Chapter 18

***

Theodore held my wrist for a while without saying anything.

“Your Majesty…?”

Theodore’s condition was a little strange. The golden eyes trembled thinly.

It wasn’t just the gaze that was shaking. The thick hand that grabbed my wrist was also trembling.

Did he really hurt badly… ?

There was a red stain over the white bandage wrapped around his head. I was heartbroken by the bloodstains that looked so painful.

I carefully stretched out the opposite arm that was not held by him. It was when my fingertips touched his black hair.

Suddenly he pushed out my arm. My body staggered. For the past few days, my body, exhausted from suffering from severe aches and pains, was thrown to the floor as it was.

“Ahhh….!”

I hit the floor painfully, I groaned and stroked my sore body. It was the moment when I was about to raise my head to ask why.

Cheng!

A cool blade was aimed at the nape of my neck.

“….?”

I raised my head involuntarily, but at that moment, I stiffened my body, afraid of being stabbed.

“Armin, you answer. What is this?”

What was contained in the cold voice was a definite murderous intention.

“…This is Sir Yves Llewellyn. Your personal escort, whom Your Majesty brought and kept by your side.”

“Escort?”

A voice filled with displeasure asked the aide back.

“How could the emperor’s bodyguard wander around like that?”

“Ah, that’s because Sir Yves…..”

“If he’s an escort, what was he doing when I fell off the horse?”

“Sir Yves hasn’t been feeling well…… ”

“Isn’t that suspicious?”

Armin tried to explain what he was saying, but Theodore didn’t hear a single word and cut off his words.

Then he raised the blade that was on my neck and gave a daunting command.

“Raise your head.”

“…”

I took a deep breath and lifted my head. And the moment our eyes met, his face suddenly became distorted.

“Ha… ”

“F****.”

And then, I was startled by the profanity that flowed out, and I looked at him with round eyes like a rabbit.

“….?”

What did I just hear?

I blinked my eyes slowly.

But no matter how many times I blinked, the one in front of me was definitely Theodore.

“D*mn, you look like Yvonne.”

I heard him mumble softly. My expression also became serious.

“Your…..”

Cheng!

I tried to call him back, but I couldn’t.

Because the moment I opened my mouth to call him, he raised his sharp blade at my skin again.

As I took a deep breath and looked at him, the sword in his hand trembled.

Clank!

After throwing his sword on the floor, he glared at me fiercely and ordered.

“Get the f*** out.”

“…”

Desperate, my mouth just dropped open and I looked up at him blankly. Then Armin, who could not stand it, came and raised me up.

“Sir Yves, Your Majesty is not feeling well now, so please leave.”

“Is your Majesty very ill?”

“Yes, what… … No, but you look more hurt than His Majesty. Hurry up and get treatment.”

Only after he pressed the nape of my neck with a handkerchief did I realize that I was bleeding.

As I stopped bleeding from the belated pain, I glanced at Theodore.

He must have been really sick, sitting on the edge of the bed, clasping his head with both hands.

Then, when I suddenly met a vicious gaze staring at me, Armin pushed me outside.

“Sir Meyer….are you sure His Majesty is okay?”

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s go first.”

In the end, my back was pushed away by him and I was back into the hallway.

“…Nonsense.”

I couldn’t believe what had happened in the closed bedroom.

What did I just hear?

F****?

But there was  no way my Theo could put such vulgar words in his pretty mouth.

Maybe it was a fake wearing Theodore’s mask? If so, I had to get rid of it.

“Oh my God, Sir Yves! What is this blood?”

“What happened in there?”

“Are you out of your mind? Sir Yves, do you know who I am?”

The knights who approached me, who were confused, spoke loudly.

I stared blankly at them and murmured.

“His Majesty… He used profanity.”

Perhaps my words surprised everyone, everyone was silent.

“….?”

“…..?”

“….?”

Well, everyone must be shocked. (*oh Yvonne, I think they hear him curse every day. They are shocked because you just now know it.)

Seeing their bewildered expressions, I darkened my complexion and left.

***

*Theodore’s POV

Meanwhile, Theodore, who had let Yvonne out, clenched his teeth, feeling the memories getting clearer. The point where his memory was cut off was the day he came to Ferdinand to pursue Yvonne. The traces left by Yvonne were cut off by Ferdinand, and while watching the place, they suggested a marriage.

And Theodore used it as an excuse to visit Ferdinand to find out. With the knight commander Lyndon.

Of course, the marriage talk was just one of the incidental processes to find Yvonne, and he had no intention of marrying the daughter of Ferdinand

“What about Lyndon?”

“A few months ago, Your Majesty gave him a secret mission and sent him away. You didn’t tell me the details of the mission.”

“….”

Theodore swallowed a swear word to himself. Of all things, Lyndon, who would have helped him the most on that day, was absent.

He remembered the Yves Llewellyn he had seen a while ago.

She was wearing a clumsy man’s disguise that could be recognized as a woman at a glance. And she was very pretty.

It was natural. Because Yves resembled Yvonne so much that he was almost mistaken.

The moment his eyes met that woman, his heart beat out of control. The heart reacting to the fake, covered with only the skin, was disgusting and he wanted to cut it out.

“The day I visited Ferdinand, I have lost my memory ever since.”

“Exactly half a year of memory has been lost.”

“Have I not done anything special that day?”

“The day Your Majesty visited Ferdinand with Sir Lyndon… Contrary to your original purpose, you returned without meeting Lady Katarina. When I asked what happened, Your Majesty said there was no need to continue the marriage conversation. And…… ”

Armin said as he looked back on his memories of half a year ago.

“Out of the blue, you threatened your escort and drove him out. And Your Majesty said that there was no need to find a new escort. This caused a lot of concern for Sir Lyndon, but fortunately, Your Majesty visited Ferdinand the next day and brought Sir Yves yourself.”

“Did I bring him from Ferdinand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Theodore’s eyes narrowed even more.

Yves Llewellyn. A mysterious woman hovered around him with a face that resembled Yvonne in his memory.

But it was even more suspicious that he brought her from Ferdinand himself.

Wasn’t that the place where Yvonne’s trace ceased?

Theodore remembered Ferdinand’s young headmaster.

Benjamin Ferdinand was a questionable person with an unknown mind.

Suddenly, Theodore thought that maybe Yves Llewellyn was the spy Benjamin had sent.

“Arrange a meeting with Ferdinand’s headmaster. I’ll have to see him first.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Armin answered in a tired voice and organized the things he had to do in his head.

“And get another escort.”

“Another escort?”

Then he stopped at the emperor’s command.

“Another escort, why all of a sudden… .”

Theodore glanced at him as Armin spoke with the expression that he had heard the most difficult command in the world.

“…”

Armin, startled by the silent gaze, had to swallow the hiccups.

***

That afternoon, Armin Meyer came to me as promised.

And he explained Theodore’s condition very kindly to me.

“His Majesty has lost his memory in the last half year.”

“…”

Memory loss. I was speechless for a moment at the words that sounded like something out of a popular novel.

He said Theodore had lost his memory… … 

So he couldn’t remember the last half year, and he couldn’t remove me either…

I almost understood it for a moment, then came to my senses.

It was nonsense.

No matter how much memory disappeared, it couldn’t change a person’s personality like that, right?

“So you don’t have to worry too much, Sir Yves. …well, it’s nothing special. It’s just that His Majesty has thrown away that cheesy pretense and returned to his original personality.”

“No, that man was not His Majesty. His Majesty is never a person who threatens others with such vulgar swear words.”

“Of course Sir Yves thinks so. Because you’ve only seen his acting so far……”

I remembered how much Theo suffered six months ago when he saved me from Katarina by threatening her.

As I pondered over my thoughts with suspicion, Armin grabbed the hem of my robe and spoke as if pleading.

“Please, Sir Yves. Please don’t leave His Majesty’s side.”