Theodore was inwardly impressed by Annette's actions.
He told this woman to pretend to love him and she completely grasped the situation in just a few moments.
Her acting was also beyond his expectations.
The woman who was thought to be just a living corpse with an empty head, instinctively discovered a way to survive and clung to it desperately.
When Theodore inwardly applauded Annette's impeccable performance, the people around them were shocked to see them hugging each other.
“Did the word ‘wife’ just come out of His Highness’ mouth?”
“Have any of you read any article about the Grand Duke remarrying?”
“Instead, is he married to that crazy woman Annette?
It was said that she killed Marquis Scheringen and ran away.
I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing now!”
The Grand Duke has come to the Elysia Sanatorium to search for the Grand Duchess whom he loves so much.
All people doubted this short sentence many times.
First of all, the very word “Grand Duchess” was in doubt.
Theodore was the Grand Duke, but he never had a wife.
There was news of his marriage a few years ago, but the bride died on the wedding day shortly after the wedding ceremony began.
In the newspapers of the time, heated and passionate debates broke out about whether this marriage should be considered legal or not.
As a result of the exhausting debate that took place, public opinion agreed that the marriage was invalid because the bride had died before the bride and groom could share the swearing kiss.
Therefore, if the Grand Duke found the woman who would truly become his wife, the place this woman should have gone would be the cemetery and not the mental institution.
Also, people were wondering about the grammatical position of the word “beloved.”
That Theodore never knew the meaning of love.
Theodore grew up receiving unlimited favor from the former Emperor, but he did not know how to give the love he received to others due to his cruel and arrogant nature.
To him, love and affection were meaningless existences like sighing in the air.
However, that Theodore was searching for the wife he loved and went so far as to come to a remote village like Elysia to find her.
The most interesting point here was that the person who claimed to be the Grand Duchess was Annette.
Everyone except the prince knew that Annette was madly in love with the prince.
The spectators couldn't decide which part was the most surprising, so they continued to look at Theodore standing in front of them with their astonished eyes.
No matter how much they thought about it, Theodore was not someone who had a heart that could contain love, even if this love - which he was talking about - meant tearing the other party's heart to pieces.
Someone like that was now...
“I apologize for being so late.”
Theodore hugged Annette affectionately and tried to calm her down.
The nurses covered their mouths in astonishment as the hand that had broken the doctor's nose gently caressed Annette's cheek.
They felt like they saw something they shouldn't have seen.
This scene before them was even more obscene than the Theodore scandals that the tabloids exposed every day.
Annette, aware of the looks of these people, buried her face deeply in Theodore's hand.
'I don't know what's going on now, but I have to become this man's loving wife and go along with what he does.
So let us think about the next scene of this play.'
Annette pretended to be a lover deeply melting in the fire of love.
Annette thought she had given up her will to live, but when this opportunity presented itself, she wanted to seize it.
In fact, she wanted to live too.
So much so that she decided to take Theodore's hand, knowing better than anyone else how devilish and evil his character was.
“How did you find me here?”
“The people who locked you here forged your identity.
They put you in the hospital under a name other than Annette Scheringen.”
“As expected, someone deliberately imprisoned me.”
“I'm sorry to leave you alone in a place like this.”
“It's okay.
After all, what's important is that you found me in the end.”
His strong body hugged her slender body, and Annette looked sad and affected like the heroine of a tragic novel.
It seemed that the two were passionate lovers who met again after a desperate tragic story.
But the reality was completely different...
They were busy exploring each other.
Who is this man?
Who is this woman?
Why are you pretending to be my husband?
Why do you obediently go along with me in my play?
Why did you suddenly appear and tell me to cooperate with you if I want to live?
How could she understand what I asked of her right away, even though I suddenly appeared in front of her?
However, that was an inappropriate moment to get to know each other, so they decided to focus on their acting for the time being.
“No one believed we were really married.”
“Is it because of our secret wedding?
If only they knew our love story, no one would have suspected our relationship at all.”
“It seems difficult for you to open your mouth, so don't strain yourself to speak too much.”
Annette muttered an expletive to herself.
On the surface, he seemed to care about her, but in reality, his actions showed the exact opposite.
If Annette, who did not know the scenario Theodore had invented to get to this place, continued talking, it would be possible for her to say something different from the story he told them.
He meant that there shouldn't be any gaps, so he was telling her to keep her mouth shut and stay calm.
The chance to escape has come, but the moment she makes a mistake, her escape plan will end here in failure.
Annette had no choice but to give him the answer he wanted.
“Yes, you are right.”
It was an impromptu play, but the audience was fooled because the acting was excellent, they looked really married.
As the play's fake emotions rose, a man rushed into the room.
“I extend my warm regards to the noble Grand Duke.
I am Walter Rogner, director of this sanatorium.”
As soon as the staff called him over, Walter, who had arrived at the room late, was obviously very surprised by the sight he saw.
He was the director of a psychiatric facility who usually dealt with homeless people on the streets.
For such a person who did not deal much with the rich let alone the nobles, the Grand Duke was in a very high regard for him.
Theodore was the half-brother of the current emperor and uncle of the crown prince of this empire.
After seeking the throne, he became a nuisance to the Emperor and an enemy of the Crown Prince, but this meant that Theodore was a person of sufficient political standing to dare to covet the throne.
Why in God's name would such a person look for his precious wife in such a shabby hospital?
Walter saw his son bleeding unconscious on the wall, but he couldn't protest.
“Are you the director of this mental institution?”
“Yes, yes, yes.
I am the manager.”
“I want you to immediately explain to me why the Grand Duchess was mistreated in a place like this.”
“I’m sorry, but I was ignorant of her identity and did not hear about His Highness’s wedding with Jalal...”
“Do I look like a fool to you who can't be married?”
"No-!
That's impossible.
Apparently I was too lazy to read the news in the newspaper."
The manager gasped and waved his hand trying to clarify the situation, but Theodore ignored him and called the name of the person standing outside the door.
“Hans.”
When Theodor nodded, Lawyer Hans handed the document to the director.
It was a document proving the marriage of Theodor Kleist and Annette Scheringen.
“I had been postponing the wedding announcement due to unavoidable personal circumstances.
Just when I was about to reveal this truth to the public, the Grand Duchess suddenly disappeared.”
“This is crazy...
This is impossible to believe...
When did you two get married...?”
“Would you believe me if I took off my clothes right now and slept with Annette?”
“I…I didn’t mean that.”
“I think the explanation that we are married is over at this point.”
“Yes…yes.”
“Clarification.”
"Sorry?"
Theodore's voice sent a shiver down Walter's spine, but the latter couldn't figure out the point of that cold question.
“Explain why my wife who disappeared overnight is here.”
“This… what exactly should I explain?”
“To the extent that I agree with your explanation.”
I would rather hit my head against the wall and lose consciousness, Walter said in his mind, but now was the time to turn on his brain to make an excuse and not hit his head.
He should have explained to the Grand Duke that they had imprisoned Annette in exchange for a large sum of money offered to them by those seeking the position of Marquis Scheringen.
But admitting that he had offended the Grand Duchess in front of the Grand Duke was no different than committing suicide with his own two hands.
It was Annette's voice that stopped Walter from committing suicide.
“Dear, I'm so scared.”
Annette cried and grabbed Theodore's shirt collar.
"Can we go out first?
It's very difficult to stay here."
“I'm sorry, Annette.
I didn't think of that because of my stupidity.
It must be very scary for you to be here, let's get out quickly.”
Voish_
Theodore combed Annette's hair tenderly.
Their performance was very good, but there was no script for them to follow.
So in order not to be caught improvising in this play, they had to match the details of their script behind the scenes.
Theodore was pleased with the cleverness of Annette, who concocted a reason for them to leave in the nick of time.
She was a woman truly worth seeking out.
Theodore had a feeling that he would be able to reap the cost of searching for this woman, which he had wasted money, time and brain power on.
Theodore hugged Annette's skeleton-like body lightly and carried her in his arms.
Some people gasped in admiration at his smooth movements, making it difficult for them to understand whether his strength was great or whether Annette was weightless.
Doesn't the knight who rescues the princess from the devil's castle in the legend look like this?
As Theodore, carrying Annette, passed through the iron gate, the stunned Walter made a loud noise in protest at his actions.
“Patients leave here only with the permission of the treating physician...”
“Annette is not sick.
Even if she was sick, she deserves to be treated in my house and not in this pig pen.
I am also considered my wife’s legal guardian.”
Walter closed his mouth in frustration at the impetus with which Theodore answered.
For the money he got, he was trying to hold on to Annette and keep her here, but there was no way he could do that.
Theodore walked past Walter, carrying Annette in his arms, and then paused for a moment.
“There will be a comprehensive investigation into the case of the kidnapping and imprisonment of my wife in this place.”
“We didn't kidnap her!”
“You locked someone here by force, but is it not considered kidnapping?”
“We never locked her up by force.
Her family brought her and left her here, so I don't know anything about...”
“Her family?
This means that someone from the Sheringen family instigated this kidnapping.
I will take care of them as well.”
Walter closed his ugly mouth.
“Hans.”
“Yes, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“Please inform the clinic of the complaints and various legal procedures that we will forward to them in the future.”
“I will tell them everything, Your Majesty.”
Hans bowed his head sincerely.
While the director was frozen in place and unable to move, Theodore left the asylum.
The carriage was waiting for him in front of the wide open door.
Theodore, who was carrying Annette like a precious treasure in his arms, placed her on the bench and closed the door.
At the same time, their acting masks were removed and their faces returned to their natural expressions.
They looked at each other but never opened their mouths.
Only after the horse moved with a neighing sound did their lips open…
"Who are you?"
“Why did you save me?”
These words did not fit the image of the couple who had been calling each other with passionate love just a moment before.