Special Story 6

Just then, with a sharp click, a stream of photos showing Evan and Lepina holding hands began to print out. Carrot looked at the images with a proud smile. It was a high-end camera, the kind typically reserved for professional journalists.

“I just picked this beauty up!”

“You… you really were born to be a reporter,” Michel sighed.

“Thanks for the compliment!”

“…It wasn’t a compliment.”

Suddenly, Carrot’s face went pale, and she dove behind Michel’s back. Michel looked ahead and found his eyes locking with Evan’s, who was staring directly at them through the thick crowd.

When Evan directed a fierce, predatory glare their way, Michel swallowed hard. Noticing his sudden change in demeanor, Lepina softly called his name. In an instant, the cold mask on Evan’s face melted into a bright, gentle expression.

“Evan…? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. I’ll see you later.”

Michel let out a hollow laugh of disbelief. Even in her terror, Carrot’s mouth didn’t stop moving.

“They say he’s terminal, but how is his intuition still that sharp? It’s eerie.”

The surprises didn’t end there. Lady Lepina took an extraordinary path for a noblewoman; instead of the usual etiquette, social studies, or history classes, she focused entirely on Medicine and Herbology. Furthermore, news spread that Elena—a commoner sponsored by the Clies family—had taken the top spot in the academy entrance exams and was also majoring in Medicine. Naturally, the nobility began to gossip again.

The consensus shifted: it was clearly a business arrangement. The entrepreneurial Count Clies had “sold” his daughter to secure a permanent link to the Duchy. This theory was fueled by the way Lepina followed Evan like a private physician, checking his condition daily and abandoning her own classes the moment news broke that he had collapsed.

‘What exactly is this strange relationship?’, Carrot wondered.

Determined to find out, Carrot staked out a spot in the garden where Lepina, Evan, Elena, and Piote had gathered. The weather was pleasant, so they were having a picnic lunch outdoors instead of eating in the dining hall.

Evan was acting like a spoiled child, claiming his arms were too sore from swordsmanship practice to move and demanding that Lepina feed him. Though she grumbled—asking why he attended class if he was that exhausted—she gave in to his whims. Watching this, a fed-up Piote snatched the utensil from Lepina’s hand and began aggressively shoving food into Evan’s mouth himself.

While Elena hovered nearby, unsure of what to do as the two men engaged in a silent war of nerves, Lepina stepped in to stop her brother. Carrot captured every second of the spectacle with her camera.

“How long are you going to keep taking pictures?” Michel asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe until the Lady graduates?”

“What?”

Carrot wasn’t just taking photos for her articles; she was building a personal collection. Her album was filled mostly with shots of Evan and Lepina together, followed closely by solo shots of Lepina. Even while chewing on her own lunch, Carrot never put down her binoculars, waiting for the perfect moment. Click.

“This one came out great!”

The photo showed Lepina leaning against a large tree with Evan resting his head in her lap.

“What do you even do with all those? Don’t tell me… you’re selling the photos too, not just the articles?”

“Well… it’s been a while since I started.”

When Michel asked who would even buy photos of Lepina, Carrot pointed out that there were plenty of buyers. There was Piote, who was currently shouting at the top of his lungs, and Elena, who followed Lepina around with eyes full of admiration. And then, there was one more person—the most terrifying of them all.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? You said it yourself—they’re in love! What if the Young Lord finds out? I don’t have the power to save you.”

“Don’t worry. He already found out. That’s why I’m allowed to take so many ‘lovey-dovey’ photos. The person buying them is the subject himself.”

Michel nearly choked on his food at Carrot’s revelation. “The subject” meant either Lepina or Evan. His gut told him it was definitely the latter. Carrot closed her eyes, recounting the tale like a seasoned narrator.

“It was a day when the sun was scorching. It was hard to keep up in that heat, but as always, I was stalking Lady Lepina to get my shots.”

Back when Carrot had first bought her magic-engineered camera with her own allowance, she wanted to make the most of it. The results were immediate. Articles with photos sold far better than text-only ones, and people even started visiting the Newspaper Club asking for individual prints of Lepina.

She occasionally got requests for Evan, but he was too quick-witted to be caught off guard. Lepina, however, was an easier target—except for the fact that whenever she followed Lepina, Evan would inevitably appear.

Yes, it happened just like that.

She had been snapping photos of Lepina, who was carrying a stack of books to study with Elena. The moment Lepina smiled, Carrot pressed the shutter.

Click, click.

In the middle of her passionate work, a hand tapped her on the shoulder. Irritated at being interrupted during her “artistic” process, she snapped.

“Ah, who is it! I’m busy!”

“Lady Carrot.”

Carrot nearly dropped her precious camera. She knew that voice. As she turned around, cold sweat poured down her face, blurring her vision.

“Y-Young Lord Weiss…”

Carrot quickly hid the camera behind her back. She stole a glance at Evan. He was smiling, but his eyes were ice-cold. She had written articles about them and was selling their photos—he had every right to be furious.

’I should have listened to Michel!’, she thought. Her father would faint if he heard they were on the bad side of House Weiss. In times like this, the best defense was total submission.

“I heard you are selling photos of Lepina.”

‘So that was the problem!’, Carrot immediately bowed 90 degrees.

“Yes, yes! I am so sorry! I’ll stop… I’ll reduce the amount immediately…!”

But even as she said it, the taste of profit and the thrill of the scoop made it hard to truly let go. To her surprise, Evan shook his head.

“No. You just shouldn’t sell Lep’s photos to other people.”

“B-but…”

“But?”

When Evan’s gaze sharpened, Carrot bowed even lower, trembling. House Weiss was known for never letting go of prey once they bit. Carrot’s face was ashen.

“As long as Lep’s photos aren’t exposed to the public, I don’t mind you taking them. In fact, I’d prefer it if you took high-quality ones.”

“…Eh?”

Carrot looked up to see Evan smiling peacefully. He had just told her not to sell them. Didn’t that mean she should stop taking them?

“So… you mean… you want me to give the photos to you…?” she asked tentatively.

“I’m not asking for them for free. I will buy them all with my own money. At a fair price.”

Carrot let out a loud hiccup from the shock. He reached out his hand, emphasizing “all.” He meant he wanted every single good photo for himself.

She wanted to scream at the nobles who claimed their relationship was purely professional or that Lepina was just a servant.

‘Does this look like she’s the one clinging to him?! It’s both of them… actually, is it mutual?’

“You’re… buying them from me?”

“Unless you’re not selling?”

“N-no, of course not!”

Carrot immediately handed over all the photos she had in her pockets. She waited with her hands folded politely, feeling like an employee having her report reviewed by a terrifying boss. Evan slowly flipped through the photos, a faint smile gracing his lips.

‘Oh?’

Carrot watched him closely. The photo he was currently looking at was of him resting his head on Lepina’s lap after collapsing from heat, while she gently fanned him. There were others—them walking affectionately, Lepina struggling with her books, and more. A brilliant idea flashed through Carrot’s mind.

“Um…! Young Lord!”

“Yes. Speak.”

“If you need more photos… should I keep taking them for you?”

Evan’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. After a moment of thought, he gave a broad, satisfied smile.

“That is an excellent proposal. Lep is quite shy about taking photos with me, you see.”

Carrot’s face lit up with joy at the thought of not losing her income stream.

“I’ve been reading your articles occasionally, Miss Carrot. They are quite interesting. I hope you continue your activities as usual.”

Carrot’s current series was a romanticized speculation of their relationship, written like a serialized novel.

‘The Young Lord has been reading those?!’

Carrot’s eyes shook.

“Ah, and while you may take the photos… if I catch you selling them to anyone else… well, I believe you understand the consequences.”

“O-of course!”

Carrot answered instantly. She could already hear her former “clients” complaining, but that was nothing compared to the wrath of the Duke’s house. And the next day, after seeing the pile of gold coins he gave her as payment, Carrot decided to keep her mouth tightly shut.

“Hmm?”

Lepina looked around, sensing a strange presence.

“Lep, what’s wrong?”

“No… it’s just, I’ve been feeling these weird stares lately…”

“Maybe it’s because you’re so beautiful that people can’t help but look,” Evan said smoothly.

“Stop it… that’s not it,” Lepina muttered. “I wonder if they’re still obsessed with the fact that you’re terminal.”

Because she was always by his side, Lepina mistakenly assumed all the attention was directed at Evan, not her.

“Evan, if anyone tries to bully you or give you a hard time, you have to tell me right away!”

Evan smiled brightly. “Yes, I will.”

He then completely ignored the sunlight reflecting off a lens hidden in the distant bushes.