Chapter 55. Taming

Fortunately, it seemed Theo recognized something was wrong, as he had called for David himself.

“Your Highness, David has arrived.”

Ulysse opened the door and guided David into the study.

David skillfully took out his notebook and sat across from Theo.

Theo had just finished showering, so his hair was still wet.

His gaze was fixed on the whiskey glass placed on the table.

With a languid expression while giving off a faint soap scent, Theo looked just like…

A wet beast.

Due to Theo’s massive build, the headrest of the single sofa he sat in wasn’t visible.

The chest muscles prominently showing through his shirt looked too firm to be considered human.

Even though Theo was just sitting there, his mere presence gave off a strange pressure.

David deliberately took out his notebook calmly.

“Your Highness. I hear you’re not feeling well? Exactly how are you unwell?”

David swallowed hard.

Given his more stern expression compared to last time, the situation might be truly serious this time.

“David.”

Just then, Theo’s low, solemn voice was heard.

David lifted his head quickly.

“Yes, Your Highness. Please speak freely.”

“I have a squirrel I’m raising.”

“Yes. A squirrel… Pardon?”

David blinked.

A squirrel?

Why suddenly a squirrel?

“A white squirrel. It’s extremely cute.”

“…Didn’t you say before that you were raising a crow-tit?”

“I’m worried that squirrel might run away.”

Theo easily ignored David’s words and continued with what he wanted to say.

“I’m also concerned that people might find my squirrel too cute.”

“Ah…”

“So I’m thinking of building a fortress to keep it from running away.”

Theo suddenly closed his mouth mid-sentence and started stroking his chin with a serious expression.

David was writing ‘squirrel’ in his notebook when he tilted his head.

“Y-Your Highness?”

“Hmm. But it seems natural to protect my squirrel from running away.”

“Pardon?”

“Talking to you made me realize. Is it wrong to want to protect a cute squirrel?”

“……?”

“Since it likes to move around, I should just build a large fortress. Right?”

Um…

What should one say in this situation?

David closed his mouth as he saw Theo’s confident gaze.

Ulysse, watching from behind, clutched his head.

That squirrel!

It’s not a squirrel!

Ulysse wanted to shout at David.

However, not having the courage to declare his lord insane with his own mouth, he just kept biting his lips.

Meanwhile, Theo’s face grew more confident as time passed.

“I think confining it is the right choice. Don’t you agree?”

Theo asked David.

David hesitated.

So the reason Theo called him was…

To discuss whether or not to confine a squirrel?

Why was he telling him about whether to confine a squirrel in a fortress or house…?

Shouldn’t such matters be discussed with a butler or secretary?

David picked up his pen while trying to maintain a calm face.

“Well, about that…”

What in the world was this about?

Before it was about a white crow-tit casting a curse, and now it’s about confining a white squirrel because it’s too cute.

Since Theo had requested consultation and he had an obligation to counsel, David fell into deep thought.

Right.

Theo was someone who felt quite uncomfortable with experiencing emotions.

For such a Theo to learn to feel affection and find things cute was truly great progress.

But it could be said that the problem was that his feelings were too intense.

How obsessed was his own seven-year-old daughter with cats?

When she made her sleep separately from the cat, she would cry and make a fuss.

However, with time, his daughter would gradually learn that she couldn’t always be with the cat.

So, Theo was just too inexperienced in handling his emotions.

David put down his pen and looked at Theo.

“Your Highness. Does the white squirrel want to go outside?”

“It has never said such things.”

David scratched his head.

Since the white squirrel couldn’t speak, there was no way for Theo to know.

David decided to change his question.

“Does the white squirrel perhaps cry because it wants to go out?”

“No.”

“Have you seen it trying to escape?”

“No.”

“Then why are you so certain it will run away?”

Theo paused at David’s final question.

Come to think of it, Yuelina had never once said she wanted to leave the principality.

She had never cried about missing home, nor had she prepared to escape.

Theo’s gaze wavered aimlessly.

David smiled faintly as he watched Theo.

“Your Highness. You must find the white squirrel very cute.”

“……”

“That’s why you’re anxious.”

“…The squirrel is cute, but why am I anxious?”

At Theo’s question, David put on a rather serious expression.

“May I speak frankly?”

“Go ahead.”

“Your Highness has never experienced happiness. No, you haven’t felt the emotion of happiness for a long time.”

“……”

“But now that this emotion suddenly floods in, you don’t want to lose it.”

Theo listened to David’s words with a composed expression.

“You’re anxious and afraid of losing that happiness.”

Listening to David’s words, Ulysse became a bit anxious.

Though it might be David’s usual shock therapy for patients, to Ulysse, Theo was his lord.

His lord had never experienced happiness.

Those words hurt Ulysse.

And he imagined they would hurt Theo too.

“Then, what should I do to not be anxious?”

But contrary to Ulysse’s worry, Theo calmly asked back.

Both David and Ulysse looked at him seriously, seeing his calm demeanor.

There was only one reason Theo could calmly accept David’s words.

It didn’t matter if he was unhappy.

However, because he was a fool who didn’t even know happiness, he couldn’t let Yuelina get hurt because of him.

So if there was a way, he needed to fix it.

David let out a relieved sigh at Theo’s rather proactive response and opened his mouth.

“You need to make the white squirrel clearly recognize that Your Highness the Grand Duke is its master.”

“That I’m… its master?”

Meanwhile, Ulysse’s expression gradually hardened.

What?

Master… So, make her recognize that the Grand Duke is the Grand Duchess’s master…?

David, unaware of Ulysse’s thoughts, continued excitedly.

“You need to bond sufficiently. You need to make the white squirrel recognize that this is now its home and that Your Highness the Grand Duke is its master.”

“How do I bond?”

“Feed it treats when it’s cute, pat its head.”

“Hmm…”

“Surely as you tame it, the white squirrel will follow its master, and when Your Highness becomes confident in the white squirrel that has recognized you as its master, you won’t be as anxious as before.”

Theo listened intently to David’s words with a serious expression.

“Tame it, you say. That’s a method I hadn’t thought of.”

“Once it’s sufficiently tamed, you won’t be anxious no matter where the white squirrel goes.”

“Hmm.”

“Because the white squirrel will return to find its master. Your Highness should gain confidence while taming the white squirrel.”

Theo nodded.

“That’s a good method.”

David felt relieved at Theo’s praise.

David had advised Theo like he was speaking to his seven-year-old daughter.

His daughter too had showered excessive affection on her cat, and that affection was a manifestation of her desire to be the cat’s number one priority.

In such cases, it was better to make the master-pet relationship clear.

All relationships become stable when they are clear.

Once Theo also established a clear hierarchy, he would be able to maintain a more stable relationship than now.

David suddenly wondered if he should become a veterinarian instead of a mental health physician.

Come to think of it, Theo was quite beast-like too…

“T-Then I’ll be going now.”

David hurriedly got up from his seat, anxious that his inner thoughts might be discovered.

Still, this was clearly good progress for Theo.

Now that Theo knew what emotions were, it was time to learn how to control them.

From white crow-tit to white squirrel. And soon his emotions could transfer to people.

David concluded the consultation in quite a refreshed mood.