Chapter 57. Her Highness the Grand Duchess?

Staying in her room would only make her think of Theo more.

“Maelyn. Should we go pick some hydrangeas from the garden?”

“Hydrangeas?”

“Yes. They’d look pretty on the table. With cosmos!”

“That sounds lovely!”

On her way down to the garden to pick flowers, Yuelina felt hopeful that she might run into Theo in the study.

She thought about asking if she could place the same vase in his room as the one she would put in hers.

However, when she went down to the study with Maelyn, Theo wasn’t there.

Pushing aside her disappointment, Yuelina headed to the garden outside the Black Mansion.

Maelyn and Yuelina picked three or four stems each of hydrangeas and cosmos from the garden.

Just then, two maids carrying glass bowls approached them.

The maids also hurriedly bowed when they saw Yuelina.

“Good day, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

“Where are you going?”

“Please speak comfortably, Your Highness. We were heading to the incinerator.”

“The incinerator?”

The maids in gray uniforms glanced at each other before speaking.

“There are kittens at the incinerator. They seemed bored, so we’re bringing them food and going to play with them.”

“What are you going to play with?”

“With foxtails.”

Yuelina nodded with a bright expression.

“May I come see them too?”

“O-Of course! But would that be alright? The incinerator is very dirty…”

“It’s fine!”

Yuelina spoke with an excited face.

Her heart was pounding as this would be her first time seeing cats since coming to the principality.

Maelyn and Yuelina followed the maids’ guidance to the incinerator.

The incinerator behind the servants’ quarters was on barren ground without a single blade of grass, with only garbage strewn about.

Then they heard loud meowing — meow–! Meow–!

The maids set down the glass bowls containing water and food in a corner.

Soon after, three or four kittens appeared.

“They’re so cute!”

“Your Highness, they really are adorable!”

The kittens began hurriedly eating and drinking the food and water the maids had brought.

The maids gently stroked the backs of the kittens as they ate while making strong meowing sounds.

“Oh my, they eat so well.”

“How can they be this cute?”

“They’re so good too.”

Yuelina stood behind them nodding in agreement with the maids’ words.

Then she suddenly paused.

Why did the maids’ affectionate praise sound so familiar?

Yuelina tilted her head and fell into deep thought.

“Your Highness the Grand Duchess. Would it be alright if we kept the cats?”

Just then, one of the maids stood up and spoke to Yuelina with her hands clasped politely.

“The head maid wants to chase them away… She says they just make a mess of the food waste…”

“Ah…”

It seemed the cats that had made their home at the incinerator were treating the garbage there as toys too.

“Instead of that, how about keeping the cats in the garden behind the Black Mansion?”

“Would that really be okay?”

“Yes. I like cats too.”

The maids expressed their gratitude to Yuelina.

“Then I’ll go tell His Highness the Grand Duke about it.”

It was proper to inform Theo, the Grand Duke, about matters concerning the Black Mansion.

Yuelina headed back to the Black Mansion with Maelyn.

Just then, she met eyes with Theo who was entering the mansion entrance.

Yuelina smiled brightly and scurried over to Theo.

“I was just looking for you!”

“What for?”

“Ah, there are cats being kept at the incinerator, and I was wondering if we could move them to the Black Mansion’s garden.”

Yuelina glanced at Theo as she continued speaking.

“The cats are so cute… I’m sure you’ll like them too when you see them.”

“Go ahead.”

“Wow. Thank you!”

Just then, Theo patted Yuelina’s head gently.

Then Theo took out a pink candy from his pocket and handed it to Yuelina.

“You’re so good. Would you like one?”

“……”

Yuelina’s face, which had been full of bright smiles, slowly began to harden.

Right.

This praise and gentle patting.

She thought she’d seen this somewhere before.

She was confused, unable to understand why it felt so familiar.

Yuelina looked at Theo with a dumbfounded expression.

She clenched her tiny fists as she watched Theo patting her head and offering candy.

“Theo.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think I am right now?”

Yuelina shrugged off Theo’s arm and shook her shoulders angrily.

Theo was taken aback by Yuelina’s sudden anger.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re treating me like a pet!”

Yuelina was truly angry.

Her heart had fluttered at Theo’s gentle touch, and her feelings had become so warm that she couldn’t stay in the attic.

Her body kept feeling hot, and Theo’s sweet voice kept coming to mind, so she had come out to pick flowers to try to focus on something else.

But that warm and affectionate touch!

It was because he found her cute like a pet.

Yuelina felt foolish for having her heart flutter at Theo’s actions.

She was unbearably angry with Theo.

“You might not realize it, but I’m not a cat!”

“Yuna.”

“I don’t need that kind of affection!”

“No, listen to me…”

“I don’t want to see you or hear your voice!”

Yuelina maintained a cold attitude as she pushed him away.

Then she rushed into the mansion with Maelyn.

Left alone at the mansion entrance, Theo blinked with a bewildered expression.

He was sure Yuelina had liked it.

When he praised her and called her pretty, she couldn’t hide her lovely smile and didn’t know what to do with herself.

Why did she suddenly bring up cats and get so angry?

Theo, who couldn’t comprehend the reality of the situation at first, began to calmly sort through what had happened.

Anyway, there was one clear result.

Yuelina was extremely angry.

And she had shouted that she didn’t want to see him or hear his voice.

This really happened.

Theo’s heart sank with a thud.

* * *

Having received an urgent summons from Ulysse, David hurriedly entered the study where Theo was.

Theo was standing in front of the terrace window with his hands behind his back.

“Your Highness, what’s the sudden matter?”

At David’s urgent voice, Theo slowly turned his head.

David swallowed hard.

Theo’s gaze was unsettling.

His blue eyes flashed with light, and his massive frame seemed even larger than usual today.

The other day he had looked like a wet beast, but today he looked like a starving beast that hadn’t eaten for days.

David wiped away his cold sweat.

Just facing Theo made it difficult to stand.

Theo slowly approached David. As he came closer, deep shadows fell across David’s face.

“What should I do.”

“…Pardon? What about?”

“I did as you said, and now she says she won’t see me.”

Theo grabbed David’s shoulder.

David winced at his grip strength.

“Ugh, please explain so I can understand.”

“She says she doesn’t want to see me or hear my voice.”

“What do you mean? Who said that?”

At David’s question, Theo paused and lowered his hand from David’s shoulder.

“The squirrel.”

“So the squirrel… said it doesn’t want to see or hear Your Highness…?”

David was dumbfounded.

As far as he knew, no squirrel in this world could speak human language.

“Your Highness… that’s impossible. Even if it were a squirrel under some spell, it couldn’t speak human language, could it?”

“She can speak because she’s human.”

Theo muttered quietly as he slumped down on the sofa.

“Because she’s the Grand Duchess.”

“Ah, yes. The Grand… Duchess? Her Highness the Grand Duchess?”

Theo nodded briefly.

David’s legs gave out and he collapsed where he stood.

Why was His Highness suddenly talking about Her Highness the Grand Duchess?

Ulysse quickly handed a glass of cold water to the dazed David. Even after receiving the water, David couldn’t collect himself.

“So, so that squirrel… was Her Highness the Grand Duchess?”

Ulysse nodded vigorously in place of Theo.

David gave a hollow laugh.

So all this time, that white crow-tit, chick, and squirrel he said he was raising were all the Grand Duchess?!

David’s complexion grew increasingly pale.

“Ah, no. What did I say again?”

David clutched his head while speaking loudly to himself.