‘I could see men collapsed in the distance.’

‘Did he save me? Was it Theo?’

Vivianne still felt dazed by the situation.

Even though he was her escort, they had never faced a dangerous situation together before. She had only seen him training knights in the training grounds, never wielding a sword himself. This was her first time seeing Theodore with a blade in hand.

Crimson blood dripped from the tip of his sword. Vivianne’s face turned pale at the sight. His murderous appearance seemed unfamiliar.

Theodore must have noticed that Vivianne was frightened of him, as he dropped the sword he was holding onto the ground with a thud. Then he lowered himself to help Vivianne, who was sitting on the dirt floor.

He quickly examined her condition.

Her skirt was covered in dirt and stained with grass, completely ruined. When he lifted the hem of her skirt, her once clean knees were covered in blood from being scraped against the ground.

“You’re hurt, Vivi. That must be painful.”

Now he finally resembled the Theodore she knew.

“I-I’m f-fine… Thank you, Theo.”

Her voice trembled faintly. She tried to speak, but her throat kept tightening, barely managing to convey her gratitude.

Was it relief? She thought she would die here helplessly with the baby. Emotions welled up, blurring her vision.

“If you’re fine, why are you crying?”

Theo burst into laughter.

‘True. Why am I crying when I’m fine? How silly.’

Since becoming pregnant, her unnecessary tears had increased. She wasn’t even a child. She felt terribly embarrassed showing such weakness.

“I just… don’t know. Seeing you made me feel so relieved suddenly.”

As she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, Theodore gently pulled her wrist.

“Your palms are scraped too. Let me see this side as well.”

“Hic, huu…hiccup.”

“Both sides are the same.”

Theodore clicked his tongue and pulled out a clean handkerchief from his pocket. He carefully dabbed at the blood on her scraped skin.

The stinging pain made her wince involuntarily.

She had been completely disoriented, but now her senses seemed to return. Feeling a chill, she looked down to find her bodice had come undone, partially exposing her chest.

Her face flushed hot. Vivianne instinctively pulled her hand away from Theodore’s grasp to cover her bodice.

When his gaze naturally fell on her bodice, he quickly turned his head away, embarrassed. The glimpse of his ear showed it had turned bright red.

He immediately took off his outer garment and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Still, I’m g-glad… it wasn’t worse.”

It felt cozy and warm. He truly was a good person.

“How did you get here?”

“Ah, well…”

Theodore scratched the back of his head, seemingly finding it awkward to explain.

“Mother was worried at night and visited your room. When she saw you were gone, she told me about it. So… I followed you out of concern.”

So Matilda came back in the night. The thought that she almost couldn’t escape if she had left a bit later crossed her mind, along with a sudden feeling of unease.

“Thank you for helping me, Theo. But… I don’t want to go back.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to take me back home, aren’t you?”

Since Matilda and Theodore were Kian’s people, they might be trying to return her to her place.

“Please let me go. Please? I… I don’t want to go back to K-Kian. I’m scared…”

Vivianne pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her face.

Watching her, he suddenly pulled her into his arms.

“Calm down. It’s okay, Vivi.”

“Please. Please… just this once, pretend you didn’t see me…”

His arms tightened around her small frame.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t want to go back, you absolutely won’t.”

“Really? We really won’t go back?”

“Yes. I promise. So please stop crying.”

He gently stroked the back of her head as she kept asking between hiccups.

Eventually her sobbing subsided, and when Vivianne pushed slightly against his collarbone, he carefully wiped her tear-stained face.

She felt strange. Not only was she indebted to him, but she had done nothing but whine. She was too embarrassed to meet his eyes.

Just then, there was a rustling sound.

Startled by the sudden noise, she turned her head toward the sound, and a small creature jumped out from the bushes.

“…An!”

As soon as she called the name, An rushed into her arms, having waited for her call.

“Are you hurt? That bad man kicked you earlier. Are you okay?”

Woof!

An barked in response and nuzzled against Vivianne’s chest.

“You must have been in pain. I’m sorry I brought you out and got you hurt.”

Vivianne hugged An tightly and burst into tears again.

* * *

“Are you done crying?”

Theodore, who had been by her side the whole time, gently asked.

“Stop crying now. Your nose is running.”

He made a light joke seeing Vivianne still looking gloomy. She wiped her damp nose with the handkerchief he offered.

“I’ve made your handkerchief dirty because of me. I’ll wash it clean and return it. I’m sorry, Theo.”

“It’s fine. It’s nothing special.”

“…Thank you, Theo. For helping me.”

“I did it because I wanted to. It’s nothing.”

Theodore examined her swollen eyes and smiled awkwardly. He sat down beside her, resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin.

“Are you okay now?”

“…Yes.”

“Shall we go then? Someone might find us if we stay here.”

Is it really okay to go with him?

“But… this doesn’t seem right.”

There were still unresolved issues that made her hesitant to readily go with him.

“Why not?”

“You might suffer because of me. If Kian finds out you helped me… he won’t let it go.”

“Kian isn’t here.”

He chided her, treating her concern as something trivial.

Of course, he wasn’t wrong. While she was grateful for his offer to accompany her, she kept remembering what he had said before.

He had said he didn’t want to be friends, and that he was also a male.

With Kian’s child in her womb, this felt wrong. Though it pained her, she felt she needed to be clear.

“And I… I’m carrying Kian’s baby.”

Theodore was silent for a moment, then pulled up the corners of his mouth again.

“I know. Mother told me.”

“The other day, when you…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence. The warmth in his eyes made her feel she didn’t need to hear his answer.

Knowing Theodore’s feelings, she couldn’t impose on him while carrying another male’s child.

Even if he liked her as a female, she could never reciprocate those feelings. She felt too sorry and uncomfortable.

“If you’re asking if I like you? Yes. I do like you, Vivi.”

Despite it being a potentially uncomfortable question, he readily admitted it. She had suspected it, but this was the first time hearing it directly from him.

“But Vivi, before being a male, I am your escort. I don’t care if Kian tells me to stop or not. I’ve decided to do this, and Kian is no longer my master.”

When he declared this, Vivianne’s eyes widened slightly.

“There are more bad people in the world than you might think. You’ll need someone’s help to take responsibility for a baby and a puppy.”

“…”

Suddenly, she remembered the words Kian used to say, almost like brainwashing.

You can’t live without me.

Each time she heard those words, her heart ached sharply, but she couldn’t deny them.

After all, she had escaped with Penelope’s help, only to encounter bad people. But she could trust Theodore.

“I understand it might be uncomfortable.”

“No. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable… I just feel like I’m being a burden to you.”

“A burden? That makes me feel a bit sad.”

Perhaps trying to ease her concern, Theodore met her eyes and smiled playfully.

“I don’t want to rush you, but we don’t have time to linger. Knights might come searching this way soon. Shouldn’t we hurry and get your wounds treated?”

Theodore was right. After managing to escape, they couldn’t afford to be caught again by being careless.

He stood up and extended his hand.

Vivianne stared at it. It was truly a large, reassuring hand.

“I won’t ask for anything more. I’m just your escort… Please allow me to help you until you settle somewhere safe. That would put my mind at ease.”

After hesitating briefly, Vivianne took his hand and stood up.