CHAPTER 37……………………………………
“It’s not that I’m against hearing the news, but I’m not a big eater. I don’t want to waste time on something that has no chance of success in the first place.”
“But I’ll be the one doing the eating. If I succeed, the duke grants the wish; if I fail, he doesn’t.”
“Not every challenge is noble. It’s a virtue to give up on a challenge you’re unlikely to win.”
I lightly shrugged off the hand that had landed on my shoulder and stepped into the restaurant. He followed since I couldn’t go alone and sat across from me.
“I’ll take the Giant Noodles challenge.”
“All right.”
No sooner had I ordered than a server came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl at least three times the size of a normal one. He struggled to bring the noodles in and set the bowl down in front of Peredil.
“The challenge isn’t for him — it’s for you.”
“Huh? For the young lady? Hmm…”
He was smirking as he watched the server move the bowl toward me with a half-doubting expression.
“How could that much possibly fit inside your body? If I’m generous and you admit you misspoke now, I’ll call off the bet.”
“One, two, three. Challenge!”
Ignoring his words, I shouted “challenge!” and began inhaling the noodles. The noodles vanished far faster than Peredil had been aiming for, and everyone in the restaurant gathered to watch me.
Even while I was focused on the noodles, I could clearly see Peredil’s mouth hanging open.
“Done! New, new record!!”
While my face showed smug satisfaction, he looked like he couldn’t believe he’d lost. If I hadn’t taken up acting, I’d have been a mukbang YouTuber by now.
Only after being put on the hall of fame and signing my name could I leave the restaurant. He trudged out behind me looking like he’d lost everything.
“Hurry up and lead the way. I keep getting turned around.”
I’m directionally challenged — something as simple as retracing our steps was beyond me and we ended up lost. Because he was following me, he also got lost and we arrived at a deserted dead-end alley.
“So what’s the wish?”
He took off his sunglasses and wiped sweat from his face as he asked, maybe tired of going in circles.
“My wish is…”
As I went to say my wish, he leaned in toward me with a steady look.
Huh? Did I already say my wish?
My body froze in embarrassment.
Right now? Should I close my eyes?
No clear answers came; questions kept piling up in my head and I felt overwhelmed.
Before I could even close my eyes, his hand slowly rose and touched my cheek.
‘Ugh… damn.’
This wasn’t his plan from the start. In fact, it wasn’t his plan at all.
He only meant to pluck off a small bit of scallion that must have stuck in her hair from the giant noodles. He leaned closer only to examine that presumptuous scallion. It just so happened his hand brushed her soft cheek, but that shouldn’t have been a big deal.
Yet the moment his hand met her cheek and he saw her blush in embarrassment, his heart began pounding — an unbearable sensation.
“She was waiting for a kiss, you know?”
Why did Caitlyn’s words in Mathias that once made him flustered pop into his head now?
In his mind, Joyce’s small, cute lips suddenly appeared. His gaze lingered on her mouth for longer than he realized.
‘Was she really waiting for a kiss? Maybe even now?’
Seeing that she didn’t look away made his mouth dry and impatience grow.
‘If she wants a kiss… then what about me?’
He began to bring his lips toward hers, repeating a short two-syllable word in his mind.
‘Ad… mit…’
Just as he was about to close his eyes, he hesitated. The image of his cantankerous fiancée — ready to gobble up the Woodville sisters — flashed through his head.
Like magnets of the same pole, he quickly pulled away from her.
“There’s scallion here. Such a klutz.”
Without even looking at her face, he hurried out of the alley. He led her toward where a coach was waiting, berating himself the whole time.
‘I have a fiancée, and yet I couldn’t even control such petty desire.’
He told himself that his momentary urge to press lips to lips wasn’t because he truly wanted her.
That thought suited him better — it was easier to believe his messy desire had almost swallowed her than to admit he had feelings for her. He instinctively knew that admitting to affection would lead to thinking she was the only one he could want.
He thought love was a path to ruin, and he wasn’t ready to admit his heart — not yet.
“What are you wearing, Theodor?”
Unlike the warm reunion between brothers, the reunion between father and son felt cold and void of joy. It infuriated the emperor that his son — who could wear the finest fabrics in the world if he wanted — showed up before him in ragged clothes as if nothing was amiss.
“It doesn’t look much, but it’s very comfortable. I finally feel like I’m wearing clothes that fit me.”
Instead of bowing and apologizing, the son he hadn’t seen in a long time only made him angrier.
“Theodor!”
“It’s not Theodor; it’s Theo.”
“What?”
“There is no longer a Theodor. From now on I will live as Theo, and I will never return to the palace. I’m going back to Bria and will live and die as an actor. I came here today to tell you that.”
Noah was shocked to see the brother he knew completely gone.
Before, the brother would immediately kneel and beg forgiveness whenever their father commanded. Now he stood there without batting an eye, bold and composed.
Had he become someone else? Noah was very curious about what his brother had been through while he was away, but he didn’t dare intrude on their conversation.
“Did you think I hadn’t been looking for you? I didn’t look for you! I wanted you to understand, through that clowning around, how precious the things you were born to have truly are. I thought you’d come crawling back on your own. And now you say you won’t return to the palace?”
“I don’t want any of what the palace offers. What I’ve always wanted is a place where I can breathe freely. Father, I can finally breathe. It would be best if you stop holding expectations of me.”
The emperor’s anger overcame him and he threw a glass toward where Theo stood. The glass shattered from the force. The emperor’s furrowed brow and lifted brows showed no sign of calming.
“I have no intention of being the male lead in some heroine’s story.”
Glass fragments slashed beneath his eye as he spoke; thin lines of blood dripped but he didn’t flinch. If anything, his gaze grew clearer.
“But if you insist on playing the villain, then I’ll gladly be the supporting character who takes a blade for the heroine, or who lifts a sword if necessary. That will not be a way to put me on the throne. Stop trying to blackmail me with her.”
Bowing, he offered his farewell and turned toward the door. His hand trembled as he reached for the doorknob — a fact he was aware of.
Just as he put his hand on the knob to leave, he paused.
“Don’t you want a crown princess?”
He scoffed as if tempted words were absurd. Since threats had failed, now came persuasion.
“A crown princess? Do you think me that soft? You, Father, someone as old-fashioned as you would never accept a commoner as crown princess.”
“If it’s to put you on that seat, you’ll have to set aside concerns about the bride’s background.”
“Heh.”
“She can write a little, so even if she isn’t educated she could run a household. She’ll be beautiful, and she’ll know how to flatter people — the people of the empire will love her as crown princess. She’ll make you shine as her husband.”
Theo couldn’t keep from bursting into mocking laughter. He wanted to punch a wall. What at first sounded like praise did not feel like praise to him at all.
It disgusted him to hear someone talk of the woman he loved as if she were a commodity to be priced and sold. He was certain she was not someone to be treated that way.
“She’s not someone who brightens others or leans on someone else’s light — she creates her own light. The palace’s household is too small a place for someone like her.”
“You really are different now. You didn’t even flinch at my words and answered back like that.”
“She was the reason I changed, but it was my choice to change. You won’t see me again. Farewell, Your Majesty.”
He clenched his fist and stepped outside, exhaling a breath he had been holding. The meeting with his father angered him, but what made him feel smaller was himself.
The instant he heard “crown princess,” an image of her in a wedding dress flashed without him meaning to — and that tormented him. He hated himself for dreaming of something he’d vowed not to want.
‘Don’t be greedy. Don’t make situations that will cause you to lose her.’
He suppressed the fierce desire that felt as if it would swallow him, again and again.
