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Chapter Sixty-Three –
“Your Highness?”
Annette initially called him by his first name by mistake, so she corrected herself and called him Smoke, but Theodore did not like the corrected name.
It was the first time he had felt this way after hearing his name from someone else, so Theodore felt sad when Annette called him 'Smoke' again and his tone became harsh.
“Will
You left
The guests are alone even though you are the host of the party?
You are not qualified
To be
Grand Duchess.”
“You say this even though I...
I give
All I can
To act
Like the real Annette?
What a mean man you are.”
Annette looked at him with eyes full of sarcasm.
“I have
You left
Your Highness men
On their own
Also
And I ran away
To here.
Who among us does not know that you are
I crept up
Away because you don't want to pretend
That you are
Mr.
Ok?”
Annette took a sip of the remaining wine and placed her glass on the balcony railing.
Her voice was rough, but she didn't seem angry.
“All the ladies said it was an atmosphere
Hot
, So they drank here on the balcony before entering the living room again.
Everyone was so drunk it was difficult to deal with them, so
I told them
That I need
To inhale
Some fresh air
Out
“
“It's the same with me.
I have.”
I went out
Because I didn't want to see everyone drunk
And they talk
About bullshit.”
"You, too?"
“You” was less than “Theodore,” but better than “Your Highness.”
Annette, who had begun to speak casually to Theodore, leaned her chin on the railing and looked at him with shining eyes.
Theodore felt happy when he saw her looks that were asking him to come closer to her.
When Theodore approached, Annette tilted her head slightly and looked at him with her beautiful eyes.
It smelled like wine.
The moment Annette looked at him, Theodore felt something strange.
A tickling feeling in a deep corner of his chest...a feeling of his heartbeat speeding up and his breathing heaving...a feeling like...an incomprehensible feeling he was feeling often these days.
But no matter how many times he felt all of this, Theodore couldn't figure out what these feelings were.
“What are you thinking about now?”
Annette smiled and laughed softly.
“In that you look
Nice
“Very much today.”
The women sitting in the living room weren't the only ones who got drunk...
Annette was one of them too.
This was evident from the redness of her cheeks and her relaxed facial expression.
And above all…
That sincere laugh.
Annette was clearly drunk because she never stopped smiling in front of Theodore, let alone wary of him like she usually did.
“Will
You drank?
Much?
“You told me I was allowed
By drinking
Just today, so
I tried
That
I drink
As much as possible.
It's been a long time since that
I had it
A drink
Thanks to someone's orders, so it doesn't make sense
I eat
A drink
Just one, right?”
It was called a wine party, so Theodore couldn't stop Annette from drinking.
Lisa insisted that she should only have one drink, but Annette wasn't the type who would listen to her.
When they told her she could only drink today, Annette drank as much wine as she could.
But even if Annette didn't drink that much, she would get drunk quickly like this because her current body was weak to alcohol unlike her original body.
Although Theodore thought that he should not let Annette drink more today, he raised the bottle of wine that was in his hand because he remembered that Annette had wanted to taste it for a long time.
“Would you like another glass?”
"Yes?
This is the same wine you were drinking at the villa, isn't it?
I've been wanting to taste it ever since, but you were
Mean
“Very much so at the time.”
After seeing the wine, Annette grumbled and climbed the balcony railing to sit on top of it like she had done at the costume party.
It was difficult for her to move while drunk, so Annette eventually lost her balance and leaned on Theodore.
Theodore almost dropped the bottle of wine he was holding in his hand when he caught Annette, who almost fell on top of him.
The two looked into each other's eyes as they hugged each other.
Then Annette stepped back and smiled happily.
She was now going to do something that she had been prevented from doing before, so she couldn't hide her happiness and continued to smile without stopping.
“I will taste it
And finally
“
Annette tried to take the wine from Theodore's hand, but he suddenly changed his mind and raised the bottle high so that Annette could not hold it.
“First of all, this wine is very strong, so
I will give you
Only when you get back to it
Your senses
“A little.”
Annette frowned and followed Theodore without answering.
The two of them went deep into the garden in order for Annette to get some fresh air and come to her senses a little.
The smell of soil reeked of the garden where not a single flower had been planted in years.
The two stopped near the end of the light bulb decoration and sat down on the grass.
Theodore poured some wine into his glass, and Annette met him with looks of excited anticipation.
“It's red wine.”
“No
You drink
Red wine?”
“It's not that I don't drink it, but I like white wine more.
It has a more sweet taste and fragrant aroma.
Champagne is the best.”
“I don't like white wine, but champagne can't even be called alcohol.
It's like a cheat juice that tricks the tongue
With his sweetness
“
The two had different tastes in alcohol.
Theodore liked red wine mixed with strong alcohol, and Annette liked soft, light white wine.
“Thinking about it, all the grapes grown near the villa were red.
By the way, don’t you have any intention of making white wine?
Don’t you think about growing green grapes on your farm?
It’s among the
Items
From which white wine can be made.”
“Never.
The villa is there to make
My wine
Private only.
In the future,
I will plant
Only
Items
Which
I want it
“
“No
I want you
To plant the entire farm with green grapes, I ask you to plant only a few.
Even if it's not for winemaking, can't you grow a few green grapes?
To eat it
As a fruit
?
“Why should I?
I get lost
My bottle of wine via fruit is lacking in flavour?
“Nonsense talk.
Okay
I may not be here next grape season, so do whatever you want.
What do I have to do with it then?
You lived
Your whole life without knowing what great green grapes taste like?”
“What will happen next season?”
“So
I left
This place
I promised
To my world, I will buy ten
Kilograms
From green grapes
And I eat it
“On my own.”
Annette growled and stuck out her tongue to tease Theodore.
Her mouth that had looked so beautiful when it said Theodore's name suddenly became extremely annoying.
Maybe this woman will say that she will leave this place if she opens her mouth again.
But also, Theodore could neither shut her mouth nor deny her words because they were true.
He knew that it was normal for this woman to hate his world, but he couldn't help but feel sad and bitter.
As Annette said, she was someone who would leave this place one day.
Annette frowned and tried to snatch the wine from Theodore's hands, but he didn't want to give it to her after what she said, so he took the bottle and poured its contents on the floor.
“Will
You pour it
Because you don't want to give it to me?
Just when Annette was about to start arguing with him, the light bulbs around them started to fluctuate and then suddenly went out.
Annette moved closer to Theodore, perhaps because she was frightened by the crackling sound that followed the lights going out.
“It's a power outage.
I told them that
Make sure
This might not happen today, but nonetheless...”
Theodore clicked his tongue in the darkness.
Power outages were not uncommon.
Electricity was not yet a common technology, and garden lights were a temporary installation using a generator rather than a fixed electrical circuit, so power outages were entirely to be expected.
Theodore thought so, but Annette's reaction was completely different.
“The palace was also decorated with electric lights
And most
Candles
Extinguished
.
What should we do?
Everyone will
They get upset
Because of this sudden darkness.
I need to go
And apology
“From them.”
“Even if the lights don't turn on again, there won't be any problems because there are candles everywhere.
He will take care
Servants by command.
Will you be able to walk all the way to the palace in complete darkness?”
Theodore quickly tried to calm Annette down and held her hand as she tried to stand up.
He didn't want Annette to apologize in front of others.
“But today has to be
Perfect
.
I should have listened to Hans when he said it was impossible.
"It's my fault because I was stubborn."
Annette, unusually, blamed herself.
Incidents like this were a common occurrence, so her reaction was a bit excessive.
When Annette expressed concern, Theodore stood up and decided to solve the matter himself.
“Wait here, I will be back shortly.”
"no…."
Annette unconsciously grabbed Theodore's neck collar.
“Should we just wait for the servants to come?”
With candles
?
Being in the dark alone is very scary.”
Her voice trembled a little.
Theodore had forgotten for a moment that Annette was afraid of dark and confined spaces.
This was due to her experience being confined to the Elysia Sanitarium.
Annette's bedroom was always dimly lit, even at night.
The biggest evidence is that she was so desperate that she held on to Theodore and asked him to stay by her side even though she was someone who could never be relied upon and would not ask for his help no matter what.
Theodore sat down, pretending he couldn't resist the force of her weak fist.
“As for the guests... you know...
I don't think they will
They mind
This is a common occurrence.
They are people
Adults
Anyway.”
No one would care if the electricity was turned on or not because they were drunk anyway.
Suddenly the place became quiet and the vision became clearer.
The garden was dark, but Annette's figure was as clear as the sun in the sky.
Especially her small lips.
Theodore swallowed the rest of the wine in the bottle, feeling his throat burn.
If Annette continued to cling to him like that, he might make the same mistake as at the party that day.
Also today, Theodore felt a tingling sensation in his body that seemed impossible to stop and his breath began to hitch.
He cannot act chaotically in front of guests at his house.
He didn't mind sending everyone home right away, but he didn't want to do that because Annette was worried that a power outage might ruin the meeting.
But without knowing what he was thinking, Annette approached him closer, saying that she was afraid of the dark garden.
Theodore wanted to tell her that he might be more dangerous than the darkness right now, and he wanted to tell her that he might not be able to control himself any longer if she continued to get closer to him like this, but he thought that then this woman would really feel afraid of him and stay away from him even more.
Annette was someone who thought about leaving him and this world from time to time, so he couldn't scare her here and make her turn away from him now.
It was nice of her to cling to him like this now, but he couldn't even imagine how he would feel when she would abandon him in the future and leave him alone.
Finally, Theodore raised the almost empty bottle of wine and took another sip while looking at Annette out of the corner of his eyes.
“But why has the garden been neglected?
If there is no compelling reason for this, can’t I plant some flowers here.”
And take care
With it?
How could he refuse her proposal when she was asking him so cutely?
The Flores Palace garden was a space built by his father with special care for his mother, who loved flowers.
“Why
Take care
Because I was too busy and it would be annoying to take care of the garden too.
Originally, I heard that this is what the palace lady does.”
Is this what his father felt when he fell in love with his mother and caused his life to be destroyed and the country's stability to be shaken?
“……So
You can
“You can do whatever you want.”
When permission was given, Annette raised the corner of her mouth and smiled widely as if she were happy.
Was this the expression Theodore wanted to see every time he bought Annette expensive clothes and shiny jewelry?
It seemed that this woman was stronger than alcohol and was able to seduce him and make him lose his mind for a moment and agree to whatever she wanted.
Meanwhile, Annette asked Theodore something.
It was a question he never expected to hear, and he wouldn't have answered it if anyone had asked him.
But…
Perhaps because of the atmosphere or because of the alcohol, Theodore confessed something he had never told anyone in his life.