Episode 1
“Pretty.”
A small, chubby hand grabbed the vase on the table by the window. A faint blue shimmer, like a heat haze, flowed from the vase, but the child was so focused on the flowers that she didn’t notice.
“Oh?”
Evelyn was startled when the white petals in the vase suddenly turned black, and she hurriedly called a maid.
“Tinya!! Come here!!”
“Miss! What’s the matter?”
“I think the flower is sick!”
Tinya approached the table at Evelyn’s call and sighed as she checked the flower.
“Miss, cut flowers inevitably wither.”
“Wither?”
“Yes, once they’re cut from the ground, they die.”
Tinya explained this simply enough for Evelyn to understand, then said she would take the vase away and left.
So, flowers shouldn’t be picked carelessly.
From that moment, little Evelyn realized that one shouldn’t treat other living things carelessly.
A few days later.
While Evelyn was away, the servants cleaning her room whispered among themselves.
“Sigh, it feels like the flowers in the young lady’s room are wilting unusually fast these days.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The countess’s flowers get replaced every few days, but the ones in Evelyn’s room barely last a day.”
One servant looked regretful as she tidied the withered flowers.
“Now that I think about it, someone else mentioned something like that recently too.”
“Is there some bad energy flowing in the young lady’s room or something?”
“Ah, nonsense!”
The servants glared at each other as they dismissed such talk and quickly finished cleaning and left.
The servants have been acting strangely lately.
Evelyn pouted. The servants avoided her or scowled when they met her.
She ate well and studied hard, so why?
Her parents and older brother said everything was fine.
“Sigh.”
While playing hide-and-seek with her brother, Evelyn hid behind a tree and sighed deeply. Even her nanny kept getting angry at her.
I didn’t do anything wrong.
Squeak.
A faint cry caught Evelyn’s attention, and she lifted her head from her gloomy posture.
“What’s that?”
Squeak.
A tiny kitten?
Pushing through the bushes, she found a very small injured kitten.
“Brother! A cat! It’s hurt!”
Evelyn called her brother right away.
“Where did this cat come from?”
Leonel, who rushed over at her call, pulled the kitten away to prevent Evelyn from touching it.
There had already been strange rumors that Evelyn was unlucky lately.
“It’s not going to die, right?”
Leonel’s golden eyes were filled with worry but he shook his head firmly.
“No. Tami!”
Leonel immediately called his servant and gestured toward the small kitten.
“It seems this one sneaked into the garden with its mother but couldn’t get out.”
At Leonel’s glance, Tami quickly picked up the kitten. The cool touch in his hand made Tami instinctively feel this little life wouldn’t survive long.
No need to trouble the two of them.
“Will it survive?”
Tami forced a smile, hiding his true thoughts, as the round-eyed Evelyn asked.
“I will take it to the doctor quickly.”
“Okay! I’ll trust you, Tami!”
Cheered by the young lady’s words, Tami hurried away without looking back.
“They say everything the young lady touches dies, right?”
“The countess finally ordered all the vases in her room to be removed.”
“They say it’s also the young lady’s fault that Miss Russell was seriously injured recently?”
Evelyn, heading toward her mother’s bedroom, froze at the servants’ whispering.
That’s not true.
The flowers Evelyn held to give her mother slowly slipped from her hands. The flowers in her hands were still alive.
They gave off a fresh, fragrant scent.
Her friend Ail had been injured from slipping on the stairs. Evelyn was so shocked that she couldn’t even scream when she saw her fall.
Her parents, brother, and even Tinya said it was just an accident. Especially Tinya, who was angry at those blaming Evelyn instead of her, was a great support.
I didn’t push Ail.
Evelyn pouted, but someone suddenly grabbed her arm tightly.
“Miss Evelyn? What are you doing here? Are you eavesdropping?”
Startled by the rough hand of her nanny suddenly appearing in the hallway, Evelyn shook her head.
“No! I just paused for a moment.”
“Why are you holding flowers? It’s dangerous!”
The nanny who used to be kind to her had grown colder. Evelyn stared at her hand as it reached for the flowers.
“I- I was going to give them to Mom.”
“To the countess? What misfortune are you trying to bring her?”
“Misfortune? What’s that?”
“Nothing, just that it’s dangerous.”
When Evelyn asked the meaning, the nanny hesitated and then shook her head saying she didn’t mean it like that.
“I’ll make sure your feelings are conveyed well. May I arrange these flowers nicely for you?”
Evelyn nodded.
The displeased look lasted only a moment. Believing the nanny would make the flowers pretty and give them to her mother, Evelyn hurried away.
The next day, when Evelyn went to her mother’s room, there were no flowers she had picked to be seen anywhere.
After that, Evelyn lost trust in the nanny’s words and became careful never to touch others’ belongings carelessly.
Clack!
“Yaaah! How’s this?”
“Evelyn, no way. You’re already blocking my sword?!”
“Of course! I’m eight years old now!”
Leonel’s eyes widened in surprise at his sister who blocked his sword.
A week ago, Evelyn’s friend Ail Russell had died from the shock of falling down the stairs.
Evelyn had been gloomy but finally brightened up after taking up sword training.
Poor Miss Russell.
He hadn’t expected someone so young to leave the world so soon. Hiding his bitterness, Leonel moved.
“This is easy!”
Whoosh!
Leonel swung his wooden sword loudly, but Evelyn wasn’t scared at all.
She seemed to clearly see her brother’s movements.
“Want to try the attack I just learned?”
“Master, the young lady is still growing, such rough moves might be—”
“I can do it! I want to!!”
Interrupting Tinya, Evelyn shouted loudly. Though Tinya shook her head, Evelyn jumped excitedly on the spot.
This was the only joyful time these days. She didn’t want anyone disturbing it.
“Me too! Me too!”
Whatever her brother did, she wanted to do too.
Evelyn carefully observed her brother’s movements as if engraving them in her eyes.
“You think you can do it?”
Leonel showed off the sword technique taught by their master.
“This one’s a little harder, though.”
Despite her brother’s teasing, Evelyn was busy recalling the moves in her mind.
“I can do it.”
Her eyes sparkled after she finished calculating.
“If you’re ready, bring it on.”
Leonel smiled at his sister. He didn’t mind her showing talent in swordsmanship.
To deal with the harsh rumors, she had to become strong herself. Leonel didn’t believe in bad luck or curses.
“Alright, here I go!”
As Evelyn rushed toward him, suddenly a strong wind blew.
“What?! Ah, really!”
The ribbon tying Evelyn’s hair came loose and flew away in the wind.
“Oh no!”
Leonel hurried to reach for it, but the ribbon flew onto a high branch nearby.
“Now of all times!!”
“I’ll get it.”
Evelyn stomped her foot disappointed, and Leonel climbed the tree.
“Master, you should order the servant to do that.”
“This height is nothing for me.”
Tinya warned Leonel worriedly.
“Miss, please wait a moment. I’ll be right back. Oh dear, Master, please come down!”
She gently touched Evelyn’s hair.
“Tinya, my brother can climb that tree easily—”
“Oh?! Master?!”
Tinya’s startled shout made Evelyn turn her head.
“Brother?!”
Leonel, holding the ribbon, lost balance and was falling from the tree. He would never fall like that.
“Brother! Be careful!”
Though she knew he wouldn’t get hurt, her body moved on its own. Evelyn started running toward him.
“I’m fine!”
Leonel, falling to the ground, tried to grab the tree to balance himself but missed and slipped.
Thud!
A frightening sound echoed.
“Gasp. B-Brother?”
Evelyn called in a trembling voice.
Red blood.
The same color she had seen in the Russell family. No!
“Brother!!”
Suddenly—
“Miss, you must never touch the Master, understand?”
Tinya tightly hugged Evelyn and covered her eyes. Evelyn nodded trembling.
