Chapter 18
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As the door closed, silence descended upon the room once more.
Before they knew it, only Theodore and Odelia remained in the study.
“Are you hurt anywhere, Princess?”
“I’m fine.”
It was her first time using her newly acquired ability in a real situation, so she felt a little dizzy.
However, Odelia had endured pain for more than just a day or two, so she didn’t bother mentioning it.
Theodore stared at her for a moment before bowing his head.
“To think such a person had been working here for ten years… I am ashamed as the manager.”
Theodore sighed lowly and bowed even deeper.
“This all stems from my negligence. I sincerely apologize for the harm and discomfort caused to you, Princess. I will gladly accept any punishment.”
In truth, he probably had a feeling that a rat was pilfering from the storeroom.
However, the storeroom was managed by several servants in shifts, and Zeke was so careful and took so little at a time that it was difficult to pinpoint.
‘Besides, I remember he manipulated the records to make it look like other servants’ mistakes whenever the inventory numbers were off.’
Small suspicions must have accumulated little by little, but there was no decisive evidence, and…
‘Theodore is a soft-hearted person.’
He probably didn’t want to suspect Zeke, who had worked in this castle for ten years, out of a sense of loyalty.
Understanding his situation…
Odelia quietly handed him the silver-decorated box she was holding instead of reprimanding him.
The item Zeke had tried to steal.
If Ludville’s vault seal hadn’t been broken, it would have been the only thing that could be called a ‘valuable item’ in this Separate Palace.
Odelia knew who would be most pained if this item disappeared.
That’s why she had secured it in advance.
“This is precious, isn’t it?”
Theodore froze, inhaling sharply.
“How did you know…?”
“Zeke tried to steal this. It looked valuable, so I thought the head butler might know what it is.”
Theodore carefully received the decorated box she offered with trembling hands.
Odelia knew what it was.
And she also knew why it was in a drawer in the Separate Palace instead of the main palace’s treasure vault.
This was the first reward the Emperor had given to Ludville.
At the time, the slave called ‘Ru’ wandered the battlefield without a name or title.
Then one day, his achievements finally caught the Emperor’s eye, and a decorated box inlaid with silver-shining stones was bestowed upon him as compensation.
But Ru felt nothing.
His appearance was that of a young man of only nineteen years, but inside was a regressor who had repeated thousands of lives.
The Emperor, the Empire, and the rewards.
To him, they were just another background.
Repeated countless times, erased countless times.
On the day he received the decorated box, Ru caught the eye of the Grand Duke of Excepcion.
That was his purpose from the start.
He appeared in the Imperial Palace to attract the Grand Duke’s attention, and even the reward he received from the Emperor was part of that plan.
As planned, Ru obtained a fake identity as the illegitimate child of the ‘Elbrecht Family,’ which had fallen decades ago, and became the Grand Duke’s adopted son.
So the decorated box had served its purpose.
“Where should this be stored?”
When Theodore asked…
Ludville, who had become the Grand Duke’s heir, replied calmly.
“Throw it away.”
“Pardon? But this was bestowed by His Majesty… Besides, it contains a valuable healing stone.”
“A healing stone… Was there such a thing? It’s useless to me, so you take it.”
He left those dry words and disappeared without looking back.
Thus, the Emperor’s gift was discarded like trash, and thanks to that, the healing stone came into Theodore’s possession.
And it… saved his life.
He was attacked by Monsters, and the carriage overturned. Theodore suffered fatal injuries, but thanks to the healing stone, he returned from the brink of death.
At that time, what he remembered was not the Emperor or God, but Ludville’s indifferent back as he turned away with the single word, ‘Take it.’
Theodore had served the Excepcion Family his entire life.
For the first time, he wanted to pledge his loyalty not to the family, but to a ‘person.’
Not for honor, but for trust.
To the benefactor who had saved his life.
That box was the beginning of that feeling.
Theodore did not throw away the box.
In a place where no one would touch it.
In a place no one would remember.
In the old drawer of the Separate Palace, which was used as a storeroom, he quietly sealed it away.
Without reporting it, without saying a word.
He watched Ludville change more and more.
As a lord, as a battlefield commander, as a Grand Duke.
Theodore was always by his side.
And this decorated box was at the beginning of it all.
Therefore, on the day it was stolen before the regression, Theodore sat by the study window all day long.
Silently, without a word.
‘I never got it back in the last life.’
Zeke, who had stolen the decorated box and ran away, was caught again, but only after he had removed and sold all the jewels and decorations attached to the surface.
Theodore stared at the decorated box for a while, then lowered his head as if to hide his slightly wavering eyes.
After struggling to compose himself, he said in a slightly hoarse voice.
“…Thank you for protecting it, Princess.”
Those words were not just a simple expression of gratitude.
They were words of very old loyalty.
Before the trembling at the fingertips holding the decorated box could subside, Theodore had already straightened his posture and politely asked Odelia.
“…Princess, are you perhaps in a state of great exhaustion right now?”
Huh?
At the sudden question, she blinked in bewilderment.
* * *
From that afternoon, a strangely busy atmosphere began to circulate in Odelia’s room.
Leona frequently came in and out with tea brewed with medicinal herbs and towels for compresses, and Theodore directly sent people to the pharmacy and the seamstress.
“Drink it before it gets cold. Your fingertips are getting cold again.”
Leona pushed the teacup towards her with a nagging tone.
The warm steam mixed with the subtle scent of Wormbella gently enveloped the room.
Odelia quietly lifted the cup and took a sip.
“The effect is a bit strong, so it might make your head feel a little dizzy at first. But if you drink it regularly, it’ll warm your hands and feet and help you sleep better.”
While adding explanations, Leona kept a close eye on Odelia’s complexion.
Her narrowly narrowed eyes were filled with suspicion.
“I feel like your complexion has gotten worse since you kicked me out, Princess, or is that just my imagination?”
“…When did I ever kick you out?”
“You did. You even caught a thief all by yourself. And your face is as white as a sheet right now.”
“……”
Odelia had nothing to say.
Although she had nothing to say, she couldn’t stop making excuses.
“I didn’t catch him.”
“Is that what’s important right now?!”
“And my skin is naturally pale.”
Leona crossed her arms as if the excuse was absurd and declared firmly.
“This won’t do. No matter what you say, Princess, I can’t leave your side for a single moment from today.”
That’s when it happened.
Knock, knock—
As if timed perfectly, the sound of knocking on the door was heard.
“Princess, excuse me.”
It was Theodore’s low, calm voice.
Leona quickly tattled.
“Head Butler, come in quickly! The Princess keeps insisting that she’s not sick!”
