The Male Lead’s Fake Sister - Chapter 42

In short, it was a problem that could be solved over time.

Crow tilted his head, dazed by Ravia’s explanation.

“Miss, you’re always….thinking ahead of me, but I’m not sure what you confide in and why you’re so relaxed about this matter. Even today, you ran into trouble in Bluewell.”

Ravia’s expression changed instantly at Crow’s grumble.

“How did you know?”

“It’s more difficult not to recognize people who are born aristocrats like you. Blue and aristocrats may look similar in the eyes of slum people. But those who are quick-witted and resourceful will quickly notice. Rumor will spread soon.”

Do you think your enemy won’t hear about that rumor?

A cynical smile rose in her face as she listened to Crow, who chided her for lowering her guard. However, it was not simply her usual cold smile, there was a hint of liveliness in that sarcastic grin.

“I guess so. Tidwell would have found out in no time anyway. With that power and intelligence, is there anything he doesn’t know?”

“You know everything, but why are you so relaxed? You know that you’re getting more and more pushed into checkmate—”

You know.

Crow stopped talking when he realized the meaning of that word. Crow was also familiar with it.

Ravia wasn’t a pushover. She was that kind of woman who knows exactly the result of her actions.

Yet, she positioned herself to being targeted like this,

“Miss, have you perhaps….done it on purpose?”

“Why would you think otherwise?”

Ravia twisted her mouth loosely. Her voice broke the silence and was enough to change Crow’s doubt into conviction.

Watching Crow twist his mouth up, Ravia leaned back against the sofa. Feeling drowsy and lethargic, her eyelids slowly dropped on her expressionless face.

“The queen is the most important piece in chess.”

No one would care about other pawns when the queen moved.

In a monotone, she kindly explained to her underling.

“Crow, I’ve never told you about my plans in detail, so I understand why you’re so curious about everything,”

Ravia crawled to the underworld where the path was covered with glass shards and walked a tightrope of her own volition. That’s why in his eyes Ravia was so hard to understand.

Of course, he knew Ravia’s situation to some extent, so he would’ve known that she wanted to avoid being killed by Tidwell. And her original plan was really about avoiding death.

But the situation did not unfold as simply as a chess game, where there was only a win or lose outcome.

“I still don’t understand Tidwell’s intentions yet. The situation has turned ambiguous, and the string around my neck is getting tighter. I’m just doing the best I can.”

“By doing the best, you mean..”

“I’m throwing a new prey into the mouth that’s trying to swallow me. In other words….Atalanta’s Golden Apple.”

Atalanta’s Golden Apple.

As soon as Crow heard that, he realized Ravia’s intentions. It was a famous myth.

The story began with Atalanta, a princess who refused to marry, saying to her suitors that she would accept their hand-in-marriage only if they won a running race against her.

Her suitors thought that it’d be easy to win against her in a running race, but Atalanta grew up in the forest and was an excellent runner.

As a result, Atalanta beat all her suitors and managed to avoid marriage as she had hoped from the beginning.

That was the case until a young man who loved Atalanta rolled a golden apple during a race to distract her attention.

‘In the myth, a total of three golden apples are rolled.’

It’s because he couldn’t beat Atalanta by stealing her attention only once.

Although the story ends in tragedy, Atalanta’s golden apple was often used as an analogy to suggest how to deal with a formidable opponent.

That was the exact reason why Ravia mentioned ‘Atalanta’s Golden Apple’.

Haha.

Crow laughed dryly and asked.

“Are you saying you want to divert his eyes?”

“That’s right.”

“Have you prepared the apples?”

“For now, two apples are ready.”

“Then you don’t have enough.”

“That’s why you have to go and find one more.”

Ravia’s eyes bent to a half moon as she spoke in a naturally smooth voice. He was bound by the pressure contained in her curved eyes.

She was born a ruler.

In front of her, Crow couldn’t help but be reminded of the past.

The day when she first came to the Cheshire Cat building at District 12, Bluewell street.

The reason why he decided to accept Ravia’s hair was because of someone’s words.

“No matter how much you want to live in seclusion without anyone looking for you, there will be someone who will bring you out someday.”

To be exact, it was said by a fortune-teller.

“And that person will be the one to resolve your questions, so make sure to catch her when that time comes.”

At that time, Crow grumbled at the forecast. For him, the words sounded like telling him to chase waterfalls.

“How can there be such abstract words? You have to tell me who it is first so I can catch them.”

However, headquarters quickly released information about ‘that person’ as if answering Crow’s complaint.

“That person is someone who knows why our store is called ‘the Cheshire Cat’.”

That person was our key.

Crow still did not fully trust the prediction, but after hearing that, he began to wonder.

Will there be any customers who recognize the meaning of the store’s name?

Therefore, after that brief conversation, a rule was added in the Cheshire Cat.

Before deciding the messenger in charge, ask the same question to the customer who asks for a haircut.

[What do you think ‘Cheshire Cat’ means?]

The answers varied, but no one had ever guessed the exact meaning.

Except for one person.

This woman, who is seated in front of Crow right now.

“The meaning of Cheshire Cat? Do you ask such questions to customers?”

“It’s a ritual. It won’t be any disadvantage for you, so please answer comfortably.”

She thought for a moment, then began to fold and unfold her fingers.

“Well, I’m not sure, but….it’s like saying something that is anywhere and nowhere at the same time. Just like an eclipse.”

The Cheshire cat’s mouth is like a crescent moon that had been devoured.

She added, looking a little sheepish.

“You don’t usually see cat’s toenails, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have them, right? There are not many symbols that can be seen if you add an eclipse on top of it.”

Something that exists anywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Is there a sentence that can express a masked messenger who did a secret task better than that?

Others had fully inferred enough up to that point. Because Cheshire Cat was a frequently used metaphor.

However, her subsequent explanation was a guess that no one except for those belonging to the ‘Cheshire Cat’ could have made, and thus, Crow became Ravia’s messenger.

And right now. Crow felt as if he vaguely understood what the foresight had told him.

There was no way his Master could take him out of the darkness when she was so full of loopholes.

‘At first, I was planning to retreat.’

That was actually the reason why he came today.

Just inquiring about Tidwell was risky enough, and even among the shadows, Ravia’s orders were extremely difficult.

So he wanted to drop this task under the pretext that it was difficult, but Ravia opened up something inside him that he never knew before. And it really shook his heart.

‘At this rate, I might have to take off my mask someday.’

Taking off his mask and running errands was something that never crossed his mind.

The frustration he felt right now was directed at the lady in front of him, and he thought to himself that it wasn’t so bad, after all.

However, there was something Crow failed to notice because he was too distracted.

Ravia had already figured out his intention and deliberately opened up to him to capture him.

‘It’s all done if I do this.’

She never said she wouldn’t do it again.

Ravia thought as she looked at Crow, who had become more docile and quiet than ever.