My Husband Never Dies - Chapter 17
“Look, my lady!”
With the bright excitement of someone who’d just seen a beautiful accessory, Laura exclaimed in admiration.
“It’s such a pretty eyeball! The color’s so lovely. It looks just like Prince Adrian’s eyes, doesn’t it?”
At the sound of Laura’s mad words, Evelyn tightly shut her eyes. Her hopes of leaning on Laura for some semblance of common sense were quickly reduced to ashes.
What is this insane place?
Evelyn, who thought she’d forgotten how to cry, felt the sting of tears pressing behind her eyes. She steadied her breath.
“His Grace must have met with Prince Adrian! The prince is your cousin, isn’t he?”
Throb, throb. Her temples began to pulse with pain again.
She didn’t need to be told. Adrian was dead.
And this wasn’t a gift. It was a warning.
The Duke knew. He knew about the contract between her and the prince. He knew exactly what Adrian had commissioned her to do…
Though the weather wasn’t cold, a chill seeped into her bones.
If the Duke returns now, will he gouge out her eyes too, like he did the prince’s?
“Did His Grace say where he was now?”
“Half a day’s ride, I’m told! But he should be back before dinner, I think?”
Thud!
Evelyn shot up from her chair. Laura blinked at her with wide, startled eyes.
“My lady?”
“Get everything ready so I can go straight to the banquet hall when His Grace arrives.”
“Ah… yes!”
Only then did Laura seem to understand Evelyn’s urgency. She gave a quick nod and hurriedly left the study with small, quick steps.
“Fxck…”
Left alone, Evelyn muttered a curse under her breath and grabbed the hem of her dress. This damned dress, needlessly long and heavy, only got in the way.
She glanced bitterly at the green eyeball nestled neatly in the velvet box, then turned away. Whether that conniving bastard of a prince was dead or not, she couldn’t care less.
Half a day.
Could she get out of Brumfield in just half a day?
It was pathetic. She’d stayed meekly in the duke’s estate out of fear. She should’ve fled the moment the duke left for the capital. Truthfully, she hadn’t believed he actually went to the capital in the first place.
Evelyn never trusted the Duke of Brumfield. Even if he claimed to be gone, he could’ve been hiding nearby, keeping watch.
She’d done her best not to draw suspicion, avoiding anything that might get her caught in his sights. She’d thought it best to lay low and wait for the perfect moment.
‘I was wrong.’
She should’ve just run without looking back!
Evelyn took her dagger, which she had considered an extension of her right arm at this point, and cut her neatly maintained blonde hair. That damned blonde hair had ruined her life. Why the hell did that lunatic princess have to be born with the same hair color…?
In one swift motion, she chopped off her hair near the nape and threw it to the floor. Then she tore off her dress, ripping it apart.
She quickly changed into clothes she could move in, pulled a simple-looking hood over her head, and looked out the window.
The vast garden below was still empty, not a hint of movement. Thick summer greenery blanketed the meticulously landscaped grounds. She had never once seen a gardener.
‘Yes, this place is insane!’
Evelyn climbed down, placing her feet on occasional cracks and protruding bricks in the outer wall. It would’ve been impossible for an ordinary noblewoman, but for Evelyn, scaling a wall was nothing.
The moment her feet touched the open garden, she ducked behind a massive tree. Even if no one seemed to be there, this was not a place where she could believe that with certainty.
Suspicion birthed fear, and fear swallowed her whole.
With tension tightening around her throat, Evelyn moved cautiously, step by careful step.
