Chapter 21. May I Come In?

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Theo stood by the office window, looking down outside.

In the garden visible below the tower, Yuelina and Raye were standing.

Until just now, Theo had been with them too.

If it weren’t for the sharp-eyed Raye chasing him away, he would have staged an accidental encounter.

Theo often stood idly on the roadside, timing it to match when Yuelina would come out.

Ulysse grumbled about why he was blocking the path and inconveniencing the servants.

After hearing the nagging, Theo changed his approach and came out holding a wooden sword, pretending to go to the training grounds.

This time, complaints came from the knights. They asked why he wasn’t leaving the wooden sword in its place.

Everyone seemed to be on edge.

They should just leave their lord be, no matter what he does, but the pointless nagging was increasing.

Anyway, when Theo received glares from Raye, Ulysse, or other servants, he would loiter in front of the terrace.

If he listened carefully there, he could hear Yuelina coming down the stairs.

It must be tiring for her slender legs to climb up and down the tower.

Although Theo had told her several times that she could come down to the office through the opposite door, Yuelina said it was fine.

Perhaps she didn’t want to disturb him since the office was where Theo worked?

Theo had been using the office more as a ‘bar’ for drinking rather than a workspace.

But it wasn’t bad that Yuelina misunderstood him as a capable husband focused on work, so he didn’t correct her.

Above all, it was the perfect space to watch Yuelina wandering around the garden after breakfast.

Sometimes Theo couldn’t understand Yuelina.

He didn’t know why she was hopping around the garden, what was there to see.

Yuelina was always busy strolling through the garden, fields, and streets.

And today, Theo realized one thing.

She misses her hometown.

Theo bit his lip.

Clearly, Yuelina had muttered that she regretted it.

Because she was thinking of her hometown.

When he heard that voice, his heart sank.

His legs almost gave out, nearly making him collapse.

What did Yuelina say next?

She said she wanted to turn back time.

She wanted to send it again if she could turn it back.

What did she want to send again?

Could it be… that she wants to choose and send Theo’s bride again?

Not a chance.

There’s no way to turn back time in this world, and Yuelina has already come.

And Yuelina must live in the Grand Duchy as the Grand Duchess, no, as his wife.

Otherwise, he doesn’t know what he might do.

No…

Even now, he doesn’t know what he might do.

Just seeing Yuelina regretting coming to the principality because of her hometown made all sorts of thoughts run through his mind.

It was a place so far that it took a month to get here.

Perhaps he should move the island villagers to the principality instead.

He could build Yuelina’s village right here in the principality.

Of course, if Ulysse heard Theo’s plan, he would have been shocked.

The thing the Bios Empire was most wary of was accepting refugees.

If they heard the plan for Yuelina’s villagers to migrate to the north, neither the refugees at the northern wall nor the empire would sit still.

Naturally, Theo didn’t care about such things.

If Yuelina missed her hometown, he was determined to uproot it and move it here.

Then Yuelina wouldn’t leave, right?

Although it was a long-term project, until it could be implemented, he could placate her by giving her lots of delicious food that she liked.

He should completely clear out the garden and fields so she wouldn’t think of her hometown.

To prevent Yuelina from even thinking about leaving, he would cut off all possibilities.

Now that she had become his wife, of course…

“Ah.”

Theo paused for a moment.

He suddenly remembered why she had become his wife in the first place.

A sacrifice.

What would happen if Yuelina found out that she had been brought here as a sacrifice?

Theo clenched his fist.

Perhaps he should have the Shadow secretly kill Delkan.

If the Bios Empire found out, maybe he should kill the emperor?

No, then Yuelina would find out that she had been brought as a sacrifice?

Theo’s head was spinning with all sorts of thoughts.

Let’s think again.

The reason Yuelina married him was because of the magic stones.

If Yuelina wanted, he would go all out to find a new continent to mine magic stones.

If what she wanted was an object, he could bring her anything. Taking land and subduing people was his specialty. He was most confident in that.

Every time she felt like leaving, he should give Yuelina magic stones.

That was all he could do for now.

“Theo.”

Just then, there was a knock on the study door.

There was only one person in this principality who could call him ‘Theo’.

Moreover, Yuelina, who should have been visible outside the window, had disappeared at some point.

Theo flung the door open forcefully.

“Ah—!”

He opened the door so vigorously that a strong wind blew, making Yuelina’s white, voluminous hair flutter.

At the same time, the intense floral scent that only came from her body wafted through.

Theo tensed his shoulders with a start.

He had to be careful not to involuntarily reach out his arms, grasp Yuelina’s shoulders, and bury his nose in her scent.

He had always only output what he input.

It was really embarrassing to try not to let his body output what he had input in his mind.

“Come in.”

Yuelina sat on the sofa.

The sofa, made to fit Theo’s physique, was too big for Yuelina. Her feet that didn’t reach the ground dangled in the air.

Theo poured hot tea from the thermal pot and handed it to Yuelina.

Yuelina took the teacup and sipped it.

He had been puzzled when she ate, and the same question arose when she drank tea.

What exactly was she drinking?

What was a single sip for him seemed to be enough for this woman to drink all day.

“Would you like to smell this?”

Yuelina, who was warming herself with the hot tea, held out her small, delicate hands to Theo.

Theo quietly looked at Yuelina’s hands.

As expected, they looked white and soft.

If he held them, they would be warm, and her flower scent would probably seep into his body too.

But what was that on her palm? What was blocking him from even seeing her hands?

“I found this in the garden.”

“Ah,”

What was obstructing his view of Yuelina’s hands was a single deep green leaf.

Yuelina hadn’t held out her hand for him to look at.

She had held it out for him to see the leaf on her palm.

Theo, with an embarrassed face, took the leaf Yuelina handed him.

While it had covered her entire palm when in her hand, now that Theo was holding it, it looked as small as if it had been cut in half.

“Smell it!”

Yuelina pointed at the leaf with an excited expression.

What could it be?

Why on earth was she asking him to smell a mere leaf?

However, Theo smelled the leaf without complaint.

It smelled like grains coated with sugar.

“This, we have it in my village too. It’s a young leaf called ‘Yas’, and we can dry it to make tea.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! It warms the body, and it’s good to drink when you catch a cold. Though it’s a small amount, I’m going to try making some.”

Yuelina looked very excited. She seemed quite thrilled to have found a leaf she had seen in her village here in the north.

She explained about the valley in the village where the ‘Yas’ leaf grows, and how they dry and eat it in the village.

Theo listened quietly to Yuelina’s story.

The ‘Luhae Island’ Yuelina spoke of had beautiful sandy beaches that matched the blue sea.

Walking a little from the beach led to soft fields where butterflies and bees shared the nectar from flowers.

The villagers spent their summers in caves on Luhae Island and played in the water in the valleys.

“It’s a bit cold now, so they probably won’t be playing in the water.”

“I see.”

Theo thought that Yuelina loved her hometown.

More broadly, she loved ‘Luhae Island’ itself.

Even if he could relocate the people of her hometown to the north, he couldn’t move the warm climate and Luhae Island itself to the north.

Theo felt a bit bitter about this fact.

No matter how much he changed the north to suit her taste, Yuelina would still miss her hometown.

Yuelina had even married him to protect her beloved hometown and the people of Luhae Island.

Theo could feel her desire to save Luhae Island, even if it meant using magic stones.

But that didn’t change anything.

If what she wanted was magic stones, he would certainly give them to her.

Even if she might only think of him as a vault of magic stones rather than a husband, that was fine.