“What does it matter if someone feels sorry for me? Can sympathy put food on the table?”
Evelyn Sterling rolled her eyes, her tone as casual as ever.
There was barely any emotion on her face, as though Lucian Ravenholt had asked about something that had nothing to do with her.
Sitting in front of the dressing table, she looked into the mirror and adjusted her newly pinned black hair.
Her fingers moved over several silver ornaments before she picked out a simple hairpin and slowly slid it into place.
“After I started studying under my teacher, Lillian secretly gave orders that no one in the estate was allowed to interfere in my affairs. Whether it was clothes, daily necessities, or food, no one was allowed to send me anything behind her back.”
Lucian had been leaning comfortably against the chaise, but his brows gradually drew together as he listened.
Evelyn, however, continued in the same calm tone, as though she were talking about someone else’s life.
“If anyone disobeyed, the lighter punishment was losing a hand. If it was serious, even their family could be dragged into it. So over the years, even if some of the servants felt sorry for me, no one dared to help.”
“What?”
The relaxed look on Lucian’s face finally disappeared.
He immediately sat up straight, anger flashing in his eyes.
“Doesn’t the Sterling territory have laws? Even if she’s Lord Sterling’s wife, she can’t just punish people however she wants.”
Evelyn glanced at him through the mirror, a faintly mocking smile appearing on her lips.
“Laws?”
She repeated the word softly before saying, “Inside this estate, sometimes her word carries more weight than any law. At least when it comes to me, whatever she says is what everyone below her has to follow.”
Lucian fell silent as he watched her through the mirror.
She was far too calm while talking about all of this, so calm that it was obvious she had already grown used to it.
And the more casually she spoke, the clearer it became that these things had not happened only once or twice.
Watching her calmly arrange her hair ornaments, Lucian felt strangely uncomfortable.
After a while, he finally asked, “If no one dared to help you, how did you manage your daily needs all these years?”
“I handled them myself, of course.”
Evelyn answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
After securing the last hairpin, she raised a hand and adjusted it slightly.
“There’s a plot of land behind the mountain. Most of the food I need comes from there. As for clothes, fabric, and other necessities, Second Uncle regularly finds ways to have them sent to me.”
At the mention of Cedric Sterling, some of the coldness finally left her expression, and a genuine smile appeared in her eyes.
“Out of the entire Sterling family, Second Uncle is probably the only one who really dares to go against Lillian. He’s also the one who’s looked out for me the most all these years. Otherwise, how could I have lived this comfortably until now?”
Lucian’s brows remained furrowed.
“What about the servants? Has no one ever helped you?”
“Why should they have to?”
Evelyn actually seemed puzzled by the question.
“They work here because they need the wages to support their families. If they know helping me could bring trouble down on them, why should I drag them into it just so I can live a little more comfortably?”
She gave a small shrug, her tone still casual.
“It’s enough that I’m unlucky. There’s no need to make everyone else unlucky with me.”
For a moment, Lucian did not know what to say.
She was talking about the life she had lived all these years, yet there were no tears and no complaints.
She had even found reasons to excuse the servants who had been too afraid to approach her.
After a brief silence, Lucian asked, “What about Lord Sterling? Does he really know nothing about any of this?”
“Alaric?”
The small smile on Evelyn’s face quickly disappeared.
“He never asks about me.”
She lowered her head and began putting away the hair ornaments scattered across the dressing table.
“Second Uncle once mentioned that something serious happened on the day I was born. He never told me exactly what it was, and I couldn’t be bothered to keep asking.”
After putting the last ornament away, she turned to look at Lucian.
“But if you’re really that curious, the Ravenholt family should be able to find something if you look into it properly.”
Lucian gave her a thoughtful look, clearly taking the matter to heart.
Evelyn, however, had no interest in continuing to talk about something that had happened so many years ago.
She waved a hand and changed the subject.
“Enough about that. Where exactly are you two planning to sleep tonight?”
Thinking of Felix, who had followed her around talking nonstop earlier, she rubbed her temple.
“That parrot said he wanted to sleep in the bathhouse, so I already gave him permission.”
“Parrot?”
Lucian paused, then raised an eyebrow.
“You mean Felix?”
“Who else?”
Evelyn looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious.
“His mouth hasn’t stopped since the moment he met me. He jumps from one thing to another, and he can make enough noise for an entire group all by himself. If that isn’t a parrot, what is?”
Lucian had been about to say something in his younger brother’s defense, but after thinking back on Felix’s behavior that day, he quietly swallowed the words.
Now that he thought about it…
The description really did fit.
Evelyn noticed the look on his face and immediately knew she had chosen the right nickname, which put her in a noticeably better mood.
She looked Lucian up and down before suddenly asking, “But you two are brothers. How are your personalities so different? He’s as noisy as a parrot, while you’re surprisingly quiet.”
Lucian chuckled.
“So is Lady Evelyn planning to give me a nickname as well?”
“You?”
Evelyn rested a hand against her chin and studied him seriously for a moment.
“Nothing comes to mind yet. I’ll tell you when I think of one.”
Lucian laughed softly but did not ask again.
Just then, familiar footsteps came from the corridor outside, followed almost immediately by Felix’s unmistakable voice.
“Honeyberry! I hung up all your towels for you!”
His voice quickly drew closer, and a moment later, Felix appeared in the doorway.
“And someone came by just now to say the banquet is about to start. We can head over—”
He suddenly stopped talking.
Standing in the doorway, Felix stared at Evelyn’s newly arranged hair for several seconds, his expression slowly becoming strange.
Evelyn frowned at him.
“What are you looking at?”
Felix did not answer right away.
“Like what?”
Evelyn immediately had a bad feeling.
Felix, completely unaware of the danger, walked a couple of steps closer and gave his opinion with complete seriousness.
“It makes you look old.”
Evelyn’s eyelid twitched.
Felix continued without noticing.
“You’re obviously still young, so why style your hair like those noblewomen in their forties? Wouldn’t something younger look better on you?”
He rubbed his chin as he studied her, then shook his head with obvious disappointment.
“I really didn’t expect your taste to be this old-fashioned.”
Old.
In her forties.
Old-fashioned.
With every word Felix said, the smile on Evelyn’s face became a little more dangerous.
By the time he finally finished, she was so annoyed that she actually laughed.
“Parrot.”
Felix blinked.
“What?”
“I said, are you done yet, you parrot?”
Evelyn spun around and glared at him.
“Your mouth hasn’t stopped since you came in. Now you’re even telling me how I should wear my hair?”
Felix’s eyes widened as he pointed at himself in disbelief.
“Parrot? You’re calling me a parrot?”
“Yes. You.”
Evelyn nodded without hesitation.
“And the more I think about it, the more suitable that nickname becomes.”
Felix almost laughed from sheer irritation.
“How am I anything like a parrot?”
“Everything about you is, especially your mouth.”
Evelyn looked him up and down before adding mercilessly, “I’m warning you, if you keep ruining my reputation, I’ll make sure you don’t sleep peacefully tonight.”
It was only a threat she had blurted out because Felix was getting on her nerves.
At the time, she naturally had no idea that by nightfall, those words would actually come true.
Felix opened his mouth and pointed at her, but for several seconds, he could not think of anything to say.
He clearly had not expected the sweet and harmless-looking Honeyberry to have such a sharp tongue.
What irritated him even more was that Lucian did not come to his defense.
Instead, his elder brother turned his face away, his shoulders moving slightly as he tried to hold back a laugh.
Felix immediately turned toward him.
“Big Brother, what are you laughing at?”
Lucian quickly hid the smile at the corner of his lips and replied with a perfectly serious expression, “Nothing.”
Felix stared at him suspiciously.
Lucian paused for a moment before finally adding, “I simply think Lady Evelyn’s description is quite accurate.”
“…”
Felix froze.
It was bad enough that Honeyberry was picking on him.
Now even his own brother had taken her side.
Fine.
He would endure it.
Taking a deep breath, Felix forced down the urge to argue and said through gritted teeth, “A gentleman doesn’t argue with a lady. I won’t hold it against you.”
Then he forced a reasonably normal smile onto his face.
“Lady Evelyn, can we go to the banquet now?”
“Of course.”
Evelyn stood up, clearly in a much better mood than before.
“If you hadn’t been standing here chirping away, we might already be there.”
“Chirping?”
The irritation Felix had just managed to suppress nearly flared up again.
He gritted his teeth and glared at Evelyn, only to find her looking back at him with an innocent expression.
It was obvious she was doing it on purpose.
Felix was just about to argue when something around Evelyn’s neck suddenly caught his attention.
A very unusual silver dragon necklace rested against her neck.
The dragon’s head and tail curved toward each other around a white pearl about the size of a thumb, which gave off a soft glow beneath the light.
Felix’s attention was immediately drawn to it, and he forgot what he had been angry about only moments earlier.
“Wait.”
He moved closer and stared curiously at the necklace.
“Honeyberry, this necklace is pretty unusual. Where did you have it made?”
Evelyn instinctively raised a hand and lightly touched the silver dragon at her neck, but Felix had already continued talking.
“The craftsman who made this is really good. Even the scales and horns are this detailed. Maybe I should ask him to make one for me someday so I can give it to my mother.”
“This isn’t—”
Evelyn had only just started to explain when Felix’s attention suddenly shifted to her left wrist.
“And this one!”
His eyes lit up again as he reached out and held Evelyn’s wrist, lowering his head to examine the white dragon bracelet.
“This one’s even prettier.”
Felix reached out with one finger and lightly touched White’s body.
“It looks almost real.”
He touched it again, but this time his expression changed slightly.
Evelyn’s eye twitched.
Felix only grew more curious and pressed his finger against the white dragon again.
“Why is it soft?”
He carefully gave White’s body a small squeeze.
“Aren’t bracelets supposed to be hard? What is this made of? And it’s so white. Does the color come off?”
Evelyn silently watched him.
Lucian did the same.
Felix remained completely unaware.
Finally, White could no longer tolerate it.
“Brat.”
The deep voice suddenly came from the white dragon in Felix’s hand, causing his fingers to freeze instantly.
He slowly lowered his head and stared at the bracelet he was still touching.
White spoke again, this time with unmistakable anger in its voice.
“As if your endless talking wasn’t annoying enough, you dare keep touching my body?”
Felix fell silent.
The next instant, dazzling silver-white light burst from Evelyn’s wrist.
Felix instinctively released her and stepped back as the white dragon uncoiled itself from her arm and began expanding within the light.
In only a few breaths, an enormous white dragon appeared inside the room.
Its snow-white scales gleamed coldly beneath the light as its massive head lowered toward Felix.
A pair of pale golden slit pupils fixed dangerously on him.
“Touch me again, and I’ll eat you.”
Felix stared up at the enormous dragon, completely stunned.
Lucian had also shot to his feet, disbelief clear in his eyes as he looked at White.
For several seconds, the entire room was silent.
Evelyn had just begun to think that Felix had finally learned to be afraid when his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Whoa! A dragon!”
Evelyn: “…”
White: “…”
Lucian: “…”
Wasn’t a normal person’s first reaction to seeing a giant dragon suddenly appear in front of them supposed to be backing away?
Felix, however, was not afraid in the slightest.
Instead, he stared at White in amazement, his gaze traveling from its horns all the way to its tail, his eyes practically shining with excitement.
Lucian was equally shocked, but he was clearly much calmer than his younger brother.
After looking at White for a moment, he turned toward Evelyn, and his gaze slowly settled on the silver dragon necklace around her neck.
If the bracelet was actually a dragon…
Then the necklace…
Lucian raised a hand and pointed toward Evelyn’s neck, hesitating slightly before asking, “Don’t tell me that necklace is also…”
“You’re very perceptive.”
An amused voice came from the necklace.
A flash of silver light followed, and the silver dragon necklace slipped away from Evelyn’s neck on its own.
While still in midair, it quickly returned to the form of a silver dragon.
Felix looked at White, then at the silver dragon, his expression making it seem as though he had just discovered an incredible treasure.
“One… two…”
He suddenly turned toward Evelyn, his face full of envy.
“Honeyberry, you actually have two dragons!”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean, I have two dragons? They’re not pets I raised.”
Felix had clearly stopped listening.
“That’s amazing. I want one too.”
He looked at Evelyn expectantly.
“Can you give me one?”
The corner of Evelyn’s mouth twitched hard, while White’s gaze instantly became dangerous.
Only the silver dragon seemed amused by Felix’s words and let out a soft laugh.
“You really are an interesting child.”
It shrank its body slightly before leisurely flying over to Felix and circling him once.
“Do you really want to raise a dragon that badly?”
“Of course.”
Felix answered without hesitation.
The silver dragon seemed to find him rather entertaining and simply curled itself lightly around his shoulder.
Instead of being afraid, Felix excitedly reached up and carefully touched its gleaming silver scales.
“You can change your size whenever you want?”
“Of course.”
The silver dragon chuckled.
“We’ve lived for more than five thousand years. Something like this is hardly worth mentioning.”
“More than five thousand years?”
Felix’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the silver dragon for a while.
Instead of being intimidated by its age, he only became more interested.
“Then would you let me keep you?”
The silver dragon paused briefly before slowly winding its way down his arm, clearly enjoying itself.
“I suppose I could.”
Felix’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Really?”
“Of course.”
The silver dragon gave its tail a light flick, amusement clear in its voice.
“But I have one condition.”
Felix did not even stop to think before asking,
“What condition?”