Chapter 75……………………………….
“Why are you grabbing an innocent person?”
A familiar voice—one I’d been longing to hear—was followed by a welcome face.
Unlike me, who was caught completely off guard by his appearance, the Emperor greeted Theo calmly, as if his arrival were only natural.
“You found us quickly.”
With an expression full of anger, Theo strode over and pulled me behind him. He placed himself squarely between the Emperor and me, breaking the standoff.
Seeing his trembling hands and sweat-soaked forehead, I could tell how worried he’d been about me.
“If you’d brought Miss Joyce along as a hostage the moment you ran away, you would’ve come to the capital much sooner.”
“Please don’t joke like that.”
Yeah. Says the so-called hostage—it doesn’t feel great to hear.
Since I was already hiding behind Theo like a shield, I shot the Emperor a subtle glare.
Of course, I couldn’t keep it up for long. No matter how much he was my friend’s father, he was still the Emperor. If he wanted to, he could erase me without a sound. That was honestly terrifying.
“I’ll go talk to Joyce.”
“Not here?”
“It’s a basic principle to keep the victim and the perpetrator separated.”
The Emperor stared at his son with a stunned expression.
Nice one, Theo! Seeing the Emperor get hit like that was incredibly satisfying. If it weren’t for this damn class-based society, I’d have lectured him even more.
Kidnapping someone to make them marry your son—why not just talk like a civilized person?
I was worried the standoff might drag on, but fortunately, the Emperor obediently went inside the villa. Only then did Theo finally relax and turn toward me.
Once it was just the two of us, I wasn’t so sure the Emperor leaving was actually a good thing.
When there was a common enemy, it hadn’t felt this way—but suddenly the air grew heavy.
While I was wondering how to lighten the mood, I plopped down first on a small hill beside the villa.
Theo’s guards looked flustered the moment they saw that. Apparently, it was quite shocking for a noble young lady to sit down on bare dirt without a care.
All those days we spent in Bria. Back then, lying on hills and gazing up at the sky with Theo had been an everyday thing.
Had Theo remembered that time too?
Without a word, he sat down next to me.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Duke Seymour came looking for you. He said the time you were supposed to arrive had passed, and you hadn’t shown up, so he suspected Father had taken you. He mentioned he’d been summoned himself a few days ago.”
“I see.”
“If you were expecting the Duke, I’m sorry. Since it was Father who took you, I thought it was something I should handle. Even if you say you don’t want to see me anymore, I’ll understand.”
Seeing him staring at the ground with such a dejected look made anger well up inside me. I didn’t suppress the emotion that surged up—instead, I let it out through my fist.
Theo, having been smacked on the back, stared at me in shock.
“Why did you hit me?”
The fact that he dared ask why, after doing something so deserving of it, just made me angrier.
“You said you missed your friend! There are things you can’t easily tell just anyone. Do you really think our friendship would end over something like that?!”
While I was getting more and more heated, Theo’s expression, on the contrary, brightened.
Honestly, seeing him grin like that made me feel relieved.
Theo being a prince wasn’t really important to me. I couldn’t deny that being isekai’d into a novel and getting tangled up with the original protagonists against my will had happened because of Theo—but that was just a thought I couldn’t completely shake. Maybe the story went off the rails because I got involved with the older brother of the sub male lead. Of course, that was just my speculation.
Either way, Theo was a precious friend to me. Growing distant from him was never an option in my life.
Perhaps my feelings reached him, because the atmosphere grew noticeably lighter. Unlike earlier, when everything felt awkward, it now felt comfortable again—like being with an old friend.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Did you become Emperor to protect me?”
All that deliberation before asking—and Theo just snorted.
“I figured you’d think that. Do you really think the throne is something you just climb onto whenever you want to protect someone?”
“Well, you step down whenever you want and even run away from home, so I thought maybe it was that kind of position.”
At my sarcastic remark, Theo flinched slightly, then pretended it wasn’t about him.
“I talked it over a lot with Father before deciding. Since it was palace business, I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”
“What about acting? Are you really never doing it again? You said you’d go to Bria with me.”
Theo had always been the one to talk about going back to Bria. Now it was only natural for me to say it. After all, I was the one who’d be returning to Bria alone, without my companion.
Seeing how urgently I clung to him, Theo smiled.
“I’ll keep acting. Just like you said, my stage has changed—that’s all. I’m retiring from the troupe, but I’ll continue acting in my own way.”
My sub male lead had officially announced his departure.
Seeing him speak so seriously—quoting even what I’d said—made it hard to joke around and pretend to be upset. I really was sad, but I didn’t want to burden a friend who’d already chosen his path.
He had his own life, a story where only he could be the lead.
“Still, since I helped contribute to you seducing the Duke, do I have to keep that condition?”
“What condition?”
“The condition about not falling in love with Duke Seymour. I’m your fan too, so even if I don’t matter, I hope at least you keep acting.”
“Of course. I’d never choose to give up acting.”
Theo lay back, propping his head up with his hand, looking thoroughly satisfied.
“Don’t worry about the imperial consort decree. Father just misunderstood and thought I might like you, since I seem to care about you so much.”
“So you don’t like me?”
As if it were obvious, he should’ve looked disgusted—but instead, he stared at me quietly. I thought it was safe to joke around, but seeing his unexpectedly serious expression made me wonder if I’d misread the mood.
The hand supporting his head moved closer to my face.
“Joyce…”
Calling my name so tenderly, his hand brushed down my face. My head tilted down, then back up.
Has he lost his mind?
“Don’t say such obvious nonsense. Why would I ruin someone’s marriage prospects?”
Ugh. He could’ve just said that with words.
Maybe he sensed I was about to punch him again, because he dodged nimbly. My fist only hit his afterimage.
Standing up straight, laughing loudly, he suddenly made an absurd request.
“Joyce, will you call my name?”
“My name? Theodore Coventin.”
“No, not that. The name you know me by.”
“Theo?”
At hearing it, Theo took a deep breath in and out.
His fresh, clear features looked like something out of a photoshoot, but his behavior was completely incomprehensible. While I was confused, he looked perfectly refreshed and unbothered.
Then he held out his hand to me.
“From now on, when it’s just the two of us, will you call me Theo?”
I took his hand and stood up, still feeling puzzled.
“Okay, Theo.”
In just one day, I was seen off twice by the Coventin father and son.
After saying we’d meet again in the capital, I left Theo behind and headed for Woodville first.
“I’m not going to marry Joyce.”
He burst through the door, flinging it open, and fired off his business the moment he entered.
“Joyce never said she wanted to. I don’t want to force her into the position of imperial consort.”
The target of his verbal barrage seemed unfazed. Calmly setting down his teacup, he shook his head with a look of exasperation.
“You plan to ascend the throne without an imperial consort?”
“You managed just fine on your own, didn’t you?”
“There’s a difference between losing someone you once had and never having one to begin with. You already have flaws due to being away for so long. If you don’t even have an imperial consort, that’ll just give them another point of attack.”
“As expected.”
Theo snorted, wearing a face that said he’d known all along.
“You pretended it was for my sake, but in the end, you were just trying to satisfy your own ambitions again.”
“This time, it truly was for you. If I were acting out of my own desires, I’d have seated a different Woodville as imperial consort.”
At the words “another Woodville,” the image of his younger sister immediately came to mind. Not just her face—but the face she would’ve worn standing beside him in a bridal veil.
Just imagining it made his skin crawl, and he snapped back sharply.
“Miss Luna Woodville is Noah’s lover. Surely you don’t want to see brothers fighting over a woman.”
“That’s why I didn’t do it. I don’t want unnecessary turmoil before I die.”
“Before you die?”
The Emperor’s hand faltered slightly as he set down his teacup. It was a sign that his composure—usually flawless—had wavered.
Because Theo hadn’t taken his eyes off his father’s face, he didn’t notice it.
“Father, what do you mean by ‘before you die’?”
