BTGDF 3

Chapter 3

Meow.

When she stared back quietly, the cat tilted its head and met her gaze.

Evelyn slowly looked the creature over from top to bottom: its jet-black fur resembling the night sky, its jewel-like ruby eyes, and finally, the necklace the little thing was wearing.

With every tilt of the cat’s head, the red gemstone hanging from the necklace swayed back and forth.

“Did you come here all alone? Where is your owner?”

Meeeeow.

“Will you look at this?”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the cat flopped over, exposing its belly. The way it rolled around playfully was utterly adorable.

The mischief in its actions somehow swept away the reality that had been weighing heavily on her heart just moments before, bringing a small smile to Evelyn’s lips.

“So cute.”

The cat, which had been putting on all sorts of aegyo at her feet, began to purr loudly and nudged its head right against her.

She wondered if it was a bit too lacking in caution, but in the end, she reached out and gently stroked its small head.

“You really have a sweet personality.”

At Evelyn’s praise, the cat let out an even prettier cry. It was right at that moment.

“Lady Evelyn.”

“Eek!”

Someone cheerfully recognized her and grabbed her shoulder.

Startled, Evelyn spun around, recognized who it was, and forced an awkward smile.

“Mr. Taylor.”

He was an employee from the bookstore she used to frequent because of her father’s books.

Evelyn subtly shifted her body to slip out of his grasp, stood up, and straightened her clothes.

It was a silent indication that she didn’t want to make small talk, but whether he didn’t get the hint or was just pretending not to, Taylor beamed broadly and kept talking.

“I didn’t expect to run into the young lady in a place like this… Have you been doing well?”

“……Yes.”

He had moved to Rauspel a few months ago, and he was entirely too busy showing his affection whether Evelyn felt burdened by it or not.

Whenever she turned her head while looking for books, she would inevitably find herself locking eyes with him. Those greasy eyes of his gave her a weird sense of creeping dread.

After subtly blocking her path and rambling on about trivial personal matters, the man finally brought up his real purpose only after the nervous, agitated cry of a cat echoed nearby.

“Meeting like this must be fate—would you care to join me for lunch?”

“No, I’m fine.”

As usual, Evelyn refused with a bright smile. But he continued right along with his own speech as if he hadn’t heard a word.

“There’s a newly opened place right up ahead that’s supposed to be really good. I’ve been making reservations for every Thursday to go together, but lately you haven’t been coming by—”

“I said I’m not eating.”

“……!”

Her voice came out much firmer and sharper than usual.

Taylor’s expression stiffened. The face that had been smiling just moments before turned pale.

Feeling a sudden, chilly sensation, Evelyn instinctively took a step back. A warning bell rang in her mind telling her that dragging things out here would be dangerous.

“I have no intention of having lunch with you. And I don’t think I’ll have any reason to visit the bookstore anymore, either. I’ll be going now.”

She turned around to make a quick getaway, but something tugged at the hem of her skirt.

“Huh?”

Meow.

It was the cat that had been performing tricks for her just a moment ago.

Was it sad to see her go?

Unlike when she was dealing with Taylor, Evelyn coaxed it in a soft voice.

“I’ll come visit again. See you next time.”

But something felt off.

Meeeeeow-!

“Why are you acting like this?”

The fur of the cat that had been purring and acting cute just minutes ago was standing straight up on end.

The sharp, hissing meows it let out were entirely different from before. On top of that, as if dissatisfied with something, it even batted at her right leg with its tail, thump, thump.

“Why? What’s the—Ah.”

As Evelyn lowered her gaze to where the cat had struck, she realized something was missing. What should have been there was gone.

“Where did my pouch go?”

“Looking for this?”

Glancing all around in confusion, Evelyn whipped her head toward the direction the voice came from.

And there she found it.

“Must be something important.”

Clack, clack—the familiar pouch was dangling and swaying in Taylor’s hand.

‘Why is that there?’

Evelyn’s expression hardened.

Even if she wanted to chalk it up to her imagination, his face looked strange. The corners of his lips were curved upward, but his eyes were as cold as ice, as if……

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

Faking composure, Evelyn forced a bright smile. Trying her absolute best to look unbothered, she held out her hand.

“It seems I must have dropped it. Thank you for picking it up.”

“……”

He didn’t answer, just smiled crookedly.

Hesitating for a moment, Evelyn suppressed a nameless wave of anxiety and reached out. She needed to take back her pouch.

The exact second her white hand came close to touching the edge of the pouch, the man jerked his arm straight up into the air.

“……!”

As a startled Evelyn stared at him with wide eyes, the corners of Taylor’s mouth slanted sharply upward.

And the very next moment—

“Wh-What……? Hey!”

He spun around and bolted into a full sprint. He was running at absolute top speed, clearly intending to flee so he wouldn’t get caught.

Crazy bastard!

Without even a second to think, her body moved on its own. That pouch was her living expenses for this month!

She didn’t even notice the people around her looking startled, stepping out of the way, or shouting that they would go call the guards.

Me-e-ow……? Meeeee-ow-!

Staring blankly after Evelyn for a second, the black cat let out a plaintive wail and darted off after them.

“…Where on earth is that thing running around doing gods-know-what?”

A moment later, a tall man appeared right where the chase had just begun.

He muttered in disbelief as he watched the woman running with her red hair flying behind her, followed closely by the black cat giving chase.

“What kind of trouble is it trying to stir up now?”

Clicking his tongue briefly, the man said something to a soldier who happened to arrive at that moment, then strode off in the direction the cat had vanished.

“Where did he go?”

Evelyn gasped for air, breathing heavily as she looked around her surroundings.

Before she could even gauge her direction in the winding alleyways, she realized she had strayed quite far from the plaza.

Something felt wrong.

‘It’s like he was deliberately driving me somewhere—’

“So you were interested in me after all, weren’t you? I knew it.”

At the voice coming from behind her, Evelyn’s train of thought snapped shut. As she slowly turned around, she bit down hard on her lower lip.

“Don’t be shy. I feel the exact same way.”

Taylor—no, the jewel thief—was looking at her with an ecstatic expression.

“Whenever Thursday afternoon rolled around, you always made sure to drop by to see me. I know you followed me here just now to confess your feelings.”

To escape Taylor as he stepped closer, Evelyn shuffled backward step by step.

She braced her mind and forced strength into her eyes, thinking that showing fear would only make things more dangerous, but it was to no avail.

“That’s not it at all. I have never once looked at Mr. Taylor in a romantic light.”

Because her voice was trembling with clear fear.

“Please return my pouch. I don’t want to have a long conversation with you.”

When she cut him off with zero room for misunderstanding, Taylor’s face instantly froze. A moment later, a low voice laden with fury spilled from his lips.

“Is it because I’m a commoner? Just because you’re the young lady of a falling viscountcy, does that make you better than me? Is that it?!”

It was an utterly absurd remark, especially considering that the boundaries between nobles, gentry, and commoners—aside from the apex predators—were gradually blurring as time went on.

Wasn’t that the exact reason Taylor had been able to brazenly lock horns with her in the first place?

Evelyn barely managed to swallow down a burst of dry laughter that threatened to slip right out.

“How could that be? If that were truly the case, the very fact that you and I are talking right now wouldn’t make any sense.”

“Then why…….”

“It’s simply because I don’t like you. I’m sorry.”

She offered an apology she didn’t mean at all to avoid provoking a man who seemed to be living 250 years in the past. Getting out of this situation safely was her top priority right now.

“Now, please hand back my pou—”

“But you definitely, definitely smiled at me! You came to see me!”

That was just customer service!

She couldn’t maintain her facial expression any longer. Looking at him as if wondering what kind of human specimen he was, Evelyn shattered his delusions ruthlessly.

“I couldn’t just greet you with a crying face, could I? And I didn’t come to see you, I came to get books!”

With those words, silence descended between the two of you.

“You…….”

Before long, his face slowly began to contort. The pale complexion flushed a furious, ugly red.

Frightened by the ominous atmosphere, Evelyn stepped backward—and at that exact moment, a large hand lunged straight toward her.

“You played with me? No, you betrayed me! You told me you loved me, and then you went and met another bastard!”

“Eek!”

With a rough, violent force that grabbed and shook her shoulder, Evelyn stumbled and fell hard to the ground. But that wasn’t the end of it.

“You mocked me. How dare you, how dare you do this to me!”

Unable to contain his boiling rage, Taylor let out a wild shriek as he reached out toward her.

Anticipating that a terrible pain was about to come, Evelyn clenched her eyes shut and raised both arms, curling her body into a ball as tightly as possible to protect her head.

Right then.

Meow!

“Aaaargh!”

Something black came flying through the air with a sharp cry and slashed right across his hand with its claws.

Easily dodging the thrashing hands in mid-air, the creature neatly bit down on the man’s ear for good measure before planting itself firmly in front of Evelyn as if to protect her.

Recognizing the ball of fur that met her gaze with a sly, knowing smile, Evelyn’s eyes went wide.

“You are…….”

“You son of a bitch……!”

Before he could even finish his stuttering, Evelyn saw the expression on Taylor’s face and scrambled backward on the ground on all fours.