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‘It’s called graffiti for a reason. If it’s this, I won’t be suspicious.’

Since I wrote it in very small letters that only I could recognize, the letters that were filled in seemed like a kind of pattern.

There’s no need to hide it.

It didn’t take very long.

It was partly because I chose and wrote down only the things I needed, and it was also because I was sleepy.

I was going to sleep after hanging it on the wall.

However, after filling out the shape of my grandmother and filling in the shape of my parents, which was not even in the memory of Evelyn, there was not enough space.

“Ham~.”

I couldn’t resist the rush of sleep and fell down on the table.

Is it because I’m young?

It was more difficult to beat sleep.

‘No. Too much has happened today.’

The constant pain was also exhausting. I’ll have to start thinking about a new pain reliever tomorrow. Medicine is medicine, but I should definitely get a new pain reliever.

“……Oh, it hurts……”

I groaned and fell on the desk, and in the end, I just fell asleep.

* * *

Raven stood up and jumped out of bed.

And after wandering for a while, he laid on the floor. Then, the wound on his back was bruised and he broke out in a cold sweat.

Eventually, he sighed, jumped up, and sat down.

How long has it been like that?

The whole interior of the small room came into his cold, golden eyes due to his sharp nerves. All of a sudden, his eyes touched the books on medicinal herbs that were piled up on the bookshelves.

Considering that it was a poor commoner’s house, the book he saw earlier was quite professional and valuable. Because the herbs of the Shadow Forest were also well written.

‘I don’t think her grandmother’s job was an herbalist.’

It was said that they lived in this house thanks to her grandmother’s sewing.

So, are these books just for treating ailments at home?

‘If not….’

All of a sudden, I remembered how the kid had been touching my nerves since before.

‘I saw her in a cold sweat earlier.’

A cold wind blew in the evenings in the northern area all year round, it was impossible to say that it was because she was hot.

Then what is it?

When I remembered that appearance, I also remembered the strange signs of that time.

‘Is she sick somewhere?’

Surely it could be because she looked weak, or it could be that she is physically weak.

Raven looked at the bookshelf with distasteful eyes, then looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

And finally.

“I’ll have to tell her I’m going to sleep outside the room.”

He decided to speak to Evelyn.

No matter how much the North family was called the den of villains, it was the basics to thoroughly educate the young successor before becoming an adult. Rather, since he was a successor, education was carried out earlier, in detail and strictly.

As an educated heir, now Raven was serious. Even if he was a fugitive, that doesn’t mean he’s not an educated noble heir.

He was about to open the door and go out to tell Evelyn of his decision as it was.

But he stood still.

“……”

Evelyn was concentrating with a serious expression on her face.

‘You acted like there was no problem before.’

His firm hand became more cautious.

He stopped opening the door, and Raven carefully looked at Evelyn through the crack he created.

Her house was narrow.

Therefore, he could see Evelyn sitting at the table and recording something at a glance even through the sloppy gap in his door.  Raven watched silently and soon realized that Evelyn wasn’t writing down numbers.

When he realized that it wasn’t an economic problem, Raven was relieved a little.

But, then, what is she writing?

Raven was nervous again.

Whatever it was, he was in a position to be careful.

“……”

As he silently opened the door and took a step with a deadly, soundless presence, Evelyn’s expression was barely visible.

She still had a very serious expression on her face.

‘Hey, you told me not to frown.’

And yet, she’s frowning like that.

The thoughts he unknowingly had were a little too childish to even think he was the one who had them, so Raven shook his head slightly.

‘Are her lips protruding a little?’

Rather than being angry, Evelyn’s expression showed that she was completely focused. Raven was speculative, and he mobilized less than a handful of mana to enhance his eyesight.

‘She looks like a crucian carp……?’

However, he frowned slightly, imagining a fish with lips like the color of fine petals.

It was a weird idea.

‘Then duck.’

He had forgotten the purpose of coming out and was serious about observing Evelyn’s expression.

‘By the way, what are you writing with such concentration?’

Even small things were clearly visible, Raven naturally wondered what Evelyn was writing. Since she was not particularly hiding what she was writing down, he could see the records over her shoulder well enough.

‘Ah. Are you trying to organize your memories?’

It was something dull and his tension was relieved.

If that was the case, I could understand how serious she was.

Then he tilted his head.

‘What are you doing now?’

After writing down the few memories, Evelyn, who had a pouty mouth, started painting on the back page. She also drew only the outlines with lines and filled them with strange patterns.

‘Is it to honor her dead family?’

It would be nice to burn a fine cloth to commemorate it, as it’s usually done in the North.

‘No, she said she is poor.’

It was clear that she was in a tight situation to even care to buy fine white cloth.

…So like that.

Raven hardened on the spot and hesitantly watched over Evelyn squirming about over and over again while she put all her heart in the drawing.

Her small hand silently filled the figure of an old lady with beautiful patterns.

‘Is the face on the side her parents?’

Evelyn’s tribute did not stop at her grandmother.

One female face and one male face.

The pattern that follows the contours of the three faces is unusual but has a strange aesthetic. Raven thought the pattern was quite luxurious.

And he repeated to himself numerous reasons, trying to ignore the strange weird feeling in his heart.

I think she has a talent for painting…

‘The pictures I saw earlier were not bad for a 12-year-old.’

That’s why it was hard to take my eyes off.

‘It might be a great talent.’

Raven nodded his head, thinking that if Evelyn had heard this, she would have made a grotesque look.

He then thought.

‘….You fool…’

I don’t understand.

Why are you trying so hard to honor the dead?

‘Sometimes it’s better to forget.’

Raven was a little surprised at the thought that passed without him knowing. So, he stared intently at the back of the head of Evelyn, the cause of this strange mood.

He was unaware that his expression was quite loose. It showed how reassured he was that Evelyn wasn’t doing anything suspicious.

It just occurred to him when he saw Evelyn, yawning as she painted and soon closing her eyes and lying down.

‘As long as the slave trader doesn’t come.’

If a slave trader from this area comes, he will be fatally wounded because of the traces of the curse that remains on him.

Will Evelyn still want to live with him knowing that he was meant to be a slave?

‘Because I’d be better to be lonely than to be together with a slave.’

So she might sell him to a slave trader, just to avoid getting entangled.

‘The world is like that.’

Then he will probably be recaptured by the slave guild he had desperately fled from. But, unless such an unfortunate event occurs.

‘Then it wouldn’t hurt to stay here for a while.”

I don’t believe in Evelyn, nor does he particularly like her.

“…Evelyn.”

Therefore.

Raven approached for a moment and looked at Evelyn’s sleeping face, then quietly closed the door and fell asleep on the bed.

Alone, as he so much wished.

And when morning came.

“Ha-am… Huh?”

Evelyn, who had just woken up, could find the blanket covering her shoulders.

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