As Evin ate and spoke with the two, he learned his guesses weren't completely baseless. And his negative impression on Terrence solidified further. The man wasn't dumb, but he was vain and he was way to prideful of the achievents of his Duchess. He spoke as if he was the one ruling over the northern duchy instead of the woman just because he could quote a few lines of the founding king Judeus, or the Empress's representative, Two Tales.
Evin even began to wonder why the Duchess even bothered to keep the man as his secretary, but the mystery was solved when Terrence explained that his father was in the sa squad as the Duchess herself, when she was sent to fight against the South.
Terrence spoke of how his father sacrificed himself to save the Duchess's life and asked her to take care of his children. It was a tragic story, but the way Terrence said it grated on Evin's nerves to no end. The man didn't care for his father's sacrifice, he only saw it as a convenient sob story that painted him as a victim of war.
And Evin could see how much he talked about these stories, because of the way Leanne reacted to them. Her laughter was half-hearted, her eyes fleeting and bored, a clear indication her mind was sowhere else. If she held affection towards her husband, she didn't show it on the outside. She spoke to him as if she was speaking to a withering old fool who wouldn't stop talking about his glory days.
Seeing Leanne like this, Evin felt his affection towards her burning up again. He thought he'd already given her up, but sothing about this encounter brought it back to life. It didn't take Evin long to understand why.
'He doesn't deserve her.'
The thought began to fuel his rage towards Terrence and his love towards Leanne. Countless plans started formulating in his head.
'I could sow discord between them to make them divorce faster. But how would I do it without them realizing? I'll worry about it later. And when they divorce, I can be the one who will offer Leanne the emotional support she needs… Wait. In that case, it would be even better if they divorce when I'm older. 15, when I finally beco an adult. Maybe 14 at the earliest. It's not really rare for commoners to marry at 13. Three years… No, two years and eight months. I can't wait that long.'
Caught up in his future, Evin barely noticed what Terrence was saying. Just like Leanne. The thought made him strangely happy, as he felt it was sothing common he shared with her. And when the al finished, Evin reminded Leanne that she asked to et him privately. Leanne, of course, agreed, and the two went towards her study.
Once inside, Evin resolved to confess to her. He knew that Leanne really didn't see him as a man, but he decided that it was ti to make her see him differently tonight.
The only thing he was worried about was the Voice. It stayed relatively silent throughout the dinner, only speaking when Evin initiated the conversation. But even then, Evin could tell that it wasn't interested in talk. Evin could also tell that the Voice was silently opposed to Evin's potential relation to Leanne. It never said so explicitly, and it even encouraged Evin sotis, but Evin was sure that it didn't like it deep down.
'It doesn't matter. The Voice can take over my mouth and body to do things that I wish to do,' he thought unconfidently. 'It won't be able to stop from confessing.'
Leanne offered Evin to sit down beside a tea table and asked if he wanted sothing to drink. Evin agreed and watched as Leanne prepared a pot of black tea.
"What did you want to talk about?" Evin asked.
"Oh, nothing important. I just wanted to know what happened with the talk with the Cosmics," Leanne said apologetically.
"Just that?" Evin asked.
"Just that. But when you ca to our house, I didn't want to turn you away… but I also didn't want to speak about the Cosmics in my husband's presence. Sorry for wasting your ti."
"No, no. You don't have to apologize," Evin waved his hands before himself. "And the talk with the Cosmics went good… it just took way too long. Rith said she'll start teaching from tomorrow."
"That's good. And I'm sorry to hear you stuck in talk with the Cosmics," Leanne smiled sourly.
"What did the Cosmics do to you anyway?" Evin asked, feeling that the atmosphere was right.
"Ah," Leanne sighed, grimacing. "I had so debts to the Cosmics five years ago, and I made the tragic mistake of not paying on ti. The little devils were happy enough to make life hell for during the following month," Leanne shuddered. Then, looking at Evin, she reminded, "If you must sign a contract with the Cosmics, then make sure to discuss each and every single point beforehand. Especially what would happen if one side sohow fails to achieve the agreents under said contract."
Evin was curious about those contracts, but he was more interested in another thing.
"How did you end up in debt?"
"Nothing serious," Leanne shrugged with a faint smile. "Just a dumb mistake. It wasn't enough to kill , and I was lucky enough to be able to afford making mistakes at the ti."
Evin wanted to ask more, but all of a sudden, the previously cheerful atmosphere seed to have dissipated. Evin didn't know how it happened, but he could only guess that it was because of his question.
He cursed inside, but outwardly; he maintained a concerned look. He hoped that Leanne would speak further, but he could see him that Leanne wasn't going to confide in him. The logic in him reminded that it was because he was a child, but Evin decidedly killed that thought.
But as he was struggling to clear the weird atmosphere, the Voice spoke.
Evin asked back.
it began. the Voice shrugged off Evin's argunt so easily and freely.
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