The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

While the old lady went to 'greet' the surprise visitor, Evelyn took this time to check the properties of Bree's dress.

[ Dawn's Glow Sundress: Grade 2 ]

—Attribute Enhancement: +18 Physique while equipped.

—Special Property: Self-cleaning [Level 2] – Dust and grime will be easier to shake out of the item, while finding it harder to latch onto it at the same time. Stains will slowly fade away after some time.

—Special Property: Self-repair [Level 2] – When the amount of damage to the item does not exceed ten percent, it can slowly mend itself back to perfect condition, provided that no material is missing.

Compared to the clothes she had examined on the shelf when she first entered the shop, the difference in quality between them was like night and day. Not to mention the attribute difference, even the second level of self-repair and cleaning properties looked much more practical than the first. 

If it was going to be damaged, how many times would it even be less than one percent? The special property was just for show at level one. The same went for cleaning. Wouldn't it need to be washed anyway if it couldn't get rid of stains on its own?

'Since this is just grade two… shouldn't it be possible to make much better items, with far better properties? But this already looks like one of the better shops here, and I don't think there are many places in the continent that would be far better, either.' 

Whenever she had found something unreasonable in this world, Evelyn had always assumed that she simply knew too little, and thus wasn't able to see through it.

However, as she grew to know more, she realized that there were some things that seemed to be artificially manipulated to be much worse than they should be.

'Since artifacts do in fact go as high as grade nine, shouldn't everything else, as well? Too bad I can't delve too deep into this theory myself, since I've already picked the artifact class.'

Of course, Evelyn didn't regret doing so. She believed that her choice was the most practical, since all the others were restricted in some way, while artifact creation allowed her to achieve all her goals.

If she can make high grade wearable artifacts later, wouldn't that be the same or even better than any high grade clothing? The design field thus seemed a little too overspecialized to her, with little to nothing to gain unless all she wanted was to earn money.

She did have some wish to learn apothecary and alchemy, but that can be done later. 

Evelyn's plan was to use her time at the academy to propel herself forward as much as she could in terms of strength, in the shortest possible duration. 

Once she was at an acceptable level to be able to defend herself and her loved ones from immediate threats, only then would she have the luxury to think about other things. It wouldn't be too late to learn about apothecary and alchemy then.

'Still, given that there are so few products on sale, and the old lady ended up making something almost ten times better for us…' Evelyn didn't think she would receive this level of treatment if it hadn't been for Cecilia. 

Going by the shopkeeper's attitude, it couldn't be easy getting a custom dress of this quality without any connections.

Evelyn had thought that whoever was at the door had nothing to do with her, so she didn't go over to even look, but her musings were interrupted when she vaguely heard a 'familiar' voice. 

A ruthless glint flashed through her eyes. 'It's that bastard!'

And as expected, the young boy arguing with the old seamstress was the very same one who had repeatedly been a thorn in her eyes while on her way to the academy. The bastard who tried to hurt Bree!

He was also accompanied by a taller boy who appeared to be around fourteen to fifteen years old.

The old lady was already starting to look irritated. "Like I said, you brats should come by three days later. It's been months since I took more than a single day off in a week! I deserve these few, so don't waste my time."

The boy sputtered as he pointed his finger at the three girls standing not far behind the old lady. "L-Look, don't you already have people in there? Just adding a couple more orders won't hurt, right?"

Instead of helping his case, however, it only made the old lady's attitude worse. "Do I need you to teach me what I should and shouldn't do?"

The taller boy seemed to realize that arguing with her would get him nowhere, so he motioned Rufus to move away for a while.

Once the boy was farther away, he put away his stubborn expression and began to plead earnestly. "Madam Genie, I'm sorry I was so rude earlier! It's not that I want to bother you on your day off, it's just that my cousin is about to start his classes soon, and I promised him to show him around, can't you please give me some face, just this once?"

The old lady rolled her eyes. Youngsters these days even dared to talk about 'face' without having spent a single day building a reputation for themselves first. "What does that have to do with me? Show him around all you want. This is a free city, after all."

The boy waved his hands hurriedly. "N-No, I mean, I kinda bragged to him about how amazing your clothes are, and how my grandma and you used to be good friends…"

Seeing how her expression softened a little at the mention of his grandmother, the boy immediately realized what he needed to do. "Please, Madam Genie, can't you do me this little favor? Grandma always said if I really need any help, I can seek you out…"

Just as she was about to agree, however, Evelyn interrupted their conversation. "Why, if it isn't Rufus!"

The boy who had moved away on his cousin's instructions jumped in fright as he heard her voice. 

The old lady looked startled. "You know him?"

Evelyn didn't bother hiding her hostility at all. "Of course I know, he did try to assault me, after all."

The young boy sputtered as he pointed at her indignantly. "What did I even do in the end?! But you… Y-You almost killed me!"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes. "Am I not even allowed to retaliate if someone tries to assault me during my sleep?"

Rufus could feel his face burning red with shame as even his cousin and the old lady gave him inquiring looks. "I wasn't even going to touch you!"

Evelyn's smile was cold, wondering just what innovative excuse he could come up with, if he could even do it in the first place. "Then what were you going to do?"

The young boy lowered his hand as he felt lost for words. "I-I just.. just…"

"Just what?"

He had already denied wanting to touch her, but Rufus couldn't really admit he just wanted to kill her pet either, could he? So what reason did he have for approaching her that night? He really couldn't think of anything.

"I-I was just looking…"

Of course, Evelyn didn't believe him at all. "Why?"

Rufus knew he had been seen through, and his face turned gloomy.

Not to mention him, his older cousin's face was also incredibly dark as he glared at the pink haired girl.

Just what was her intention of bringing up such a topic just when the old lady was about to let him in?

Wasn't it just to dissuade her from doing so, just to insult him?

And as expected, not only did the old lady reject him, this time the tone of her voice brooked no arguments. "Well, you two can leave for today."

The older boy nodded to the old seamstress, knowing that staying any more would just attract more ridicule. "If Madam Genie is busy, then, we of course won't be rude enough to keep bothering you, unlike some people."

He gave a not so subtle glance in Evelyn's direction before turning around to leave.

Rufus also grumbled under his breath and followed after his cousin.

==========

As the two boys gloomily strode away from the shop, Rufus couldn't believe that he had been humiliated once more.

Just what did this girl have against him, to dishonor him in front of anyone and everyone? First it was in front of his friends, then the Terran Prince, and now even his oldest cousin!

Meeting her was like a nightmare he just couldn't seem to wake up from. Even today, when he had finally managed to recover some of his excitement for the start of his academy life, that pink haired bitch just couldn't seem to leave him alone!

"Is she the one you talked about before?"

Rufus gritted his teeth in anger. "Yeah… She's humiliated me over and over again. You can see, I didn't do anything at all just now, and she still came over to ruin things for me!"

The older boy frowned grimly. There was no mistaking just how malicious that pink haired girl was towards his little cousin. "Hmph, I see how it is. Whether her intention is to attract your attention this way out of some twisted crush, or if she holds a grudge against you because you're a Terran, we can't let this matter slide. If we do, what of our family's pride?"