Chapter 109

Theon’s sudden appearance left Ayla frozen in place.

As she hadn’t seen him since they entered the banquet hall, his attitude was considered extremely disappointing.

The engagement was perfectly announced thanks to Ariel’s move at the banquet hall, so it didn’t look right for him to pay attention to Zenia and hang around her; but on the other hand, his indifference caused a bit of a disappointment.

‘Jerk.’

He, who dressed her, who used to be quite a noble lady even though she is worthless now, in such ridiculous clothes and led such a ridiculous play, was cold-hearted.

She pretended she was fine and just accepted it since she had no way of avoiding it; but it was true that it was difficult and scary to pretend to be Zenia in front of so many people. Various emotions were mixed in Ayla’s eyes as she looked at Theon.

Theon’s gaze slowly descended, and he frowned as he looked at the closing part of her robe.

Ayla’s delicate skin was subtly revealed through the gaps in the robe because the waist strap was not fastened properly.

Although he saw her skin as much as he wanted at the banquet hall due to Zenia’s free outfit, as he faced her here like this, he felt his mind getting hazy.

Theon, who was struggling to keep his composure while frowning, slightly turned his head, and Ayla followed his gaze and looked down.

After seeing her exposed skin, a small gasp escaped from her mouth as she quickly adjusted the robe around her chest.

Creak, creak.

A creaking sound was heard from the wooden stairs, being pressed by someone coming up.

At the same time, Theon and Ayla’s eyes, who were facing each other in front of the door, shook rapidly.

As the sound got closer and closer, Theon reached out his hand and pulled Ayla’s body into the room.

It was Ayla, who leaned against the closed door with her eyes wide open, surprised by his sudden behavior, and him, who quietly listened to the sound.

Perhaps nervous at the sudden close distance from him, Ayla consciously held her breath, as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

As Theon’s rough breath, who had been listening to their surroundings while embracing Ayla, who was leaning against the door, touched the nape of her neck, she felt a strange sensation as heat rose through her body.

Tap, tap.

The sound of the approaching footsteps suddenly stopped in front of the door. A small knock echoed in the quiet mansion.

“Princess Zenia, it’s Elin. I haven’t cleaned all of your skin… Can I come in for a moment?”

“N-No. I am very tired. I will finish it. You must be tired so go get some rest.”

“Still…”

“I-It’s really fine! I don’t mind! Ahaha, isn’t the bed so soft?”

Elin tilted her head as she heard Ayla’s urgent voice through the closed door, and then said, ‘Then I will go now. Rest well.’

Through the closed door, the sound of Elin’s footsteps got farther and farther away.

As Elin’s footsteps echoing through the mansion disappeared, Theon let out a deep sigh over Ayla’s head as if he had relieved his tension.

“I don’t know why I am nervous when I came to my mansion.”

“Exactly… Who told you to come so secretly? What if something happens at the palace, and you came all the way here?”

When Ayla raised her head at Theon’s words, their eyes met.

Immediately, Ayla could feel her cheeks becoming hot.

She repeated over and over in her mind that the feelings that didn’t exist were rising just because they had only a small distance between them.

Afraid he could hear the sound of her fast heartbeat, Ayla muttered, ‘Y-You’re too close.’, and gently pushed Theon’s body away.

As the distance between the two of them widened, Theon raised his sleeves and coughed in embarrassment, and Ayla kept her head down and fixed her gaze on the floor.

Although their reactions were different, the color of their reddened cheeks were the same.

Theon’s gray eyes followed Ayla’s movement as she said, ‘My legs hurt…’, while adjusting her robe and moving towards the bed.

“Ahem. But why did you really come all the way here?”

“… I have something to tell Orhan.”

“Then you should have come through the door, why did you come through the window…”

Ayla, who had been hesitating, pointed her finger at the window in the back and spoke.

The wind blew through the open window, gently swaying the thin linen curtains.