Chapter 22

***

After crying sadly for a long time, a familiar voice was heard.

“Yves? What’s wrong! Are you okay?”

“Ernst…..?”

“I was walking, and I heard a cry…..”

Ernst squatted down in front of me and handed me his handkerchief.

“Did something upset you? Who bothered you?”

The gentle consolation made me even more sad and cried louder.

Panic, Ernst immediately patted me on the shoulder.

Tired of crying, I rested my head on Ernst’s shoulder and exhaled. As the crying and shortness of breath gradually subsided, there was the sound of rustling footsteps.

When I looked up, Theodore was there.

“….”

“….”

“…..”

He looked at me and Ernst silently.

A similar situation happened a long time ago.

It was then that Theodore was angry with me for the first time.

[Why were you so angry at that time?]

[That time?]

[When I was with Ernst, you were angry.]

[Ah, that.]

When I asked about that day.

Theodore looked thoughtful for a moment, then burst into a smirk.

[I was jealous. You were alone with Ernst.]

[What? But Ernst is your brother?]

[I’ll be mad when I see you alone with him in the future.]

[Are you suspicious of me and Ernst?]

[I’m not suspicious, I’m jealous. I am very jealous. So be careful, Yves.]

Saying so, Theodore kissed my cheek.

That was the first day I realized that jealousy was such a lovely emotion.

I remembered the conversation that day, and I was a little nervous.

Same place, same people, similar situation…

A suffocating silence passed.

Then Theodore just passed by as if he wasn’t interested. 

Oh, he didn’t even get jealous anymore.

My heart sank coldly.

***

Theodore thought the thick-skinned woman would be in trouble today.

As of today, he hoped that Yves Llewellyn would leave. Otherwise, it was annoying to bring in rude women into the imperial palace.

He deliberately brought Sylvie, or something, whom he had called in the afternoon, into his bedroom instead of sending her home.

“Ah, Your Majesty… ? When can I go home…”

“Shut up.”

For the past few days, Theodore has been extremely sensitive to Yves Llewellyn.

The woman who had looked shy when she visited the Imperial Palace during the day, now trembled with fear whenever his and her eyes met.

In fact, not only this woman, but all the women who had visited the Imperial Palace in the past few days were terrified of him within an hour, so he had to risk the hassle of changing them every day.

Was it wrong to intimidate them too much?

Anyway, when he felt the presence of the bedroom door opening and wanted to create a planned scene.

Sylvia or something, stepped back in surprise as soon as he approached her. Then she fell down on the floor and rolled over. Theodore managed to reach out and shut the woman’s mouth trying to scream in surprise.

Fortunately, somehow misunderstood, Yves Llewellyn looked at him with a wounded face and ran away.

The plan clearly worked, but seeing that pale face without saying anything made him worried.

“D*mn it.”

In the end, he went out chasing after the traces of her disappearance, uttering a low curse.

However, the woman he struggled to find was with his half-brother whom he hated the most. Theodore hated Ernst. He had been like that since very young. The boy who hid behind his mother with his innocent eyes.

After terrifyingly chased away the boy who was close to Yvonne, the boy never came near him again.

And when they grew up a little bit, he found out that Yvonne and Ernst would have an arranged marriage when they came of age.

Theodore hated Ernst even more.

[Did you know, Ernst? You and I will get married!]

After overhearing the conversation by chance, he worked hard to monopolize Yvonne from the boy.

But somehow, the woman was with Ernst with a face that resembled Yvonne. He didn’t want to see it.

Angry, Theodore stared at the two of them silently, then turned around and returned to his bedroom.

Silvia, the shrewd woman crouching on the floor alone, trembling and crying.

“Your Majesty, ah, if I can go home now…”

“Go away.”

Theodore got angry and chased the woman away.

He felt very dirty.

He called the attendant for a drink.

He was alone, tilting the bottle, and he couldn’t figure out why he was in such a bad mood. That night, the imperial palace was turned upside down by the mad Theodore.

****

I was on the way to the dorm, pressing my swollen eyelids.

“Sir Yves… !”

One of the knights called me with an urgent look.

“His Majesty is not sleeping right now……”

“I know.”

I replied in a hoarse voice.

“Well, Sir, I think you have to go see him now…”

“Me?”

He told me that Theodore was drinking alone at night, and that he was very violent and no one could come near him.

Even Armin, who could endure the violence, was not at work, and Lord Lyndon had been away from the Imperial Palace for several months.

“Still, Sir, you are the only one who can stand His Majesty’s savage personality.”

My colleague repeatedly asked me to stay by the emperor’s side.

Even the chief of staff couldn’t get close, so it was a no-brainer, but I understood. Theo, who lost his memory, had a really weird personality.

“But the woman earlier…”

It took some courage to open the closed bedroom door.

It was because the shocking scene I saw a while ago has not yet disappeared from my head.

“Woman? Oh, Lady Cecilia? She ran away a long time ago. Why on earth does he call in good ladies one by one to scare them and make them cry every day…… ”

“He makes them cry every day?”

To hear that Theodore made them cry every day, it seemed that that woman wasn’t the first one he brought into his bedroom.

My hand gripped the sword handle tightly.

Anyway, the woman wasn’t there any more, so I went inside, his bed was clean and tidy, contrary to my expectations.

Considering his bed habits I remembered, it was so neat that I thought nothing had really happened.

‘Was I mistaken?’

When I went inside, the attendants, who were trembling in fear, looked at me and rejoiced.

Then they gave me their seat and one by one, they slowly disappeared.

Theodore was drinking from the glass with an unknown expression on his face. Slowly, raising his head, he looked at me and muttered in an unpleasant voice.

“Your eyes are irreverent.”

“….”

“Would you like a drink?”

He asked me, holding out a glass of wine.

“…… I’m okay.”

I declined his offer.

Then he grinned and laughed, and poured the bitter liquid into his mouth at once.

It was the first time I had seen him drinking.

As I stared blankly, I suddenly realized that it was only him and I left in the room. So, it was a great opportunity to let him know that I was Yvonne.

“I have something to tell you.”

“…”

Cold eyes turned to me.

He stared at me sternly, holding a glass of wine in one hand.

His gaze, as if he wanted to hear what I dared to say, was so cold that it made my skin ache.

But, considering how consistently he had been ignoring me whenever I tried to talk, it was truly generous generosity.

It was an opportunity not to be missed.

“You know Yvonne Chernicia?”

I quickly spoke, before he changed his mind and cut off the conversation again.

“You kept looking for her. I’m Yvonne. When Your Majesty came to Ferdinand half a year ago….”

Cheng!

The glass of wine in his hand fell down.

While speaking without hesitation, I suddenly realized that his condition was strange.

His eyes were open. His complexion turned white, and a cold sweat ran down his pale face.

“Ugh, uh…”

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty!”

I approached him in surprise.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhh…”

As he wrapped his head with a contorted face in pain, he fainted and slammed his head on his table.

“Call the doctor! Doctor!”

I grabbed his convulsive body and shouted towards the hallway.

The doctor, who came in in the middle of the night, barely calmed him down and examined his body.

“Phew… His Majesty is alright.”

“Is he okay? He was in a lot of pain a while ago! Are sure you’re not a quack?”

“A quack! How can you say such harsh words!”

The doctor wheezed as his face became red as he had never heard of such rude words.

“Then what’s wrong with him? His Majesty’s body still has a big problem..!”

“There is nothing wrong with His Majesty’s body! All the wounds from the fall have been healed! Didn’t Sir Yves forcefully touch His Majesty’s memory?”

I stopped for a moment at the doctor’s question in reverse.

“Touch his memory, what does that mean?” 

My voice trembled as I asked.