Chapter 2 (Part 6)

“You almost made the lady’s wound worse, but I’ll let you go quietly. Just get lost.”  

“Sniff… Telling your one and only friend to get lost. Your personality is truly rotten.”  

The man, pretending to cry as he wiped his eyes with his hand, turned to look at Reinis.  

The stranger was none other than Theodore’s one and only friend, Rio.  

Reinis was bewildered. She had never heard that the Duke had a friend. But observing the man’s behavior, she could understand why Theodore never mentioned him.  

Despite his handsome and seemingly well-off appearance, his tone and actions were incredibly frivolous—a complete opposite of Theodore.  

“What could you possibly like about this cold-hearted man to want to marry him? Were you perhaps threatened or blackmailed?”

Rio asked his question with a playful smile, and Reinis looked at Theodore with wide, startled eyes. She seemed surprised that Rio already knew about their marriage.  

“There’s no such thing, so just get lost already.”  

“Lady, look at this. See how heartless Theo is? Telling his only friend to get lost after seeing me for the first time in years.”  

Rio acted playfully, fooling around in front of Theodore, but Theodore’s demeanor toward Rio carried a certain caution.  

“Come on, friend. When a guest visits, shouldn’t you offer something delicious to eat?”

Rio placed a hand on Theodore’s shoulder.  

Though Theodore normally detested physical contact, he only frowned irritably instead of reacting as though he wanted to kill Rio.  

“The lady needs to rest, so follow me.”  

“Lady! This guy is secretly trying to kill me! Don’t leave me alone with him! I don’t want to die at his hands!”  

Rio’s overly playful and mischievous energy left Reinis flustered, and she couldn’t help but look at him in confusion.  

Noticing her innocent gaze, Rio smirked knowingly, as though he’d found something amusing.  

“Lady, did you know that guy is more of a fool than he looks?”  

At that moment, Theodore grabbed Rio by the scruff of his neck.  

“To think something like this is wandering freely around the Duke’s manor. I should dispose of it immediately.”  

“Calling me ‘something’?! Ah! That hurts! Hey! Let go of me! Aaaah!!”  

Dragged away by the back of his neck, Rio flailed, while Theodore, in his usual calm tone, hauled him off. Watching the scene, Reinis suddenly burst into laughter.  

She had already noticed that Theodore treated her differently from how he treated others. But the way he dealt with Rio was distinct even from how he treated her or anyone else.  

Though he claimed to dislike Rio, the fact that he kept him around as his only friend, despite knowing the Duke’s secret, showed that Theodore had some affection for him.  

“You two are very close.” 

Reinis said with a chuckle.  

Theodore wanted to refute her, but he didn’t want to ruin her cheerful mood, so he kept his mouth shut.  

When Reinis suggested they enjoy tea time together, the three of them ended up sharing the moment.  

Despite his lighthearted demeanor, Rio’s gestures while eating dessert were refined, hinting at his status as a high-ranking noble.  

Above all, the way he teased Theodore, toeing the line without crossing it, and Theodore’s tolerance of such behavior, made Reinis realize that Rio must indeed hold a significant position.  

“Oh, by the way, I’ll be staying here for a while.”  

“No.”  

“There’s no such thing as ‘no.’”

At Theodore’s firm response, Rio replied playfully.  

“You’re giving me permission, right?”  

“What if I don’t?”  

“Even if you don’t, I’ll stay. Your permission doesn’t matter to me.”  

Knowing there was no way to stop him, Theodore sighed deeply and shook his head in exasperation.  

“So, Lady, if that guy ever forces you into a marriage, feel free to come to me. The great Rio will rescue you.”  

“You two really do seem close.” 

Reinis remarked.

At her words, Rio’s face lit up with a mischievous grin.  

“Close doesn’t even begin to describe it. We’ve bathed together, slept together—haven’t we, darling~?”  

With those teasing words, Rio leaned his head on Theodore’s shoulder.  

“Oh… so that’s the kind of relationship you have?”  

Reinis let out a short sigh, her expression filled with disappointment as she looked at Theodore.  

“L-Lady, it’s not like that. This… this lunatic…!”

Startled by her gaze, Theodore shoved Rio’s head away. He pushed so hard that Rio’s head hit the opposite armrest.  

Theodore stood up abruptly and glared at Rio with a voice full of disgust.  

“We’ve been friends since childhood… but now, I can’t even stand breathing the same air as him.”  

Though Theodore was genuinely irritated, Reinis knew Rio was only joking. However, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Theodore, who was earnestly denying it, that it was all just a prank.  

***

“What’s your real purpose?”  

“What else could it be? The Emperor himself ordered me to personally check if the woman you married is safe.”  

In the study, Theodore and Rio sat facing each other.  

The atmosphere between them was entirely different from when they were with Reinis.  

Rio, having erased all traces of playfulness from his face, pulled out a document from his coat.

It was a marriage approval document. Although Theodore had expected it, seeing it still made his irritation flare.

‘What do those people even take me for?’  

“So, how many days are you planning to stay?”  

“Probably about a week. That should be more than enough time for the lady to ask for my help. I’m tired, so I’ll call it a day.”  

With those words, Rio stood up.  

His gaze, directed at Theodore, carried a mix of emotions.  

The shock Rio felt when the Emperor handed him the marriage approval document was indescribable.

He even wondered if the Imperial Family, tired of pestering Theodore to get married, had fabricated a non-existent woman and sent the approval.  

The reason the Emperor sent Rio to this place was also to confirm whether the woman in question was safe, whether she was under any threats, and whether the marriage had been agreed upon by both parties.  

However, it became clear as soon as Rio arrived at the Duke’s manor. Theodore truly loved her.  

Although Rio pretended to be concerned about Theodore, his real worry was Reinis.  

The daughter of Baron Martin. A young lady who was on the quieter side. 

How had someone like her managed to win over Theodore? Could it have been with impure intentions?  

Or perhaps Theodore had been blackmailed. Could she have threatened to reveal his identity as a Duke if he didn’t marry her?  

‘Well, there’s no way that guy would fall for something like that.’  

No matter how harshly Theodore treated him, Rio was still his friend.  

Even so, Rio couldn’t help but worry that Reinis might have a bad influence on Theodore, who already disliked people.  

Thus, Rio decided to investigate Reinis during his stay at the Duke’s manor.  

The next day, sitting alone in the dining hall where no one else came, Rio asked a servant:  

“Why is no one coming to the dining room?”  

“Ah… well, the Master said he would dine in the study, and Miss said that, because she overexerted herself yesterday, her wounds reopened. During her morning checkup, she was told to stay in bed all day.”  

“Is that so?”  

With a sly smile, Rio stood up and said:  

“Then bring my meal to the lady’s room as well.”  

“Pardon…?”  

“It’s lonely eating alone. And it’s sad enough being sick.”  

Ending his words in a playful tone, Rio quickly made his way to the study.  

After a light knock, he opened the door slightly, peeking his head in to say:  

“I’m having breakfast with the young lady.”  

Without giving Theodore a chance to stop him, Rio dashed toward Reinis’s room.  

By the time Theodore came to catch him, Rio was already inside Reinis’s room.  

He had always been a reckless troublemaker.  

A complete nuisance. Yet, Theodore couldn’t stop Rio.  

It wasn’t just because of Rio’s status, but because he was Theodore’s only friend.  

Since Reinis didn’t seem to dislike him either, Theodore decided to keep an eye on things for now and returned to the study, leaving behind the voices of the two coming from the room.  

Hearing Theodore’s footsteps fade away, Rio got straight to the point.  

“By the way, lady, how did you and Theo meet? Did you fall for him when he jumped out of the carriage? Like, ‘Oh, what a dashing man saving me!’ or something?”  

“Ah, well… actually, that wasn’t the first time we met.”  

“Oh, really?”  

“I don’t know if he remembers, but… we actually spoke once at a banquet. We didn’t exchange names or talk about our statuses; we just had a conversation. Even now, I think back on it as such a pleasant memory.”  

Starting with that, Reinis continued to recall the events of that time.  

Her innocent heart was conveyed entirely as she spoke without a single lie.  

Watching her, Rio had no choice but to admit that his worries had been unnecessary.  

The conversation between the two continued even after they finished their meal and moved on to tea time.  

Rio, claiming the weather was nice, suggested the garden—a spot clearly visible from Theodore’s study.  

Knowing full well that Theodore could hear them, Rio spoke loudly on purpose.  

“Honestly, that guy doesn’t have an ounce of humanity in him. Seeing how he acts around the you, I almost mistook him for a different person!”  

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? No matter how stoic Sir Theodore is, I heard he was kind to Yuria as well.”  

“I’m telling the truth! Ah… when that guy shuts his mouth and doesn’t say a word, he’s terrifying. At first, I thought he was angry.”  

“He can be a little intimidating when expressionless, but it’s not that bad. Sir Rio, you’re teasing me, aren’t you?”  

Through the window, Reinis’s cheerful voice could be heard, but Theodore’s mood was anything but pleasant.  

“Who on earth gave permission to set up a tea table down there?”  

“You did, Sir. You said to keep them where you could see them since you didn’t know what Sir Rio might do.”  

“Ha…”  

Theodore let out a deep sigh and approached the window.  

From there, he could see the neatly arranged tea table and the sight of Reinis and Rio sitting around it, perfectly in view.  

It was true that Theodore would have been uneasy if Reinis and Rio were alone together in a place where he couldn’t see them.  

However, hearing the chatter coming from nearby wasn’t exactly pleasant either. No, what truly bothered him was the fact that Rio was sitting beside Reinis.  

With work piling up day after day, Theodore barely had enough time to spend with Reinis. He cast a sharp glare at Rio, who was boldly sitting in the spot Theodore felt he should be occupying.