Episode 4
“Yeah. Why?”
Still in ‘guilty mode,’ I blinked my eyes and reacted with as much sincerity as I could muster.
“Later, when things aren’t so busy… let’s really go see that opera.”
It was my way of trying to appease him.
“Of course. Shall we go tomorrow? Have you been wanting to see an opera that much?”
What’s on my schedule for tomorrow? Forget it, I’ll push everything back! Future me, good luck!
Hearing my words, Theo smiled as if choosing to be fooled one more time.
“Really? You’re not busy?”
“Mhm. Most of the busy stuff is wrapped up now.”
I didn’t say all of it was done, so technically, it wasn’t a lie. Just as I was about to mentally pat myself on the back for that smooth evasion—
“I feel like I heard that last time. And the time before that.”
Theo’s sudden reality check hit me like a physical blow. I fell silent, properly chastened.
He was right. This was the third time we’d made plans for the opera.
Due to Rebecca’s reputation—a woman who had inherited a title after her husband’s untimely passing—we couldn’t exactly date out in the open. Legally, there were no restrictions, but rumors were bound to fly. People would whisper that the ‘Black Widow’ who devoured her husband to snatch his title and merchant guild was now using that wealth to toy with a young paramour.
Because of that, we had met almost exclusively at this townhouse, save for our first few encounters.
Perhaps Theo had grown weary of the repetitive routine, as he had started suggesting popular hotspots among the nobility: lakesides famous for their night views, or scenic suburban riding clubs.
But as everyone knows, hot places have many eyes. Which meant rumors spread easily.
In the suffocatingly small social circles of the capital’s nobility, Rebecca’s standing was at rock bottom—someone meant to be trampled upon. I simply had to endure the criticism. Whenever I occasionally attended a tea party, some Baroness would inevitably gossip—loud enough for me to hear—about a certain woman who supposedly disguised her husband’s murder as an accident to seize his fortune, or how a lady’s true value lay in tending to her husband and the family’s internal affairs.
I don’t care if they insult me to my face with those ‘refined’ metaphors. It doesn’t even itch.
However, while I could handle being badmouthed, I couldn’t stand my sweetheart hearing such nasty things. It’s not like I could pull a ‘Northern Grand Duke’ move and exact revenge on the gossiping nobles. He’s a Duke, and I’m just a Viscountess!
So, I practiced a bit of mental gymnastics—telling myself I was avoiding them because they were beneath me, not because I was afraid. I’d make excuses like, “The lakeside is too cold, let’s go in the spring,” or “I don’t know how to ride a horse.”
Theo, apparently taking my excuses at face value, tirelessly brought me new date ideas for every trendy spot in town. My excuses, in turn, became increasingly pathetic.
I became a liar who claimed to love swimming but was too afraid of water to go on a cruise, and a perfume collector who couldn’t visit a rose garden because of a pollen allergy.
Even Theo, who was prone to believing the best in people, eventually realized something was off.
This couldn’t continue.
After much agonizing, I searched for a place where we could hide our identities, and that was how I settled on the Opera House. It offered private boxes for high-ranking nobles that were completely shielded from public view. It would be expensive, but if I booked a private room, we could avoid the prying eyes of other aristocrats. Fortunately, Theo had been delighted by the suggestion.
But as luck would have it, every time we tried to go, something exploded at the merchant guild.
The first time, a certain Marchioness—a famous trendsetter in high society—contacted us saying she wanted to purchase our products. Since she was a high-ranking noble, I, as the guild leader, had to visit her personally.
The second time, a fire broke out at the workshop that was a fixed supplier for the Felice Merchant Guild. I had to hold emergency meetings to figure out how to handle the existing orders while the workshop was being rebuilt.
Naturally, as the boss, I couldn’t exactly skip out.
Theo hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint, despite me canceling on him twice for work. I really was the worst. If I posted on the internet about an older, widowed lover who kept canceling dates because of work, I’d probably get twenty-four comments telling him to dump that ‘trash car.’
Thirteen comments saying he’s digging his own grave, and maybe six saying they won’t even try to stop him since he won’t listen anyway.
While I was reeling from the critical damage Theo’s words had dealt to my conscience, he was the one who ended up comforting me.
“I like just being alone with you like this, too, Rebecca.”
Wow. Are you a half? Half-Angel, half-Korean?
An angel. He was just too kind. I could almost see a halo glowing behind him, purifying my work-weary soul.
Ah, so bright!
When I narrowed my eyes and frowned as if actually blinded by his radiance, Theo asked worriedly, “Do your eyes hurt?”
Before I could answer, he cupped my cheeks with a gentle touch.
“Hold on, let me see.”
My heart rate spiked as his beauty suddenly filled my vision without any warning. His blue eyes searched mine seriously for a moment before he pulled back slightly.
“They look okay. Did something get in them?”
Because his hands were still cupping my face, his red lips were right there, moving right in front of me.
“I don’t know about my eyes, but I think the age rating for this scene is about to go up.”
Into the ‘Adults Only’ territory.
I lunged forward and pulled Theo into a deep kiss. Taken aback by the sudden skinship, his ears turned bright red.
“Wait a moment, Rebecca.”
Why? I’m a dangerous beast right now.
When I didn’t let go and kept clinging to him, Theo shied away and gently pushed me back. My shy lover was always embarrassed by intense displays of affection outside of the bedroom.
“Look at you, being all shy.”
The playfulness triggered by his cuteness hadn’t faded, so I spoke with a mischievous smirk. Staying true to the concept, I let my hands wander toward his thigh and waist. Theo immediately caught my hands, interlacing his fingers with mine.
Caught red-handed. Literally.
Well, if you want to tie me up and lock me down, I’m all for it.
Perhaps my lecherous inner thoughts were showing, because Theo’s voice was a bit pouty as he replied, “Don’t tease me.”
Oops. If I tease him more, he’ll actually get upset. Just as there is beauty in a person who knows when to leave, there is beauty in knowing when to stop a joke.
I straightened my back and gave him one last, loud ‘mwah’ on the lips. Then, I released his hands and sat a small distance away—far enough that we could naturally meet each other’s eyes.
Then, I spoke with a sincere, serious voice.
“I like just being with you, too.”
I was a homebody by nature and didn’t really like going out anyway. To be honest, I preferred being alone with him over going anywhere else. If I spent all day ‘out’ at the office, shouldn’t I spend my evenings and weekends ‘in’?
“But I think watching an opera with you and having dinner somewhere other than this townhouse would be wonderful, too. So, you don’t have to give up the things you want for my sake.”
I loved Theo’s considerate and gentle personality. But one of the few lessons I had learned in life was that one-sided relationships don’t last. I was too jaded by society to believe in ‘happily ever after,’ but I truly dreamed of a happy ending with Theo.
Even if I thought I was doing it for his sake, and even if the circumstances were unavoidable, it’s not right for Theo to be the only one constantly compromising.
If I let this go, Theo would likely give up on the idea of the opera entirely. He’d go back to unilaterally matching my schedule as if his own desires were just a passing whim. Theo had always put me first—to the point where him suggesting a date he actually wanted to do was a rare exception. He acted as though he was used to molding himself to others.
I met Theo’s eyes and apologized once more.
“I’m sorry. It’s not that I didn’t think our promise was important. You were really disappointed, weren’t you? I promise it won’t happen again. Shall we go out now? It might be too late for the opera, but we can still make it to a restaurant for dinner. What do you think?”
Ever since I truly fell for Theo, his self-sacrificing nature had begun to ache in my heart. I wanted to boost his self-esteem, yet I was the one benefiting most from his humility. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Fine! I just have to do better starting now.
As I mentally scrambled to rearrange my schedule to make time for a date, Theo stopped me.
“It’s really okay, Rebecca. We don’t have to go. Instead, let’s take a nap together.”
“A nap? All of a sudden?”
While I was ready to do anything to make up for my guilt, Theo’s suggestion was quite unexpected.
“Your eyes are red. You look like a rabbit.”
Theo gently rubbed the area under my eyes with his thumb. His touch was careful, as if he were wiping away a stray smudge of paint.
That’s a dark circle, honey. It doesn’t rub off.
And if you look at me with such a grave expression, I’m going to get hurt, you know?
Is my face really that bad right now?
I turned my head this way and that, looking for a mirror to check my appearance. Theo, you… He used to say I was pretty no matter what I did. He’s changed, he’s changed!
Feeling embarrassed, I deflected the blame onto him. Objectively, Rebecca was cute, but not a classic beauty. With common dirty-blonde hair and green eyes, her features were considered ‘plain’ or ‘refined’ at best in a world that favored flashy, Western-style beauty.
I didn’t have any complaints about my face back on Earth either—it was the kind of face where ‘looking kind’ was its best feature.
Still, find me one person who hates being told they’re pretty. Theo, who usually looked at me with honey-dripping eyes as if I were the most beautiful being in the world, was now wearing a serious expression. The blow to my vanity was surprisingly heavy.
I stood up, feeling a bit sulky, but Theo hugged me from behind.
“You’re pretty. You’re the prettiest rabbit in the whole world.”
Hmph. Too late for damage control!
“Liar.”
It was a relief I was in a back hug. If we were facing each other, he would have definitely caught the way the corners of my mouth were twitching.
“I mean it. You’re beautiful.”
Still hugging me, Theo tilted his head down and smiled at me with pure adoration. Then, he turned me around and led me toward the bedroom.
