I Don't Want This Bad Ending

Evelyn woke up in the familiar ceiling that she was once held dear when she was young. The feeling of dryness in her throat soon hit her and in response she voluntarily groaned.

"Ugh…"

As she scanned the room her eyes focused on the silhouette that was not so far away from the bed.

"Who…?"

Because of the darkness that filled the room and the shadow that cast upon the person seated beside her bed, Evelyn couldn't clearly see who it was.

"Eve…"

The low voice that was filled with authority then rang in the room and Evelyn could now recognize who it was.

"Father…?"

Duke Keene leaned in and saw that his daughter was now really awake, he handed her a glass of water as he heard the croaked voice that seemed to have been strained as the days passed by without getting enough moisture.

"Here… drink slowly…"

The manly tone that Evelyn heard from her father seems to have softened and had a hint of worry. She unconsciously thought about the memory that she had after her consciousness was sealed after her blood awakened.

It was the meeting with Amy, her close friend in her previous world and also the shocking revelation that she has the half soul of the Duchess, Evelyn's mother, Monica Emsworth. 

She doesn't know how it happened but as she recalled how her mother was deemed as a genius in mana there would be a possibility that she did what she had to do because she knew what will happen in the future.

Nonetheless, Evelyn thought that it would be better to let it be for now. Her mother also said that it would be for the best if she didn't ponder about how it happened.

And so, that's what she will do. For now.

"Do you feel sick anywhere? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?" Duke Keene asked worriedly as he saw that his daughter became quiet and was in deep thought.

"Huh? Oh… I'm okay. I just remembered something…"

Evelyn was confused at first but then recalled what happened after she lost consciousness.

As she gulped down the last drop of water that Duke Keene passed to her, she heaved a sigh as if she was scared of what she would discover and the aftermath, however, she still needed to know the situation after the battle that happened in the center of the capital.

So, Evelyn readily herself and was about to open her mouth when Duke Keen beat him to it.

"You must have a lot of questions…"

Duke Keene saw the eyes that were vividly shook as it met him, as if Evelyn was caught hiding something. Nonetheless, Duke Keene understood her anxiety; she was so shocked about what she witnessed in front of her that her demonic blood awakened in the midst of chaos.

"How long was I unconscious?" Evelyn inquired.

"For about a week… you were unconscious for an entire week."

"A week…" 

Evelyn repeated the word as if it was a chant. She raised her head and met the glowing red eyes of the Duke.

"What happened to Allan?"

She knew she asked it before but she could not hear the answer as she already lost her consciousness again.

Evelyn thought that she could ask that question with braveness but contrary to her expectations, her voice trembled. She could not think that maybe, as she was here in the bed unconscious, her brother was 

"He's fine…" Duke Keene announced to reassure her.

"What? How? Isn't he…" Evelyn could not finish her sentence, the word 'dead' was at the tip of her tongue but she was scared to even pronounce the first syllable.

"Eric came and he made him drink something… you were in your awakened state at that time and Eric said that you wouldn't remember what would have transpired when you were in that form."

"Eric…? The Guild Master?"

Duke Keene nodded in response. Honestly, Evelyn only knew of one person named Eric in her entire life and that is the black hair man that always called her princess.

'I need to ask him something later… he also has black hair like me. And if what Ishid said was true then that means, Eric also has demon blood mixed in him.' Evelyn thought.

"I see… that's a relief." She then answered the Duke's gaze with affirmation that she was relieved about the good news.

Evelyn pondered for a while if she wanted to know the whole situation and how it worked but hearing that her brother was fine, it was as if everything didn't matter.

Besides, she doesn't want to even remember the spear that pierced her brother and the pale look that he gave her and the gaze that was telling her he was sorry for everything that he has done to him.

***

Three weeks has passed since Evelyn awakened and was confined in her room at the residence of Emsworth in the capital as means to supervise her health.

At that time, a lot of people visited Evelyn.

The situation was wrapped up in a simple manner as they stated that it was caused by a traitor. The whole terror in the Capital was pinned down and blamed on Ishid who had conducted the bombing.

'My name was not even cited as the person who became a half demon and destroyed the plaza even more…' Evelyn thought.

She was now walking in the garden of the Emsworth mansion. Seeing the scenery that was in front of her, the vast scent of flowers swept her nose.

She paused for a while and imprinted the scenery in her memories. She then recalled what her father told her a few days after she woke up.

["The crown Prince… I mean, His Majesty Edickart are doing preparation for the coronation to become the King of the Kingdom while the second Prince was nowhere to be found."]

Evelyn understands that the King's seat should not be vacant for too long because it will bring conflict and anxiety to the nobles as well as the citizens.  As for the Second Prince, Evelyn knew that Prince Adley was just used by Ishid and was threatened. And if he decided to go to war for the throne then that problem only lies with Edickart, Evelyn simply thought.

Edickart must have thought that it would be for the best if the coronation took place much sooner instead of the normal procedure where it takes three months for a new king to sit on the throne.

["What happened to Ishid?"] Evelyn asked as she doesn't have a recollection of what happened after she lost her mind.

["He's dead… his remains were sealed in a faraway place where the Royal Family only have access. They deemed it as a precaution as Eric said that Ishid was the reincarnation of Cesar.]

Evelyn saw her father clenched his fist as if he was trying hard to suppress his anger.

[How about my subordinates? I never saw them after I woke up."]

Evelyn was trying hard to ignore her feelings of doubt as she became anxious as to why she never could link her thoughts to her contracted spirits although she can feel that the contract was still valid.

["They vanished after you lost consciousness and ever since then they never showed up."]

Evelyn bit her lower lips as she recalled the conversation she had with the Duke. Everyday, she tried hard to contact Gil, Alisha, Cathy, Bern, and Chrsifold but there was no result.

What she could only do was to try again and again until she reached them. 

Evelyn heard from Cassandra that her contracted spirits do almost everything to bring her back. The spirit's mana was used in sealing her demonic blood.

She then looked down at her wrist and saw a silver bracelet with a dark crimson gem in the middle.

Cassandra said that it helps to seal her demonic blood from waking up again by absorbing her dark mana.

"Haa…" Evelyn sighed. She was prepared to face Ishid with all she got but facing the aftermath still left her sometimes with regret. Still, she was thankful that she got revenge from Ishid.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard a voice that was calling her name.

"Evelyn…"

She turned around and saw her brother walking towards her with his cane as a support.

Allan was severely injured and his ankle was pierced by the dark thunder spear that Ishid attacked them with, the healers did everything to save his leg and in the end they could only do so much as to prevent from decapitating it. 

Well, they were still thankful that Allan could walk on his own although he can't be without his cane anymore.

"My lady…!"

She then heard a familiar voice, it was Sheila, her maid before who decided to work for her again after learning that she was now back at the estate of the Emsworth.

Sheila was running from the opposite direction.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, the young master was looking for you…" Sheila then stopped when she saw that Allan was now beside Evelyn.

"I just wanted to take a walk. The weather is great today and I wanted to bask in the sunlight." Evelyn informed the people beside her.

Allan and Sheila looked at Evelyn as if they were satisfied that she was now able to walk on her own and seemed to gain energy to walk in the garder.

'Well, I can't blame them… I practically looked like a newborn deer after I woke up.' Evelyn thought.

"You should have told me that you wanted to go on a walk… I would love to join you sometime, Eve..."

Evelyn was still not used to how Allan called and acted sometimes. Well, she knew that her brother and her father were doing everything they could to gain her trust and at least have an understanding that they could be associated with each other again.

Though Allan and Duke Keene were not telling her what's the reason why they're acting as such, Evelyn could guess that it was their way of redeeming themselves to her as well as the effort of making their past mistake right.

"I understand…"

Evelyn's late reply to Allan's proposal made him show his genuine smile.