The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 53

As the sun began to rise the next day, Evelyn hid behind a large tree, facing the grand hall where the Eternal Tournament was held. She had seen guards patrolling when she first arrived with Ilya, but they were nowhere to be seen now. She clutched her robe tightly and waited for the right moment.

Evelyn gazed up at the sky, which was on the verge of darkness, and reminisced about the previous night.

‘At that time, I will loosen the guards. Show your skills, my lady,’ René had said after returning from the Duchess’s room.

Amidst the commotion, Evelyn suddenly perked up her head. Two sturdy servants were coming out, carrying the portrait, just like they did yesterday. A man with paint splattered on his face and clothes followed them, scolding them.

“You people, be careful! If anything happens to the portrait, I’ll make sure Countess of Glenn hears about it!”

The servants scrambled to fix the portrait at the painter’s angry outburst.

“Oh, Lady Glenn is such a delicate lady. She even points out flaws in those perfect eyes of yours.”

Evelyn shivered as she recalled Celise’s fiery temper. The painter trembled at the memory.

Selice had complained about the color of the late Duke’s eyes in the portrait. When the painter had looked perplexed, she had continued.

“When you go to the Eternal Tournament, you’ll find a portrait of the late Duke. His eyes are… a vivid shade of green.”

“What makes red stand out the most? It’s definitely green. Hahaha!”

“No, all shades of green look the same. What’s the big deal?”

The painter had been arguing with himself, and now he shouted at the servants once more.

“Wait! Put it near the entrance. Let’s check one last time before Lady Glenn sees it.”

The servants wordlessly lowered the portrait they were carrying to the ground by the entrance. When they leaned it against the wall, the figure of the man in the painting became distinct even from a distance.

Now is the time.

Evelyn locked eyes with the delicate features of Nasir in the portrait.

Evelyn’s gaze remained fixed on Nasir’s delicate face. As the surroundings darkened, magical lanterns began to illuminate the entrance of the Eternal Tournament hall, casting a dazzling glow on the man with silvery hair and deep green eyes. His face appeared and disappeared amidst the flickering lights.

Before long, something began to drip from the man’s eyes in the painting.

A shriek, reminiscent of the painter’s cry, echoed through the hall. “What is this? Red paint?”

Caught off guard by the sudden transformation, the painter and the servants panicked. “What are we doing? Quickly, get the portrait inside the tournament hall!”

The crimson streak flowed down the pale face in the painting, staining the collar of the uniform a deep red. Tears welled up in Evelyn’s eyes as she watched.

The face, now drenched in blood, seemed strangely familiar to her.

“Good heavens! The late Duke’s…tears of blood from his eyes!”

Thud, thud.

Suddenly, heavy raindrops began to fall from the sky.

The red tears continued to flow down the pristine face, tracing a path of blood.

Evelyn stood there as if rooted to the spot, gazing at the beloved face of the man.

****

Rumble, rumble.

A commotion had erupted in the Eternal Tournament hall, drawing people’s attention. Evelyn subtly blended into the crowd.

No one dared to move the late Duke’s portrait inside.

The sight of the young Duke shedding tears of blood was too eerie.

“What are you all doing? Move my brother’s portrait inside, quickly!”

Ilya yelled at the guards who were hesitating.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The guards rushed toward the painting. They hesitated to touch the portrait, which was now stained with both rainwater and the crimson tears.

Ilya sighed at their pitiful display of hesitation.

“I’ll do it,” Ilya said, taking a step towards the entrance of the Eternal Tournament hall.

“No, let me,” a man with the same face as the one in the portrait emerged. As he began to walk towards the entrance, the crowd cleared a path for him. Finally, he stood in front of the portrait, gazing at it intently.

The space where NIkolas Lauren stood seemed to exist in a different time and place from this one.

At last, Nikolas lifted the rain-soaked portrait with both hands. The delicate face, wet with rain, was incredibly beautiful and contrasted sharply with the red figure in the painting.

“Nasir, my Lord Commander. I’m truly sorry,” Evelyn felt a wave of guilt as she looked at Nikola’s wet face.

He had always been a cheerful man, but today his face showed no expression. It seemed as if his soul had departed, leaving only an empty shell.

“My goodness, how heart-wrenching it must be for our beloved Duke.”

“To pass away at such a young age, and now this tragic event.”

People murmured sympathetically as they watched Nikolas carrying the portrait.

Nikolas placed the portrait inside the Eternal Tournament hall and then walked out slowly. He scanned the area as if searching for someone, his gaze finally fixed on a petite figure in a robe amidst the crowd.

As he started walking towards her, people made way for him.

He stopped in front of Evelyn. She couldn’t bring herself to look at his face and kept her head lowered.

“My Lord Commander, over there…” Evelyn began to speak but was abruptly interrupted when he roughly grabbed her wrist. She had to almost be dragged along to keep up with his long strides.

In Ilya’s eyes, who had lost his wife to another man right before his eyes, flames of fury ignited. René, who stood beside him, quickly held onto Ilya’s arm.

“Your Highness, no. Pia is a member of the Holy Order of Knights.”

Ilya could only watch helplessly as Nikolas, with his wife in tow, disappeared into the darkness. It felt like every drop of blood in his body was rushing to his heart, ready to explode.

As he turned away and signaled, one of the knights from his escort swiftly vanished into the darkness.

After a long silence, they arrived at a guest pavilion typically used for visitors. Nikolas didn’t release her hand as they passed through the lengthy corridor to reach his room. Upon arriving at the door, he stopped abruptly, leaving Evelyn panting for breath. Nikolas gazed down at her with an indifferent expression before opening the door.

“Lord Commander, let’s talk about this tomorrow! I’ll explain everything.”

Without saying a word, he led her inside, still holding her wrist. Once they entered the center of the room, he finally let her go. Evelyn staggered, feeling disoriented.

A man who would have normally held her with tenderness now turned away, and tears threatened to well up in her eyes. Nikolas walked towards a sofa on the other side of the room. He casually discarded his rain-soaked robe and slumped onto the sofa. He poured himself a drink from a bottle on the table.

“Do you want a drink too?”

Evelyn remained silent.

With no response from her, he tilted the glass and drank alone. The spacious room was filled with stifling silence.

“Pia, explain it to me. What did I witness today?”

Evelyn spoke hesitantly, “I’m sorry… Countess Glenn… asked me to make tears of blood appear in Duke Nasir’s portrait.”

Her voice was laced with sobs, but Nikolas remained motionless, drinking continuously.

Nikolas felt like his head was about to explode. Dark thoughts haunted him.

“Could it be that Nasir didn’t really die from poisoning? I didn’t question it when he suddenly died; perhaps there’s something more sinister at play in this colossal castle?”

“I’m sorry…” Her gaze remained fixed on the woman in the distant robe, drenched and clinging to her figure. Through the rain-soaked garment, a glimpse of golden, curly hair peeked out.

Impulsively, Nikolas rose from his seat.

One step, two steps, three steps.

With each step he took closer, the frightened woman took a step back, mirroring the same distance that had opened between them initially. As he observed the repeated pattern, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

When the hard surface of a door touched her back, Evelyn looked up at him with fear in her eyes. Nikola’s hand reached out toward her face, wanting to remove the rain-soaked robe that seemed unpleasant to him.

Instinctively, Evelyn tightly closed her eyes and huddled her body.

Haha, Nikolas couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction, bewildered by her response.

“Nasir, you were right. She is the bravest and the most… pitiable woman in the world.”

His elongated fingers touched the brim of her robe.

As he pulled it, the robe slid off, revealing her radiant golden hair. Her face was partially concealed by a scarf, which irritated him.

His fingers reached for the scarf this time.

After being dragged all the way here, Evelyn’s scarf was half-undone. When he touched it, it slipped down, revealing a face that was entirely different from one side to the other, with irregular features that caught his attention.

As the scarf fell completely, Evelyn felt so embarrassed that she shrunk her shoulders, as if she had been undressed in front of him.

Moved by her fear, he reached out again.

Just before his hand touched her pale face, he clenched it into a fist.

Evelyn raised her head slightly, and her tear-filled, watery eyes met his.

But it wasn’t Nasir; it was Nikolas Lauren.

“Now… do I appear as someone else to you?”

“…”

Hoho, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Nikolas extended his hand that was once clenched into a fist. His long fingers gently touched her uneven skin. As he peeled off the dampness from her due to the rain, Evelyn stared at him with dazed eyes.

When the woman’s bare face was finally revealed, he pulled her into an embrace, holding her by the nape of her neck.

“What are you…?” Evelyn stiffened and started to push away from his chest with both hands.

“No, I don’t want to!”

At that moment, a deep, soothing voice echoed in her ears.

“Cry.”

Evelyn lifted her head from his embrace, her elongated eyes taking on a softer curve. The vacant green eyes gained a glimmer of life.

It wasn’t the same extravagant smile she had seen before; it was a genuine expression on Nikolas Lauren’s face. Evelyn stared at him in a daze.

“Cry. You’ve been crying in the rain.”

As tears began to flow down from her eyes like spring sprouts, he gently patted her back. She felt much smaller and softer than she appeared.

“It’s okay, it’s Pia now… it’ll be okay.”

He repeated these words several times, whether he was saying them to her or himself, it was hard to tell.