7. Young Duke Theo Crawford  

In order to become an excellent ruler of the Empire, maintaining peace with the surrounding kingdoms and duchies was extremely important, and in order to maintain that peace, one had to understand them well—because of that reasoning, thanks to the Crown Prince, who had already been living abroad for studies for about seventeen years, Theo had to go to work at the Imperial Palace again today.  

In truth, it was to keep up the pretense of “going to work” while serving as the Emperor’s conversational companion. Theo strolled through the garden with him, talking about trivial things like legends of flowers and how trees grow, and then sat facing him over lunch and chattered earnestly about ingredients.  

In other words, the Emperor was filling his son’s absence with his nephew. Theo wanted to ignore the summons because it was annoying, but the man was still the Emperor—and there was also the request from Theo’s own father, Duke Deperet Crawford—so Theo would move his heavy steps to the Imperial Palace without complaint. And he had been doing this for thirteen years already.  

“I’m thinking of holding a ritual for you soon. It would be so good if we could offer the blue deer as a sacrificial offering…… but I suppose it’s impossible again this time, isn’t it?”  

Looking at Emperor Adam Crawford, who spoke with regret, Theo also drew in a rough breath, feeling stifled. A prophecy, they said, had descended in the year Theo was born. A cardinal who could interpret such revelations had said that a curse lay upon Theo, and that because of that curse, he would lose many of his bloodline.  

Hearing that, Theo became afraid of marriage. Especially marriage to a woman he loved. To see the woman he loved lose a child and suffer because of his curse—that would be truly horrifying.  

Because of that curse, whose cause he did not even know, his parents had to live with constant guilt toward Theo and constant anxiety.  

The one consolation was that another prophecy—one that said the curse could be lifted—claimed that if the legendary “blue deer” was offered to the god as a sacrifice, it would be resolved. After that, his father held hunting competitions, hoping that someone—anyone—would catch the blue deer. But even after decades passed, the blue deer did not show so much as the tip of its nose. Then, not long ago, he heard from Judy that she had seen the blue deer.  

But he had not told anyone at all about the blue deer yet. He needed to verify it again in secret.  

“Thank you for giving me your precious time again today, Theo.”  

On the way back home under the Emperor’s send-off, the reason Theo could not carry out his plan—going to the forest to learn the blue deer’s whereabouts—was because Asilly Leroni had suddenly burst out in an alley.  

Theo had plainly watched Asilly Leroni’s fox-like behavior as she clung to innocent Judy and subtly tried to profit for herself. Recently, her actions had crossed the line, and Theo had firmly warned her.

‘Up until now, I let it go because you were Judy’s friend. But I despise you, Asilly Leroni.’  

‘Despise me as much as you want. Despise Asilly Leroni all you want.’  

‘What?’  

‘It doesn’t matter. I’m not Asilly Leroni—I’m Judy Gra—’  

But the answer that came back from that girl was absurd in every way. She spouted nonsense, claiming she was “Judy,” and now she looked like she might even start dancing with glee, telling him to despise her as much as he wanted.  

Of course, Theo didn’t have the luxury to argue with such a mad girl—Judy was being carried unconscious by a stranger out of a building. He quietly watched the attending physician, hoping the situation wasn’t severe.

“It seems you’ll have to wait until she regains consciousness.”  

The attending physician rose, as if he had finished everything he could do right now. Beside him, Gianna—standing there as if she might die from worry—made a despairing face.  

“Miss……. Sob, why do things like this keep happening to you these days…….”  

Just as she said, it bothered Theo that he could not deny it. She had just been lost in the forest and injured recently, and now this. Seeing the wounds on her delicate face made him uneasy.

“It’s raining far too heavily outside, and night is falling. When Miss Judy wakes up, I will inform you, Young Duke.”  

It meant he should go back now. Theo did not insist. Once he left the Grant Marquisate, rain was pouring down with a frightening force as if the sky had burst open. He got into the waiting carriage, and it was around the time he was nearing home—thinking of the unresolved curse and worrying about his close friend who kept getting hurt—when he arrived.  

“Huh?”  

With quite a distance still left before the main gate, Theo opened the front carriage window.  

“What is it?”  

“……Th-that is…….”  

The driver looked troubled and glanced forward. When Theo opened the left window to see, Asilly was in front of Theo’s mansion, drenched by the rain, stamping her feet.  

It seemed his warning had been quite amusing to her. “Disgusting” had been an indirect threat to stay out of his sight, but she seemed like the kind of stupid woman who only understood when things were said outright.  

Theo got down without hesitation, holding an umbrella. And with angry strides, he closed the distance between them in an instant.  

***

The anxiety felt like it was burning her throat, as if bile would rise up. Sweat ran down her spine, making her body sticky, and the thirst that felt like it would scorch her made it impossible to focus. Just then, the carriage stopped behind her and Theo got out.

Judy, who had fled from the alley, had not gone home. If what happened in the square had spread all the way to the house, she would have nothing but beatings waiting, and if she went to the Marquis Grant’s residence, she might be framed for having hurt “his daughter” and end up punished.  

So, for Judy, coming to Theo—someone who seemed unlikely to hit her or punish her—was the best choice she had.  

“Theo!”  

At her call, not only Theo but even the knight standing with him twisted his face into a fierce scowl. Like, ‘What is she saying now? Has she lost her mind?’—that kind of expression.  

But right now, Judy didn’t care about their feelings. She ran with all her strength and grabbed his trouser leg.

“Please, help me. Theo! Please, save me!”

Now, Theo might be the only person who could save her life. His eyes, looking down at her desperate plea, were cold and indifferent.

“Was my warning funny?”  

“Theo, listen to me.”  

“This woman—drag her out. Never let her appear in my sight a—.”  

“Legato rose!”  

Judy shouted without thinking toward Theo, who was turning his back on her. A secret only the two of them knew. Proof that she was Judy, not Asilly.  

“At the Gabojé where Legato roses bloomed everywhere…… what you did to me when you were seven! That’s our secret, just between us!”  

The fierceness in his eyes slowly loosened, and soon his neck and ears began to redden.  

“Shall I drag her out?”  

Anthony asked awkwardly at Theo’s side. Theo let out a deep sigh, then quietly looked at Judy lying flat on the ground. Then, after gesturing for them to step back, he spoke in a firm voice.  

“Follow me inside quietly.”  

***

She wrung out her soaking wet hair with a towel a servant had brought. But it was not something that would dry with just this. Because Theo motioned sharply for them to leave, the servants who had brought the towel and tea also had to hurry out of the room.  

“Are you really Judy? Not Asilly Leroni who heard from Judy about what happened with me at the Gabojé where Legato roses bloomed?”  

The moment they left, Theo—leaning back deep in his chair—asked impatiently.  

“I am Judy. And why would I brag about something like that?”  

“Well, it’s not some huge crime that needs to be hidden.”  

“That isn’t what matters right now, Theo.”  

“It matters to me. Because I need to confirm further whether you’re really Judy or not.”  

“When I sometimes couldn’t sleep properly because of nightmares, I can even sing the song you composed for me.”  

“…….”  

“Flutter, flutter, the butterfly brought spring. It brought spring because it missed our baby…….”  

Theo’s pupils widened. That song was a lullaby Theo had written and composed solely for Judy. A lullaby he had truly sung only to Judy. Even the guarded look in his eyes was slowly easing. But since he still had not completely lowered his guard, Judy decided she would play her strongest card.  

“I wasn’t going to do this, but……. My husband Theo, today’s side dish is frog steamed with tulip leaves.”  

“You really are Judy Grant.”  

When she recited a line they had used back in childhood while playing pretend husband and wife, Theo understood at once. That line had been so mortifying to him at the time that they had only used it once. Yet he had remembered that horrible line for a long time.  

“Yeah. I’m Judy! How many times do I have to say it? Why only now……!”  

Seeing Theo finally become certain she was Judy, the sorrow that had piled up until now burst out. It was such a relief that even one person recognized her. It felt like she was slowly crawling out of the intense fear that she might have had to live as Asilly forever because no one recognized her.  

“How could something like this happen?”  

“I don’t really know either. That’s why it’s so frustrating.”  

“This started that day, didn’t it? The day after the hunting competition.”  

“That’s right.”  

“Yes. That day in Judy’s room, you scolded me for not recognizing you.” 

Strictly speaking, since she was in Asilly’s body, it was natural that Theo could not recognize her—yet she had resented him so much.  

“I was so lost back then. It’s only natural you couldn’t recognize me……. I’m sorry.”  

“I’m still confused.”  

He let out a deep sigh and raked a hand through his hair.  

“I’m confused too. But if I just stay confused, I think my life might be in danger, so I’m trying to pull myself together.”  

“Come to think of it, you said there were men trying to kill you.”  

“More precisely, it’s Asilly. Asilly is trying to kill me and live on in my body.”  

As Theo recalled that day’s memory, his expression turned grim. He seemed to be mulling over Asilly’s actions—being carried out on a man’s back. As if he had grasped Asilly’s hidden intent, he let out a hollow laugh.  

“No way.”  

“Exactly. What you’re thinking. She’ll probably pretend to have amnesia from now on.”

As Theo shook his head as if sick of it, Judy spoke again.  

“So, because of that…….”  

“…….”  

“I need you to protect me, Theo.”

Strongly, and desperately.