I Don’t Want This Bad Ending

Chapter 132: MEETING THEM AGAIN: PART 2

Evelyn and Gil are at the parlor of the Emsworth mansion leisurely sipping tea that the head butler gave, they are waiting while Ben is outside waiting for them in the carriage again.

She remembers Jede, the head butler of the Emsworth estate when he opened the door to bring the refreshment as they still needed to wait for the Duke to finish some things.

She recalled that the butler stopped his words after he lifted his head and saw Evelyn.

"Greetings, I'm the head butler Jede, the Duke will be late for a bit as-"

Blink! Blink!

The head butler Jede, forgot to finish his sentence when he saw the smiling lady in front of him. He didn't even see the beautiful man beside Evelyn and only focused his eyes on her.

She continued to smile and after a while he saw concern in her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Lady Evelyn? Huh?"

"Excuse me? Who?"

Jede the butler then looked at the hair and the eye color.

'It's different but at the same time, she looks exactly the same' he thought. 

The butler then heard the sweet and cheerful voice of the Lady in front of her.

"Are you alright, sir butler?" Evelyn shamelessly asked.

'Of course, he won't be alright child! A lady popped up in front of him who looked exactly like their "deceased" lady. Who wouldn't be shocked?' Gil answered sarcastically.

'Shut up, Gil! I'm doing my part here!' she replied, hissing in her mind while she is smiling at the butler.

"Oh oh yes! Uhm.. the lady's name is Miss Adelyn, am I right?" The head butler Jede, suddenly asked as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yes, I'm Adelyn and this is my brother, Gilbert. We are merchants that came here to try and expand our wine business." she smiled softly.

Gil smiled at the head butler.

Jede who stood there gathered his thoughts and excused himself.

"I'll call the Duke please excuse me." He elegantly walked to the door and closed it.

After what happened they waited as what they were supposed to do. 

"Are you sure about this, Eve?" Gil asked.

"It's fine, I already knew that one of the things I needed to do so I can be close to them as much as possible and observe what will happen is to be near them when the enemy starts to target the Duke and Allan. They need to see my face for that, so they will voluntarily meet me." she said.

That's right, Evelyn decided to take off the black mask and let them see her matured face and stir their minds to remember Evelyn. She looked at herself at the reflection of her tea.

'Well, Ben said that a small portion of nobles only knew my face, and I'm not going to attend noble parties because I'm a commoner right now, so it's fine. They might think of me as a look alike of Evelyn but who cares? It's been so long and that time I'm still a kid.' she thought.

A few moments later, Gil and Evelyn heard fast steps coming from the other side of the door and BANG!

The door swung open with a loud noise and the air coming through it as it opened. Evelyn turned her head in shocked and saw the silver blue hair standing at the door.

'He must have rushed here after the butler said something.' she thought.

She immediately bowed.

"Greetings I'm-"

Before she could introduce herself she was cut off by the Duke.

"Huh? Evelyn?"

Her heart skipped a beat but she needed to pretend right now. So, she lift her head, tilt it to the side innocently, and then frown like she doesn't know what is he talking about and smile like a naive lady.

"umm...I'm sorry but I'm Adelyn Dashton and this is my brother Gilbert."

Gil heard her words and took it as a sign for him to move, so he walked to where the stupefied Duke Keene is and extended his hand.

"Greetings, your Grace. We are from the Drivas merchant company. Me and my sister wanted to discuss some things if that's okay with you your Grace?"

Gil is still extending his hands but Duke Keene just stood there and is looking at where Evelyn is. Head butler Jede, saw his master in daze and cough to gain his attention back.

"Ahem!... Your Grace?"

Blink! Blink!

Like what Jede did, he blinked a few times before he woke up and noticed the extending hand of Gil.

'I knew he would be surprised to see someone who looks like his daughter but I never knew that he would strongly react like this' Evelyn tilts her head and covers her mouth with a fan.

Now, she understands why noble ladies have fans across their face all the time.

'It stands as a shield when you don't want to smilebut why don't he shake hands with Gil? Does he hate shaking hands with strangers? I should call out to Gil to stop that...'

The Duke then heard the lovely voice of the lady behind the guy in front of him.

"Brother, I think his Grace doesn't like that"

She was talking about "the shaking hands" with a look of sorry in her face. Duke Keene snaps back when they make eye contact with each other.

"Oh, where are we? Right! The Drivas merchant company?" 

He then continued to reach Gil's hand. The two shake hands while they exchange their greetings again like it never happened a few minutes ago.

'Weird!' Evelyn thought.

Duke Keene is still looking at Evelyn's way every now and then. She thought that this is the opportunity to tour the mansion with the excuse of them discussing business meetings.

"Your Grace, I will excuse myself first."

"What?" Duke Keene seemed to wake from stupor and then he glanced at his butler, Jede. 

The butler who has been the family's butler since he was young understood what the Duke's glance means.

He needed to stop the lady from leaving."It's presumptuous of me to be here when two gentlemen talk about businessyour Grace." Evelyn explained, her tone was sad.

"Lady Adelyn, why not see the garden of the Duchy? The flowers are in full bloom." The head butler Jede has a benign smile like his clouded eyes and open mouth didn't happen earlier when he faced Evelyn.

He was back as the head butler of the notorious cold Duke of the Emsworth family who upholds the orders of his master without question. 

But actually deep inside he was nervous, because he didn't know if the lady who looks like the mature version of the deceased Evelyn will affect his master who went on a rampage four years ago.

Duke Keene saw the hesitation of the disguised Evelyn and he glanced again at his butler.

"Ahem! I'll provide some refreshment, so you can wait for your brother Lady Adelyn."

Gil chimed in, he needed to match the pace of Evelyn's acting.

"Adelyn, you should go with the butler and walk around. You like flowers, I'm sure Duke Keene's garden is magnificent."

Evelyn smiles.

"You're right brother! This opportunity would never come by again. I should grab it while I can! Your Grace, thank you for letting me see your famous flower garden. I'll excuse myself."

She smiled innocently and bubbly towards the Duke. The Duke's eyes went wide and open. His red eyes shook looking at her. Until the door closed and Evelyn's shadows were gone, he was still in a daze.

***

Head butler Jede, walks in front of lady Adelyn, whose face seems to be the future version of their only miss in the household if she was alive and here with them, who is said to have died four years ago because of the fire.

Of course, the difference in hair color and eyes would be the proof that she's not her.

'The Emsworth family have a unique hair color, silver blue. And lady Evelyn is more rarer than the rest because she inherited the two unique hair colors of her parents. It's impossible to change the hair color as it was the sign of Fortuna's blessing to each family.' he thought as he continued to lead the Lady outside.

'Her hair color and eyes are common for commoners, but she said that guy Gilbert, is her brother? They have different hair colors?'

The butler decided to ask. He needed to get information.

"Ahem! Lady Adelyn, I don't mean to be rude but, you said Sir Gilbert is your brother?"

"Yes!"

They made eye contact for a bit and when Evelyn realized that Jede the head butler is still waiting for an explanation, she inwardly clicked her tongue.

'Nosy, old man!' she thought and she smiled and continued to use her cheerful voice as an act.

"Brother and I have different fathers. Oh! By the way, I have another brother, the other one's name is Chris, we have the same father. All of us grew up together. Even though my mom and dad died, the three of us are happy!"

He knit his brows as he was not used to a cheerful response with a face who looks like their Lady.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I said too much didn't I? I'm always like this, that's why I always go out when my brothers have meetings." she said, looking sad.

"Don't worry about things like those Lady Adelyn. Shall we?" he asked as he felt a headache coming in.

"Yes!"

'She's not Lady Evelyn. Lady Evelyn acts like a noble lady, graceful and beautiful. She also doesn't share things so openly like this! And most of all, she rarely smiles is what he's thinking right now as he looked at me.' 

Evelyn thought. The butler went quiet and continued to walk out the mansion.

He glanced at her from time to time who seemed to have her attention looking at the window and outside. 

'Her steps are light but there's room for improvement. Lady Evelyn doesn't walk like that' Jede started to observe Lady Adelyn.

But Evelyn whose name is now Adelyn knew that she was being observed right now and deliberately changed every bit of pieces that they can connect to her old self. She smiled.