then he looked at the empty path ahead.
He stood there blankly for several seconds.
“Where did she go?”
A maid nearby, who was busy clearing weeds, finally took pity on him.
She briefly explained what had just happened, then lowered her head and returned to work, clearly having no intention of saying anything more.
After hearing the explanation, Felix did not feel as though Evelyn had taken advantage of him at all.
Instead, he tightened his grip on the towel and looked deeply satisfied.
“Felix, Felix.”
He sighed dramatically.
“How did you get so lucky?”
Several nearby maids paused.
Felix did not notice.
He was still admiring his own good fortune.
“Everywhere I go, people give me exactly what I want. Could it be that even the Goddess of Fate has a special fondness for me?”
The maids silently lowered their heads.
Not one of them answered.
Yet, strangely enough, every one of them was thinking exactly the same thing.
It’s because you’re too noisy.
People can’t stand listening to you anymore, so they just give in.
Idiot.
At the same time, Evelyn had already returned to her bedroom, her black hair still not completely dry.
She pushed open the door.
The moment she stepped inside, she paused.
Lucian Ravenholt was already there.
She had no idea when he had entered.
At the moment, he was reclining on the cushioned chaise beside the window, one hand resting casually near the armrest.
His eyes were closed, as though he were taking a short rest.
Evelyn stood in the doorway and watched him for two seconds.
She made no attempt to wake him.
Lucian was only lying there.
He had not touched anything in her room, nor had he triggered any of her traps.
So she could not be bothered to care.
Evelyn walked straight to the dressing table and sat down, picking up a comb carved from pale agate.
An old silver mirror stood on the table, its frame set with rare black gemstones.
The light reflected across the mirror, revealing her damp black hair hanging over her shoulders.
Holding the comb, Evelyn started at the ends and slowly worked through the tangled strands.
“You’ve probably noticed by now that I really don’t have any spare guest rooms.”
She continued combing her hair as she spoke.
“You and Felix are only here for a short visit. There’s no reason you have to squeeze into Fangyuan. Why don’t you ask Alaric to arrange rooms for you somewhere else?”
The room remained quiet for a moment.
Then Lucian slowly opened his eyes.
His dark gaze settled on Evelyn’s reflection in the mirror.
The same mild smile remained at the corner of his lips.
“Lady Evelyn, you don’t need to worry.”
His voice was calm and unhurried.
“My brother and I are only staying for a few days. We’re not planning to live here permanently. It doesn’t really matter where we sleep.”
He still did not get up.
Instead, he shifted slightly into a more comfortable position before continuing.
“Besides, a servant came by earlier to tell us that tonight’s banquet will be starting soon.”
He looked at her.
“Are you ready to go with us?”
“I know.”
Evelyn gathered her now-smooth hair behind her head and quickly arranged it into a simple style.
Then she selected a few understated silver ornaments from the dressing table and secured them in place one by one.
Her movements were practiced and effortless.
At first, Lucian had only been watching casually.
But after a while, his brows slowly drew together.
From the moment Evelyn entered the room, not a single maid had followed her inside.
She dried her own hair.
She combed it herself.
She could even arrange an elaborate hairstyle without anyone’s help.
For a young lady born into the Sterling family, that was clearly unusual.
“Where is your maid?”
Lucian suddenly asked.
Evelyn’s hand paused.
“Maid?”
She sounded as though he had mentioned something that had very little to do with her.
But the hesitation lasted only a moment.
She inserted the final silver ornament into her hair.
“I don’t have one.”
Lucian frowned more deeply.
Evelyn, however, spoke as calmly as ever.
“Alaric has never liked me. I was sent to live in Fangyuan when I was very young. You’ve already seen what this place is like.”
She adjusted one of the ornaments in the mirror, speaking as though she were describing someone else’s life.
“Everyone in the estate says Fangyuan is haunted. Especially at night. They say ghosts wander through the courtyard, and sometimes spirits and strange creatures from the forest appear here too.”
Only then did Evelyn turn around to look at Lucian.
“So forget having a personal maid. There are barely any ordinary servants willing to stay here after dark.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“It’s not too late yet. If you and Felix are having second thoughts, you can ask them to arrange somewhere else for you before the banquet starts.”
Lucian listened to her describe the ghosts and spirits with a perfectly straight face.
Yet his mind immediately returned to what he had seen outside the bathhouse earlier.
Evelyn had been talking to empty air.
And the way she had spoken had been far too natural, far too familiar.
Then he remembered the strange rooms scattered throughout Fangyuan.
For some reason, a faint chill ran down his back again.
But more than fear, there was something else he wanted to know.
“What about you?”
Evelyn blinked.
“Me?”
“If those things really are here, and everyone else is too afraid to stay, why aren’t you scared?”
Evelyn stared at him for a moment as though he had just asked an incredibly stupid question.
“Scared?”
She repeated the word.
Then she laughed.
But the smile never quite reached her eyes.
“Lucian, let me ask you something.”
“If you were left alone in a place like this when you were little, and no one wanted to come near you… if no one cared how you were doing, or even whether you were alive or dead…”
She paused.
The lightness gradually faded from her voice.
“And in the end, the ones everyone called terrifying ghosts and spirits were the ones who stayed with you… who comforted you when you were sad and talked to you when you were alone…”
“After enough time had passed, would you still think they were frightening?”
Lucian did not answer.
Evelyn did not wait for him to.
She turned back toward the mirror and carefully fixed the last loose strand of black hair.
“I don’t think they’re frightening.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Sometimes, people are much scarier than ghosts.”
Those spirits might look frightening.
Some were even hideous enough that ordinary people could barely stand to look at them.
But at least they did not say one thing while thinking another.
They did not smile at you while secretly calculating how best to hurt you.
Lucian quietly watched the girl sitting before the dressing table.
In the mirror, Evelyn’s expression was calm.
Yet beneath that calmness was a trace of stubbornness and bitterness that was difficult to notice unless one looked closely.
For some reason, something seemed to prick lightly at Lucian’s chest.
It was not painful.
Not really.
But neither could he completely ignore it.
After a moment of silence, he finally asked in a low voice,
“All these years… was there really no one who helped you?”
Evelyn’s fingers stopped against the edge of the dressing table.
Lucian looked at her and asked again.
“No one who truly cared about you?”
The room fell silent.
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
Then she gave a soft laugh.
“Cared about me?”
She lifted her head and looked at Lucian through the mirror.
“Can caring fill an empty stomach?”