The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 41.1

After quickly finishing her bath, Evelyn took out a new robe and headed down to the dining hall. The fragrant smell began to waft from the entrance of the restaurant.

“Pia, over here.”

Nikolas, who had already arrived and was sitting down, raised his hand.

“There’s no one else here except us, anyway. It’s unusual.”

Nikolas stood up from his seat and pulled out the chair next to him.

“Thank you, Commander.”

Iiya persistently watched Evelyn as she took her seat.

“You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? Well, our inn’s special dish, Marslo cuisine, has arrived.”

Mrs. Louise, wearing an apron, personally pushed a tray forward. Everyone’s mouths watered as they looked at the steaming hot dish.

Evelyn smiled faintly as she looked at the fish fillets fried in a rich sauce.

“So the rumors were true. Louise must have been skilled in Marslo cuisine.”

“Let’s dig in, everyone.”

“We’ll enjoy it!”

Having starved themselves for the entire day, they devoured the food at an astonishing speed.

Evelyn, too, wielded her fork relentlessly, just like the knights. She hastily ate the tough bread and the salad made with unknown vegetables. Nikolas, who watched her with a fond expression, whispered softly.

“It seems like you enjoy Marslo, huh?”

Evelyn lifted her head.

“I’ve only had it once, but it was so delicious.”

The vice-captain, who was busy shoveling food into his mouth, spoke up.

“Miss Sorceress, where is your hometown?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Evelyn hesitated for a moment. She improvised her response, following Nikolas’s earlier instructions.

“I don’t know my hometown because I’m an orphan. Since my name is common in the eastern region, I just think of that place as my hometown.”

“I see. You mentioned that you temporarily joined the Holy Knights, right?”

“Yes, because I needed money.”

Once she started, surprisingly, lies flowed easily from her lips. The battalion leader let out a good-natured laugh.

“Aren’t you interested in the Black Forest Knights?”

“Pardon?”

Evelyn, who sadly watched her fish diminish, raised her head quickly.

“Your skills are so excellent that I had to ask. Could it be that you’re the hero of this expedition, miss?”

“Battalion leader, it’s unfair to snatch talents from the Holy Knights.”

“Hehe, aren’t there many excellent mages in the capital? You could spare one, right?”

Nikolas’ nonchalant response caught the battalion leader off guard.

“What’s this? Are we excluding ourselves now?”

A shrill voice from a woman echoed from the entrance of the restaurant. It was Navaron, trotting behind Aelon like a wet puppy.

Ilya raised her hand toward them.

“You’re late. Come and have a meal.”

As if it were a race, Aelon dashed forward and quickly devoured the food on the table. Evelyn was left in awe at her enormous appetite.

“Magician! Why does everything you make look like that?”

Feeling the gaze, Aelon grumbled for no reason.

“What’s wrong with the bear holding a mace? It’s cute.”

Evelyn pouted. How could anyone not find Arthas adorable, even if they didn’t know him?

“I think Aelon just liked it because it was cute, but I guess Pia took a liking to it.”

“Who said I liked it!”

Aelon, her face flushed up to her neck, burst out with a loud voice. “I’m good at hunting, breaking through the barriers of trees, and when it comes to pulling out unlucky weeds, I can even silence the sound. I said it was impressive.”

Navaron snickered. “Hey, what’s your real identity? A wandering illusionist, right? And what’s with that ring?”

Aelon’s gaze fell on the crimson ring on Evelyn’s hand. Evelyn herself didn’t know anything about the ring Odie had brought. It seemed like the ring called out to her, and it turned out to be the key to opening the barriers of trees. It was a coincidental encounter.

For the first time, Aelon asked with a serious expression.

“Are you, by any chance, a dark sorceress?”

Evelyn’s shoulders trembled. Dark sorcerers were ominous beings; even her own parents didn’t welcome them.

“Aelon, do you think it makes sense for the commander of the Holy Knights to travel with a dark sorceress?”

Nikolas asked in a cold voice. Aelon made a perplexed expression and immediately apologized. “I’m sorry, Commander.”

Aelon also apologized to Evelyn. “I’m sorry for being rude.”

“I’m fine.”

Aelon smiled mischievously and focused on her meal again. When Navaron lightly patted Aelon’s shoulder in approval, the two resumed their conversation.

Evelyn glanced at the faces of the knights sitting at the table, one by one.

What kind of comrades can I entrust my back to? If I leave this place… Could I have people like them too? ‘

“Pia.”

Nikolas, who was next to her, quietly called Evelyn. “You’re the one who turns firsthand experiences into illusions, right?”

“Yes, my memory is not good, so it’s difficult to create something I haven’t experienced.”

Evelyn replied with a voice as lifeless as a dying breath.

“All the illusions you create are warm and beautiful.”

The soft voice brought someone to mind. Someone who was no longer in this world.

“Because there are limits to human imagination, it’s difficult to create something we haven’t experienced.”

The candlelight illuminating the dim interior cast deep shadows on Nikola’s pale face.

“In the future, you will experience many things. Everything you haven’t enjoyed so far.”

“I hope it turns out that way.”

Nikola’s emerald eyes softened with tenderness.

Even after his gaze left her face, Evelyn felt that he was reassuring her that she could live well.

Feeling the piercing gaze on her face, Evelyn turned her head.

She met his intense gray eyes, but for the first time, Evelyn didn’t pay attention to his scrutiny and fully focused on what she felt.

Right now, she was not Evelyn Maduse but the illusionist Pia.