Surviving As An Obsessive Servant Chapter 182 - Evo (IF) Side Story Chapter 2

Just before leaving the secret room, Evo Martin tried to calmly assess the situation.

No matter how vivid a dream might be, there was no way he wouldn’t wake up after this long.

Then, was this the work of the World Tree?

‘If not that, then…’

Evo ran both hands down his flushed face and stood up.

He opened a dusty window and looked outside.

The very first thing he had done after becoming the head of the house was memorize the personal details and routines of every servant.

So even in an unreal situation like this, his memory served him well.

He spotted the gardener who had died from a viper bite.

‘…If the third brother and that man are here, this must be between Imperial Year 435 and 436.’

To confirm, Evo left the room and stopped a passing servant to ask.

The servant was startled by the confidence in the boy who usually skulked around with a gloomy face.

“What year, month, and day is it in the Imperial Calendar?”

“It’s March 17th, Imperial Year 435.”

‘…Then that means…’

Evo’s eyes lit up.

It was five years before Lobel would ever set foot in Denkart.

Which meant he was twelve, and Lobel was eleven.

“…Evo Martin! That bastard tried to kill us!”

“Kill him now!!”

As his brothers arrived with soldiers in tow to harass him again, Evo suddenly burst into laughter.

Maybe this was a chance granted by the gods.

Evo looked at the sword pointed at him with indifferent eyes.

The moment the boy who had been laughing just seconds ago turned expressionless, the atmosphere grew heavy.

And then his voice followed—stern, and full of danger.

“Rodney Griffiths. Larens Rooseman. Kinnon Kirk. Ethan Chester. Who is it that you serve?”

“…”

Their lord was the Martin family—the head of the Hornet Trading House.

Everyone here knew that.

The location they had chosen to publicly humiliate and cast out Evo was near the front gate.

The unusual commotion had unsettled the staff, and their unease only emboldened the brothers.

“You idiot! Who doesn’t know that? He’s our father!! Of course they follow our orders!!!”

“Then as guardians of Hornet, do you seek to harm it?”

Compared to the boys screaming beside him, Evo’s voice was low, nearly quiet.

Yet it was so calm and serious that the guards flinched.

The blood of Hornet was outraged and charging forward, but those same guards couldn’t bring themselves to harm another of Hornet’s blood.

Noticing their hesitation, the brothers recklessly drew their swords.

“Master Evo!”

“Useless scum! We’ll deal with you lot later. That bastard comes first. Hey, Evo! It’s your funeral today! Close to your mother’s death day too, isn’t it? Perfect, huh?!”

Instead of dodging, Evo lunged forward and drew one of the guards’ swords.

That day, Evo shattered every blade his brothers held.

And that spectacle happened just as his father was returning to the estate.

His father’s eyes widened as he stared at his son.

Evo, wearing a gentle smile, spoke calmly.

“You’re home, Father.”

From that day forward, his father took a great interest in him and had high expectations.

Though the Hornet family had already made a name for itself in trade, he now believed it could also produce a knight of renown.

If Evo became a successful knight, he could claim a great territory. The son he once saw as a half-wit had suddenly become an asset.

“Move to a better room. Is there anything else you want?”

Planning to coax me into a knight’s training camp, huh.

Evo resisted the urge to gag and kept smiling. His father dismissed him to let him rest.

Evo knew the man was already preparing the admission forms for the knight cadet school, but he said nothing as he left and pondered deeply.

Evo Martin had no interest in petty revenge against his brothers, or in claiming Hornet early, or in becoming some famous knight.

Even rising as a great merchant had never brought him the same joy as speaking briefly with Lobel.

Right now, he only wanted to see her.

Back in his room, Evo anxiously bit his thumb. Blood seeped from a spot where the skin had already scabbed over.

‘If Lobel once touched the World Tree too, maybe… she also returned to the past like me.’

Would she… remember me?

The thought made his heart race.

But his head ached at the idea that Edric Denkart, or even Manellano Stell, might also have returned.

Still, Evo was not the type to sit and worry idly.

First, he compared past events with the present.

‘…No differences in imperial dates or major historical events.’

And when he saw a servant suffering from the same illness they’d had before, it confirmed that those things remained unchanged.

That wasn’t good news for Evo—it meant Lobel might get sick again.

‘…I have to protect her.’

Resolute, Evo Martin first stole the Book of Vibon from the Hornet family.

He’d done it before, and since his father now trusted him completely, it was easier than before.

He tore out the middle and final chapters.

Even as he ripped apart the written history of a great trading house, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Then, carrying the book and a cipher, he headed to the capital—to the Denkart estate.

“Please deliver a message to Aide Benjamin.”

Evo spoke to the gatekeeper.

Saying outright he wished to see the Duke would have been unbelievable. And since Denian usually accompanied Duke Denkart, he used Benjamin’s name instead.

The gatekeeper was skeptical, but the boy’s fine carriage, his elegant attire, and his calm demeanor convinced him.

Soon after, Benjamin came out, having read a brief coded message containing one of Denkart’s level-one secrets.

The message—written in Denkart’s standard cipher—simply said: “Come.” Benjamin himself had taught Evo this.

Among all who served at Denkart—aside from Edric—Benjamin was the most composed.

But in the end, he had treated Evo with the greatest kindness.

He’d always favored those who were born intelligent, and Evo, who absorbed every bit of knowledge he was taught, had made a deep impression.

So once again, Evo behaved like a polite but clever child.

“I apologize for the rudeness. But I have an urgent message for the Duke.”

Benjamin couldn’t dismiss the boy like the gatekeeper had.

Looking into those clear yet oddly somber eyes, he led Evo into the parlor.

And it wasn’t until nightfall that Duke Denkart returned.

Facing the duke—who looked younger and more indifferent than in his memory—Evo held out Hornet’s Vibon.

“This is Hornet’s Vibon. The curse of Denkart was recorded in this Vibon.”

It was a lie he could only tell because the head of Hornet was already dead.

He had stolen the Vibon, and though events were unfolding faster than before, his father had still been assassinated by spies.

Despite that, Evo spoke coldly, even of his father’s death.

“There was also a way to break the curse.”

“……”

The duke stared at him with disinterest.

It was the kind of look that measured whether to slice off his neck, his arm, or maybe a leg.

Even through torture, a person can still speak.

But Evo wouldn’t have made it this far if he feared torture or death.

“I want to serve the future of Denkart. Please give me the chance to prove myself.”

Alexis Denkart was a thoroughly calculating man.

He wouldn’t be moved just because a child pleaded for help, but he was the type to exploit someone if they seemed useful.

‘…Which is probably why he kept using Lobelia in the underground for years.’

Evo clenched his fists at the thought of the years Lobel had suffered, but he forced himself to stay calm.

The duke acted as expected.

He sent men to the three northern strongholds to verify Evo’s claims.

And there, in the lakes, they discovered numerous stone tablets hidden by William I.

During that time, Evo remained at Denkart.

“……”

He couldn’t help but fall into strange emotions.

After all, this was where he had lived with Lobel.

Seeing a maid in the same outfit Lobel once wore, passing by the room they’d shared, or gazing at the tree under which they’d once eaten bread together—every bit of it ached in his chest.

‘Maybe all that was just a dream.’

Sometimes, the only thing left was a bitter laugh.

But Evo didn’t despair.

He had already confirmed that the Flor Trading House still existed in Velican, and that its leader had two children.

He hadn’t seen Lobel himself, but he was certain she was there.

And above all—illusion or not—Lobel was still Lobel.

He had long ago resolved to live for her. There was nothing he couldn’t do.

Despite his desperate longing, there was one reason he didn’t go see her yet.

If he saw her now, before accomplishing what needed to be done, he was afraid his resolve would weaken.

When facing danger, he needed to be more cold-headed than ever.

‘I can’t risk pulling Lobel into this danger.’

Only after creating an environment where she could recover completely—only then could he face her.

Even after that, the duke continued to doubt him and placed him through relentless trials.

But Evo passed them all perfectly.

Because he remembered every detail of the curse passed down through the duchy and all that Edric Denkart had done in the three northern strongholds.

He simply chose not to resolve the barbarian issue.

What mattered to him was Lobelia, not the safety of the empire.

‘That’s the job of the soon-to-be crowned prince.’

Still, Evo endured and overcame the countless trials the duke set for him.

“I will use you.”

At last, the duke acknowledged him.