Chapter 58 - Sleep Here

After reaching inside the room, Theodore gently placed Adeline on the floor, letting her stand on her own. Then he quickly brought a towel and started to dry Adeline's silver hair.

Adeline quietly stood there and let him dry her without protesting. From the way Theodore threw that blow to the Ghoul, and the warning that he gave to that Ghoul afterwards, she realized how much he cared about her.

In her anger, she had forgotten how much Theodore liked to joke around to try and make her angry. And without him telling her anything, she understood that Theodore was just trying to poke fun at her.

"Why did you run off like that my little human? Were you that hurt by what I said?" Theodore was looking at her with apologetic eyes.

Adeline looked down on the floor and spoke softly, "I would be lying if I said I was not hurt by your words. I was so enraged that I was thinking of walking all the way back to the Palace but my plan got ruined because I got attacked by that creature."

Theodore wrapped Adeline's body with the towel and lifted her chin to make her look him in the eyes. "What if you I had reached there a little late? You could have been ki…" he was unable to complete the sentence fearing that if he said it out loud, it might come true.

"But you found me in time, didn't you?" Adeline gave a mirthless smile.

Theodore pushed Adeline's silver hair behind her ears and cupped her cheeks. "Adeline, what I said earlier was not true at all. I was just… I was just being an insensitive fool."

Theodore's golden eyes looked deep into Adeline's eyes as he spoke, "It might be a little hard to believe considering how long I have lived but I assure you that I have never been with another woman other than you. I was never really into the worldly pleasure; you know I hated to be even touched."

And then he slid his hand behind Adeline's waist and pulled her closer to him. Then he whispered in his deep and hypnotizing voice, "And I have never considered you as a mere mortal, I consider you as my life-force. You are the one who motivates me to get out of the bed every day. You have turned my long and boring life into an exciting one. You have filled my life with joy and thrill."

Adeline gave a warm smile but did not say a word.

"Are you still angry with me?" Theodore could not bear her silence.

"No, I'm just feeling a little cold." Adeline turned her head to the side and sneezed multiple times. "I am not used to drowning myself in the cold water."

"Ah! I keep forgetting that you are not just a warrior but also a Princess." Theodore walked towards his wardrobe while chuckling.

Adeline furrowed her brows and took a defensive stance, "Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you trying to say that I am weak?"

"Not at all, I am just trying to say that you are taken care of really well."

Theodore shuffled through his clothes and took out a warm looking robe. And then he handed it over to Adeline and said, "Change into this. I don't want you catching cold or fever."

Adeline took the robe from his hand and then kept on staring at him hoping he would turn around, but he just kept on staring back at her. "Theo! Will you please turn around, so that I can change?"

Theodore had a very mischievous grin on his face and he replied, "You saw me without my clothes earlier. So it is only fair that I get to see you in your full glory."

Adeline tried to hide her smile by shouting at him, "How can you be so shameless?" Then she grabbed the towel from her shoulder and threw it at Theodore, covering his face. "Don't you dare take that towel off until I say so."

Adeline quickly took off her night gown and then slipped into the oversized robe of Theodore.

What she did not realize was that even though it was somewhat blurry, Theodore was still able to see her through the towel. And he was enjoying the view with a smirk on his face.

"You can take that towel off now." Adeline said in her sweet voice.

Theodore grinned widely because Adeline was really looking like a cute little human in his robe. The robe was too long for her and it was flowing behind her as if it was a cape with a long train.

He felt like running to her and squeezing her cheeks really hard. But he managed to control his urge to do so and smoldered his eyes and said, "Cute!"

He was reminded of the first time that they had met, when she was still a toddler. And he thought to himself, "I can't believe how fast the time has passed. And I can't believe that I fancy that toddler now."

"I think we still have a few hours left before the night ends. Why don't you sleep with me here tonight? I will take you back to your Palace in the morning." Theodore was looking at Adeline with expectation. He had just witnessed Adeline being attacked almost to death and he did not want to leave her alone. Not just because of that, there were other reasons as well.

And to be honest, Adeline also didn't want to leave Theodore's side after going through the whirlwind of unfortunate events. "Okay. Let's get some sleep then."

Adeline trotted towards the bed while letting the long robe sweep across the floor. And after she climbed on the bed, Theodore spread out the blanket on top of her to make her feel warm and cozy. He also slipped inside the blanket by Adeline's side. And then pressed his body against hers and hugged her tightly.

Adeline tried closing her eyes to get some sleep but she was unable to. She still wanted to ask something to Theodore. She opened her eyes and saw that Theodore was also staring at her. "Theo, why do you have so many dangerous creatures in your cave?"

Theodore hummed for a while and then said, "They are not that dangerous if you know how to control them. All of them are my loyal followers and they have been with me for longer than you can imagine. Some of them are with me from the time when I used to reside in heaven."

It came quite as a surprise to Adeline when she heard that Theodore knew them since maybe the beginning of time. "Really? They are that old? And you are telling me that those creatures were allowed to stay in heaven? Aren't they bad creatures?"

"Not all of them are bad, among the lot outside there are some fairies as well. And besides, all creatures have their own purposes. Those that are here were just given tasks which were considered as lowly or bad as you said." Theodore's expression said that he pitied them and that he knew what it was like to be termed as 'bad'.

He kept on describing how he had managed to gather so many interesting beings. "And when I was banished from heaven, they were also thrown out along with me. After roaming around the Earth for some years, I found some of the interesting beings and took them under my wing. And some of them, I brought from hell because I saw potential in them."

Theodore noticed Adeline's questioning eyes. Without her saying, he could tell that she did not like those beings. And he could not blame her after one of them nearly killed her.

Theodore tried his best to make her understand why he had kept so many dangerous beings with him, "Where there is good, there needs to be evil as well in order to create a balance. And whenever humans start to go off the rails, my task is to bring them to their good behavior by showing them fear that is far greater than they can imagine."

But Adeline was still confused and she questioned him, "But didn't you say you are not supposed to get involved in human's affairs?"

"I am not allowed to lash out because of my own selfish gains. However, I am allowed to step in when the human race as a whole starts to deviate from their path."

Adeline pouted her lips and then nodded her head softly. And she took a deep breath and tucked her head against Theodore's chest.

Theodore placed a kiss on her head and then closed his eyes to try and get some sleep.

But he was immediately woken up by Adeline.

Adeline looked at him as if she had suddenly remembered something important. "Theo, I forgot to tell you the one thing that I had wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Theodore asked curiously.

"The day for the test of worthiness has been finalized. It was announced today. It is going to take place on the second day after the coming full moon." Adeline was a little nervous when she said that. She was reminded that the day was close.

Theodore caressed Adeline's silver hair and assured her, "You are going to perform well. Don't worry."

Adeline smiled and looked into Theodore's beautiful eyes. "Thank you for making me who I am today.. Thank you for making me stronger and wiser."