She didn't know at what point she had stopped considering Évelyne as an experiment—sometimes failed, sometimes one that had gone too well—and began to see her with different eyes. As if she were truly believing the charade they had agreed upon at the beginning, that they were old acquaintances and therefore would share an apartment as a result.
But the truth was that Victoria found herself enjoying those outings with Évelyne, whether it was to look for fancy clothes for the nearest event or simply to buy groceries at the closest store. Sometimes she felt uncomfortable with Évelyne's apparent talent for grasping her moods so quickly, making sure of things before Victoria could even clarify what she felt or thought. But that, at the end of the day, must be an advantage: Having and showing empathy would be a very useful quality for living in society. And not to mention the intelligence and curiosity that Évelyne had continued to show over all those months.
If Évelyne decided to move out on her own one of these days, there was no doubt that she would be more than prepared. Or well, she should be. Victoria had no intention of bringing up
the matter, she told herself, because it was the main person involved who would benefit from discussing the issue when she felt ready. Not her.
For now, Victoria was going to enjoy having a person she found pleasant at home, someone who, far from considering a threat, she could almost affirm had become her friend, and she wasn't going to worry too much about what excuse she would give when the dreaded von Rosenwald ball arrived and she had to come up with a reason not to attend.
Évelyne was excited about it all, about her new outfit, about her friendships... Victoria didn't want to accompany her because she had never felt that she fit into that kind of event, but she also didn't want to bring her down from the cloud any sooner than necessary. Anyway, and this is how she tried to convince herself, she was sure that once Évelyne met with Georg, saw the opulence of the venue, and made a couple more alliances, she would soon forget that she wasn't around.
Victoria was more than determined not to go. She had told Évelyne to go ahead with Georg, that she would attend a little later, as she was busy with work during those dates and it was likely that she would have to stay home longer to finish everything she had to do for school. They were pure lies, ultimately. With the Christmas holidays, the university would be half-dead until the beginning of the year. And while Victoria would still have tasks to take care of, they wouldn't even come close to those she would have to do during exam week. But Évelyne was not aware of the routine at a study center, and hence practically anything could be said to her, and she would believe it.
So Victoria believed that everything was going to go according to her plan. That she could slip away from the ball before even having to show up at the property. However, the joy was short-lived, and soon she found that there was something, or rather someone, who was going to force her to attend.
"You deserve it, for wanting to stand Évelyne up," Henry had said as soon as he found out, one Tuesday when they ran into each other in the library of their alma mater. "Although wait, does this mean I now have free rein to tell her about your evil plans?"
"Absolutely not! It's going to be enough trouble to have to attend the party to meet certain people, I don't want to add to the mix having to argue with Évelyne about... evil plans, you said?"
"Certainly, that's what it seems like. Who, in their right mind, would resist attending such an event when invited so generously? No one at all! Unless they're plotting something terrible in the shadows and can't wait, of course. "
"You're talking nonsense," murmured Victoria, knowing full well he was doing it on purpose, and added, "And I'm not falling for it."
"Why do you have to go to the ball, anyway?" Henry interjected this time. "I know more than one person must have complained about the unconventional way you handle things, always prioritizing work over personal relationships. But as far as I know, I don't think the university is going to force anyone to socialize when they're not willing."
"The university may not, but Professor Waldman, I assure you, could."
"I thought you weren't attending his classes anymore."
And she wasn't. Not since she had created Évelyne, anyway.
But that chemistry professor had been one of her main motivations when creating that experiment that gave life to an inanimate body. And although she had never confided in him that she would end up performing said experiment on a real human being, she did hint at her interest in the subject on more than one occasion.
So it was possible that Waldman wasn't with her every day, that Victoria didn't attend his classes, and that she had abandoned that research path forever. But the teachings were still there, and with them, the eagerness of that teacher to present his disciple to the rest of the scientific community, eager as he must have been to see the results promised by Victoria.
And while Victoria had left all that behind, she never took the time to clarify it to Professor Waldman. Simply put, after recovering enough from her illness, she went to ask him for an indefinite time away from her duties, excusing herself by saying that she still didn't feel quite well.
Months passed, and in her eagerness to forget everything that had happened in the laboratory, Victoria even changed fields of study, focusing on matters that had nothing to do with her previous interests.
She never told Professor Waldman anything, but it wasn't necessary: he would eventually find out.
"The thing is, a couple of years ago, while working in his same laboratory, he told me about a doctor friend of his who specializes in... a field of physics that I was interested in back then. And he offered to introduce me to him, if the opportunity ever arose. Now, why has it been at this moment and not before? Well, apparently Dr. Fuchs lives in Berlin, and it wasn't until recently that he decided to come to Ingolstadt for a visit."
"And why not visit him at the university?"
"He's not coming to the university, apparently he's on vacation to visit some relatives. He'll only be in the city for a few days, and then he'll head to Munich."
"Wait a moment, can you tell me what you don't want to do?" Henry wanted to recapitulate, which made sense. "I understand that you'd prefer to be shot than to appear at the von Rosenwald's, but what about this doctor? Okay, so you're not interested in that scientific field he studies anymore, but still..."
Still, Victoria wasn't one to lightly reject the opportunity to meet experts in any field. It was normal for Henry to find it strange that she was so reluctant to meet him, and she supposed that there were exceptions to everything.
"I don't want to do either of those things," she confessed. "In the last two years, I've abandoned the studies of natural sciences to dedicate myself completely to botany. I won't
deny that medicine and chemistry still spark some interest in me, but not enough for me to be willing to accept studying those subjects again."
Nobody has asked you to do it, have they?
"I know for a fact that Professor Waldman wants me to come back, even though he has never directly told me."
Too many compliments towards her in front of other academics, too many discussions about when she would return to her main career, every time they bumped into each other in the hallways of the medical school.
Victoria had learned to evade him and had taken advantage of the fact that most of her classes now focused on the adjacent building to continue pretending that whatever her initial ideas were when coming to Ingolstadt had never happened.
"If he hasn't suggested it yet, it's bound to come... Or perhaps that's why he's so interested in introducing me to Dr. Fuchs now, to see if I can regain some of the enthusiasm he thinks I've lost."
"Why not tell him the truth, that you're not interested?"
"That's a great idea, how didn't I think of that before?" Victoria quipped. "I'll write a note to the professor who has known me since my adolescence and who helped me enroll and study some subjects at one of the best universities in this region, even though they don't accept women to enroll and therefore I am still here today thanks to my luck and contacts."
"No, you were right, there's nothing to be done. You're screwed," Henry concluded, offering his friend some friendly pats on the back by way of consolation. "There's no way you can get out of it unless you want to risk Professor Waldman losing the good opinion he has of you."
"I'll have to go."
"Unless you really don't want to. Why did you leave those studies, by the way? Maybe if you explained, or alternatively told them the reason why you're completely immersed in other studies right now, they wouldn't pressure you so much."
It was a good idea, except that then Victoria would have to confess that two years ago she used her own knowledge to bring a creature to life that she literally took from a cemetery, part by part.
"It's been a culmination of things," the scientist replied vaguely, not wanting to go into details. "The fact that I got sick afterward was just confirmation that I'd better start building a career somewhere else, that continuing down the path I was on would cost me my health. I know that such an answer has served to avoid my return to those studies, but I don't think it will help me avoid this particular meeting. After all, what could I say? That I've become so fed up with everything that the mere mention of someone I admired would cause me a relapse?"
"It sounds unlikely, especially considering that I thought you were one of those people who few things affect," Henry noted, reminding her that he had definitely seen her in worse
situations. "It's a shame I can't accompany you. If I were there, I could have approached Fuchs, Waldman, or whoever stood in front of me with my conspiracy theories and questions about... what did you say was the field they specialized in? I'm convinced I could come up with about fifteen questions off the top of my head if I gave it five minutes. And they'd both be so distracted by me that they'd forget you exist."
"I have no doubt that's how it would be," Victoria smiled, imagining it.
Henry didn't have much of a grasp on science, but he possessed an innate curiosity and had no trouble striking up conversations with strangers. Even if it wasn't so easy to distract that pair of individuals, Victoria knew that wouldn't deter him from trying.
"But, not having me as your human shield, why don't you take advantage of the fact that Evelyne will be there to do the same?"
"I don't think she would be interested in conversing with these people," Victoria pointed out, not mentioning that exposing her to these two individuals would be the last thing on her mind.
"No, but Georg could do the honors. And if not him, any of our friends from the faculty; we know more people than you think, well-versed in science and eager to talk. He said that, in the meantime, you could entertain yourself with Évelyne... Because I know well, long before the celebration begins, that you won't even go near the dance floor."
"It's one thing to attend a charity ball to contribute to a good cause and please a couple of people. It's another thing to subject myself to medieval torture like that."
Henry laughed heartily, earning himself a reprimand for speaking too loudly and too close to a group of students who were buried in their respective textbooks.
Perhaps he had been convincing enough to get Victoria out of her comfort zone on occasion, making her accompany him to certain talks or leisure events where large crowds gathered. But his ability to work miracles ended there.
"At least it'll end soon," sighed Henry, who now seemed to regret not being able to be present for the spectacle. "Because those people won't detain you too much if they notice you've become a boring person with no desire for anything, right? So, as long as Évelyne doesn't get overly enthusiastic about the dance and drag you back to the building, I'd say it won't cost you more than three-quarters of an hour to slip away."
Victoria had no real illusion that the torture would end soon, that she could rid herself of the social obligations that would be imposed on her as soon as she set foot on von Rosenwald property, let alone that she would have a good time while she was there.
But one thing she had to admit was that, for all her general complaints, the opportunity to accompany Évelyne to the ball wasn't one of them.
Perhaps she would have preferred not to have Georg present when they got into the carriage—not because she disliked him, but because she didn't have the confidence to speak as freely as she did with Henry or Évelyne—but this arrangement wasn't too bad either.
At first, she had said she would prefer to walk to the event, precisely because the means didn't matter to her, having secretly decided not to attend. But now that she had no other choice, she much preferred to make the journey by carriage than to join the procession of people heading to a common destination.
"The place is impressive, isn't it?" Évelyne had commented, excitedly, as soon as the von Rosenwald mansion came into view around a corner.
*****
Victoria gazed at the building for a moment before agreeing, "Absolutely. I was worried about not having an escape route if the celebration became tedious, but now I see my fears were unfounded: There are enough doors and windows to make an emergency exit."
"Why would you want to escape?" Georg inquired, unaware of the company Victoria would be keeping, let alone aware that she had a history of avoiding social gatherings as if they were the plague.
"Pay no attention to her, she's determined to have a bad time," interjected the creature sitting beside her, seeming confident in following her own advice. "Before her professor, whatever his name is, invited her, she was determined not to even show up."
"It's not true!" Victoria lied, with some vehemence.
Could it be that Henry had broken his promise and ultimately did speak? It seemed unlikely, but what other option was there? Victoria hadn't said anything.
"Of course it is. You've been in a bad mood since you found out you were expected to go, without actively participating in any proposition made to you regarding it. Just because you didn't directly say you wouldn't go doesn't mean I didn't catch on to what you were planning."
"It couldn't have been that obvious. My reluctance is a common thing; it didn't necessarily have to do with the ball!"
"So you admit it was because of that?" The tone was accusatory, although the creature didn't seem angry. That reassured Victoria.
"Assuming that's the case, why didn't you say anything if you already suspected?"
"And get into an argument where you would stubbornly stick to your point? No, thanks. That would only make you more alert, and suddenly refuse to attend altogether. If I played along, it would force you to continue pretending until the day of the event... And by then, I would have come up with a plan to make you come anyway."
"Excuse me, were you planning to deceive me?" Victoria could hardly believe the audacity of the confession she had just heard so freely.
"But I didn't in the end, it wasn't necessary," Évelyne simply replied, as if that fixed everything. "I was lucky that others managed to do the job of making you come in my place. And without needing to extort them... Not that I could have, anyway, now that I think about it."
Frankly, until a moment ago, Victoria would have doubted that Évelyne even knew the meaning of the word "extort." But it didn't matter now.
While Georg watched without saying a word, visibly intrigued by the exchange, the scientist took the trouble to comment:
"I hope both you and the professor and the others know what you're doing," she said, with a smile that didn't bode well. "Because I don't think tonight will be good company for anyone."