CH 218

"I came here because I have something to tell you."

Ayla's eyes shook slightly at the familiar voice coming from outside.

Her blue eyes were asking him what happened, but Theon didn't answer.

"Wait a second."

At Theon's monotonous words, all the noise from outside stopped at once.

Theon's long fingertips reached Ayla's exposed shoulder.

Slowly caressing her soft skin, he lifted her blouse that had flowed down.

Theon's face, as he fastened the buttons with a delicate touch, was filled with regret.

"Ahem, rather than me, Your Highness…"

Ayla spoke hesitatingly towards Theon, who was revealing his rough upper body.

He had been learning martial arts for the past several days.

Bulging muscles were neatly placed all over his body.

She felt embarrassed to be directly facing the wide shoulders and the strong chest muscles.

Theon frowned and smiled as if Ayla, who was blushing and bowing down her head, was cute.

"Will you wait?"

"For… for what?"

"Until the conversation is over."

"Don't joke around! Get your clothes on, quickly. People are waiting outside."

Pfft.

He nodded at the sight of Ayla, who was panting, and turned towards the office.

Theon, who had picked up the shirt that had fallen on the floor and put it on carelessly, opened his mouth.

"Come in."

At the same time, the door that had been closed opened.

Theon frowned when he saw Mason coming inside moving his anxious eyes around.

This was intentional enough.

The disrupters who appeared at every important moment as if they were waiting were so despicable that he was getting angry.

Theon's gaze at Mason was venomous.

Mason's appearance, who was hesitating with wide-open eyes as if he did not understand the situation, was detestable.

"What is it?"

"Ah… That, I…"

Should he just leave again?

Mason whispered.

"It's fine, so just tell me. What's going on? If it's nothing important, you will have to give up your position."

"The work you ordered the other day has been completed. Still, he thought he should express his gratitude first, so… He's waiting outside."

"Ugh. Our Secretary Mason did something really useless. Alright, tell him to come in. So that we can get this done quickly."

"Save your breath. I already came in."

Eden, who suddenly entered the office, bobbed his head while standing in a crooked pose.

Mason's mouth opened wide at his bold attitude.

Theon waved his hand at Mason, who was staring at the two of them, as if telling him to leave.

Click.

Mason disappeared with the dull sound of the door.

Eden frowned slightly at Theon's disorganized appearance, which was different from usual.

Theon was always wearing a tightly fastened tie and neat uniform.

He wondered what he was doing, seeing that the buttons on his shirt were half unbuttoned.

Eden, who had been scanning the inside while rolling his silver eyes, stopped his gaze in one place.

"I guess you have a guest. Or maybe it's a stray cat."

Eden smiled bitterly and spoke slowly.

Theon's gaze naturally turned towards the door where Ayla was.

A small shadow shining in the moonlight was seen through the gap in the open door.

Theon let out a small snort as if it was funny, and then continued.

"Sometimes it's polite to ignore it and pretend that you don't know."

"I've only hung out with violent guys."

"How is your wound?"

"Well. It's fine, thanks to you."

As if nothing had happened, Eden shrugged and made idle talk.

He felt pain coming from the affected area that had not yet fully healed, but he did not show any signs of it.

"That's good."

"I tend to recover fast."

"Enough with the regards, what is going on? Work starts tomorrow."

"Ah, I remembered that I was supposed to meet you today."

"If that's the reason, you shouldn't have come. As you can see, I was very busy just a little while ago."

Theon smiled and fluttered his half-open shirt.

Eden, who was quietly looking at him, bit his lower lip.

Eden's cold eyes turned towards the gap in the door.

"Because you might have been waiting. Maybe if I hadn't said I was coming in the first place… But shouldn't we at least keep the words we say?"

He spoke.

Staring at a place other than where Theon was.

Like he was talking to someone who didn't come back after saying that they would.

‘Don't fight with the Knight, you should get along with each other.'

‘… Will you come again?'

‘Of course.'

Hiding behind the door, Ayla's eyes trembled greatly.

***

Even after Eden left the office, the heavy silence that enveloped the interior remained for a while.

If it hadn't been for Theon, who said, ‘You can come out now.', she would have continued to stay there.

"What happened? What do you mean by work?"

Ayla got up from her seat and appeared through the door.

Ayla frowned at Theon, who tilted his head as if he didn't know anything.

"You seem to care quite a bit. I happened to need him… So, he decided to work as my guard knight."

"Are you going to make someone who has not yet healed do such a thing?"

"I have no other choice. I can't send him back to Kyle when he was treated like that. It's impossible to just leave him in the Royal Palace without any reason."

"Are you sure… Eden will do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's weird that Eden accepted the offer. I thought he was going to leave the Royal Palace right away. I hope he does well."

A look of displeasure was evident on Theon's face as he spoke in a firm voice.

The attitude of the two people, who seemed to be showing off their closeness, was annoying him since a while ago.

He knew that Eden's gaze was directed towards the door where Ayla was leaning on.

He also knew that his last words were spoken to Ayla, not himself.

So he might have provoked him even more. While saying things that he didn't have to.

To show that this woman was his woman, he acted unpredictably childish.