🌷 Chapter Eighteen –
After the two finished their meal, they wandered into the market to buy the things Annette needed.
Since it was a small town, there were no good goods, but they were able to provide the necessities.
The first thing Theodore bought for Annette was clothes.
Annette borrowed some clothes from Lisa and Emma, but they were all too baggy for her body size and were inappropriate for going out.
In the dressing room, Annette tried on a dress and some pieces of clothing that were at least worth seeing, adjusted the size to make it fit, and then she looked a little better.
It was a low-quality but nice-looking fabric that Annette would have liked if she looked in the mirror, but today Annette neither complained nor even liked anything.
There was no excitement or excitement on Annette's face as she tried on her new clothes.
She did not ask Theodore why he bought her clothes, nor did she tell him that she was tired.
It was just boring.
All she asked the seamstress was to shorten the length of her skirt a little after looking at the clothes.
Contrary to her curiosity about the village, she was not interested in things that directly related to her.
It wasn't that she didn't like buying clothes, she just lost interest because she just had to do it.
Theodore remembered the day his father gave his mother new clothes.
His mother made all sorts of fuss about her iron clothes and bragged about them.
It caused a stir about the emperor's clothes even though the emperor neither sewed them nor even supervised the sewing process himself.
His mother felt overjoyed as if she had obtained a treasure that did not exist in this world, even though the person who sewed her clothes was the same designer who usually sewed her clothes and only changed the source of money from her to the Emperor, while she was still wearing clothes made by the same person.
It was completely different from Annette's reaction now.
Buying clothes wasn't a luxury, it was a practical meaning of not having clothes she could wear right away.
Of course, it was because the situation and relationship between them were different, and the clothes he had bought were not expensive, but her insensitive reaction reminded him of his mother.
Maria longed for the Emperor's affection, while Annet did not fancy Theodore, so the difference between the two was natural.
Aside from the meaningless level of appreciation, the clothes served their purpose.
Annette, who was dressed to fit her body, walked better.
She moved naturally in the direction she wanted without being dragged by her large clothes.
Annette's steps as she paced the ground were not aristocratic, but they were graceful and confident.
If she had a little arrogance to ignore someone blocking her way, she would be able to walk safely in front of others.
That day will not be far off.
Theodore had a hunch that the day of showing Annette to others would come sooner than expected.
Then Theodore realized, as he watched her walk briskly, that they were very late in returning to the villa.
***
The two returned to the front of the villa, but Theodore did not enter.
He said he would return to Lider immediately.
“Are you going to leave so soon?”
“I didn't know you would miss me so much.”
“I didn't mean it.”
"Good."
From Annette's point of view, Theodore was a nuisance.
She couldn't ignore him because he was considered her guardian, but she hated and detested him very much, and he was not someone she wanted to be with for a long time.
Annette's attitude towards Theodore's return was that he had come a long way back from the village to the villa, so she thought he must be tired, so she wondered if he was so busy that he had to rush back without rest.
Silver, who knew that the two had returned, came running while panting and twirled around Theodore happily.
Theodore did not pat the charming dog on the head, instead, he took out a small box from his pocket and threw it towards Annette.
“My cheek.”
"Yes!"
Annette unconsciously grabbed the box, but she didn't intend to open it, she was just staring at it.
It was only after she received Theodore's longing look that she realized that he was waiting for her to open the box and so she lifted the lid.
"What is this?"
"ring."
"I know it's a ring.
I'm asking about its use.
What is the use of this ring other than its physical use?"
“It's a wedding ring.”
"Yes."
Annette felt that her voice, when she said 'ah' briefly, sounded very stupid.
It was a reflection of her dullness that she noticed the ring but didn't think it might even be a wedding ring.
"It's my mother's ring.
I was thinking about ordering a new ring, but after thinking it over, it wouldn't have seemed normal if I were to make a new ring for you after the wedding.
Even if it was done in secret, it would have been strange to tell the jeweler that we had exchanged vows but there was no ring at the wedding, so this was the best option in my opinion."
“This ring seems to be more meaningful than I expected.”
The ring was studded with a large emerald.
It was made into a rectangular shape with unparalleled professional carving skills, and was elegant without any blemishes.
The thick emerald stone is surrounded by small, elegant diamonds.
The luxurious light of the emerald and the exquisite light of the diamonds intertwined and gave the ring a special elegance.
Annette knew what this ring was.
It was a souvenir from Theodore's mother, Maria.
Shortly after the death of the first Empress Eleanora, Emperor Dominic gave this ring to Maria and made her the second Empress.
The day Maria received this ring was very tumultuous.
The ring of Eleanora, the first empress, had a single row of diamonds surrounding an emerald, while Maria's ring had two rows of diamonds.
Everyone mocked Maria behind her back, saying that the exquisiteness of the jewelry might not represent the Emperor's affection, but they were not wrong.
The Emperor suppressed the resistance that arose within the court through Maria, who was an aristocrat of low rank, by making her empress with uncompromising passion.
Maria never took this ring off her hand until the moment of her death.
There was a chapter in the novel that told such a story.
Annette held her breath as soon as she saw the token of the former Emperor's love and the souvenir of the unfortunate Empress.
It was difficult for her to deal with him because she never thought that he would give her something like this.
Annette closed the box without even trying to get the ring out.
“Are you protesting because it's a used ring?”
"Sorry?"
Theodore said in a slightly exasperated voice.
Annette looked at him, not knowing what he meant.
“Normally when a person gets a wedding ring, he wears it on his hand.”
"Yes."
Only then did Annette realize that she had acted humiliatingly when she received this imperial treasure.
Theodore calmed his heart upon seeing her realization.
At this point, he knew she didn't mean to be neglectful, but it made him feel like he was being harassed even more.
He's starting to get confused as to whether the thing she's ignoring is the ring or Theodore.
“Why do I feel like your eyes sparkled more when you were looking at the wine?”
“I don’t feel like this ring is mine.
In fact, I still can’t believe that His Highness the Grand Duke is my husband.”
Theodor, through Hans, showed Annette the documents proving their marriage.
Hans said that as a result of his hard work, their engagement went through the necessary legal procedures and ended without any problems.
They were documents made to dispel others' doubts, but Annette still had doubts about her marriage.
Marrying the Grand Duke was the best way to protect her, but on the contrary, it was a loss for Theodore.
In fact, it would have been much easier for him to lock her up in a mental hospital or a villa if he simply wanted to use Annette's knowledge of the future.
“No matter how I think about it, Your Highness has no benefit from this marriage at all.
Marriage is one of the most valuable items of trade in your way, so why waste it on me?”
“I didn't know you would ask about that now.”
Theodore combed his hair nervously.
“Do you know how my first marriage ended?”
"Yes.
If I'm right, I doubt we should call it a wedding."
"It's easier for me to explain it to you now since you know what really happened.
Marriage is just a transaction to me, but it's not a stock I have to sell.
If I had to compare, the things I had to pay attention to were more beneficial than I could gain from any marriage."
Annette seemed to understand his point.
When everyone saw how the daughter of the prestigious Stadler family died on the wedding day, who among them would desire the position of Grand Duchess who might die before becoming a wife?
No family would send their daughter to a place where she would die and disappear, while she would return to them with greater wealth if she were sent to another family.
Even Theodore was not a product they wanted to have with all these risks.
Instead, if some girl was going to marry Theodore, she had to be prepared to fight with the imperial family.
Even if there was a girl like that, it wouldn't be a good enough family to support Theodore's family.
“There is no bride like you.
So you will fill the position and leave when the time comes.”
“I understand you correctly.”
Annette opened the ring box again.
Even after looking from different angles, the emerald reserve sparkled brilliantly under the light.
Even though it was a different shade of green, it somehow looked like Annette had taken out her eye and put it in a ring.
It had come from another world to a completely unknown place, been polished to a shine, made beautiful, and then sealed elegantly in a box.
The ring looked very much like hers now.
Annette was terrified for a moment and quickly closed the box.
She felt as if he would eat her soul if her eyes reflected on the jewel.
Annette looked at Theodore's upset face and spoke cautiously.
“I will wear it when I go to Lieder later.”
Theodore seemed upset, but he did not ask her to wear the ring immediately.
“Do whatever you want.
I'll go on my way.”
Then he left a somewhat abrupt farewell and turned around without waiting.
Before he took the reins and mounted the horse, he looked at Annette again and said:
"If you don't like hanging out with me, tell me in advance next time.
I don't force people to do things they don't like."
He left a rude message and then the horse started galloping without waiting for an answer.
Annette looked at the box in her hand, then realized something important.
In hindsight, she thought about the way her attitude looked in Theodore's eyes.
'It's not something I'm grateful to have but...was I overreacting though? ...No...Should I have been nicer to him?'
She was well aware that Theodore was busy, but he still took her to the village and bought her clothes.
It was quite to her advantage that he gave her a chance to look around the city since she couldn't go out on her own.
She hated him, but she couldn't be upset with him for making time for her today.
However, his giving her his mother's ring clearly meant that he was cooperating with her sincerely.
But because of exhaustion and stress, she unintentionally acted harshly towards him, and because the ring frightened her, she eventually over-reacted.
Annette left the villa while running hurriedly and tried to catch up with Theodore's horse.
“Excuse me...”
When Annette found him, Theodore was already far away from her.
Annette shouted something as he walked away.
She could not confirm whether he heard him or not, but he left immediately, and she did not see him again for a while.