Chapter 35
Meanwhile, he stayed silent, keeping his lips tightly shut, and Fiorentia tilted her head.
“Why?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Her words got almost swallowed up by his large hand covering his mouth.
Theodore had raised his hand, which was bound in chains, to cover his lips, stopping any sound from escaping.
It seemed like he was trying to physically prevent himself from saying something uncharacteristic—but it didn’t really make a difference.
Still, Fiorentia didn’t pay attention to what he didn’t say.
In this space, she was the one in charge.
So if he felt he needed to explain, he had to do so even if he wanted to refuse. But if she didn’t need to know, he wouldn’t speak, no matter how much she pressed.
This time, it was the former.
“To extend our walks.”
She had already decided on that from the start.
But Theodore seemed surprised and asked for a reason.
“Longer than now? Why?”
“To avoid Desdemona’s eyes. I don’t want to show you that I’m completely into you.”
Of course, another reason was practical: to give nutrients to the poisonous mushroom-like creature.
‘No need to waste my life force unnecessarily.’
But that part wasn’t something Theodore needed to know, so she left it out.
Theodore looked at her with only his eyes, lips still covered.
His icy blue eyes were slightly furrowed in displeasure.
Fiorentia had spoken casually, but every sentence seemed to irritate him.
He squeezed out the question,
“…Why?”
Fiorentia tilted her head.
Even at night, her shining platinum-blonde hair flowed down, capturing Theodore’s gaze.
That short question “why” felt very loaded.
‘What does he want to know?’
Does he mean why go out, why avoid Desdemona, or why not show that I like him so much?
‘Maybe I should answer all three.’
After a moment, Fiorentia prepared an answer that covered all three.
“Desdemona takes everything I like.”
The answer she gave caused another unexpected reaction.
“You… like me?”
His voice sounded awkward but slightly rough.
The words didn’t quite fit together smoothly, but Fiorentia didn’t bother pointing it out.
Instead, she decided to just answer his questions as they came.
“Doesn’t it seem like that to others? I’m stuck in a room all day, washing you, feeding you, changing your clothes. And you don’t even notice the effort.”
A sharp, dry laugh escaped Theodore’s lips.
“You’re confusing me.”
He roughly wiped his face, ran his hands through his hair a few times, and his slightly raised eyes looked sharp, like a ready blade.
“From your words, it’s like I’m your son.”
Why did he get so annoyed so quickly?
Trying to lighten the mood, Fiorentia made an unusual, trivial joke.
“Yeah, a son that needs a lot of care.”
“Cut the gross jokes.”
Wait, didn’t he start it?
Even though he had spoken first, Fiorentia frowned in disbelief at his expression and gave him a long, annoyed glare.
She then checked the time and hurried to prepare to leave.
“I’ll go out now.”
If she delayed, she wouldn’t be able to have a witness see her walking.
Watching Fiorentia get ready to leave, Theodore asked reluctantly,
“Really going out at this hour?”
“I usually do at this time. It’s better not to be seen by people.”
“…”
“I don’t like it, and neither do you.”
Then she paused, realizing something.
‘Ah. Is he annoyed because I’m going alone?’
A few days ago, Theodore had jokingly complained about not being able to go on a walk himself.
Fiorentia spoke firmly.
“Sorry, but you can’t. People think you’re a lifeless doll.”
“Who cares? Go ahead.”
Why is he so compliant now?
Perhaps he had composed himself. Theodore nodded calmly.
Fiorentia narrowed her eyes under her mask.
Today, Theodore was completely unpredictable.
She looked at him in confusion and finally spoke.
“I mean—don’t do anything reckless while I’m gone.”
“I won’t.”
For once, he answered immediately and added,
“Behave until the Three Services.”
Really? He still didn’t fully trust her.
Crossing her arms and looking suspiciously, Fiorentia watched as Theodore flopped onto the long sofa with a dry laugh.
“Now it seems you don’t trust me.”
“…That’s not it.”
“Your words and actions don’t match.”
Fiorentia pressed her lips shut instead of replying and walked toward a desk instead of the door.
She opened a drawer and took out something, bringing it to him.
“The walk won’t take long. Keep this until I return.”
“What’s this?”
“After Desdemona barged in yesterday, I thought about a few things. So I organized some rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yes. This is just the basic stuff I thought of.”
When did she even prepare this?
Theodore muttered to himself but took the paper while lying down.
It seemed she had spent some time during the day quietly writing it out.
He chuckled and started reading from the first item.
-
Fiorentia will do her best to help Theodore escape from the Marcella household.
Theodore’s eyes stiffened as he read it.
Fiorentia felt nervous, waiting for his reaction.
Actually, she had left a small loophole in the rule.
By avoiding words like “must” or “certainly,” she could avoid blame if things didn’t go perfectly.
Even though she felt guilty, in the Marcella household—a place that used magic—this was the best she could do.
But contrary to her worry, Theodore didn’t react and moved on to the next item without comment.
‘What will he say?’
Curious, Fiorentia lingered nearby.
Soon, Theodore’s indifferent voice came.
“What are you doing? You said you were going for a walk. Go.”
“Oh? Right.”
“Go. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
“Sure?”
He nodded without taking his eyes off the paper.
Fiorentia gave one last troubled look at his side and left the room.
For some reason, she had a feeling the walk wouldn’t pass quickly at all.
