The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 198

Evelyn smiled faintly and set down the apple core she had finished eating onto the plate.

The disappointment of not being able to occupy his comfortable bedroom any longer had somehow completely vanished. Her belongings from the first floor had come up one by one to fill this place familiarly, and more than anything, he came here quite frequently.

One day, leaning against his arm and breathing heavily, she had asked:

“Um… Lord Cassis, on days when you don’t come here, do you go to your bedroom to rest?”

“I stay up all night or catch a brief nap in the study. Usually on those days I’m busy with work.”

“That’s such a bad habit for your health! No matter how short your sleep time is, it would be much better to sleep in bed.”

“You’ve grown up a lot, Evelyn. I didn’t know you would worry about me.”

“That’s… only natural…”

“If that’s really the case, then feel how my breath is and tell me with your own mouth.”

Then he would mischievously rub his face against her b*****s while letting out a long sigh, and then…

‘Don’t think about it. Today is a day he can’t come.’

Even though she saw him five days out of the week, she didn’t want to become a mouse gnawing at her nails because she missed the remaining two days. Evelyn tried to compose herself and, since the thought had occurred to her, began trimming her nails into a pretty shape.

At that moment.

Click, click—there was one other person making pretty sounds while cutting nails besides Evelyn. It was Polyxene , idly wasting time by herself.

“Ugh.”

Polyxene frowned, not even wanting to clean up the nail clippings.

At first, she had easily thought that the amazing fortune she’d gained on the summer wind would lead to even greater happiness and more. That was because unexpected events had happened one after another, delighting her.

However, that was exactly where it ended. Aside from being officially recognized as a guardian, the pink-winged fantasies she’d wondered “Could this actually happen too…?” had fizzled out as if they’d never existed.

Lately, the voices in the castle calling her Cassis’s lover had drastically decreased. The castle’s residents, as if they’d forgotten when they used to gossip about pairing Cassis and Polyxene together, were now busy chatting about the upcoming festival schedule and summer preparations.

“My once-in-a-lifetime fortune… was just becoming a guardian? I fought, risking my very life, so this is unfair!”

Polyxene , forgetting that she hadn’t cleaned up her nail clippings, slammed the table with her fist and immediately stood up.

If she let public opinion in the castle grow cold toward her like this, it was obvious where it would lead. Sweaty training and endless dangers, the difficult daily life of living as a guardian.

Cassis had never once looked back at her. He should have at least requested a private audience to ask, “I heard rumors going around the castle lately pairing you and me—what’s that about?” If he had, at least she would have had an excuse to see his face.

On top of that, there was a reason she felt things had turned for the absolute worst. Mel had been subtly avoiding her again like during the Aika Festival, and now she wasn’t showing herself at all—what was going on? Unable to bear it anymore, she carefully approached Phoebe, whose expression was always ice-cold, and asked, only to learn that Mel had taken several months of leave. How deflated she had felt then!

‘Hah, she used to come running like lightning whenever she had something to ask me, but now she leaves the castle without a word? Honestly, none of them are helpful when I need them.’

That meant the Hall of Glory’s maids had been reduced from two to one lately. Wouldn’t the king be lacking in the proper attendance he should receive?

‘One more person… won’t they hire an additional one? No, what am I saying, me a maid? That’s ridiculous. A good beginning is what earns respect until the end.’

Polyxene frowned and turned away from the letter placed on top of the dresser. Her parents living outside the castle had sent perfect rose seedlings without a single blemish along with this letter, congratulating her on becoming an official guardian and saying they were proud of her. It also included a request for her to visit their village before returning to the castle after taking on guardian duties.

‘How bothersome…’

In the end, the rumors surrounding the rose seedlings had helped bloom nicely, but it had only created one more unnecessary task for her. Polyxene turned away from the letter, changed her clothes, and went outside.

Befitting early summer, hot wind whooshed past her ears. Even though it was itchy, she didn’t want to show others the sight of her scratching her skin, so Polyxene just nodded her head a few times.

Wasn’t there some good scheme? As she pondered and began walking, she felt something squishy being stepped on by her shoe. These were new shoes she’d bought not long ago, and someone had spilled something! Thoroughly angry, she bit her lower lip.

“Ugh, what terrible luck…”

“Aaaah. I’m sorry. Beautiful Lady Polyxene ! Please forgive me. It’s my fault for dirtying your precious shoes.”

Daius, who had been pulling a small cart piled high with some kind of grass, realized he had dropped it and was startled into prostrating himself in a pleading gesture.