CHAPTER 63……………………..
‘She’s so unbearably cute, I’m going insane. With that face, like she’s about to die from happiness…’
Jaina flopped back onto the bed.
If she had still held the same mindset she did when she first arrived at the Grand Duke’s residence, she would have rejoiced at how things had turned out.
Her dream of achieving a perfect happy ending—or rather, a perfect bad ending—had finally come true.
The reason she had chosen a bad ending instead of a happy one was simple.
Because living as Theoris’s wife, as Grand Duchess Jaina Blake, was far too troublesome.
Thanks to her knowledge built from countless dating simulation games she had played and the endless romantic fantasy novels she devoured, Jaina already knew how bothersome it would be to step into society, deal with nobles, and carry out the duties required of her position.
That’s why she aimed for the “imprisonment ending”—a route where she wouldn’t have to worry about responsibilities or bothersome human relationships.
‘And yet…’
When she came to her senses, she realized she had been doing the exact opposite of what she’d intended. She tried to solve problems herself instead of leaving them to Theoris, and she repeatedly attempted escapes.
It wasn’t just her behavior that had changed.
Theoris had changed too. He was no longer the same as in the original. He permitted things he never would have before, and even in situations where he had every reason to be furious, he always prioritized Jaina’s feelings.
Just like now.
Jaina recalled the look on Theoris’s face just moments ago.
Guilt-ridden eyes. A voice that claimed he was prepared to be hated, yet eyes twisted with pain.
Unlike now, the Theoris from the original story had felt no guilt whatsoever even as he imprisoned “Jaina.”
[His silvery eyes softened.
Wearing a tender smile unthinkable for someone who had just shackled his wife, he spoke:
【Theoris】 It’s your fault.
【Jaina】 Theo, why are you doing this…?
【Theoris】 Why? I already told you, didn’t I? Jaina, I love you.
His strong arms yanked Jaina toward him. His touch was rough, lacking the slightest consideration, and her body was pulled helplessly along.
【Jaina】 Ah! That hurts!
A sharp pain pierced her slender neck as his teeth sank in like a predator biting into prey. Jaina pushed frantically against him.
Theoris easily pinned both of her flailing arms with one hand. Her wrists ached under the pressure, and tears spilled down her cheeks. His face grew wet with her tears, yet he paid no mind.
He slowly licked the blood beading from her pale neck, then locked eyes with her terrified, fading pink gaze. He smiled.
【Theoris】 I love you, Jaina.
“I love you.”
Words that should have been sweet from a lifelong husband instead made her skin crawl.
When he raised his hand toward her face, Jaina flinched and shut her eyes.
【Theoris】 What’s wrong?
【Theoris】 Jaina.
He clasped both her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. His gaze, tinged with madness, bore down on her lovely eyes as they tried to avoid his.
【Theoris】 I said I love you.
【Theoris】 Answer me.
If she didn’t reply, where would those hands, now only holding her cheeks, move next?
Jaina nodded.
【Jaina】 I… I love you.
【Theoris】 Good.
He buried his face against her shoulder. His disheveled hair brushing against her skin felt like insects crawling, and Jaina swallowed her scream.
【Theoris】 I love you, Jaina.
I’ll never let you go.
Hearing his final words, Jaina lost consciousness.
—Bad Ending]
Shuddering as she recalled the imprisonment ending, Jaina trembled.
‘I must have been insane. How could anyone call that a happy ending!’
She shook her head at the thought of her past self who had liked the male lead’s obsessive, mad, tyrannical side.
She liked it when Theoris was jealous, and when he showed possessiveness, but…
‘More than that…’
She preferred the Theoris who always gazed at her with loving eyes. The Theoris who shackled her ankle to stop her from escaping, yet padded it with cloth so it wouldn’t chafe her skin, leaving it loose out of clumsy kindness.
‘When Theo comes back, I’ll sit him down and talk properly. If I explain things step by step, he’ll listen.’
Jaina blinked blankly.
Her head was already crowded with thoughts of Blackie, likely still in Ferus’s hands, of Cotton Candy not by her side, and of all the other tangled incidents.
‘Come to think of it, what happened with Ferus?’
Ferus had threatened to expose her powers to the world. If Jaina was here now, that meant Theoris had ignored Ferus’s demands.
‘But with Ferus’s personality, he wouldn’t have just let it slide.’
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she grew.
And now that she remembered—
The reporters who had camped outside until just the other day hadn’t been there when she opened the window earlier.
‘If Ferus had revealed my powers, things would’ve exploded by now.’
If the world knew that Jaina could control monsters and pinpoint the Belligus Dragon’s reverse scale, the Grand Duke’s residence would never be this peaceful.
‘No, just sitting here waiting is too nerve-wracking. I have to see Theoris.’
She strained and wriggled, trying to slip her ankle free from the shackle. But Theoris, having already seen her escape once, had made sure to fasten it securely this time.
The shackle clung snugly to her ankle, not quite loose enough to slip off. After wrestling with it in vain, Jaina vented her frustration on a poor pillow.
Knock, knock.
The door opened.
“Theo, perfect timing. Let’s talk—”
Her eyes lit up, expecting Theoris. But disappointment swept across her face. It wasn’t him—it was Homel.
‘Why him, of all people?’
If it had been Ellie instead, she might have at least tried persuading her.
Though she knew it was useless, Jaina forced an awkward smile and spoke in the most pitiful voice she could muster.
“Homel, my ankle really hurts. Could you loosen this a little?”
Homel glanced at the shackle, then shook his head with his usual impassive face.
‘Couldn’t you at least pretend to hesitate?’
“Come on, just a little bit!”
Homel didn’t even bother replying. He dumped what he had brought onto the bed: a fluffy rabbit doll, Jaina’s favorite snacks, and a stack of books.
“Hey, Homel? Did you hear me?”
“…”
“Homel, are you ignoring your mistress right now?”
“His Highness ordered me not to comply with your requests. I apologize.”
Unbelievable. He really hardened his heart.
With a shallow bow, Homel left the room.
Alone again, Jaina sighed at the tightly shut door.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
She’d just have to wait until Theoris came.
Knowing his personality, he wouldn’t leave her unattended all day. Hugging the doll Homel had brought, she thought about how she would persuade him when he arrived.
But without Cotton Candy in her arms, she felt strangely empty.
‘I hope Cotton Candy’s okay. I still need to rescue Blackie too, and feed Poppy…’
Trying to forget her worries for a while, Jaina sifted through the stack of books—then gasped when she recognized a familiar cover.
“Wait… isn’t this Theo’s diary?”
Why was Theoris’s diary here? Did Homel bring it by mistake?
This was his private diary, containing his innermost thoughts. Reading someone else’s diary was wrong.
Even so, Jaina opened it. There was no one in the room to stop her, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
‘Besides, it’s not my fault—it’s Homel’s fault for bringing it.’
Jaina eagerly flipped through Theoris’s diary.
The early parts were things she already knew from her game playthrough: his life after coming to the Grand Duke’s residence, his past worries, his loneliness. The cramped handwriting was steeped in gloom.
Her eyes lit up at the date above the short sentence. It was the day she had first arrived.
<The moment I opened the door, she screamed and rolled on the floor. I thought she must be insane.>
‘That’s too much. Okay, maybe I did seem crazy… but it’s not like I wanted to fall!’
<She said she would be my future wife. Her speech and behavior were so rude I couldn’t believe she was a noble lady. But at least she didn’t seem capable of being the Emperor’s spy, so I decided to watch her for now.>
So he’s basically insulting my intelligence, isn’t he?
<Jaina Blake. She feels no shame even in her undergarments and fears spiders. She’s loud and thoughtless, and sometimes uses incomprehensible terms.>
So this is just page after page of complaints about me.
<She’s not really my type, but she is to be my partner for life. There must be a reason she was made to marry a man the nobility shuns. Even if it’s a marriage I didn’t want, I thought at least I could make it a comfortable one.>
Here was Theoris’s courteous side.
So why had he gone so off the rails lately?
<“You’re beautiful.”
I never thought I’d hear such words directed at me. The gaze fixed on me held not a trace of falsehood.>
Ah, I remember that.
<When I told her people said my eyes were strange, Jaina swore without hesitation. Not words befitting a young noblewoman raised in a count’s family. Yet somehow, those coarse words felt kind.
Rather than comforting me with pity, she cursed those who mocked me. How could I not fall for such a kind woman?>
Calling me kind for cursing—well, I guess that’s his taste.
<Never before have I lost my heart so quickly, after just a single day of meeting someone. Part of me suspects she must be using magic to sway my heart. And yet, I cannot dislike her. A once-meaningless day now feels full of anticipation, thanks to Jaina.>
Jaina fanned her flushed face. Her cheeks hurt from the constant upward pull of her lips.
