Even If You Tear Me Apart - Chapter 28
The chapters are split like this so that the TL can update more consistently over time (✿ ＞◡❛)
“Begging, Lady Arbois?”
Ezekiel gave a bitter smile. At this rate, if she saw the Quilluxia manor, she really might faint.
And Felicia acted exactly as expected. When she saw the shabby manor, her mouth dropped open.
“What is that supposed to be? It looks like it’ll collapse tomorrow! You’re telling me Lord Étienne was staying in that place?!”
“Ducal Lady Arbois, that’s quite rude.”
Only then did Felicia Arbois notice the people of the Quilluxia Barony standing in front of the manor.
Since the entire town had helped build the bridge in the rain for half a day, word had already spread far and wide that Lady Felicia Arbois had arrived—even to the manor. Naturally, Iris, Henri, and Missus Babbin had heard the news as well.
Learning that the two boys they had housed weren’t mere squires, but actual princes, had left them all white as a sheet.
Ezekiel had wanted to explain everything to them, but Felicia was quicker.
“You, maid! Where is the lord of this place?”
“Pardon?”
As expected. Ezekiel stepped in front of her.
“I said that was rude, Lady Arbois. This young lady is Iris Quilluxia, daughter of Baron Quilluxia.”
“What? She’s not a maid? Liar! You’re just trying to trick me again!”
Felicia Arbois’s most troublesome trait—and the one that made it hard to truly blame her—was that she had been exposed to Étienne’s antics for so long that she no longer believed anything Ezekiel said without question.
She looked Iris up and down with genuinely shocked eyes. Ezekiel clenched his jaw. Just how was he supposed to stop this girl’s mouth?
And then—
“Felicia.”
A familiar voice broke through the tense air. Despite his cold sweat, Étienne had insisted on coming down himself. Tears welled in Felicia’s eyes.
“Good heavens, Lord Étienne!”
She immediately ran into his arms. Étienne clicked his tongue softly and embraced her in return.
Ordinarily, this would have been quite improper—but considering how she had worried about Étienne for days, no one could blame her.
“You still have a fever! What is this mess, Lord Étienne? This is heartbreaking…”
Honestly, a broken arm seemed more problematic than a little fever, but Ezekiel turned his eyes away in silence.
He happened to lock eyes with Iris, who had been watching from nearby. Just as he was about to say something, she smiled first.
I’m alright.
That was what her gaze said. And somehow, it only made Ezekiel feel all the more ashamed.
***
Felicia Arbois insisted they take Étienne to a larger town immediately for treatment.
But Étienne waved her off, saying it wasn’t necessary—his fever had gone down significantly.
Ezekiel also discouraged her from pushing the matter. Though Felicia was suspicious that Étienne had truly recovered in a place like Quilluxia manor, she had no counterargument.
At least the physician who had come with her was able to stay.
And so, it became almost inevitable that Ducal Lady Felicia Arbois would end up staying at Quilluxia manor as well.
The forty knights set up tents in the front yard of the manor and the village commons. Curious villagers peeked out one by one, only to be roped in by Missus Babbin and assigned to help cook stew for fifty people.
Sadly, the few chickens owned by the Quilluxia estate were all sacrificed for the cause due to food shortages.
Of course, Lady Arbois paid fair—perhaps even excessive—compensation, so it wasn’t much of an issue. Missus Babbin wore a bright smile the entire time.
It was late at night, in the manor’s corridor, that Ezekiel ran into Iris again. More precisely, he ran into her just as she was leaving the room he had been staying in after tidying up.
Naturally, once Missus Babbin found out they were princes, she couldn’t bring herself to keep both boys in one guest room. The room belonging to the absent Baron Quilluxia was given to Étienne.
Felicia, unsurprisingly, claimed Iris’s room as if it were only natural. And of course, as soon as she entered it, she had remarked, “This is your room, Lady Quilluxia? Not a bathroom?”—causing Iris to give a strained smile.
“Ez— No, pardon me. Your Highness.”
Startled, Iris bent her knees slightly while holding a blanket. Ezekiel waved his hand.
“Please don’t. It’s uncomfortable. Just call me Ez.”
“Oh, shall I then?”
Ezekiel blinked. Iris let out a soft laugh. In the end, Ezekiel couldn’t help but chuckle along with her.
