The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

The squabbling of the ancient family children was interrupted by the entrance of the 'ceremony girl', and they could only pipe down and wait for the most important guests to congratulate her.

Shockingly enough, even big shots like the second prince and the third princess of the empire were present!

Most people expected them to at most attend the ceremony proper out of curiosity, but their presence at the celebration afterwards hinted that perhaps the Knox family's standing in the empire's eyes was quite high.

This caused many to reevaluate their previous 'misconceptions'.

After the formalities were over, Evelyn was allowed to freely wander on her own.

Just as she was wondering where to go, she saw an ashy blonde haired girl rush towards her and grab her hand before dragging her away towards a tree near the outer edge of the area.

The girl seemed slightly embarrassed after realizing how strange she must look.

"Sorry, that was quite rude of me."

"Well… maybe you had your reasons?"

Cecilia's entire face was red. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Cecilia Fulbright. My grandmother was leading your ceremony today."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Evelyn."

The twintailed girl scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Um, likewise. Anyway, the boys over there kept annoying me, so when I saw you I just rushed without thinking. Especially that idiot relative of yours, uh, the brown coat boy, what's his name again?"

Evelyn had a feeling she knew exactly who it was.

"Could it be Tristan?"

Cecilia clapped, delighted at clearing her confusion, but went on a diatribe almost immediately as she thought about them again.

"That's the one! He kept badmouthing you, it was super annoying! Why haven't you beaten him up already? I tell you, with boys like this, it's better to knock some sense into them before they get out of hand!"

Evelyn blinked, quite amused by the little girl. She must be only seven or eight years old, right?

Seeing that the pink haired girl wasn't responding, Cecilia felt a little depressed.

It was all those idiots' fault! If they didn't rile her up like this, she wouldn't act so weird!

Well, one thing she learned from her grandma was that if nothing else worked, people always responded well to compliments.

Now, how to compliment her?

Looking at the little girl up close, she was really much more adorable than she expected after looking at her from afar.

The short skirt halter from the test was replaced by a full blue empire waist dress, and she also had a silver belt with a multitude of pink jewels wrapped around her waist.

The girl was wearing a strange bracelet that looked quite out of place with the rest of her attire, but perhaps the strangest thing had to be the pink fox with a purple gem in its forehead that was sleeping peacefully in her arms.

It was small and adorable, and made her have a conflicting feeling of wanting to fluff it, but at the same time being too scared of hurting the tiny thing.

When looking back at the girl after staring at the fox, a strange thought crossed her mind. Isn't she like a bigger version of the fox?

There was a fluffy feeling to her pink hair that made it really hard to resist ruffling it up. Especially when it was arranged so meticulously and looked so easy to mess around with.

And now that she was so close, she noticed that her eyes were also a soft shade of pink.

Maybe she wasn't like her dolls, because none of her dolls were so cute.

Cecilia jolted awake as she realized she had just been staring up and down at the little girl, and had completely forgotten her 'compliment to remove awkwardness' strategy.

"A-Anyway, you look much cuter up close."

But it didn't have the desired effect at all, and instead of forgetting about their awkwardness with a blush, Evelyn tilted her head curiously, as if wondering what nonsense she would come up with next.

Cecilia felt even more awkward.

"Y-Your fox is very cute too!"

"Thank you."

If she wasn't so prideful, Cecilia would have started crying already. Ah, her image as an older girl, completely obliterated! Quickly, how to reclaim her pride?!

"Anyway! I-I also passed the ceremony, you know, two years ago."

There was a glint of interest in Evelyn's eyes, and Cecilia felt proud at finally having caught her attention.

"Cecilia is already of academy age?"

The girl deflated. "Un, not yet, I'll go by the end of the year. Only commoners go a year early."

Evelyn felt quite curious. "Oh, why is that?"

"Mhm, I don't know… it's just how it is?"

The pink haired girl nodded. "I see…"

Cecilia wasn't used to these types of conversations at all. Usually she was never the one to initiate, and it was always the other person trying to butter her up and make sure the conversation didn't turn awkward.

With the usual role she held being reversed, Cecilia felt completely out of her element.

"Uhm, I think you did well!"

Evelyn blinked curiously. "With the ceremony?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Thank you."

As if afraid she would think it was just a formality, Cecilia quickly waved her hands.

"I-I'm not just saying it. Even though others kept making fun of you, I believed you from the start!"

There was an adorable pout on the pink haired girl's face.

"They made fun of me?"

Cecilia looked panicked, as if worried the girl would misunderstand her too.

"N-Not me! I did not!"

Evelyn chuckled, feeling like it was better to stop while ahead. It wouldn't be good if she actually started crying.

"Fufu… okay, Cecilia is very cute, I won't tease you anymore."

Cecilia looked dumbfounded, as if not understanding what happened at all.

"E-Eh? Me? You were teasing me?"

Evelyn smiled and nodded towards her fox instead.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Cecilia's mind completely blanked. Were her thoughts seen through? Does she know? But… even if she does, isn't this good?

"C-Can I?"

The pink haired girl nodded as she carefully handed little Ruru over.

"Be gentle, don't wake her up."

Cecilia held the sleeping little fox in her hands as if it was the most precious treasure, her eyes lighting up, and all the previous awkwardness and shame vanishing like smoke.

After feeling the soft pink fur of the little thing for a while, she felt it stir slightly, and quickly motioned for Evelyn to take it back in panic. It settled down again once back in the pink haired girl's arms.

The twintailed girl let out a sigh of relief.

It looked so tiny, it was probably a premature baby, right? No wonder it kept sleeping. She was quite curious what it was called. Could she get one too?

'Oh, but wouldn't little dolly be upset if she thought I was copying her? Mhm, I better not.'

Evelyn did not know of her strange thoughts, and was wondering if this girl also received the same reward as herself for passing the ceremony.

After the whole fiasco with Bree, she felt desperate for upgrades. As long as she wasn't strong enough, she would always have to helplessly watch others make decisions for her, and it didn't sit well with her at all.

Moreover, she no longer trusted that Bree could take care of herself. She had already determined that her 'aunt' was more like a child than even Vivian, and needed someone to discipline her properly.

Otherwise, she would just continue hurting herself with poor decisions and self-sacrificial thinking.

But even though she wanted to put the question forward, she didn't know how to phrase it without making the girl suspicious.

'Oh whatever, she's only seven anyway, I'll just ask. Even if she's smart, what can she even suspect me of?'

"Did Cecilia also get a 'reward' after her ceremony?"

Contrary to her expectations, Cecilia didn't seem to think it was a strange question at all, nor did it look like the 'reward' was as important to her as she felt it might have been.

"Um, the vault token, you probably did too, right? But don't get excited over it."

Evelyn tilted her head, both curious and dreadful of her response. "Why?"

Cecilia sighed. "I was so excited when I got it too. But look, it's been two years. No vault, no treasure."

Evelyn still felt a little unconvinced. How could the reward for such a big ceremony be pointless?

And since it was a key to the vault, as long as found out where it was, wouldn't that be enough?

"Then… do you know where it is?"

Cecilia shook her head. "I asked many times. Granny only said it's in a very dangerous place. She will take me one day, but not now. Whenever she says it like that, I know it's never happening."

Evelyn's disappointment couldn't be more obvious. "Oh."

But even if she was disappointed with Cecilia's words, she decided to at least find out the vault location somehow. As long as she knew where it was, she could figure out how to get there.

Meanwhile, Cecilia's hands had been twitching constantly after touching the pink fox. And she finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"C-Can I touch your hair?"

"Huh…?"