Chapter 54. Examination

Thinking her assumption was correct, Yuelina nodded at him.

“Have a good trip!”

“Will you be alright? You’ll have to be alone.”

Yuelina read Theo’s genuine concern for her in his expression.

Sure enough, he must have postponed his schedule because of her.

“Yes, I’ll be fine! There’s no need to worry about me at all.”

“……”

“I have Raye and Maelyn, don’t I? So don’t worry about me.”

“Is that so.”

“Of course! Don’t think about me and have a comfortable trip. You can pretend I’m not even here! I’ll think the same way!”

Yuelina tried to speak brightly with exaggerated reactions to ease Theo’s worries.

However, this behavior only twisted Theo’s mood further.

Why was she smiling so brightly?

When Asarim left, she was depressed with slumped shoulders.

But now that he was leaving, she was bouncing her shoulders with excitement.

Was she happy about having free time now that he would be gone?

Was she so excited she couldn’t hide her delight at the thought of eating alone and taking walks alone?

Theo filled his wine glass himself and quickly emptied it.

This wouldn’t do.

He would have to confine her.

He would have to bind her tightly so that Yuelina couldn’t go anywhere until he returned.

* * *

Theo stood by the study window, looking down at the garden.

More precisely, he was watching Yuelina who was strolling in the garden.

Yuelina and Theo had eaten the chestnut dessert in the garden and taken a short walk.

Theo had suggested they walk more, but she was the one who declined.

The reason for her refusal was that she couldn’t interfere with Theo, who would be leaving in two days.

Theo had no choice but to return inside the Black Mansion.

The preparations could be handled by Ulysse packing the luggage, and Ulysse could take care of all other matters too…

He heaved a deep sigh while watching Yuelina.

Yuelina walked energetically through the garden with her maid Maelyn, showing no signs of fatigue.

The fortunate thing among the misfortunes was that her steps were so small that Theo could observe each of her movements without missing anything.

Yuelina walked around looking here and there, using her hand instead of a hat brim under the pouring sunlight.

Then Yuelina stopped briefly and pointed somewhere to Maelyn.

Maelyn nodded and headed toward the tower with Yuelina.

The two crouched among the bushes and intently examined something.

At that moment, Yuelina’s eyes curved. Her mouth corners lifted up showing a clear smile.

Not toward him, but toward Maelyn.

Of course, Theo thought Yuelina’s smile was beautiful.

But it greatly bothered him.

Right.

This was the Yuelina who had boldly declared she would get along fine with Maelyn and Raye even without him.

Seeing her having such fun exploring the garden with Maelyn, those words must have been sincere.

The image of Yuelina dancing with joy over the delicious chestnut pie was still vivid.

He had been happy thinking those moments were just for him, only for his eyes.

Now that he would be gone, she would probably dance in front of Maelyn and Raye.

He shouldn’t have worried about his crow-tit wife flying away every time she bounced her small, delicate shoulders while humming.

The crow-tit wife was already moving about freely.

Theo let out a deep sigh.

No matter how many times he exhaled, the heaviness in his heart wouldn’t easily fade.

Yuelina had said she would be fine without him.

And what else had she said?

That she would get along well pretending he wasn’t there?

This was no different from when Asarim was here.

Ha.

Not a chance.

Theo roughly ran his coarse hand through his hair.

Confining her still seemed like it would give him peace of mind.

That warm and beautiful smile, that adorable figure fluttering about.

It irritated him to think that others, not him, would see these.

Theo’s jealousy didn’t discriminate between men and women.

The deeper his thoughts went, the more his brows furrowed.

What if someone like Asarim came to the principality again?

In Yuelina’s homeland, they acted like it was natural for friends to sleep together.

Not only would he lose his squirrel and crow-tit wife who strolled in the garden…

Would he also lose the seductive sight of Yuelina sleeping in thin nightwear in the attic?

He definitely needed to confine her.

Theo was convinced.

It seemed the best choice would be to lock Yuelina tightly in the tower while he was gone so no one could see her.

Just as Theo was falling deeper into strange thoughts…

Yuelina, who had been sitting for a while, stood up and looked toward the window where Theo was standing.

“The-o!”

Yuelina called out to Theo in a loud voice.

Theo came to his senses, opened the window, and went out onto the terrace.

“Yuna. Is something wrong?”

Theo asked her in a worried voice. Yuelina shook her head brightly.

“No. Look at this!”

Yuelina was holding something in her hand.

But it wasn’t clearly visible from the fourth-floor mansion terrace.

“What is that?”

“An earthworm! An earthworm!”

Yuelina hopped up and down excitedly in place.

Theo’s heart began to pound along with her.

Ah.

How cute could she be?

Though Theo felt dizzy at Yuelina’s vibrant appearance, he tried hard to maintain composure.

“An earthworm?”

“Yes! You know how I water this garden every day, right? Look, it seems earthworms have appeared because of that! Look at this!”

Yuelina proudly waved the earthworm.

Oh my.

Look at how valiant she looked waving that earthworm! If he had seen this on the battlefield, Theo would have surrendered — she looked that impressive.

To Theo, Yuelina already looked like a knight charging into enemy lines.

“Now the flowers might start giving off fragrance! Having lots of earthworms means the soil is fertile, right!”

Theo actually didn’t care whether the flower fragrance intensified or not.

The mansion’s rich and fragrant flower scent was already perfect just with Yuelina’s presence.

“Congratulations.”

At Theo’s words, Yuelina ran back to Maelyn with proud smiles, hopping along.

His wife, who had been a crow-tit, had now transformed into a white squirrel freely roaming among the bushes.

The corners of Theo’s mouth also drew deep curves in response.

Damn.

What was I thinking?

Theo suddenly felt enormous guilt.

She was a wife who became overjoyed at finding just one earthworm.

To think he had planned to lock such a wife tightly in the tower.

What kind of crazy husband was he?

Theo heaved a heavy sigh, feeling sorry toward Yuelina.

But he didn’t know what he should do either.

The anxiety that Yuelina wouldn’t be by his side, that Yuelina might leave him, wouldn’t easily fade away.

This too was an illness.

So he needed treatment after all.

* * *

David suddenly received another summons from the Black Mansion.

This was the second time Theo had called for him first.

He rescheduled his other appointments for the day to tomorrow and headed straight to the mansion.

The familiar figure of Ulysse stood at the entrance of the Black Mansion.

The only difference from before was that his dark circles now reached his chin.

Ulysse welcomed the approaching David and let out a sigh of relief.

“You’ve come.”

“Is His Highness’s condition not good?”

“Not good. Very not good.”

David climbed the stairs tensely with Ulysse.

“How was the previous treatment? Did it show any effects?”

“…Well, it did show effects.”

David’s eyes widened.

“Really? Does His Highness now feel the sensation of finding things cute?”

Ulysse let out a hollow laugh.

“Yes. He finds things very cute. So cute he’s about to go crazy.”

“…Pardon?”

“David! Please, this time please! Just give him a completely normal examination!”

Ulysse grabbed David’s hands and pleaded with a desperate face.

Ulysse did acknowledge David’s treatment.

After all, the method David had previously suggested for treating the ‘curse’ had been quite effective for Theo.

Theo smiled while looking at Yuelina and had taken action to do things for her.

That alone was truly significant progress.

The Theo before Yuelina arrived had been lethargic, not wanting to do anything, and emotionally numb like someone unable to feel any emotions.

The only slight problem now was that his feelings of finding things cute had become excessive.

Theo had gone from finding Yuelina cute to wanting to gouge out the eyes of anyone else who found her cute.