Chapter 58. I Don’t Need a Leash

He wanted to forget all the diagnoses he had made. But unfortunately, he remembered them too clearly.

He had said to establish a clear master-servant relationship.

To pat her head too.

What else had he babbled before that?

Hadn’t he said to publicly show off the crow-tit’s… no, Her Highness the Grand Duchess’s cuteness to everyone?

“What should I do now?”

“What do you mean what should you do!”

David shouted loudly at Theo’s words.

“Ah, no, why did you try to confine Her Highness the Grand Duchess, no, that’s not it! Why did you tell me she was a crow-tit instead of Her Highness… ha.”

Theo became embarrassed at David’s outburst.

Thinking about it, this incident happened because he had lied about Yuelina being an animal he was raising. There was no need to pressure David.

He just didn’t know how to turn Yuelina’s heart around, how to make her say it was okay to see his face! hear his voice! again.

David downed the cold water Ulysse had given him in one shot and stood up.

He sat on the sofa opposite Theo and barely managed to calm his racing heart before looking at Theo.

Until just now, Theo’s intimidating presence had made it hard to breathe, but the Theo before him now looked completely deflated and anxious.

“Your Highness. Apologize to Her Highness the Grand Duchess. Sincerely.”

“She said she doesn’t want to hear my voice.”

“You still need to speak! Because you need to apologize!”

David felt resentful toward Theo.

If he had said it was the Grand Duchess from the start, he wouldn’t have made such a diagnosis, given such counseling.

But he could also understand how much Theo thought about Yuelina.

The feelings Theo harbored for Yuelina must be very unfamiliar to him.

To the point where he couldn’t handle them.

David understood those feelings and knew how precious they were to Theo.

For Theo, who usually despised medical examinations and counseling, to call him for the first time — he must have been very anxious.

Was he that worried… that he called me?

Was he at a loss because he found his wife too cute?

Though Theo’s actions were clumsy to the point of being ridiculous, David could clearly feel Theo’s sincerity.

So there was no use in resenting Theo or arguing about who was right or wrong.

He sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders. Then he addressed Theo in a gentler manner.

“You must apologize, Your Highness. A married couple isn’t a master-servant relationship. Her Highness the Grand Duchess isn’t someone you just need to care for and find pretty.”

“……”

“You and Her Highness are equals — you should also receive affection and care from her.”

“I can receive affection and care from the Grand Duchess?”

Theo stared at him with a bewildered expression.

“Yes. So you need to restore your relationship to how it was before.”

“Then, should I make plans to confine her like before?”

David and Ulysse both gaped at Theo’s words.

It seemed this would be a long night.

* * *

After showering, Yuelina changed into her nightgown and lay in bed. Perhaps because her hair wasn’t completely dry at the ends, the bed felt damp and slightly uncomfortable.

Yuelina tossed and turned several times before sitting up.

The cozy attic was warm. It was so toasty that her hair would dry quickly.

Her face was the same way.

The heat in her face showed no signs of subsiding.

Bad person.

Yuelina thought of Theo and pouted.

She had been moved by his warm, affectionate touch and his soft, gentle voice.

But when she realized those actions were no different from the maids calling to the cats, she felt a surge of anger.

Had Theo always seen her that way?

Not as a wife or a woman, but just treating her like a cute pet!

Yuelina felt so hurt by this.

She even regretted the time she spent choosing dresses with Maelyn to look good for Theo.

“Hmph. Like I, ugh! Always thought of him as a husband?”

Yuelina muttered while crossing her arms angrily.

She hadn’t always thought of Theo as a man or husband either.

When talking business with Ulysse, he looked like a reliable and impressive ruler of the principality.

When he returned from training at the practice grounds with wet hair, he looked like a dependable warrior.

Of course, when that training was so intense that even his thin shirt was soaked with sweat, she secretly thought he looked like a beast.

His tightly packed muscles when tensed made his large frame even more prominent…

It was too magnificent a sight to look away from…

Yuelina shook her head vigorously.

Now she realized the heat in her face wasn’t from anger but from imagining Theo’s body.

Yuelina felt indignant.

While just thinking about Theo made her heart pound, did he just want to throw food at her when he saw her?

“Yuna. May I come in?”

Just then, there was a knock and Theo’s voice came through the door.

“……”

“I have something to give you. Please open the door.”

Theo’s voice sounded somehow very subdued.

Yuelina hesitated before finally getting up.

“What is it?”

Yuelina opened the door just a crack and poked her head out.

Theo stared intently at her.

Her pouty, puffed-up cheeks looked exactly like a squirrel’s.

Theo quickly erased the squirrel thoughts from his mind and met her gaze.

“May I come in?”

“……”

“It’s cold out here.”

“You’re cold?”

Yuelina opened the door wide at Theo’s words.

She rationalized that while she was angry at Theo, separately, the cold needed to be avoided.

If the ruler of the principality caught a cold, it would trouble the citizens, so letting him in was unavoidable.

An awkward atmosphere settled between the two after they entered the room.

Theo hesitated before handing over the box he was holding.

“Here.”

Yuelina took the box Theo handed her and opened it.

Inside were three fist-sized green orbs.

“What are these? Toys?”

To Yuelina, the green orbs seemed about the right size for a dog to play with.

Now he’s openly treating me like a pet! Yuelina fumed.

“You want me to play with these?”

Theo was thinking how cute Yuelina looked as she shrugged her shoulders angrily.

But he was aware enough to know he shouldn’t find her cute right now, so he shook his head with a serious expression.

“No, that’s not it…”

“I don’t need things like this!”

Yuelina grumbled as she returned the box to Theo.

Forced to take the box back, Theo carefully placed it on the table while slumping his mountain-like shoulders.

“I know you don’t want to hear my voice right now.”

“Y-yes! That’s right!”

“I understand. Ask Raye about how to use them. I have to leave tomorrow.”

Yuelina’s expression hardened slightly at Theo’s last words.

Tomorrow already.

The day Theo had to leave for the southern region on business had suddenly arrived.

Yuelina glanced at Theo.

Theo stood with his hands behind his back, staring at Yuelina.

“Is there anything you’d like? I can buy it when I return.”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Still, I’m going far away, so I’ll bring you a gift.”

“Why? Are you going to buy me a leash or something?”

“A leash…?”

“I don’t need things like that!”

Yuelina turned her head away primly.

Theo helplessly raised and lowered his hands in the air repeatedly.

“Since when did you start thinking of me as a cat?”

Yuelina asked in a sharp voice while keeping her head turned away.

Theo had never thought of Yuelina as a cat.

Rather than a cat, he had thought of her as a crow-tit or squirrel or chick, but…

He obviously knew he shouldn’t say that.

“No, Yuna. I…”

“Hmph! Never mind! Sometimes I think of you as a, a bear! Like a bear too!”

Theo nodded in agreement.

“Yes. I’m like a bear sometimes. Slow-witted.”

“That’s right! Big like a bear, and a slow-witted beast! From now on I’ll treat you like a beast too!”

When Yuelina called him beast-like, Theo flinched slightly at those words.

This woman… Her observation skills are impressive.

Theo was internally admiring Yuelina’s powers of observation.