Evangeline didn't immediately recognize Daisy—she wasn't wearing her usual nun's habit. But upon closer inspection of her features, the truth became unmistakable.
_Strange... We're nowhere near the orphanage. What is Daisy doing here in the rain, looking so completely shattered?_
"How did you recognize me?" A quiet voice rose from the huddled figure.
In this weather, and especially in the gathering twilight, it was nearly impossible to distinguish anyone's face.
"Jelly caught your scent."
"Oh... right, of course."
Evangeline nodded to herself. The last time they had nearly gotten lost in the Temple, Jelly had guided them back. Apparently, he had tracked Daisy by scent this time too. A werewolf's nose was no laughing matter.
_Is this some kind of plot device? Jelly discovers a distressed Daisy in the rain, rescues her, and sparks fly between them... Daisy and Jelly were probably meant to be a supporting couple in the original story—or perhaps in some future expansion. But now, because I've disrupted everything, it seems I'm standing directly in their path._
"Jelly, will you go fetch her?"
"Me?" Jelly wrapped himself in a fur coat that had materialized from seemingly nowhere. "No way. It's cold."
_Where did he get that? Did he steal it from the shop while we were buying clothes? Entirely possible. Well, I suppose I don't mind having just one coat..._
_But refusing to go because of the cold? Isn't that excessively petty for a supposed secondary male lead? He's a werewolf, a mage, and devastatingly handsome to boot! His "other half" is sitting in the rain, and he can't be bothered to step outside?_
_Although... no. This isn't Jelly's fault. It's mine. I disrupted the natural course of history with my interference._
My irritation mounted. _Fine. I'll go myself. And while I'm at it, I'll try to make amends with Daisy._
"My lady, let me go instead," Kanna offered.
"No need. Stay with Pudding."
Evangeline transferred the sleeping cat from her lap to Kanna's arms, stepped out of the carriage, and opened her umbrella. _I'll definitely need to thank that shopkeeper for the umbrella. I wonder how he made it home?_
She walked briskly toward Daisy and stopped directly before her. The girl's lips had turned blue from the cold. _A little longer and she'll develop a fever._
Evangeline tilted the umbrella over Daisy, shielding her from the downpour. The girl, apparently mistaking her for a random passerby, began to mumble apologies and made to leave.
_What on earth is she thinking?_
"Daisy."
Hearing her name—or perhaps recognizing the voice—Daisy slowly raised her head.
"Lady... Lady Evangeline... What are you... What are you doing here...?" she mumbled, her words slurred as though she were half asleep.
_She's trembling like a leaf. Just like the last time we met._
_What kind of monster was the real Evangeline? To inflict such terrible trauma on this poor girl..._
Evangeline felt a pang of melancholy. She would have to deal with all of this—the legacy of cruelty she had inherited along with this body.
"I was looking for you," she answered simply.
Finding Daisy was a stroke of extraordinary luck. If not for Jelly's keen nose, Evangeline would have been stuck at the orphanage while Daisy sat in the rain until she caught her death.
_That's how one wrong move can derail an entire story. Now I truly understand what kind of world this is—the world of romance novels._
_First, I need to calm Daisy down and get her talking. I'll put her in the carriage. Perhaps it would be best to bring her back to the Lohanson mansion._
Evangeline extended her hand to help Daisy rise, but the girl suddenly lunged forward and seized the hem of her dress with desperate fingers.
"I have a favor to ask of you... You promised to fulfill my wish..."
_What? Oh, right... I did say something like that before we parted. I wanted to somehow make amends for the bullying and ensure she didn't spread word of my "antics."_
Evangeline was about to ask what exactly they had discussed, but then a thought struck her. Not exactly a noble thought—more like... a cunning one.
Since Daisy had brought up the request herself, it was worth taking advantage of the opportunity. Besides, Daisy had already managed to say unpleasant things about Evangeline to both Gabriel and Hena, so simply fulfilling her wish without compensation would hardly be fair.
_I'll tell her I'll grant her request—but for a certain price._
"Yes, but it won't be free," Evangeline said, adopting a tone worthy of her villainous reputation.
Her conscience, dormant for some time now, didn't even stir.
"Do you know what I want?"
_How would I know? That was merely a rhetorical question._
Evangeline decided to feign expectation of something grand, then "lower the bar" and ask Daisy to reveal what she had told the others. The girl would think it was trivial compared to her initial fears and would happily agree.
"I... I will give myself to you..." Daisy whispered.
Evangeline nearly choked on air.
_Well... this is truly... grandiose._
_Daisy is still terrified of me, so why would she offer herself? Is this some strange effect of the stress she's endured, combined with the inexorable laws of the genre?_
"Please... Help me..." Daisy's voice cracked, her face streaked with tears and rain. Evangeline found she couldn't refuse.
"All right. I'll help," she replied. "First, let's get into the carriage."
Daisy, stunned and shivering, climbed into the carriage. She flinched visibly when she spotted Kanna, but apparently she no longer possessed the energy for surprise—she merely settled quietly into a corner when she noticed Jelly, offering no reaction at all.
Kanna shot Daisy a disapproving glare, then immediately began fussing over Evangeline's soaked state.
"Oh my goodness, you're completely drenched!"
_I merely got a little splashed. Daisy looks like she was just pulled from a river._
Apparently, Kanna was still upset about whatever Daisy had said to Hena, and therefore treated her with pointed coldness.
Kanna attempted to drape Jelly's fur coat around Evangeline's shoulders, but the girl redirected it toward Daisy instead. Jelly watched his coat pass through several hands before finally settling on Daisy, and chuckled softly.
"Well, my friend, your carefree life is over."
"Shut up, Jelly!"
_What? Did I hear that correctly?_
Evangeline stared at Kanna in surprise, but the girl's expression remained perfectly innocent. _I must have imagined it..._
"Haven't seen you in a while?" Jelly addressed Daisy directly.
Evangeline's heart clenched—it felt as though she were intruding on someone else's romantic encounter. Daisy remained silent.
"Ignoring me, are you? Is it over between us already?"
_"Between us"! He said "between us"!_
Evangeline struggled to appear indifferent while straining to catch every word of their exchange.
"I wouldn't say there was ever anything *between* us," Daisy replied flatly.
"We escaped together! Holding hands!"
"*Who* was holding hands?!" Daisy wanted to shout, but caught herself just in time.
Previously, Evangeline had worried about frightening the traumatized Daisy. Now, however, she recognized before her a perfectly matched pair: a prickly girl and a shameless flirt. A classic combination!
She expected them to continue their bickering, but Daisy remained stubbornly silent, and the conversation stalled. Evangeline had to intervene.
"So what is your request?" she asked.
Daisy's hands clenched into fists.
"I'm... an orphan," she began.
_Ah, here it comes. She'll share her story, and she and Jelly will grow closer. Even my interference couldn't halt the plot's momentum._
"I was abandoned when I was very small—I don't remember anything about my parents. I grew up in an orphanage. Fortunately, the headmistress was a kind woman, and I still visit her sometimes."
Evangeline already knew all of this from the butler—he had extracted the information from one of his sources. She didn't know how to react. If she admitted to having investigated, Daisy would think she was the true villain. Better to remain silent and feign ignorance.
"Today I went to the shelter... and there was no one there... Everyone had vanished..."
_What? Where did a detective mystery suddenly emerge in a romance novel?_
Evangeline had one immediate theory. Daisy and Jelly had escaped from slave traders. Perhaps history was repeating itself.
"Lady Evangeline, I beg you..." Daisy's voice broke. "This is my only wish... Please find the headmistress and the children..."
"Wow... That sounds exhausting," Jelly commented lazily.
_Shut up already! Why are you sabotaging your own perfect relationship?!_
_Although... on reflection, Daisy's background is far more dramatic than Kanna's—and Kanna is supposed to be the main character. Secondary couples typically don't converge until late in the story, so perhaps Jelly simply isn't interested in her yet. But you'll regret this later, Jelly!_
"Fine. I'll find them."
Evangeline shot Jelly a sharp glare and answered on his behalf. He lived under her roof, after all, and was obligated to follow her orders.
_Don't grumble. It's all for your own good._
Evangeline felt guilty for disrupting Kanna's intended love interest, so she wanted to at least properly unite the secondary couple.
_I'll find the perfect match for Kanna elsewhere. And Gabriel... he's too important to my survival to surrender._
_But will Kanna even want to pursue romance? She seems entirely focused on our friendship right now... A typical heroine who prioritizes bonds over love..._
"Do you have any leads?" Evangeline asked Daisy.
"Troy," she answered immediately.
"Troy?"
Evangeline had suspected the children might have been kidnapped by the same slavers who had once captured Daisy and Jelly. But instead of useful intelligence, she received a single name.
_Perhaps it's the slaver's alias?_
"The headmistress's son... Her own flesh and blood. I'm certain this is his doing."
Daisy proceeded to tell Troy's story.
The kind headmistress's son had been cruel and spiteful since childhood. The headmistress loved all the children equally—including her biological son—and this had driven him to consuming jealousy.
He bullied anyone who received the headmistress's special attention, and his torments sometimes escalated to outright violence.
"Once, he poured scalding stew over the hand of a girl who was about to be adopted," Daisy recounted, her voice hollow. "She was left with a terrible scar, and the adoption fell through."
He called overweight children "pigs" and forbade them from eating. Whenever noble guests visited the orphanage, he monopolized their attention, desperate to be chosen and taken away.
"He claimed he could get away with anything because he was the headmistress's son. And no amount of punishment could reform him."
_What a vile creature._
"When he grew up, the headmistress and the children couldn't endure it any longer. They expelled him from the orphanage. But he kept returning, making scenes, demanding that 'this' stop and the orphanage be shut down."
Evangeline felt certain that, according to genre conventions, Troy had some connection to the slave traders. Perhaps he was directly involved in the children's disappearance.
_Wait for me, Troy. We haven't met yet—but you'll pay for this in full._