A Divorced Evil Lady Bakes Cakes

“Are you okay, can you get up?”

Calix walked over to Erin and carefully held out a hand to her.
He was so polite and gentlemanly, that it was hard to believe that he had just killed a man.

Erin ignored his hand and tried to stand up.

“It’s okay, I can get up.”

But it’s easier said than done.

After all, she’s been running for a while.
Perhaps because of the shock caused by the unfortunate incident, her legs were weak and wobbly.

Erin was barely able to pull herself up with her staggering legs.

Calix, who had been watching her, stepped forward.

“Hold it.”

Erin couldn’t help but take his hand while Calix supported her.

As soon as she stood up, her knees immediately gave out.

Her body tilted before she could even scream.
She was then dragged helplessly into Calix’s arms.

As soon as her head touched his firm chest, she could smell the scent of a mature man’s scent.

It had a musky scent that resembles a cool forest.
It was mixed in with what one would call a strong adult male body scent.

It was a mature, seductive scent that went well with the adult Calix.
Erin took a step back in surprise.

“Oh… Thank you.”

As she stepped back, the heel of her shoe accidentally stepped on the dead man’s body.

She quickly spun around in surprise with blood pooling on the dirty stone floor.

It was a cold corpse.
That dead man’s eyes had lost all the light.
Calix held her hand firmly to stop her from falling.

He then looked down at the body and asked.

“Did you know him?”

“No, I didn’t.
I was buying something at the store and was on my way back when he attacked me.”

The man was similar in size, so he could have been the same customer that Calix had injured and chased away earlier in the day, but he wasn’t.

Calix then said in a nonchalant tone,

“Then it was just a robber.”

Erin didn’t answer, but in her mind, she denied Calix’s words.

‘No.
It’s not an ordinary robber.’

Erin thought, while looking at the man’s body.

The man was lying on his side in a pool of blood.

She was dressed in a very plain robe.
She didn’t even look rich by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, she didn’t even have much money in her purse right now after spending it all on the chocolate supplies at the store.

If he was an ordinary robber, he wouldn’t have bothered to chase after her.
He would have found another prey after she’d beaten him with her basket and fled.

However, that man didn’t.

So chances are that man hadn’t come this far for Erin’s money.

No one would go out of their way to harm a former duchess who had been accused of having an affair and was also divorced.

“You must be very surprised.
Are you hurt?”

Calix asked worriedly.

He was standing in a dark alleyway on a dark night.
His appearance looked so distinct contrary to his surroundings, he was like a gold statue placed in a dirty alley.

In the middle of the night, His deep blue eyes glowed in the darkness of the alleyway.

When she first met him, he was only a 13-year-old snotty kid.

‘When did he grow up to be such a handsome, and gorgeous man?’

‘Time seemed to fly so fast…’

She felt old already.

Since they weren’t biological brothers, he didn’t look anything like Raymond.

Raymond was a stunningly handsome man, and the one in front of her was a beautiful young man with the dignity of an archduke.
His fine appearance was also picturesque.

But it was Calix’s deep blue eyes that first caught her attention.

It seemed like he was looking at Erin with a sincere warmth in his eyes.

She stared into those eyes and asked,

“How did you find me? Have you been following me?”

She asked incredulously, as if it was the most important question for her at that moment, but Calix simply answered.

“You suddenly disappeared.
So I asked your shopkeeper where you went.
She told me you went to this neighborhood to buy some supplies.
You were taking too long so I went to look for you.
I didn’t expect to find you here and was being chased by a thug.”

‘Ah, so that’s what happened.’

“Thank you.
For saving me.”

Erin was honestly grateful.

Calix had actually gone to find her.
If he hadn’t, then she would have been dead.

Calix smirked in amusement.

“Does that mean that I can come to your shop every day and eat cake?”

“Yes, you may.”

She felt like she had to thank him for saving her life and this is probably a good way to compensate him.

“Well, it’s alright now.”

Erin said, gesturing for her hand that was still being held by Calix to be let go.

So Calix released her hand gracefully.

“I’ll take you home.
It’s not safe to go alone.”

Erin wanted to refuse, but her legs ached from the frantic running, and her nasal cavity was in no condition to talk.

It would take an hour to get from here to her shop after all.

“Yes, thank you.”

‘I don’t think I need to say no.’

Erin followed him down the alley.
The nighttime street lay in silent darkness, and everything in the distance was blurred due to the faint haze.

“Don’t ever come to places like this alone from now on.”

Calix suddenly spoke out of nowhere while they were walking down the street.

“It’s not safe.
You should get a maid or hire a servant to run errands for you.”

Melly was no longer a maid, but a hired shopkeeper, and Erin couldn’t afford a servant yet.
But she couldn’t deny the fact that she does need to look for more people to feel secure.

“Of course…..
I’ll be careful while walking around after dark from now on.”

‘It’s for my safety.
Now that I know how dangerous it was, I have to be more careful from now on.’

Erin looked back at Calix walking beside her and sent him a smile.

She had always thought of him as a silly little boy.
Although she was determined, It was still nice to have someone so concerned about her own safety.

“Thank you for your concern, Calix.”

“……”

He didn’t answer.

Calix looked at Erin’s face as a smile passed over it.

Her lips faintly curved.

It was as feminine and soft as cherry blossoms.
Her smile blossomed on that dainty face, that was as fierce as a petal.

There was also a light red flush creeping into her fair, thin cheeks.

She was as pale as she had been a moment before, but it was a mesmerizing smile that captivated his eyes.

He’d always felt, from the first time he saw her, that Erin was beautiful.

Even when he first met her when he was only thirteen, Calix always thought that she was a really beautiful and stunning woman.

So even in his young mind, he couldn’t understand why Raymond disliked Erin so much.

He arrived at the new shop while being lost in his thoughts.

It was already the middle of the night, but the shop was still brightly lit.

Calix held the door open for Erin to enter.

As Erin walked into the shop, she immediately stopped in her tracks.

Calix, who was following her inside, also stopped.

A man was standing there and Erin was surprised to see him.

A familiar silver-haired man was standing in the middle of her shop.
She then called out,

“Your Highness Raymond?”

 

⚘

 

“You must have been shocked..! What shall I do, do you feel nauseous?”

Melly gasped in surprise when she heard about what happened to her.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.
I’m not even hurt.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you met the Archduke, and you came back in one piece.”

“That’s true.”

Erin said, while shrugging out of her soiled dress.

“Melly, can you make some tea? I’ll just wash up and get changed first then I’ll head to the shop immediately.”

It was better to go as fast as possible, because now there were two brothers in a bad mood, sitting across from each other in the shop.

Fortunately, nothing happened while she was gone.

She opened the door and stepped inside.

There was an eerie silence in the shop.
Raymond and Calix were sitting at a table, and didn’t seem to be talking.

Erin took a seat across from Raymond.

Melly arrived just in time to bring her a cup of hot black tea.

The steaming mugs were placed in front of the three of them.

Raymond and Erin sat across each other in silence for a while.
Only Calix began to sip his tea, he doesn’t seem to care about the awkward atmosphere creeping inside the shop.

Raymond hadn’t expected to see Erin like this again, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say, even though they were sitting across from each other.

After all, what can he say when they’ve already divorced?

“I heard you were attacked.
Are you okay?”

Raymond was the first to break the silence.

“Yeah.
I’m okay now.”

Raymond looked around the shop wordlessly, then he frowned.

“Don’t you have a place to stay?”

“I have a house connected to the cafe, that’s where I live.”

“A house connected… Why would you live in such a place?”

“It’s a very beautiful two-story house, It’s finer and more comfortable than the palace.”

Erin didn’t care, she made sure to stress out that the palace was very uncomfortable for her.

Raymond understood what Erin meant.
But it didn’t seem to convince him.
He smiled wryly.

“I’ve never met anyone in my life who would prefer to live in a cafe to an imperial palace.”

Erin laughed undeterred.

“I’m sorry to hear that.
I guess you’ve never been to a place better than the palace before.
There are actually a lot of places in the world that are nicer than the palace.”

Erin didn’t know about anyone else, but the palace was a terrible place for her.

The past nine years she lived in the palace were uncomfortable and horrible.

It wasn’t until she got out of there that she could finally feel free and at ease again.

“Why have you come to see me?”