To His Hell and Back-Chapter 510: If There Was A Rat

Evangeline frowned. She knew that nobles had the terrible habit of mocking those who never follow their "standards". Like how women are mostly mocked for being a wallflower and having no one to escort them to a party, it seems that even to a nobleman, or even a Lord like Hades, that mockery still stands.

She felt bad and after thinking about it, she nodded in agreement. Even if Serena or her mother scolds her, they wouldn’t be able to do it in front of so many people watching.

Besides, she will then fulfill her promise by standing near the wall as her mother had wanted, so she hadn’t broke the rules.

"Alright," she smiled softly to him which made Hades to quirk the left side of his lips.

With their hands held together, the door to the ballroom then pushed open.

The music seemed to have stalled the moment they entered and almost everyone turned to the top of the staircase where Hades and Evangeline was now standing together, holding each other’s hands as the rest of the guests bowed deep to show their humbleness to Hades.

Serena was tugged by her mother to bow down her head but instead, she had lifted her neck proudly, aiming to stand out apart the rest of the girls who she thought was far too meek and demure.

She was sure that Hades’s eyes would fall on her, even for a little, but instead, what she had seen froze her on spot.

Beside Hades... is...

"Mama... isn’t that Eva?"

Mrs. Crestmont didn’t dare to look up at first. She sighed, waving her hand to tell Serena to also bowed so they wouldn’t be seen as crass. "Forget about her and let her stay near the wall."

"No— she’s not near the wall! She’s standing beside the Lord!"

"What?"

Mrs. Crestmont’s head shot upward, her eyes widening in disbelief. Serena, equally struck, froze beside her as both women caught sight of Evangeline, standing not near the wall, but at Lord Hades Valentine’s side. Her pale hands were clasped nervously before her, her gaze darting across the ballroom, unaware that her family’s stares had already found her.

But Hades noticed them at once.

He could feel it— the prickling weight of a jealous, resentful gaze aimed squarely at Evangeline. It came from a girl who shared her features, though only faintly, like a cruel imitation.

A slow, knowing smile curved his lips. Pretending not to see them, he slipped an arm around Evangeline’s waist, drawing her subtly closer. His gesture was under their watch and he could tell this would immediately fan the flame between the family members even more.

But he didn’t stop.

Then, leaning near her ear so only she could hear, he murmured, his voice low as if he was sharing such intimate moment with her,

"I’m reminded of our talk earlier. Tell me, angel— do you know why your family tries so hard to cast you aside?"

Evangeline froze. Of all questions, she hadn’t expected that one— not here, under the watchful eyes of nobles and chandeliers, where everyone seemed to be in such celebratory mood.

She turned to him, her lips parting slightly, eyes flickering with the same uncertainty she’d felt since overhearing her parents’ conversation that night.

She didn’t know how to tell him— but Hades could see it in her silence. She already knew the reason, at least enough to feel the quiet, undeserved guilt of it.

"I wasn’t born the way they wanted, I think," she said quietly. She had never truly tried to understand what made her so wrong in their eyes, or why she had become the target of her own family’s disdain. This was the only reason she could ever give herself.

"What a pity," Hades murmured, his violet eyes catching hers. The intensity of his gaze made her breath falter. "Even though you are so perfect, they cannot bear to see your shine."

The words struck her like a tide, flooding through every fragile corner of her heart. For a moment, it felt as though something inside her, something small and long- neglected, was finally seen, finally heard. Her throat tightened, and she had to glance away, afraid that if she met his eyes any longer, he might notice how her eyes had reddened, threatened by tears.

"Enjoy your night," he said at last, his tone softening. "I’ll see you soon again?"

How could she ever refuse him?

He had taken a night she thought doomed to misery and turned it into something she would remember, warm and impossible, like a dream she didn’t want to wake from.

"Have a wonderful evening, milord," she whispered, bowing politely.

Hades lingered just long enough to look at her once more, his lips curving into a faint smile before he turned away, his tall figure soon swallowed by the sea of nobles eager to bask in his favor.

She finally let out a moment of relief. Though everyone was still staring at her, most of them were quick to run after him while she made her way near the wall only to see from the corner of her eyes Serena’s purple dress as she marched toward her, her stomps hitting the floor angrily.

"Evangeline!" Mrs Crestmont started first as they came closer.

Her mother’s hand seized her elbow before she could even take a breath, dragging her toward the farthest corner of the ballroom. They slipped past a drunk woman leaning heavily against the wall, thankfully the only witness to what was about to unfold.

Once they were certain no one else could hear them, the interrogation began.

"How did you manage to stand beside the Lord?" Mrs. Crestmont hissed, her voice sharp enough to cut through the music. "Don’t tell me you—"

they didn’t need to continue for her to know that once again she was doubting whether she had sold her body or not.

"He helped me," Evangeline said simply.

Even as she spoke, a pang of regret tugged at her chest. The fragile warmth Hades had left in her, his words, his smile, seemed to fade all at once, smothered by the familiar chill of home. In her family’s world, love had always been an illusion, something dangled just out of reach.

"Helped you?" Serena scoffed, her tone dripping with disdain. "Oh, did you seduce him again?"

Evangeline’s green eyes lifted toward her sister’s without a hint of anger. "If that’s what you want to believe," she said softly, "then there’s nothing I can say that would change your mind."

"What?" Mrs. Crestmont’s voice rose, scandalized. "What has gotten into you, Evangeline? Just one walk with the Lord and you’ve grown mouthy? Do you even realize who you’re speaking to?" She stepped closer, her tone cutting and cold. "I’m your mother!"

"A mother would believe their daughter’s words," Evangeline didn’t know what had gotten to her. Whether it was the security that Hades offered earlier or the fact that her heart had finally had enough from all the pain she had endured quietly.

She knew she shouldn’t and she knew she would regret it when tomorrow she would once again be left ignored by her family.

But this was better than standing quietly, having to endure the things until her heart finally bleed out.

"The Lord had saved me, he’s a good man. I didn’t do anything that I should be ashamed of with him and if you do not trust me, mother," she smiled when looking at the woman she had always tried so hard to feel loved, "I can’t do anything."

"The pearls!" Serena yelled, ignoring her words. "Where did you get these pearls... don’t tell me that the Lord also gave you those.... what a whore you are siste-" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You’re so loud," someone suddenly snapped and when Mrs Crestmont and Serena looked backward, they found a Seraphess with the crimson hair.

Her neck was slightly bent forward as she took another sip from the deep violet liquor on her round glass.

"Don’t you know that this is a party? Shut your trap and wailing, humans."

"What? This is a family matter, an outsider shouldn’t interfe-" Serena was about to demand the woman for an apology, when suddenly beside the woman two men had stepped up.

This sight immediately made Serena to flinch, her face colored with darkness as she eyed Evangeline again and with that, Eva could tell that her sister wasn’t happy with how yet again she couldn’t unleash her frustration at her.

After all, unlike her, Serena was used to having the world move according to her wish. Not being able to scold her must have made her frustrated and added with the fact that her vanity felt unsatisfied as she thought her spotlight had been stolen, must have made her even more angry and it was clear by the way she had immediately turned around, leaving her and their mother behind as she stomped her way to the dance floor.

Mrs Crestmont wasn’t happy either. Perhaps her reason for being unhappy was just to see her more beloved daughter had left feeling unsatisfied.

Her mother made her warning clear by seizing the strand of pearls at Evangeline’s neck, her fingers tightening until they pressed against her skin. Her voice dropped low as she spoke, sounding like a stranger’s voice wearing her mother’s tongue.a