When he took his hand, she took a step back, smiling nervously.
“Sorry...”
“……”
He kept his head down, tightening his grip on the fork, which turned red due to his pressure on it, and then began to wrap the pasta around it.
The vermicelli looked perfect and elastic, and looked absolutely delicious.
I felt Daedric's glances at me.
"Are you embarrassed? Should I hide in the closet?"
Instead of answering, he paused with his fork in the air, hesitating.
He looked like he was worried it might be poisoned, but felt bad asking me to test it.
“Are you hesitating because you're worried it's poisoned, but you feel bad for making me taste it? It's okay! If I go into the closet, I'll recover quickly!”
As I continued my chatter, he blinked slowly, then carefully held out the fork towards me.
“May I?”
He nodded slightly.
Before he changed his mind, she took a bite.
After chewing well, she announced, "There is no poison. You can eat safely now."
Despite my assurance, Deidrick remained hesitant, looking at the fork as if he did not know what to do.
"Why? It's not really poisoned."
“……”
He stared between me and the fork before wrapping a new bite on the fork and finally putting it in his mouth.
Seeing him chew with puffy cheeks was a very cute sight.
If I had poked him, he would have given me an angry look.
So, I sat quietly in front of him.
Suddenly, a tomato was pushed towards me.
“Oh, do you want me to test if she's poisoned again?”
That's easy.
I bit into it straight away, but its fishy, mushy texture melted in my mouth unpleasantly. I couldn't take it anymore and immediately spit it out.
“Don't eat it. It's spoiled.”
I knew that. Oddly enough, we got good pasta today.
"If you're hungry, let me know. I'll borrow something from the kitchen."
If I said, “I will steal,” the noble Daedric would definitely not agree.
"Good?"
“……”
Despite my sudden appearance, Deidrick's daily routine hasn't changed much.
He would rise early to study, and endure constant insults from Somerset and Axel.
Sometimes, they beat him. When this happened, I would slam the closet door or throw things around, pretending to be a ghost, to scare them away.
But…
“I can't pretend to be a ghost forever.”
Seeing the fresh blue bruises blooming on his pale skin hurt.
“At least, thanks to my intervention, he doesn’t feel so afraid of me anymore.”
But despite my attempts to talk to him, he was not responding, as he was when we first met.
He was acting like he was completely alone.
Sometimes our eyes would meet, but he would quickly look away.
“But I won't give up!”
It's been over two weeks since I exposed myself and started living with him. By now, he must have gotten used to my presence.
It's time to make him open up!
“How can I get close to him this time?”
What do heroines in romance novels usually do to get closer to the hero?
They often save him from danger or constantly cling to him...
“I'm already doing it!”
Maybe he didn't open up completely because he hadn't faced much danger yet.
“What else might work?”
While I was thinking deeply, an idea suddenly occurred to me.
"souvenir!"
Male heroes in stories often have a treasured memento left behind by their late mother. Deidrick was no different.
There was a necklace left behind by his mother, who died alone in the tower.
Before Daedric could retrieve him, Duchess Delaney captured him and used him to torture him mercilessly.
If I could get him that necklace, I might at least gain some of his trust.
“Let's do this!”
Without hesitation, she decided to move, moving to Delaney's room through the closet.
After making sure no one was there, I walked out cautiously.
Jewelry is usually kept in a dressing room, but Delaney kept the necklace in her bedroom, fearing Deidrick would try to secretly take it.
“There's no need for that though.”
Daedric was so overwhelmed by his own weakness that he did not even dare to claim his own property.
“Apart from wanting to gain his trust, I just feel sorry for him.”
I felt a strong desire to return it to him, whatever the cost.
“It should be in the dresser drawer, right?”
When I opened the last drawer, I found a beautiful necklace decorated with a small pink diamond.
It exactly matched the description of his mother's keepsake in the novel.
"This is him! His mother's memory!"
I found it!
I had to return it to him immediately.
I extended my hand to catch him...
Zeeeeeet!
I felt a slight electric shock shaking my body. It was not fatal, but it completely paralyzed me.
“Damn… the novel didn’t mention anything about a protection spell!”
With the last flash of consciousness, the drawer automatically closed, she was thrown back into the closet by a mysterious force, and then passed out.
In the following days, the closet was silent.
Although he tried to ignore it, Deidrick couldn't stop his curiosity from growing.
After more than four days of strange stillness, he couldn't resist anymore.
He opened the closet door carefully.
Srrrr…
A slight smell of burning crept into his nose as he opened the door, only to find burnt clothes and charred hair.
When he noticed the girl passed out inside, his eyes widened in confusion.
“…Could she be infected?”
“Oh…”
She moaned softly, making him shiver, so he quickly closed the door again.
He didn't know what she was doing, but he was sure she was planning something.
Today was day 10 of my attempts to recover the necklace.
I stretched my stiff body and moaned.
“No matter how many shocks I receive, I will never get used to them.”
Fortunately, I was recovering quickly inside the closet.
Every time I lost consciousness and was dragged in, my burned clothes and charred hair magically returned to normal.
“Thank God I'm a closet monster.”
“Just wait a minute, Didi!”
I opened the closet door forcefully, and Diedrick flinched in fear.
“Did I scare you?”
“……”
As usual, he remained silent.
She slowly approached him while he focused on his studies.
“I will give you an amazing gift soon.”
“……”
“Yes, and I want something in return.”
“……”
“Stop pretending I don't exist...”
I put all my feelings into my words, then I went back to the closet and closed the door.
In the now quiet room, Daedric hesitated for a moment before stepping towards the closet and opening the door. There was no one inside.
Recently, this scene has become familiar.
It had been like this lately—she would disappear for hours or even days, and then come back as if she had been unharmed, though sometimes she seemed seriously hurt.
Today, she left him a cryptic comment about a particular gift before disappearing again.
"What are you doing now?"
gift? What kind of gifts?
Instead of feeling happy, doubts crept into his mind.
Deidrick sighed and closed the closet door.