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Chapter 15
“Even crybaby Theo… looks comfortable around Zachary?”
A few minutes earlier, it was Zachary who had approached Theo first.
“Oh, Duke.”
Theo, who had been looking at the flowers, greeted Zachary when he heard footsteps.
Zachary had to lower his head quite a bit to look down at the tiny Theo.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“Poinsettias.”
“Poin… what?”
“Poinsettias. They’re red flowers that bloom in winter. Their flower meanings are blessing and holy night.”
“Why do you memorize stuff like that?”
“Because I like plants. Not just the petals—observing the leaves and stems is fascinating too.”
With a completely baffled expression, Zachary crouched down and stared at the poinsettia.
“What’s so interesting about these leaves?”
Theo crouched beside him and began explaining enthusiastically.
“They look pretty on the outside, but the leaves and stems are toxic. If you tear them carelessly and the white sap gets into a wound, it can be dangerous.”
“Hm.”
A brief silence followed. Apparently, Zachary had absolutely no talent for learning about plants.
Theo kept staring blankly at him.
‘Why is the Duke still here?’
“Hey, kid.”
“Yes, Duke?”
“Do you know how to calm your sister down when she’s angry?”
“Sister Yurita?”
“Shh, lower your voice.”
“Ah….”
Theo thought for a moment before answering.
“When someone’s angry, wouldn’t giving them something they like make them feel better?”
“What does your sister… like?”
“Hmm… my sister likes money.”
“What? Money?”
Zachary looked dumbfounded, but Theo was completely serious.
“Well, once I saw her jingling a pile of gold coins in her room while grinning to herself. She looked kind of like I do when I’m looking at plants… so I figured she must really like money.”
“…That does sound like your sister.”
“I understand her, though. When our family situation was really bad, she worked really hard to earn money. Since we needed it so badly, maybe she grew to like it.”
At those words, Zachary seemed to think for a moment before standing up.
“Hey, kid. You’re pretty good.”
“Huh? Good at what?”
“At giving advice.”
“Then are you going to give my sister money?”
“Hey, do you know why people like money?”
“Why?”
“Because there are a lot of things you can buy with it.”
Zachary flashed Theo a grin before looking back toward the mansion.
From the window, Yurita—who had been staring at the two of them like a hawk—flinched when their eyes met.
Zachary strode back into the mansion and approached Yurita, who was pretending to mind her own business.
“Hey, wife.”
“What is it?”
“If you’re not busy, why don’t you go into town with me?”
Yurita looked shocked, as if she had just heard complete nonsense.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“No particular reason. Married couples can go out together once in a while, can’t they?”
‘Mar… married…?’
That kind of thing coming out of his mouth? Yurita was horrified.
“Sis, go with him!”
At that moment, Theo joined in and encouraged her too.
“Theo, even you…?”
Yurita could not understand this situation at all.
A little while later.
Even as she walked through town with Zachary, Yurita still couldn’t believe it was real.
‘We hardly even ran into each other at the mansion….’
And now they were walking side by side in broad daylight.
‘This is really strange.’
Lost in thought, Yurita nearly tripped over the hem of her long dress.
“Careful.”
Zachary grabbed her hand to steady her. His gaze lingered on the wrist he had caught.
“Is it healed?”
“Yeah, mostly.”
Yurita quickly pulled her hand away, but Zachary didn’t seem to care much.
At that moment, bright sunlight fell across the side of his face. Even his frown looked like something out of a painting.
‘But he looks a little tired.’
Yurita kept the thought to herself.
“Alright, we’re here.”
Zachary stopped in front of a street lined with luxurious shops.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“What do you like?”
“What do I… like?”
Yurita stammered in surprise.
That was not the kind of question Zachary would ever ask someone. Especially not her.
“Tell me what you like. I’ll buy you anything.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Someone told me this would calm you down.”
“Theo?”
“Don’t ask.”
“Why are you trying to make me feel better?”
“Just because.”
Zachary shrugged.
‘He’s finally gone insane.’
Could this have something to do with what he mentioned a few days ago? About his grandmother—Yornan—saying you shouldn’t make women angry?
Still doubtful, Yurita answered awkwardly.
“There is something I need. Dresses. Ones that aren’t black or red.”
“Okay. Then to the dress shop.”
Zachary marched straight into the store. Yurita felt strangely swept up in his pace.
“From here to there—I’ll take all of them. Except the black and red ones.”
Pointing across an entire rack of dresses, Zachary spoke to the shop assistant.
The clerk’s face lit up with delight while Yurita stared in horror.
“Hey! Wait a second, I haven’t even tried them on!”
“Huh? How long do you think it’d take to try all of those on?”
“I never said I needed that many! And I should at least see if the colors suit me!”
“Man, seriously.”
Suddenly, Zachary grabbed one dress and held it up in front of her.
“This one suits you.”
When Yurita looked in the mirror, the delicate pale lavender dress actually matched her violet hair beautifully.
‘…It looks good?’
“And this one too.”
Zachary tossed another dress toward her.
This one was an elegant velvet green dress.
‘Not bad either…?’
Yurita couldn’t really object to Zachary’s surprisingly decent taste.
“We’ll adjust the sizes and deliver them to your residence.”
The employee rang up the dresses with a beaming smile. Naturally, Zachary paid.
“Thank you! Please come again!”
And just like that, the two of them left the shop after ordering ten dresses.
‘That total is terrifying….’
Yurita’s hands trembled as she looked at the receipt.
Meanwhile, Zachary looked as indifferent as if he had just bought a snack from a street vendor.
‘So this is… the wealth of a ducal family…?!’
Yurita felt dizzy from experiencing this kind of wealth for the first time. Just recently she had still been struggling to pay off debts!
“Hey.”
At that moment, Zachary spoke up.
“Feeling a little better now?”
“Huh? Well… a little?”
“Hmm.”
“But was it really okay for me to wear other colors? I heard the Killerster family only wears black and red.”
“Those kinds of rules were made by ancestors whose names I can’t even remember. They’ve got nothing to do with you or me. Break them if you want.”
Was it really such an easy rule to break?
For some reason, Yurita felt like this was only possible because it was Zachary.
‘It feels kind of reassuring….’
Wait. Don’t get carried away. Yurita quickly shook her head.
“Wait here for a minute.”
Then Zachary sat Yurita down on a bench and crossed the street into another shop.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Yurita leaned against the back of the bench and thought.
The guy who skipped their wedding and never cooperated with anything involving her—why was he suddenly acting like this?
“Oh my, Duchess.”
But before she could sink deeper into thought, she heard a voice she really didn’t want to hear.
Turning with visible displeasure, Yurita saw Lady Nora standing arm-in-arm with a middle-aged man.
The man looked familiar.
‘Who was he again… ah!’
She remembered.
He was Baron Middleton—the headmaster of Theo’s boarding school and also Lady Nora’s husband!
She had seen the two of them together at the Killerster banquet too.
‘And their second son, Middleton Junior, was the one who bullied Theo at school.’
In short, the Middleton family was absolutely awful.
At that moment, something Zachary had once said suddenly came back to Yurita.
“I had some business with the headmaster of that school. He wouldn’t listen, so I taught him a lesson.”
But seeing the headmaster perfectly alive and well instantly calmed Yurita’s nerves, which had sharpened at the sight of Lady Nora.
‘So he didn’t kill or beat him up!’
Lady Nora looked utterly confused at Yurita, who had suddenly become relieved for no apparent reason.
