If You Wish For Something Useless - Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – Earnest Wish (1)

Evelyn frowned as soon as she stuck her head out of the carriage. It was because she spotted Liam standing right beside Pharrell, who was waiting to escort her. Noticing Evelyn, Liam’s mouth rose in a crooked curve.

“Your appearance seems quite bright?”

Evelyn stared at Liam without a single change in her expression although she paid attention to the slight change in his way of speaking. After the day Pharrell drew his sword, he no longer visited Evelyn’s mansion. Instead, he only sent expensive gifts every few days. Even after rejecting all of them, the ‘gift-attack’ continued. Not showing his face directly was to please Evelyn, and sending presents was a way to keep his presence from fading even while the exchange of meetings had stopped.

‘This means you still regard me with high value.’ Evelyn rolled her eyes under the veil as she glanced at Liam. He must have felt the need to save face now, as she used force to warn him. However, he must have been anxious to just stand still. In the end, he chose gifts in order to somehow still be in touch with her.

“It’s been a while since we have seen each other, isn’t it nice to meet?”

After a brief moment she faced him, who had completely managed to throw away his mask. Trying to discern the meaning of her change, Liam reached out his hand. Nevertheless, Evelyn turned her head away as if she had never seen it and instead, she nodded at Pharrell, who was staring at Liam. Pharrell reached out his hand to escort her from the carriage.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me?” Liam muttering in a bittersweet tone was a sight to behold. “I haven’t even seen your face anyway, so why don’t you forgive me already?”

“Your attitude is still bad enough to discuss forgiveness.”

“Good gracious. How cold-hearted. You used to be kind enough to even save my life.”

She had never been kind to Liam, but his mouth moved as if it was made of honey. He was good at lip service. Evelyn, shaking her head lightly, ignored him even more blatantly. Nevertheless, Liam kept chattering to himself, continuing about how unjust it was. Because of this, Evelyn wasn’t able to keep a straight expression. It wasn’t just because of Liam. She hadn’t been in a good mood lately. It took over two weeks for Cesar’s call to arrive. She was already suppressing her nervousness, but Liam’s rambling only annoyed her more.
“Phew…”

The sighs seemed to increase. Thinking while hearing Liam’s blabbing, Evelyn figured out why he had appeared in front of her again. The reason that someone who had been careful about his behavior dared to appear and instigate her was because he had decided that it would be okay to do so.

‘You seem to have realized it.’ There was a reason why Evelyn cleared up the situation with a warning instead of inflicting real damage to him and didn’t throw him out completely. In fact, despite Evelyn’s success in approaching Cesar, she didn’t end her relationship with Liam. Because as long as the variable of the Original existed, she needed insurance. In the event of an emergency, minimum contact enough to intervene should be maintained. Of course, Liam wouldn’t know why she didn’t cut him off completely. But he must have realized that there was a reason. That was the realization behind his reappearance in front of Evelyn.

If you think about it, you can even understand why he took off his mask and started acting on his own. Knowing that Evelyn couldn’t cut him off completely, he probably didn’t feel the need to be careful any longer. However, she wouldn’t let everything go his way.

‘Ignoring him is enough.’ The conclusion she reached in her head was clear. ‘Even so…’

She wasn’t happy about the annoying fly buzzing around. As Liam’s nonsense continued, her irritation only grew. Then everything around her started to get on her nerves. To the point that even the weather that was getting warmer was annoying.

“How about taking some time out after the audience is over? How about watching a play you might like–” Liam was interrupted by Evelyn halting suddenly.

Did he think it was because of him that she stopped? A delightful smile broke his face in two.

“Ah, I can wait, right?”

But Evelyn didn’t stop because of Liam. It was because she recalled the fresh air of Fedora. The longing rose in an instant. The clear air was cold enough to freeze your bones but cleared your stuffy insides as soon as you inhaled it. Vivid memories flooded in, clear enough for her to be able to draw a picture of it right away.

Evelyn closed her eyes under her veil. It was already almost five months, but the days she thought of Fedora were becoming more and more frequent.

At a really random moment, for a really random reason.

It should fade over time, but why was it becoming clearer?

‘I’m pretty sick of this, too.’ Evelyn struggled to recall the bitter reality. Unless she can return, her feelings were nothing more than an annoying burden to shake off.

Shaking her head and forcing her eyes open, she met Pharrell. She felt like she was doused in cold water.

‘You can’t make the tension tighter, why are you daydreaming?’ What if she made a mistake in front of Cesar? Evelyn scolded herself and turned her head away from Pharrell. However, it was like stepping on excrement trying to avoid dirt.

“Hey.”

Evelyn was forced to step back, shuddering, startled by Liam right in front of her nose. Pharrell immediately pushed Liam away, but Evelyn’s cheeks trembled as if it was a tic. It was a pity that her expression was not revealed because of the veil. If he had seen her face, Liam wouldn’t have been able to open his mouth easily, even if he was brazen.

“Stop your nonsense.”

Evelyn snapped coldly at Liam and turned around. This time Liam didn’t follow her. He must have determined it would be better if he didn’t provoke Evelyn anymore. Perhaps it was because of his extraordinary ability to read the air, that he was able to pinpoint the limit of Evelyn’s tolerance.

‘Cocky bastard.’

The thought of continuing to suffer from Liam’s nonsense gave Evelyn a headache. She hadn’t even met Cesar, but she was already exhausted.

“Phew…”

But she couldn’t rest here. Breathing in and out, Evelyn’s eyes flickered as she stepped into the Sun Palace. There were no escort arrangements as last time, and servants roaming the hallways were seen here and there. As she looked at her surroundings for a moment, Evelyn arrived before an unfamiliar door. It wasn’t the place she was escorted to last time.

‘We’ve moved places from the drawing-room.’

‘Does that mean my worth is higher than a normal guest?’

“Your Majesty, this is Pharrell.” He knocked on the door as Evelyn was trying to guess their reasons.

“Come on in.”

When the door opened, she could see Cesar sitting at a wide desk. Another option arose as she checked the scenery inside.

‘The office. Are you… showing off that you’re busy?’ A change of location could mean he was testing her or it could mean nothing much. It could mean Cesar was so busy right now that it was hard for him to spare any time.

“Come. Wait a minute.”

The latter seemed to be the right option given the short greeting he gave her without glancing at her.

Evelyn entered the waiting area without voicing a response. Pharrell remained in the hallway and closed the door. She took a seat on the sofa and for a while, the only sound audible was the scratching of the quill.

Refreshments were already prepared on a low table. Evelyn waited for Cesar without touching the tea prepared for her.

After some more time, Cesar finally rose.

While he approached the sofa, his aides rushed from the office.

When the door opened and closed again, only Evelyn and Cesar were left inside.

And Cesar was the first to open his mouth.